“Will you be okay if I check what’s going on?”
My chest ached at the thought of being alone with my fear, but I tried to hide it. “Of course. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I will, though.” Henry’s gaze darted back to the party. “But I’m going to see what’s going on, just in case,” he said. “You might want to stay here.”
“Okay.”
He glanced meaningfully at a dark corner of the display where I could crouch behind an entombed sarcophagus and be hidden from anyone coming down the aisle. Then he strode toward the party.
I stepped out of my high heels and picked them up with trembling hands, creeping into the dark space. But as I crouched there, I soon felt like I had to know what was going on. I couldn’t gauge the threat from here.
And the same images kept playing in my mind, imagining Joseph attacking Liam and Henry. I kept thinking of the kind-eyed bodyguard who showed me photos of his kids, the one who had disappeared. I felt afraid for the two brothers. How much danger might they be in because of me?
On silent, bare feet I crept toward the party. My heart was hammering as I concealed myself to one side of the doorway, pressing against the wall.
Joseph’s controlled voice sent a shiver through my body. He sounded irritated, but still reasonable. “I’m looking for my wife.”
“Even if she did go missing, I assume your wife knows the way home,” Henry said. His voice was sharp, and I exhaled slowly, knowing how well Joseph would take that disrespect.
Liam sounded more conciliatory, covering for his brother, when he said, “We haven’t seen her. This is a private party—anyone who wasn’t a guest would stick out like a sore thumb. We’ve all known each other for years.”
“Fine.” Joseph sounded sulky. “We’ll just take a quick look around.”
We. He was traveling with some of his men. I could just imagine how quickly they could gun down everyone in this party.
“Why do you think the girl would be hiding from you?” Henry asked, his voice cold. “Did you hurt her?”
My breath froze in my chest. No, Henry. Don’t make him suspicious. Don’t provoke him.
“The whole thing is quite odd,” Liam agreed.
“She’s mentally ill,” Jacob said. He must’ve turned to his men, because the next thing he said was, “Spread out and search.”
“Weird,” Henry mused, and I could tell he was about to go on, but another voice joined the fray.
“You’re not going to continue to ruin my party, you simpleton,” the new man said. “It’s bad enough you forced your dull self into the lobby. You’re not spreading your gun-toting misery around the dance floor and the buffet. Now shoo.”
My heart was pounding as I heard footsteps come toward me, and I hastily ducked behind one of the exhibits, cursing myself for being so curious and getting so close. I just felt like I owed something to these men. If he pulled guns on them, if they were in danger of dying, I’d go out there myself rather than let this turn into a war that took their lives.
“Who’s this faggot?” he asked.
The man laughed incredulously. The next second, I heard Liam say ,”Let’s go, friend. We don’t take kindly to bigots here.”
The footsteps paused. The next thing I heard, a scuffle broke out. “Gun!” someone called, and despite my best intentions I was frozen.
I knew I should go out there, but I couldn’t move a muscle. I stayed still, every muscle taut, waiting for the gun to go off.
But it never did.
“You and your men can leave now. We’ll be keeping the guns,” Liam growled.
They disarmed my husband and his men? How is that possible?
“You don’t know who you’ve messed with!” My husband shouted, and there was a combination of shock and fear in his voice.
I’ve never heard fear in his voice.
“You don’t know who you’ve messed with,” Liam said, his soft voice more powerful than my husband’s enraged screams.
After a few minutes, the sounds of the music and the party returned. I waited, breathing hard, listening for any sound of my husband or his men. Or the sound of fighting. But it was as if he had never interrupted the party at all.
I pressed my hand to my chest, covering my pounding heart that galloped so fast it ached in my chest. Were they really gone? But surely, they’d be suspicious now, thinking that these men had protected me. At least some of them would wait outside, looking for me. Maybe they’d come back.
But how had these men so easily overwhelmed my husband and his guys who intimidated everyone?
Footsteps coming down the hall made me tense all over again, in case I’d misunderstood what I’d overheard.
I ducked my head despite myself, until I felt a man looming over me. I finally dared to turn my face up.
Liam offered me a hand. His face was kind, and behind him stood Henry and another man, who was as beautiful as they were.
“Care to explain what that was all about?” Henry demanded, the smallest edge to his question.
“Henry,” Liam chided.
The third man swept toward me, his eyes cataloguing my bruises. He was tall and lean, full of grace, and carried himself lightly. “Did you really not notice the girl was in trouble, Liam? You’re as observant as a child.”
I didn’t realize I was shaking until I saw the way he was watching me carefully.
“I had a feeling, Micah,” Liam said patiently. “But I was waiting for her to tell me what her story was. Or not. I’m not going to wade into her troubles and make them worse.”
“Great plan,” the man, who was apparently named Micah, said. “Except that it turned out her troubles were more of a flash flood, and they came to find us. Do you know who that was? Any ideas?”
My eyes went wide. They knew who Joseph was. That meant surely they’d recognize they had the chance to do him a favor…or simply how much danger they were in, for protecting me.
