Timber (Hades Book 4)

by Tate James

  I’d wondered about that. “Maybe,” I murmured. “But I don’t know. Now it’s going to irritate the hell out of me until we can get an ID on him.”

  “Dallas will sort it out,” Lucas told me with confidence. “He’s an actual genius, I’m totally convinced.”

  I grinned at his positivity, then raked a hand through my hair. “Yeah. If anyone can, it’s him.” Still annoyed that I’d let the stranger slip through my grasp, I headed back inside the bank and tucked my sunglasses up on top of my head. “Ready for this?” I asked Lucas with a teasing smile.

  He gave me a curious look in return but followed along silently as I presented my key to the concierge desk. It was old fashioned as hell, but most criminals I knew had a bit of a dramatic flare. Ancient keys on ribbons to access hidden vaults was right up there on that list.

  The concierge teller didn’t speak a word as she led the way to a tiny, two-person elevator at the back of the bank. Then she turned her key in the access panel, and I turned mine, calling the elevator car.

  “Lovely to see you again, Ms. Timber,” she murmured softly as the elevator doors clunked open. Again, totally old school, totally dramatic.

  Lucas grinned at me when the doors closed behind us, and I gave him a suspicious look back.

  “I feel like I’m in the Sopranos or something,” he whispered as the elevator clunk-clunked its way down to the vaults. The Guardian was the biggest chain of privately owned banks in the world, and most of them had a sub-basement level of vaults like this specifically for assets and valuables that the owners didn’t trust in traditional banks.

  The door rattled open once more, and we stepped out into the cool, narrow corridor. I led the way past multiple locked doors, then stopped in front of my vault and inserted my key into the lock.

  “Seven-zero-six-nine,” Lucas read aloud from the ornate plate on the door.

  Shrugging, I pushed the door open. “Seventy is the branch number for this location. Sixty-nine... because Zed’s a fucking child and thought it was funny when he saw it was available.”

  Lucas chuckled as he followed me into the tiny room and closed the door behind him at my gesture. The vaults each had their own private area with a table and chair, should you need to stay a while and sort your crap out. On the far side of the room, another heavy vault door was protected by both key and code.

  With practiced ease, I spun the dial to enter my access code, and the foot-thick door clicked open smoothly. I hauled it open further and chuckled to myself when Lucas whispered a curse behind me.

  “This is an expendable amount?” he asked in a strangled voice.

  I grabbed a few stacks of neatly organized cash and tossed them into my handbag as I calculated the amounts in my head. “Mm-hmm,” I replied, making sure I had enough to cover Seph’s car and pay Rex for all the work he’d done on it.

  “Are those gold bars?” Lucas exclaimed, pointing further inside the walk-in vault where I had a reinforced shelf neatly stacked with a dozen gold bars.

  I shot him a grin, closing the vault door again. “Yup. But those are just for fun. The rest of my gold is in coins.”

  Lucas quirked a brow. “You gonna make me ask you to explain that logic?”

  My laugh echoed through the small space. “The bars are just... a novelty. You know how hard it would be to actually try and trade in one of those bastards? Nightmare. Coins, on the other hand, hold significant value in a compact, easily transported size. They also continue to rise in value, so coins that I bought four years ago at, say, four hundred dollars per ounce are now worth over two thousand. And they’re a physical commodity, not an intangible idea of wealth like printed paper.”

  I spun the vault dial, locking it up once more, then turned back to Lucas to continue my explanation, seeing as he seemed genuinely curious.

  “Gold sovereigns—coins—are usually a quarter ounce each. So one coin can be worth four hundred dollars or so. Hell of a lot easier, and less attention grabbing, to trade in than a ten-ounce bar.” I tucked my bag over my arm, and Lucas opened the door for us to leave. “Not to mention if society ever collapsed and the internet disappeared, gold will still hold international value. Paper money? Not so much.”

  Lucas grinned as we made our way back to the elevators. “Okay, so for one thing, I’m scary impressed and kind of intimidated to see how fucking rich you actually are. Although that definitely explains your taste in shoes and Zed’s in cars.” I grinned. “But for another, I had no clue you were a closet doomsday prepper.”

