by Tate James
Cass shook his head. "Nope. I imagine she'll tell you, though."
Giving him a faint nod, I made my way over to the waiting firefighter, who was holding his hat nervously.
"Hades," he greeted me, then gave Cass a nod as well, "I'm guessing you already know the cause of the fire?" I nodded. "Okay, good, makes our job easier. We've almost got the flames out but will need to come back and assess the damage tomorrow. This goes against our usual safety protocols, but since you're you and this is Mr. De Rosa's house, do you want us to pull the cars out?"
My brows hitched. "The cars survived?"
Cass drifted away behind me, moving across the grass to speak with the black-clad security guards who'd completed their sweep of the property.
"Yes, sir," the firefighter confirmed. "Looks like the concrete walls kept the flames from spreading into the garage at all. They might be a bit smoky, but otherwise are undamaged. If you can tell us where to find the keys, my crew can pull them all out, just in case the structure above collapses as it cools."
Talk about small mercies. That might slightly dampen Zed's ire over the house. I directed the fire chief to the hidden panel where all the keys for Zed's vehicles were kept, and they went to work carefully driving each of Zed's prized cars out of the ruined building. I directed them to park on the grass, figuring that would have to do until morning.
Eventually the fire crew told us there was nothing more for us to do, so Cass and I took one of Zed's Aston Martins and headed into town.
Hannah had organized us the penthouse suite at the Shadow Majestic, and I was asleep almost before my head hit the pillow.
I slept so deeply that I didn't even wake up when Zed and Lucas arrived, despite it probably not being long after we'd checked in. Instead, I woke up late the next morning to find myself curled in Lucas's strong embrace while Zed and Cass talked in hushed whispers over top of us.
"We're in a suite," I grumbled, without opening my eyes. "Go and talk in the next room; I'm sleeping here."
"Same," Lucas mumbled, kissing my neck as he snuggled closer.
Zed wasn't inclined to respect my beauty rest, though, snatching me out of Lucas's arms to drag me on top of him. His mouth crushed to mine, and he kissed me until I was groaning against him, then he released me with a kiss on my nose.
"Hey, you," he murmured, his voice husky and his eyes sparking with heat. "Are you okay?"
I frowned. "Of course I am. Are you? On a scale of one to furious, how are you feeling about losing your house last night?"
"Are you kidding me?" he asked with a sharp laugh. "Fuck the house; all the important things survived."
I nodded my understanding. "Yeah, that was lucky getting all the cars out unscathed."
Zed gave me a flat glare. "You, Dare. You were the only important thing that was in that house."
"So, I guess that answered my question about whether the engagement announcement would bother Chase," Lucas mumbled, still half asleep.
Zed shot a grin at Lucas, then tipped my head back to kiss me again. "New plan," he murmured against my lips a moment later. "No more splitting up the team. Not ever."
I scoffed. "Like shit. I had that totally under control. Go debrief with Cass while ordering us room service; I want to sleep a little longer."
Zed kissed my hair, then wriggled out from under me, telling Cass to hurry up while Lucas drew me back into the warmth of his sleepy embrace. They left the bedroom door open halfway, so we could still hear the low hum of their voices out in the living room. I huffed a sigh.
"You want to sleep?" Lucas teased as I wriggled my ass against his hard morning dick. "Or sleepy fuck?"
Rolling my hips again, I gave a low chuckle. Someone had taken my jeans off while I slept, so I was just in panties. "What do you think?"
He groaned softly as he hooked his fingers under the elastic of my panties to tug them down. "You've got to be super quiet," he breathed against my ear, "or we'll have company. And I want you all to myself this morning."
A quiet gasp escaped me as his fingers danced over my clit, getting me warmed up. "Quiet," I agreed in a whisper. "Done."
My confidence was a touch ambitious, though, because I found myself biting the pillow to stifle my moans as he pushed into me from behind, his hand hitching my leg up to hook over his hip and give him better access.
"Shhh," he chuckled against my hair when I started grinding back against him, desperate for him to move. "Pretend we're asleep, babe. Just tell me before you come, okay?"