Liam snorted. “Yes, I recognize him from the society pages. And I bet I’d recognize her…” He made eye contact with me, as much as anyone could through the mask. His voice was kind when he said, “Could you take that off, sweetheart? It’s extremely distracting talking about weighty matters with someone wearing a wolf mask.”
I nodded, but my hands were still shaky and it took me a few tries to finally get the mask off. The three of them were all regarding me skeptically when I finally got the mask off.
Their faces changed as they took mine in, and I wondered what they were seeing; the yellowing bruise that marred my cheekbone—he’d hated that one, he didn’t like for my face to be damaged but he’d slammed my head into the coffee table in a fit of fury—or my wide eyes.
“She wasn’t really your date,” Henry said to Liam flatly. “But why did you play along?”
“I thought she was one of Micah’s…”
Micah rolled his eyes. “Please. You know I hardly ever take on a protégé.” He glanced over at Liam, clearly still offended by his choice of attire. “And anyone who listened to me would be properly costumed.”
I glanced between them all, not fully understanding the conversation and feeling as if my life depended on it.
A beautiful woman stood in the doorway, and every gaze went to her.
“Did you foolish boys bring a mortal in here?” she asked, a laugh in her voice.
What did that mean? I had no idea. But given the way most women in high society acted toward me when they didn’t know who I belonged to, it was probably a dig of some sort.
Because there was no mistaking the nasty edge in her voice.
Four
“Deal with your first—and worst—protégé please,” Liam told Micah, fluttering his hands at him.
Micah stared at him coldly, then walked toward her, extending his arms. “Victoria! Lovely to see you! I wondered when you would turn up.”
“You’re right, I should’ve been on time. Look at all the trouble you get yourself into when I’
m not around.” Her voice was teasing, but she was still staring at me in a way that sent tension creeping up my spine.
“You can’t be here,” Liam said to me kindly, softly. I stared between him and Henry, my mind reeling as I tried to figure out my next step. I’d planned to hide here for a bit and work out the next step in my plan. But I felt more lost and confused now than I had been before.
“We’re not throwing you out on the street. We would never do that to you.” Henry assured me gruffly. “I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”
I shook my head. They weren’t afraid of my husband, they’d thrown him out of the party. They must be even more powerful, more dangerous, than he was. And yet, they didn’t seem to be. Had they just gotten lucky? “I can’t… I can’t take advantage of your hospitality. I’ll be fine on my own.”
“Bullshit,” Henry rumbled.
“Henry,” Liam said, his voice scolding. He looked at me in such a kind, calm way that it almost made me want to cry. But I couldn’t let myself fall apart. “Really, we don’t mind. Where do you want us to take you?”
I thought of the guard who died because he helped me. I looked at these men, who pulled at my heart for reasons I didn’t understand. And then I thought about the way they didn’t seem to realize just how dark our world was. Whoever they were, they didn’t need to learn about that darkness because of me.
“Wherever I go, I need to be alone,” I said firmly.’
“This is insane!” Henry said. “Just because you can’t stay here doesn’t mean… damn it.”
“We need to help her how she’s willing to let us help her.” Liam told his brother.
“Or we deal with it.” There was a threatening edge to Henry’s words that I didn’t understand, but it made me shrink back a little.
Liam sighed and shot his brother a look. “Listen, Alexandra, you can take my car. I can locate it remotely, so take it as far as you need to. When you get where you’re going, just leave it behind. When it’s sat for twenty-four-hours, I’ll go get it.”
My lips parted. “You can’t do that…”
“I can do what I want,” he said with a smile. “It’s my car. It’s not even my favorite.”
“You’ll die if you don’t, won’t you?” Henry asked bluntly. “You don’t have a choice… unless you want us to really get involved.”
“Henry,” Liam said.
“You can use that chiding tone of voice all you want, brother, but it’s true. She might as well get comfortable with reality.”
“Believe me, I’m more aware of reality than I’d like,” I said crisply, and Liam hid a smile. Henry brought out something sharp and fierce in me, something I hadn’t even felt in a long time.
“Take the damned car,” Henry said. “The windows are tinted. No one will be able to see it’s you inside.” He hesitated, then added, “Then you never have to talk to us again if you don’t want to.”
Something about the thought of never seeing them again made my heart lurch in a strange way.
Henry was right. I really didn’t have any other way to get out of this building. Joseph’s men would be waiting for me outside.
“Take this, too,” Liam said, holding out his cell phone. “Henry’s number is in there if you need us. Micah’s, too.”
I was about to protest, but he added, “You can just leave it in the car.”
“Why are you being so nice to me?” I asked. It felt warm and comforting and at the same time, dangerous and terrifying. I didn’t trust it.
The two of them exchanged a glance.
“People usually don’t say we’re nice,” Henry said with a laugh.
“And Joseph won’t think we’re nice if he comes back here,” Liam said grimly.
The two of them rode the elevator downstairs with me, changing elevators carefully at the lobby, then riding the rest of the way down to the garage. When the doors opened on the dark cement landscape, anxiety tightened my chest. I looked up at Liam, half expecting some trick, and he gave me an encouraging smile.
