Silence.
“Nic?” Her voice cracked before she roughly cleared her throat. “Nicholette, where thefuckhave you been?”
“I learned from the best,” I replied softly, ignoring the tears that pricked my eyes. Fuck me, everything was just hitting me in ways that I really couldn’t deal with right now. Why should I care about how she’d sounded when she said my name? That chapter of my life was done.
Ansel and Roderick had both stilled when I said Maeve’s name; they were so quiet I wasn’t even sure if they were breathing. “I’ve been preoccupied with getting some things ready to go. I take it my boyfriends reached out?”
“More like showed up on my doorstep, knocked down the door, and demanded answers,” Maeve replied coldly, and a wild laugh escaped me from picturing that.Vas probably stared Maeve down, just waiting for her to do something shitty so he could hit her.“It’s odd they are the ones you picked, Nicholette. I had pictured you with someone with more… class.”
“Really?” I asked, shrugging even though she couldn’t see me, then I moved to sit down in an open armchair. “They might be rough around the edges, but they’re honest about it. Besides, Sacha is plenty fancy enough for me when it’s necessary, and when it’s not, he’s just as bloodthirsty as the rest.”
“More honest than you are,” she said evenly.
“Perhaps,” I allowed. “Meet me at the Ashview station this evening. Roderick will message you the time.”
“Is this the favor I owe you, then?” Maeve asked, and I heard papers rustling in the background.
“No,” I replied in a clipped tone. “I’ll pay you for your time, Maeve. You paid me for mine.”
Click.
I ended the call before she could say anything else and held the phone out to Roderick. “We should go, or we’ll be late.”
“Allen asked for me to let him know when we’re five minutes out,” the lawyer commented, slowly taking his phone back.
“What are you planning?” Ansel asked again, but I just gave him a secretive smile.
“I need your real reaction, Ansel, so I guess you get to find out when everyone else does.” Not bothering to say anything else, I grabbed my shoes and made my way outside and into Roderick’s SUV, a completely different ride from the silver coupe he had driven previously. I slid into the back, happy to let the men take up the front seat. Roderick and Ansel followed at a more sedate pace, the latter getting into the back with me and holding out a piece of candy as Roderick started up the vehicle.
“It will help with your stomach,” he said when I didn’t take it. “Ginger.”
“Thanks.” I remembered he had mentioned trying ginger this morning, but I couldn’t recall him stopping to get some for me. Though, to be fair, I was pretty sure I had zoned out during part of the drive to his home. As I opened the candy, I scrutinized his face, but I was met with that stoic mask of his that didn’t give me even a hint of what he was thinking.
“Your men will be there,” Roderick said after a few minutes of silence. “Allen said the two brothers have been there all day, trying to get them to release Oliver and Bodhi.”
“Sacha and Vas?” I asked, but Roderick surprised me with a quick shake of his head.
“No. Volkov and Angeloff are there. Volkov is trying to get them to release the others if there are no charges happening. Angeloff is apparently scaring the shit out of the cops just by sitting there and smoking.”
“Alexei and Maksim?” Ansel and I asked at the same time.
“Curious,” he muttered as Roderick said it was them.
“It is,” I hummed in agreement, drumming my fingers on the door as I mentally tweaked my plan. The cousins were getting along a lot better than they had before my disappearance.At least that’s some kind of silver lining.“I can work with that.”
“Which one are you trying to talk to?” Roderick asked.
“Neither. I just need them to see me.”
“They won’t just let you go,” Ansel said, pointing out the obvious.
“If they take me, let it happen,” I ordered them both, ignoring the growl of displeasure from the man beside me. “I can deal with them just fine on my own.”
“That’s not how this is going to work,” Ansel said. His hand landed on my thigh, making me very aware of his strength when he squeezed me hard enough that I gasped. The pain made meveryfucking aware of the bra I hadn’t bothered to put on under the cami and his shirt. “You came with me, and you’re leaving with me, too. No exceptions.”
“That’s not—”
“It is now.” Ansel tightened his hold until I whimpered. He was rough enough that I knew I’d have a bruise later. “You. Are. Leaving. With. Me.”