I swallowed back my moan and nodded instead, holding my breath as he slowly, torturously rocked into me. My eyes fell shut, my teeth sinking into my lower lip as I tried to keep up the illusion of sleep, but goddamn, Lucas didn't make it easy. When he dropped his hand down to rub my clit, a full body shudder rolled through me and my toes curled with the start of a climax.
"Lucas," I gasped, my hips pushing back on him with each thrust, "I'm so close."
"Shhhh," he whispered again. His other arm was under my pillow, and he raised it up to cover my mouth with his palm. "Come for me, babe, but stay quiet."
His thrusts increased intensity, his fingers teasing my clit as he gagged me with his huge palm. I exploded, thrashing and writhing as I came, my moans muffled by his hand. Then he rolled me onto my stomach and pounded me harder, making me come a second time before he found his own release.
"Subtle," Zed drawled from the doorway. "Real fucking subtle."
Lucas gave a relaxed laugh, and I just moaned, still trembling and clenching around his dick with aftershocks.
"Shut up, Zeddy Bear," Lucas panted. "Hayden needed that."
"Uh-huh, she needed it, did she? Room service should be here in ten minutes." He came around to the side of the bed and offered me his hand. "I'll help you clean up, seeing as we're all being so selfless this morning."
I laughed at that but took his hand and let him pull me out from under Lucas. He didn't even bother letting me walk, just hauled me straight out of bed and tossed me over his shoulder to carry to the shower.
My coffee and waffles were already getting cold by the time I wobbled out to the living room, wrapped up in just a hotel bathrobe.
Cass met me with a deep kiss and seated me in his lap, and I gulped half the coffee before starting on the food.
"I've got good news for you, Red," he murmured when the rumbles of my stomach were at least partially satisfied. "Everything is lined up for Friday night. We're solid."
I arched a brow at him, swallowing my mouthful of waffle and coffee. "You're sure?"
He inclined his head. "As sure as we're ever going to be. It's all in place. Last night was the missing piece of the puzzle."
I stared at him a long moment, letting that information sink in. Then I grinned and twisted on his lap to kiss him fully. Then that kiss turned into something a whole lot better, and I finished my breakfast while riding Cass's dick. Life just didn't get much better than that.
61
It wasn't until Monday that the fire department gave their final assessment on all the damage across our properties. Anarchy was salvageable; the individual fires hadn’t caught fast enough to burn everything down. My staff had used their brains, grabbing extinguishers to contain the worst of the blazes until help arrived.
The Copper Wolf office had come off the least damaged, the building's sprinkler system having kicked in fast enough to prevent any structural damage and stop the fires from spreading to other floors. It'd need to gut and freshly refit it, but all in all, not the worst.
The distillery and Zed's house, though, were another matter. Both were condemned by the fire department, and just a day after receiving the news, Zed had a demolition crew at his property to knock the whole thing down.
Better yet, he turned it into a publicity event and invited journalists to witness the wrecking ball smashing through the once rock-solid structure. With Hannah's help, it was spun into a front-page story, and I happily posed for "happy couple" shots with Zed as w
e bullshitted about our grand plans for a rebuild.
By the time Friday rolled around, I was starting to worry Chase wouldn't follow his predictable pattern. The article about Zed and I building our dream house had gone live this morning, though, so I was banking on that to draw the little one-eyed scorpion out of hiding.
Hannah had my afternoon booked solid with beauty appointments, but for once I actually enjoyed the pampering because Seph joined me for all of it.
"So, what now?" she asked, flicking through the rack of designer dresses that been delivered to my suite courtesy of Hannah. "Will you rebuild everything? Or just focus on Timber for a while?"
I sipped my Champagne and gave her a smile. "Since when did I admit defeat, brat? Hell no, I'll rebuild everything Chase has taken from me and then double it. This time next year, they may as well give me a key to the city."
She huffed a laugh, pulling out a Champagne-colored minidress embroidered with thousands of glass beads. "I'm going to try this one," she announced. "Cool?"
I nodded. "Not really my color, so go for it."
"Good point." She grabbed a second hanger off the rack. "This one has your name all over it, anyway." Holding it out to me, she grinned. "Thank you for inviting me tonight, by the way."