The three of us went along the rows of cars until we reached a sleek black sports car. Liam dropped his cell phone and the key fob into the cup holder in the console, then straightened, holding the door open for me. “Are you sure you’ve got somewhere to go?”
I nodded. “My grandmother’s house in the country. She passed a few years ago but my sister never sold the house.”
I stopped, biting my lip. That was supposed to be my secret. I didn’t know why these men made me feel so loose-lipped. I knew my sister wasn’t exactly rich and the money could help, but she hadn’t sold the rundown cottage because she wanted to leave me someplace to run to. I had no connection with the house; my grandmother hadn’t been able to take us both in when our parents lost custody. Joseph didn’t know it existed.
I wanted to talk to her so badly, but I didn’t dare. If I called her, she’d be in danger.
I hoped he’d leave her alone. I’d pretended to hate her for the past five years. It was better to lose my sister than to give him leverage to hurt her, just so he could hurt me.
“Good luck, Alexandra,” Liam said.
I hesitated, half in and half out of the car. He knew that wasn’t really my name; my fairy tale wedding story had been in the society papers years ago. But it seemed like he was trying to give me space, to let me feel safe, when he used the false name I’d given him. Just as he’d done all night. I’d never thought a man could be so kind without expecting anything in return.
“My name is Allie Cooper,” I told him, using my maiden name.
Maybe I wasn’t exactly Allie Cooper anymore, but I was going to find my way to become her again.
“Good luck, Allie,” he said.
I got into the driver’s seat. He hesitated, as if he wanted to remind me again that I could call if I needed them. Instead, he just closed my door behind me.
When I pulled carefully out of the parking space and drove through the garage, they stood behind me, watching.
I left the garage and turned onto a quiet, empty city street.
I didn’t breathe until I reached the highway.
Five
I drove all night to reach the town where my grandmother’s house was. Tomorrow, I’d drive the car out somewhere and abandon it; I shouldn’t let Henry and Liam know where I lived, and yet I felt like it didn’t matter that much if they did. For some reason, I trusted them.
Her house was deep in the boondocks. I passed empty, sloping fields where the cows and horses were all tucked into the barns for the night, then turned down a long gravel country road. Her house was narrow, the white paint peeling off the weathered woods in strips. But when I walked across the front porch, the wood felt solid under my feet. I let out a sigh of relief. Something about the house’s frame being strong, no matter how tattered it all looked, made me feel as if I might be safe here.
I tried the front door, but of course it was locked. I rang the doorbell, in case my sister hadn’t been able to leave the house empty for me like she’d promised. But no one came, and my heart sang with hope.
“You keep telling me you’re happy,” she’d whispered that last time on the phone. I’d lied to protect her; I’d always do whatever it took to protect my little sister. “Well I don’t know about that, Allie. But if you ever decide you’re not happy… the house will be there.”
My feet shuffled over wet leaves and thick, yellowing grass as I went around the side and into the backyard. In the shed, I searched for the key that my sister had said she left here. I felt like there were cobwebs in my hair—maybe even an entire spider—and that made me want to cry, as if spiders were the little thing that would break me after all this time.
I found the key under a dirt-caked terra cotta pot, just as my sister had promised.
I let myself into the house. The air smelled musty and warm, but I didn’t want to leave any windows open.
The old wood floors creaked and groaned with every footstep, and I paused. If the wh
ole house was this squeaky, it would be hard to hide, but easy to hear someone coming.
A creepy feeling ran up my spine like a fingernail. It felt as if someone was watching me. The cool night air caressed my face as I barely dared to breathe.
I found the lock, then flipped it with a decisive click.
“Probably your imagination, looney tunes,” I muttered to myself.
I turned to face the dark foyer of the house. She had said it was still furnished, and furnished it certainly was. Even the foyer itself was crowded with furniture. There was a grandfather’s clock across from me, although its pendulum was still. Twin foyer tables were to either side, stacked with stuff, and there was a corner bookshelf jammed tight with paperbacks. Gilt mirrors above the tables reflected my face back—wide-eyed and pale and tired, with my chestnut brown hair stringy around my shoulders. My fancy gown looked like a mockery now.
“You look like shit, girl,” I told myself. It didn’t cheer me up, particularly.
Tomorrow I’d start to figure out my new life. For now, I felt even worse than I looked. I did a quick circuit through the first floor—not that a killer hiding in wait would be able to reach me without knocking something over in this insanely crowded house—then paused in the kitchen. I pulled open the cabinets and found an old can of soup. It took me so long to find a can opener in the drawers that I almost despaired, but then I found it when I went back through the junk drawer, picking through batteries that bled dusty acid and old rubber bands and dried-up pens. I ate the soup standing up over the sink.
When I headed up the stairs, the wooden steps squealed just as much as I’d thought.
I checked the bedrooms—the whole house smelled musty, as if it had been closed up too long—and then went into what must have been a guest bedroom. There was one queen-sized bed with two nightstands, and an empty closet. My lips quirked ruefully looking around. I wished I’d grown up here, that my grandmother had been able to raise us both despite her own struggles. Maybe with a different stat, my life would have spun in a whole different direction.
Wicked Souls: A Limited Edition Reverse Harem Romance Collection Page 17