  I rolled my eyes, still grinning as we stepped into the waiting elevator. “I’m not. But only a fool leaves all his eggs in one basket and hopes it won’t be dropped.”

  The elevator door clunked closed, and Lucas pushed me up against the wall, kissing me senseless while the car shuddered to life.

  “You’re so fucking sexy when you’re in Daria Wolff mode,” he muttered when he released my lips. His hard cock ground against me, and I was sorely tempted to drag him back down to my vault.

  I licked my lips, resisting the urge as the elevator shuddered to a stop and Lucas stepped back to rearrange his pants. “What’s Daria Wolff mode?” I asked.

  He grinned. “The sharp, savvy businesswoman. Hayden Timber might have seized control over the Timberwolves and gotten her hands dirty to maintain that seat of power, but Daria Wolff is the reason you’re sitting on an actual goldmine. I somehow doubt your father, or the previous Timberwolf leaders, ever built an empire like you’ve done.”

  I said nothing in reply as the door clunked open once more and we stepped out into the main bank. We made our way out, nodding to the concierge as we passed, and Lucas linked his fingers with mine as we stepped out into the sunlight.

  His assessment rang true, though. I compartmentalized like it was an Olympic event, to the point that I’d created separate personalities for every aspect of my life. Not quite so extreme that I’d developed a mental disorder along with it, but certainly more intense than simply changing hats.

  I loved that Lucas saw that. He understood me and didn’t cast judgment over why I was the way I was. More than anyone I’d ever met, Lucas loved me exactly as I was.

  Before we got back into my car, I pinned him to the door and dragged his face down to mine. We kissed until we were both panting and hot with need, then I whispered my thanks to him. For simply being him.

  45

  We didn’t make it home until after noon, then we needed to go our separate ways. I had another physical therapy appointment with Misha that I couldn’t miss—my shoulder was not happy with some of the positions I’d put myself in over the weekend—and Lucas needed to visit with his mom.

  Zed was at Copper Wolf running things there, and Cass was at his grandmother’s again, helping her hang pictures. The fit-out crew definitely could have handled that, but I got the feeling Cass was enjoying spending time with Nadia.

  Misha was less than impressed at how sore my shoulder was, and I earned a stern lecture about overusing the joint before it was fully healed. I also earned a lecture about adequate stretching before a marathon fuck session that had me in stitches. Misha knew what he was talking about, too. In college he’d paid his bills with porn.

  On my way out of the PT clinic, my phone rang with an unknown number, and I gritted my teeth. The laughter and lightness from my session with Misha evaporated in an instant, and I brought the phone to my ear with a scowl.

  “What?” I snapped, bracing myself to hear Chase’s voice.

  “Hades,” not-Chase replied, shocking me to a physical halt beside my car.

  My gaze darted around, checking my surroundings out of habit. “Leon,” I said. “I take it you’re calling in that debt for helping with my FBI mess recently.”

  He gave a low chuckle on the other end of the phone. “That was quite the mess,” he murmured. “I’m glad to see you’ve recovered well.”

  Motherfucker was watching me. My gaze darted around the parking lot but found no one. He
could be anywhere, though. With his skills, he could be in a different country and still be watching me.

  “I have,” I confirmed. There was no point denying I’d been hurt; the Guild knew everything. The only thing I was relatively confident in, though, was that they weren’t working with Chase. “What do you want, Leon? I can assume it’s not money.”

  “Money,” he repeated with a laugh. “What a waste of an opportunity that’d be.”

  Unease tightened my chest, and I unlocked my car. Getting inside and closing the door was a mere illusion of safety, though. If the Guild wanted something, they’d get it. One way or another.

  “Well?” I prompted. “Whatever it is, I’m sure we can get it sorted. I don’t leave debts unpaid.”

  “Good,” Leon replied. “I want a conversation.”

  I waited for him to elaborate on that, but nothing but silence followed that announcement.

  “Okay...” I rubbed the bridge of my nose, sensing the unspoken catch. “With who? I can assume it’s not me; we’re talking right now.”

  “Lucas,” Leon replied. “I’d like a private conversation with Lucas, and we can consider your debt cleared.”