I smiled back at her. "For the opening night of the club literally named after our family in our father's old gang headquarters? I wouldn't dream of excluding you. Go try that dress on, and I'll see if Hannah sent shoes to match."
My little sister skipped off to the bathroom, and I checked my phone for the seven thousandth time that day. Nothing had changed, though, so I entertained myself by whipping my shirt off and sending a picture of my tits to the new group chat I'd started with the boys.
All three of their bubbles popped up as typing at the same time, and I chuckled, tossing my phone aside to try on the dress Seph had chosen for me. She was right; it was like it'd been made just for me.
"Ta-da!" My sister popped back out of the bathroom in the Champagne minidress looking like a damn supermodel, all long legs and pouty red lips. She looked like my polar opposite, even more so now that I wore a dramatic, sexy black evening gown with blood-red embroidery.
I grinned. "Which one of the boys is on Seph-duty tonight?" I asked, pitying the poor boy.
She scoffed. "Like they'd fucking notice. But all of them are coming, if that's okay? Rex said it'd be good to have extra eyes in the crowd."
"Fine by me." I shot a message to Hannah requesting shoes for the two dresses we'd chosen, then refilled both of our glasses with Champagne. "Did you tell them about Michigan?"
Seph shook her head. "Not yet. Rex knows, but he won't say anything. I just don't want to get too excited until it's actually real, you know?"
I nodded. "I know. Here." I handed her a glass of Champagne. "I want you to know, brat, that I love you. Things haven't been easy. I was a crappy guardian, but maybe now we can just go back to being sisters?"
Seph stared at me for a long moment, then wrinkled her nose. "Did you just display feelings? Ew, what the hell? Are you feeling okay? Oh my god, don't tell me you're pregnant! Ah, I fucking knew it; you ate so much fucking pie at Nadia's the other day!"
"Jesus fucking Christ," I muttered, gulping my entire glass of Champagne with one sip and leveling a hard glare at my sister. "You're an asshole, Nadia's pie is amazing, and sometimes a girl just wants pie without her hormones driving that need. Fuck me."
She screwed up her face, squinting. "Okay, but that's not a no. So, am I gonna be an aunty or—" Her teasing cut off with a yelp as I threw a pillow at her from the couch.
"No!" I shouted. "Most assuredly, unquestionably not pregnant!" Not for lack of sex, but thank fuck for contraceptives. I'd rather keep my sex life just as active as it currently was for as long as it could possibly last. Hopefully forever. I wanted to be gray and wrinkly with my tits swinging all over the place while those three men fucked all my holes at once. Hell yeah, that was my idea of a happily ever after.
Seph still snickered with laughter but let the matter drop as Hannah arrived with our shoes, and we finished getting ready for Timber's opening night.
Zed and Cass were waiting in the lobby for me when we got downstairs, and I spotted one of Rex's boys, Nix, lurking near the exit waiting for Seph. Those boys had impressed the hell out of me with their dedication to the job I'd assigned, and I was pleased to see a fresh Timberwolf tattoo on his forearm when he pushed his hair back from his face.
A limo took us over to Timber, but Zed and Cass had such a hard time keeping their hands off me on the way that Seph bolted the second we arrived. She yelled over her shoulder to us that she needed more alcohol to stomach all the PDA, then disappeared into the crowd with Nix trailing behind like a loyal bodyguard... or lovesick puppy. Unclear.
"Hades, sir," Bethany greeted me as we stepped into the lively, glittering club. Her smile was bright as she indicated for us to follow. "Right this way."
I knew where to go, but it was good practice for my hosts. So we didn't argue as Bethany led us through the partying crowd and over to our reserved table directly in front of the main stage of Timber. It was a semi-circle booth with a high back, offering the illusion that whoever was on stage was giving a private show just for whoever sat there.
The table was already laid out with an ice bucket and Champagne, but Zed ordered us cocktails as well. Bethany assured us that food would be brought over too, so there was no need for us to leave the table unless we wanted.
