02 Masked-New World

by Stalder, Janelle

  “Unfortunately,” he said, looking as unimpressed at the turn of events as she was. “Trust me, if it wasn’t important I would have just told him to sod off.” He took her in, his eyes betraying what he’d rather be doing. She shivered. Roman grabbed a towel from the rack, wrapping it around his waist, before grabbing the other one and holding it out for her.

  Bridgette stepped out, turning around so he could wrap the soft material around her shoulders. His hands rubbed at her arms as he buried his nose into her wet hair.

  “This isn’t over, Bridgette,” he said.

  Her name on his lips was like a shockwave to her nerves. She looked back at him, the intent in his eyes heating every sensitive spot on her body. “Say it again,” she whispered.

  He smiled a small, playful smile, before leaning in to nip at her bottom lip. “Bridgette,” he repeated. She returned his smile, a weight she hadn’t known she was carrying, suddenly lifted from her shoulders. It could mean a lot of trouble for her, but she was actually thankful he finally knew who she really was. She hated hiding and lying, and now she wouldn’t have to. At least not with him.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  Sometimes she felt completely useless. Missy stirred the stew she’d been slow-cooking since that morning. The others had gotten home not too long ago, and from what she’d overheard, things hadn’t gone as planned.

  At one point, she’d been out there with them, fighting the good fight. Now she was simply the girl that was left behind, and mothered them all when they got home from whatever new adventure they’d been out having. Her mind told her to toughen up and get back out there, but she always failed when it came time to put those thoughts into action.

  One of the men laughed loudly. Missy flinched. Men were her biggest issue and having this group here was doing a number on her nerves. She’d practically peed herself this morning waiting until she heard them all leave. She’d been so afraid of running into one of them out in the hall that she’d paced her room for almost an hour just to avoid it.

  “You’re pretty sad,” she said to her reflection in the large pot.

  “Who are you talking to?”

  Missy literally jumped, the spoon clattering to the floor. The bearded man with the tattoos watched her carefully as he stepped forward, bending down to retrieve the spoon. He held it out to her, but Missy couldn’t seem to find the strength to lift her arm and take it. She was frozen, just like she always was when one of them came too close. He gave her a confused look, before placing the spoon down on the counter. She took a step back, increasing the much needed space between them.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” he said, the musicality of his Scottish brogue washing over her.

  “I-I know,” she stuttered.

  He tilted his head, unconvinced. His tongue flicked out to lick his lips, her eyes riveted to the movement. “Do you need help in here?” he asked. Her eyes snapped back up to his.

  “N-n-no,” she replied. “I’m good.”

  “There you are, doll,” Phoenix said, entering the room in the way only Phoenix could. Her presence demanded attention wherever she went. It had been that way since they were kids. Phoenix had always been the louder, more outgoing of the two. Even before her incident, Missy had been quieter, less likely to draw attention to herself than her older sister. She was much better at fading in with the background.

  “What are you doing in here, tall, dark and tatted?” she asked, grabbing an apple out of the fruit bowl and biting into it with a loud crunch.

  The poor guy looked baffled for a moment. Missy knew it took most people a while to get used to her sister. This guy didn’t seem to know what to make of her. She would have laughed if she wasn’t having a minor panic attack at his nearness.

  “My name is Tyler,” he said.

  “I know,” Phoenix replied.

  They stared at each other in some sort of silent stand-off. He seemed to be the one to give up as he sighed and shook his head slightly. There was no controlling the things that came out of her sister’s mouth. It was smarter if people learned that from the get-go.

  “I just thought I’d offer my help,” he said, glancing back at Missy. “My parents owned a restaurant when I was younger. I’m pretty good in the kitchen.”

  “I bet,” Phoenix said, dryly. “My Missy girl here doesn’t need any help.”

  Missy swallowed awkwardly against the dryness in her mouth. She felt a pang of irritation that her sister was answering for her, but she knew Phoenix was only doing it out of protection. Her sister was well aware of Missy’s issues with men.

  They had another stare down. Missy looked back and forth between them, not sure what was being said – or not being said, as it would be. Tyler looked at her again, the clear green of his eyes sucking her in so she couldn’t look away until he did. She let out a breath of relief when he was facing Phoenix again. Her sister raised her eyebrows in a “what are you still doing here?” sort of way. Tyler didn’t say anything else as he turned and left the kitchen.

  Missy took in a deep breath.

  “You okay?” Phoenix asked, her expression serious now. She stepped in front of Missy, blocking her view of the doorway to the other room.

  Missy nodded, trying her best to form a genuine smile. “I’m fine,” she answered. “He just caught me off guard.”

  “Don’t worry, sis,” she said, patting her shoulder, “I’ll make sure they know to keep their distance.” Then she turned and walked back out, leaving Missy wondering why the thought of Phoenix telling Tyler to leave her alone didn’t make her as happy as it should.

  Phoenix caught up to him as they all made their way to bed. “Hey Scotty,” she called out.