  I blew out a long breath. “No.”

  “No?” Leon repeated with a dangerous edge.

  I gritted my teeth. “No, not private. I’ll allow a conversation, but only if I’m there too.”

  There was a long pause on the phone, and I briefly wondered if Leon had ended the call. But then he gave a hum of consideration.

  “Anyone would think you didn’t trust me, Hades.”

  I snorted. “Anyone would be right. I’d be a fucking idiot to trust anyone from the Guild without a binding contract in place. So, no, I don’t fucking trust you. I’ll arrange a meeting for you with Lucas, but I’ll be there, too, keeping my asset safe.” I had to speak in terms Leon would understand. Telling him shit like how I loved Lucas and the thought of the Guild harming him made me want to burn entire cities to ash... would mean nothing. Telling him I was concerned with an asset being corrupted? He got that.

  Another long pause.

  “Done,” he replied eventually. “I’ll be in touch with a time and place shortly.”

  A huge wave of relief ran through me, and I sagged in my seat. “Understood,” I murmured back.

  “Oh, and Hades? This one is just between us,” Leon added. “Unofficial, if you will. I’d rather you not mention my presence in Shadow Grove to anyone else. Are we clear?”

  Well, that was interesting. “Crystal clear,” I agreed. Then the sound of the call disconnecting beeped in my ear.

  Feeling anxious, I texted Lucas to check in on him. I wouldn’t put it past Leon to call me as a decoy or some shit. Everything about Lucas’s links to the Guild, his uncle training him as a kid, his mom’s IVF program... it all pointed at the Guild doing some dodgy shit with training child mercenaries. While part of me was sure Lucas was in no danger of being snatched away in the night now that he was an adult, the other part of me was terrified they’d take him by force.

  I hardly breathed as I waited on his response.

  My phone buzzed a moment later, though, and the relief was staggering.

  Lucas: All good, babe. Just left Rex’s and heading to my mom’s now.

  He’d dropped off the cash for Seph’s car and hung around for a subtle check in on her. They were still friends, sort of, and it was less intimidating for Rex’s boys if Lucas checked in rather than me.

  Lucas: Unless you had other plans? He followed his message with a wink-face emoji, and I laughed out loud.

  My idiot pussy throbbed at the suggestion, too, with total disregard for her own survival.

  I bit my lip and resisted temptation as I wrote my reply.

  Hades: Have fun with your mom. I’ll meet you at Anarchy later?

  I had meetings there with our promotions team about the next few months of fights. Without 7th Circle, and now with Club 22 out of operation, my main focuses were on Anarchy and getting Timber open, so I couldn’t keep dropping the ball with work.

  Lucas: Absolutely. I’m stopping by Nadia’s to get cake for my mom now. I’ll make sure Diana hasn’t driven Cass insane.

  I grinned as I tapped out my reply, telling him that ship had sailed days ago. Diana was fascinated by Cass. Between his tattoos, his size, and his gruff voice, she had never-ending questions. I’d watched them when I stopped by a few days earlier. Cass was painting some trim, and Diana held the paint bucket, chattering non-stop. Occasionally Cass would grunt a one-word response, but Diana didn’t seem to need it. She carried the conversation all on her own as she gazed up at him with puppy eyes and asked if he’d ever cut someone’s hand off.

  Diana was a strange kid. Maybe that’s why I liked her so much.

  I had a couple of hours to kill before my meetings at Anarchy, so I drove home to Zed’s house with plans for a quick nap. I’d been operating on caffeine all day, and it was starting to catch up with me.

  No sooner had my head hit the pillow, though, than my phone rang again. Fucking phone was about to get thrown at a wall.

  I cracked one eye to peer at it and saw Zed calling.

  “What?” I grumbled, answering the call.

  “You sound cranky,” he replied.

  I huffed. “I was about to nap. Is this important?”

  “Aw, sorry, boss. You didn’t see that three o’clock appointment in your calendar? You’re late.” He was way too damn amused about this, and I squinted at my phone. Ten past three.

