Timber (Hades Book 4)

by Tate James

  "Fuck," I muttered with a sigh. "You're bad news, Saint. Hold that thought until this journalist is gone, and I'll let you take this dress off me."

  He shot back a devilish grin. "Deal. Where's the Gumdrop?"

  I nodded upward. "Studying upstairs. He's rescheduled all his EMT assessments under his new name and wants to beat his previous scores."

  Before I could slip out of his grip, Cass grabbed me tight and kissed me like he could fuck me right there in the kitchen. When he pulled away, my deep red lipstick was smeared all over his mouth, but he couldn't have looked more pleased with himself if he'd tried.

  Possessive shit. My makeup artist was going to be less than impressed.

  58

  The interview and full-page spread hit the Shadow Grove Gazette the next day, as instructed. Just to be sure Chase would see it, I had a hundred copies of the paper couriered over to his apartment, which Dallas had located for me.

  That night, the Copper Wolf Vodka Distillery blew up.

  I watched the video footage from one of the parking lot security cameras, feeling hollow inside. There was no point in rushing out there; the damage was done. And Chase would have done a thorough job of it, too. Like Cass and I had done to his house across the road. Not a single brick would be left undamaged.

  "Shit," I whispered, sitting naked in Cass's bed and watching the flames lick the night sky on my phone.

  "I'll get down there and deal with the fire crew," Zed told me, kissing my hair. He slipped out of bed and disappeared back to his room to shower and dress.

  I bit my lip, thinking. "Lucas, can you go with him? I feel... uncomfortable having him go alone."

  Lucas's brow shot up. He'd just pulled his sweatpants and T-shirt back on, having jumped up the moment I got the call about my distillery. "Really?"

  I nodded. "I feel like Chase is plotting something bigger. I wouldn't put it past him to try and kill Zed if he catches him alone... I think I'd feel better if someone was watching his back. Is that okay?"

  Lucas blinked a couple of times, his gaze shifting from me to Cass and then back again. He clearly wanted to ask why I wasn't sending Cass, but at the same time didn't want to say no. Truth was, I trusted Lucas and Cass equally to watch Zed's back... and Lucas was a slightly better shot than my grumpy cat. Not that I could say that out loud.

  "Yeah, absolutely," Lucas responded, nodding. He raced out of the room, yelling at Zed that he was coming along and not leave without him.

  "That was nice of you," Cass murmured, kissing my bare shoulder, “making Gumdrop feel important like that."

  I grinned, not contradicting him. Whatever made my big-ego men feel better.

  Falling back against the pillows, I tapped out a message to Hannah to let her know Zed was on his way over to the distillery to handle things there. She replied to say she'd meet him there, then a few minutes later, my guys called out that they were leaving.

  Left in silence once more, I rolled onto my side to face Cass. "Hey you."

  A slow smile curved his lips. "You're insatiable," he replied with a chuckle. "That four-way wasn't enough for you?"

  I leaned in, grabbing his lips with mine. "It's never enough," I sighed, wrapping my body around his once more and feeling his hardness brush against my aching, well-used pussy. The three of them were way more willing to engage in group sex than I'd ever thought they would be. But I wasn't dumb enough to think it was because they enjoyed seeing other guys dicks slamming into me; it was because they were all too competitive and jealous to not be involved.

  Fuck it. I didn't care for the reasons, only the results. And when the result was multiple orgasms and the best sex of my life? No arguments here.

  Cass had no sooner shimmied down the bed, his mouth finding my throbbing pussy, than my phone started ringing again.

  "Ignore it," Cass growled, his fingers spreading my cunt open and dipping into the remains of his own release. Or Lucas's. "It'll be something Zed can handle."

  I was inclined to agree. My hips rocked me into his face, and my hands pulled his head closer. But then my phone rang again. And kept ringing.

  "Fuuuucking hell," I moaned, fishing around in the sheets to find the damn thing. Cass took that as an invitation to suck my clit, and I almost came before answering the call.

  "What?" I snapped, breathless as Cass's fingers pushed into my slick core. I bit the inside of my cheek to stifle a moan but clamped a hand on his head to hold him tighter.