Ordinarily, when I visited my own clubs, I stuck to VIP lounges, not wanting to be amongst the guests. But tonight was different. Tonight, I wanted the full experience. We were already hours late, the opening party having started much earlier in the evening, but I was only there for two things.
Seph floated past our table, announcing that she was going to hang out with Rex's boys rather than sit with us, which was more than fine by me. Now I didn't need to feel weird about my uncontrollable urge to make out with both Zed and Cass constantly.
A waiter delivered a huge array of sample plates to our table—what looked to be one of every item on the menu—and a few minutes later the house lights dipped. Excitement lit me up inside, and I sat up straighter while the music shifted to something more dramatic.
A hush fell over the crowd, and with an explosion of glitter, our first dancers took to the stage. It was Sabine and one of the other girls from Club 22, and they were perfection. The whole room watched, entranced as they moved with the music, then made their way to secondary platforms, climbing the dance poles like they were made of air.
But I wasn't there to see them. I wasn't on the edge of my seat with anticipation for my employees. Nope, I was here for the main event.
My entire breath gusted from my lungs in a heavy sigh of relief when Lucas appeared on stage. I finally had to admit to myself how anxious I'd been to have him out of my sight all damn day, but there he was, all in one piece and dancing just for me.
His eyes locked with mine as he moved, and I wet my lips. Fucking hell... it was like sex on stage. Maybe I wasn't secure enough to have him take a regular shift.
"Sit back and watch the show, boss," Zed murmured in my ear, his teeth nipping my lobe teasingly.
I gave him a knowing look, but obligingly relaxed back into the relative privacy of our high-backed booth. His hand was already on my thigh, but as Cass tugged our table closer, Zed slipped his fingers under the slit of my skirt, finding my heated skin.
"Zed..." I murmured in warning, but he just nodded to the stage where Lucas was unbuttoning his shirt. All around us the screams of excited women filled the air, but his attention was entirely on me.
Zed's hand moved higher, finding my bare pussy, and paused. "Dare, did you forget your panties?"
I grinned. "This dress didn't lend itself to panty lines."
Cass chuckled. "I've heard that one before." His hand gathered up my skirt on the other side, drawing it up high enough that he could join the party under
the table. "Oh, Angel. You're drenched."
I sucked in a breath as his fingers sank into me, but I didn't stop him. Instead, I reached out for my drink and took a sip as Lucas eye-fucked me and Cass dragged my own wetness up to tease my clit. Zed wasn't going to be left out, though, his own fingers sliding up into my cunt.
"Oh fuck," I muttered with a laugh, realizing they actually intended to finger-fuck me together. Why was that so damn hot?
"Just sit back and watch the show, Angel," Cass ordered with a smirk. "Lucas has been practicing this just for you."
No way in hell was I arguing with that. I lifted my hips, silently asking for more, and locked eyes with Lucas once more. Goddamn, he could move. Throughout his set Cass and Zed took turns fucking me with their fingers and teasing my clit, then toward the end, when Lucas was down to his briefs, they both had their fingers in me at the same time. It was pure heaven, and I came hard, gasping and writhing on their hands while Lucas glared pure sex and covered his dick with a hat before whipping off his last garment.
Zed, ever the gentleman, cleaned me up with one of the linen napkins so I wouldn't have a wet patch on my silk dress for the rest of the night. Then Cass licked his fingers clean and almost made me come again. Fucking hell.
The lights came back up, signaling the end of the first show of the evening, and the volume of the crowd rose back to drunken-chatter level once more. As badly as I wanted to race backstage and jump on Lucas's dick, I checked the time instead.
An excited smile crossed my lips. "It's almost time," I murmured to my companions.
Cass grinned smugly. "I think he might be early," he murmured.
Sure enough, Bethany was heading our way with wide, excited eyes. "Boss, your guest has arrived," she told me with a grin. "He's being held at the door for you."
"Perfect, thank you, Bethany," I replied, standing and smoothing my dress back into place. Good thing it was black because even with that cleanup Zed had given me, I was still soaking.
Zed, Cass, and I made our way back out to the main entrance of the club, where multiple journalists still waited with their cameras at the ready to snap pictures of the rich and famous attending the grand opening.