  Frowning, I opened my calendar app, and sure enough, there was a three PM marked in my day. “What the—“ I could have sworn my afternoon was empty. Clicking into it, I couldn’t help a snort of laughter. “Very fucking funny, Zeddy Bear.”

  “What?” he asked, laughing. “It’s in your schedule, so...”

  I dropped my head back into the pillow. “I’m not late for my dick appointment, you fucking child. I came early to that one. Several times, if I remember correctly.” I yawned, emphasizing my point. “Leave me alone; I’m napping.”

  I ended the call on him but was completely unsurprised when I heard footsteps coming up the stairs a couple of minutes later. I’d heard the familiar beep of our garage remote while he was talking to me.

  The bed dipped, and a cool breeze hit me as the blankets were lifted. A moment later, I was wearing my very own Zed-skin coat.

  “Hey,” he murmured into my neck, “can I nap with you?”

  I grinned into my pillow. “Only if you promise to keep your dick in your pants.” I totally didn’t mean that.

  “I promise,” he replied with emphasis, and I was pretty sure he didn’t mean it either.

  We dozed together a few minutes before I rolled over and snuggled into his chest, my hands slipping under his shirt to stroke his sides.

  “Dare...” he mumbled with an edge of amusement. “We’re napping. Keep your hands to yourself.”

  I tilted my head back, meeting his heavy-lidded eyes. “You don’t mean that,” I whispered.

  His lips curled. “I really don’t.”

  Our mouths crushed together like magnets, our tongues meeting and tangling in a synchronized dance for dominance that lit my whole tired body on fire and turned my brain to liquid.

  “Dare,” Zed groaned as I kissed his neck and my hands pushed his pants down. “Isn’t that your phone ringing?”

  “Hmm?” I really needed to break that fucking phone. Now that he mentioned it, though, that was my phone ringing incessantly under my pillow.

  With a heavy sigh, I rolled away from the temptation that was Zed and fished my phone out. I frowned, seeing two missed calls in addition to the one coming through now. All from Lucas.

  “Hey, Lucas,” I answered, “What—“

  “Hayden,” he croaked, cutting me off. “I need you.”

  46

  Zed and I broke every road rule and speed limit imaginable on the drive to Sandra’s house, but it made no difference. When we arrived,
Lucas was sitting on the front steps, his eyes red and puffy as a body bag was loaded into the back of a coroner’s van.

  Even so, I leapt out of Zed’s Ferrari before he’d even fully stopped, my bare feet slapping the concrete path as I sprinted toward Lucas. He saw me coming and caught me in his arms as I threw myself at him, burying my face against his neck, my hug tight enough to suffocate.

  “Lucas,” I whispered against his skin as he held me close, his body trembling, “I’m so sorry. I should have come with you.”

  His chest heaved under me as he drew a shuddering breath. “It wouldn’t have changed anything. Claudette thinks she took the pills hours ago, when she said she was going down for a nap. She was already cold when I found her.”

  How? How had her live-in nurse and her bodyguard not noticed she was dead?

  “Claudette and Sal both thought she was sleeping,” Lucas mumbled, answering my silent question. “She naps at the same time every day; they had no reason to worry.”

  Zed sat down heavily on the step beside Lucas, squeezing his shoulder in a comforting gesture. “I’m sorry, Lucas.”

  Lucas tightened his grip on me like I was his tether to calmness. “Thanks,” he murmured. “She did it to herself.”

  I bit my lip, frowning. Given how many attacks Chase had launched on us lately, I wouldn’t put this past him. “Are you sure?”

  Lucas nodded, burying his face in my hair. “I’m sure. She left a note, and no one else entered the house. Big Sal was here the whole time. She overdosed on her own pain meds and died in her sleep.”

  Fury swept through me at his words. How could she? How could Sandra do this to Lucas?

  “What can we do?” Zed asked, saving the moment before I flew into a Sandra-hating rage.

  It was a quick reminder of what was important: Lucas. Spitting curses about his selfish, cowardly mother wasn’t going to help him, and she was gone and couldn’t hear me.

  Lucas drew another long, shuddering breath, releasing it heavily against my neck. “Honestly? I just want to go home. I don’t want to be here. Nothing about this house feels comfortable or safe.”