  I only needed to hear the first few words from my Alexi replacement, Diego, to sit up with a curse.

  Cass sighed but propped his head up on his hand to listen as I put the call on speakerphone.

  "Just the club?" I asked, seeking clarity, seeing as I'd been distracted when I answered. "Or the big top too?"

  "Everything," Diego replied, sounding grim. "The club, the big top, the training center, the supply rooms... every single structure within Anarchy is currently on fire, almost like it was a remote detonation or something because they all went off at once."

  Cass’s resigned gaze met mine.

  I wet my lips, thinking. "Get it under control with the fire department, Diego. I can't get down there yet; someone just blew up Copper Wolf distillery too."

  My new head of security let out a string of curses. "What do you want me to do, boss? Where am I most useful?"

  But the problem was I had no idea. Chase was splitting our focus with multiple attacks. He was making us chase shadows. "Sort things out there, then get over to Timber as fast as possible. That'll be the next target."

  "Understood, boss," Diego agreed. "I'll send some guys ahead of me, too."

  I blew out a breath. "Good. I'll meet you there." Ending the call, I looked up at Cass, who was shaking his head. "What?"

  "You're not going to Timber," he told me with a hard edge to his voice.

  My brows shot up in disbelief. "Excuse me?"

  Growling in frustration, he rolled out of bed and grabbed his pants. "You can't go to Timber. That's exactly what he wants you to do. First the distillery, now Anarchy... he knows that you know he'll torch Timber next, so that's the perfect place to snatch you again."

  I rubbed a hand over my face, both frustrated and exasperated. He was right, to a degree. "Since when was I that easy to simply snatch?" I snarled back, letting out a little of that frustration as anger.

  Cass just gave me a long look, and my face heated. Fair point. Arguing that Chase'd set that up so well there had been no chance of escape last time wouldn't support my case. It'd just strengthen Cass's.

  "I can't just let him burn down my empire while I sit here and twiddle my thumbs, Cass," I protested, also fishing around for some clothes. It felt stupid having an argument while totally naked.

  He snatched my bra before I could reach it, holding it away from me. "You're not," he barked. "You're being sensible and not playing directly into his hands. He can't come for you here; this place is better than Fort Knox now. While you were gone, Zed had every fucking window replaced with bulletproof glass, and the locks would even keep me out—if I didn’t have the right thumb print. Chase can't touch you here. But out there? Different story. So just... sit back and let your Timberwolves do the legwork this time."

  I stared up at him for a long moment, then narrowed my eyes. "Fine," I gritted out. "Can I have my bra now?"

  His glare darkened. "Are you going to stay in the house?"

  My anger and irritation spiked hotter, but I nodded. "Your logic isn't totally unfounded," I reluctantly agreed.

  He considered me a moment longer before handing my bra back and watching me put it on. "He's losing his grip, Red. Exactly like we predicted. You just need to grit your teeth and let us keep you safe because ultimately you are his sole objective. If he catches you again..." He trailed off, looking sick.

  I heard him, though. Loud and fucking clear. If Chase caught me again, that'd be the end of it. They'd never see me again, and I... well. I knew firsthand that there were plenty of thi
ngs a whole lot worse than death. And Chase didn't want me dead.

  "I know," I whispered with a whole lot less heat. "Call Rex and get him over to Timber, too."

  "What do you want to do about Anarchy?" Cass asked, already tapping out a message on his phone.

  Blowing out a heavy breath, I tugged my stretchy tank top over my head. "Let it burn," I finally decided. "It's too late to save it now."

  A flicker of sympathy lit his eyes a moment before they shifted to his usual resting-Cass-face. "Alright. Let's doublecheck that the security system here is all operational. If Chase is trying to draw you out—which he is—then he'll be shit out of luck tonight."

  Gritting my teeth with frustration, I pulled my jeans on and followed him out of the room to the security operation center in a closet downstairs. Everything was on, as it should be, but Cass still muttered some shit under his breath and tweaked the settings of something. Motion detectors, I think.

  I pulled up a stool at the kitchen island while he worked, anxiously checking my phone for a call from Zed or Lucas. Now that Cass had suggested it was a targeted attack to draw us out of the safety of Zed's fortress, I was stress-sweating that they would be attacked.

  "The distillery is a two-hour drive away, Red," Cass rumbled without looking up from the display panel he was working on. "Even with the way Zed drives, they won't be there yet."

  He was right. I knew he was right. But it didn't stop me from sending an anxious text message to Lucas to check that they were okay.

  He replied almost instantly, and I let out a long sigh of relief. They were on the road, fighting over what music to listen to.

  "They're fine," I murmured, feeling Cass watch me from the corner of his eye. I chewed my lip, checking the time. Diego wouldn't even be at Timber yet, so it was too soon for an update from him, too.

  Cass finished what he was doing and came over to where I sat at the island, his hands caging me in and his chest against my back. "I know this doesn't come naturally to you, Angel, but you just need to wait. He'd likely banking on your need to handle everything personally; the last thing he will expect is for you to simply stay put."

  He was right; I fucking hated waiting. My skin was almost crawling with the feeling of being a damsel in distress, of not getting out there and kicking ass myself. But running off to prove I had the biggest dick in the city would only fuck me, ultimately. There was no need for me to handle these attacks myself. The only thing that would be satisfied would be my own ego.

  "I've got a bad feeling about this, Saint," I admitted, my fists clenched against the counter in anger and frustration. "Worse than just my businesses going up in flames."

  Cass, his forehead resting on my shoulder, rumbled a wordless agreement. "I do too. That's why you have to stay put."

  The breath that gusted out of me was pure irritation. "We need an activity so I don't go nuts," I told him. "And no, not fucking. We both need to keep our wits about us and our clothes on... just in case."

  He chuckled roughly, then pressed a kiss to my neck. "Come on, let's check the weapons locker and load up some guns in the cars, just in case we need to leave for some reason."

  I perked up at that suggestion and twisted around on my stool to face him with a grin. "Excellent idea."

  His lips curled in a smile. "Then, maybe, if nothing else blows up, you can handle my weapon."

  A startled laugh escaped my lips before I shook my head. "That was awful. Truly awful. Have you been hanging out with Kody behind my back?"

  With a husky laugh, Cass lifted me off the stool and kissed my hair. "Come on, I'll keep you busy with clothes on. For now."

  We made our way out to the garage where our weapons cage was located, and I scanned my thumbprint to unlock it. For the next hour and a half, we sorted through the enormous weapon collection Zed kept and ensured several cars were loaded up with guns and ammo. We also went through the house to check that all the hidden guns were loaded.

  "Finally," I exclaimed when the message came through that Zed and Lucas were at the distillery. Diego and Rex had both checked in with me that they were at Timber, but so far it was all quiet.

  Cass peered over my shoulder at the message. "Maybe we were being paranoid," he muttered.

  I turned my face to meet his eyes with a squint. "You don't believe that."

  He huffed. "No, I don't. He's still got something else up his sleeve."

  Groaning, I rubbed a hand over my face. Because I agreed. This night wasn't over yet, but I was still overwhelmingly glad to hear Lucas and Zed had made it to the distillery safe. No one had run them off the road or shot out their tires or, fuck, launched a missile at their car. Yet.

  "Rex wants to know how long you want them to hang around Timber," Cass told me as we made our way back into the living room.

  I frowned. "As long as it takes," I replied. "All night, if they need to. Actually, get Diego to leave a handful of Wolves to back Rex up, then ask him to start combing our security footage from Anarchy. Chase doesn't have his support network anymore; he could well have slipped up and given us more evidence."

  Cass nodded and fired off messages to carry out my orders without a word. I collapsed into the couch, yawning heavily. It was past midnight, and we'd been way too adventurous in our bedroom antics earlier in the evening. I was wrecked.

  When Cass finished his messages, he sat down as well, pulling me closer until I was horizontal with my head in his lap and feet up on the cushions.

  "Close your eyes a moment, Red," he told me, fingers stroking through my hair. "I'll wake you up if anything changes, but right now it's safe to sleep."

  I shook my head, even as my eyes drooped closed. "I'm too wired to sleep," I protested. But that was total bullshit. Sleep sucked me in faster than a black hole in space.

  The sound of my phone ringing jerked me awake again what felt like only a minute later. Cass answered it before I’d fully sat up, and he smoothed his hand over my cheek as he listened to the call with a grim look on his face.

  "That's smart thinking, Hannah," Cass replied in a voice edged with anger. "Block the door and window as best you can; we'll get someone there as quick as we can. Text us the address."

  He ended the call and shifted his gaze to me. "Someone is in Hannah's apartment. She's locked herself in her bedroom, but..."

  "It'll only be a matter of time," I agreed, frowning. "Why is she there? I thought she was at the distillery with Zed."

  Cass quirked a brow. "Apparently Zed told her not to worry about heading out, that he and Lucas had it handled."

  I groaned. Yeah, that sounded like him. But now Hannah was alone and being targeted while the majority of my trusted Wolves were the next city over, protecting an empty building. "Fuck. We need to go."

  Cass shook his head, stubborn. "Absolutely not. This is just another attempt to draw you out."

  My phone rang again in his hand, and he handed it to me to answer.

  "Boss?" Macy, my accountant, said in a shaking voice. "I don't know if you've already been told... but the Copper Wolf office is on fire."

  I screamed internally. "The Copper Wolf office is on fire," I repeated, doing everything in my power to keep my voice calm. "Is anyone in there?" It was past midnight; it should be empty.

  "Not that I know of, sir. I just heard the sirens and went to see what was going on. The fire crew won't tell me anything, not really, but the smoke is definitely coming from our level." Macy lived in an apartment only a short way down the street from our offices.

  I ground my teeth. "Are you safe?" I asked.

  "Y-yes, sir. Yes, I'm fine." She seemed confused by my question.

  "Good," I replied. "Go home. Lock your doors. Plan a vacation or something."

  She laughed hollowly. "Sure thing, boss. You stay safe too."

  I ended the call and dropped my phone to my lap. Scrubbing both hands over my face, I groaned. "We need to get to Hannah," I announced. "We're the closest to her, and she's already survived one attack.
We can't just leave her to fend for herself."

  Cass scowled, shaking his head. "No. No way."

  I burst out of my seat in outrage. "Cassiel Saint, if you tell me no one more fucking time—"

  "I'll go," he snapped, also rising out of his seat. "She only lives ten minutes away. I'll go, deal with her intruder, and then bring her back here."

  I threw my hands up. "Cass—"

  "Nonnegotiable!" he roared back at me. "Sit your fine ass down, and stay put."

  He gave me no opportunity to argue, just stomped his ass off to the garage while I stood there in a little bit of shock that he'd ordered me to do anything. Outside of the bedroom, that was. And yet I didn't go running after him, demanding to be included. Because that was moronic.

  So, as much as it rankled, I did as I was told. I waited to hear his motorbike roar out of the garage, then reset the security system. I'd never felt more like a damsel in my entire life, locked up in my castle, helpless, while a fire-breathing dragon destroyed my empire.

  59

  I lasted all of five minutes before blowing up Cass's phone to check on him. He grunted a response that he was pulling into Hannah's building—having halved the drive time—and hung up before I could ask dumb-shit questions that would only waste his time. As mad as it made me, I didn't disagree with his decision to cut me off.

  So I sat there at the kitchen table, drumming my fingertips on the wood and going quietly insane. I wasn't so weak I’d snap and go off half-cocked, though. I had to trust that my guys could handle things without me. I had to trust in my Timberwolves to have my back.

  Still, when Cass didn't call me back within ten minutes, I found myself anxiously texting him to ask for an update. The message immediately bounced back at me, undelivered.

  I frowned, hitting the resend option. Once again, it bounced back.

  A ripple of dread ran through me, and I hit the call button, only to be met with silence. My phone flashed that the call couldn't connect, then I noticed the tiny "no service" message where my reception bars should be.