  He stopped, turning to look at her with that blank expression he kept on his face. “It’s Tyler,” he said.

  “Whatever,” she said. “Listen, I want you to stay away from my sister. She doesn’t do well around men.”

  He frowned. “Why?”

  “That’s none of your business,” she snapped. “Just stay away from her.”

  He watched her for a second before nodding once and turning around to walk to the bedroom he shared with some of the other guys. Phoenix slumped back against the wall, one of her headaches brewing behind her eyes.

  “You look like crap,” came a voice.

  Phoenix stood up straighter, glaring at the speaker. “Yeah, well you look like an oversized Ken doll.” Shit, that was the lamest insult ever. And it also happened to be sort of true, except not in a bad way. Trent rolled his eyes at her. She doubted he even knew what a Ken doll was.

  “Right,” he said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” He walked past her, making sure to keep an arm’s length between them even though the hall was a tight squeeze as it was.

  Phoenix couldn’t help but watch his backside as he moved away from her. The man irritated her more than anyone else she’d ever met, but damn did he fill out a pair of jeans nicely. With a quick shake of her head, she turned and headed down to the kitchen to make sure Missy didn’t need help cleaning up.

  Roman waited outside while Bridgette changed. Not that he hadn’t already seen what there was to see, but mostly so he could have a few moments to gather his wits. He was still trying to come to terms with everything. As much as he wanted Bridgette, and he did – a lot, he knew there was no way he could get involved with her again, despite him saying it wasn’t over. It had to be over. He’d find a way to get her back to Lottey, safely away from the dangers surrounding them at headquarters. He already dragged one of the Hatcher girls into his life, there was no way he would corrupt another.

  Bridgette was just too good. She deserved better than this life, and he was going to do everything in his power to ensure that nothing happened to her. He shook his head. How had things become so complicated? He’d destroyed her home, killed her mother, and essentially kidnapped her sister. The truth about her mother alone would send her running from him in a heartbeat.

  A heav
y sense of regret settled on him. What would life have been like for him if he never agreed to join Ludwig’s movement? Could he have found someone like Bridgette and lived a normal happy life? It wasn’t something he’d really thought about before, but having had a small taste of what it would be like to be with Bridgette was sending his thoughts into complete chaos.

  The door opened and she stepped out, dressed just like Lottey. It was amazing to him that he hadn’t put two and two together from the beginning. Aside from their eyes, there wasn’t much similar about the two girls. Now he understood why she looked curvier lately. Bridgette was definitely shapelier, and she didn’t have that cocky, take no crap kind of manner as Charlotte did.

  They started down the hall in silence. He had no idea what she was thinking right now, and it was killing him. Did she regret it? Probably, he thought. Someone like Bridgette wouldn’t want anything to do with a man like him. It was better if he just gave her space and figured out how to get her out of here. It would be hard for him, because as much as he didn’t know Bridgette very well, he liked being around her. Her enthusiasm and happiness was something he didn’t get exposed to very often. It was addictive. Plus, when she was here with him, he knew she was safe. If he let her leave here, he wouldn’t know where she was or if she was okay.

  That’s not your problem, he reminded himself. If it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be in this situation to begin with. He had completely ruined the Hatcher family. No, he argued, their father had a lot to do with that, but that didn’t mean he was blameless.

  “Are you going to say anything to Ludwig?” she asked, her voice small.

  Roman looked over at her, itching to touch her in some way, but forcing his hands to stay by his side. “Of course not,” he replied. “We’ll deal with this, and then I’ll help you get back to your sister.”

  She looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise. “Really?”

  Roman nodded. “I’m not going to let you stay here and get into any more danger than you already have. This isn’t the place for you, Bridgette.”

  She looked down, a frown pulling her eyebrows together, a small line appearing between them. He wanted to kiss it away. Bridgette should never look sad or disappointed like she did then. He would not be responsible for taking away any of that light inside her. Why was she looking that way though? Didn’t she want to get back to her sister? He wasn’t sure why she was here, or where Lottey was, but he’d figure that all out once he dealt with the current situation Ludwig had called him about. This day had certainly gotten more interesting. Roman wondered if it would ever end. Most days were starting to feel that way.

  They entered Ludwig’s office. A group of people stood by the fireplace. Roman ignored the look Eve cast them, focusing on Ludwig’s approach.

  “There you two are,” he said, smiling. “Everything okay?”

  “Perfect,” he muttered.

  Ludwig walked past him to Bridgette, cupping her face in the familiar way he would Lottey. Roman stiffened, but Bridgette kept her composure.

  “And what about you, Di?” he said. “Eventful day?”

  Bridgette laughed wearily. “To say the least,” she said.

  Ludwig’s mouth pressed into a line like it always did when he was unhappy. He might have destroyed most of Europe, and killed millions, but Roman knew for a fact that the man genuinely cared for Lottey. “We’ll talk about it later,” he said softly.

  He turned to face the others just as Sal walked up to shake Roman’s hand. Apparently their arms dealers had arrived ahead of time. They were expecting it, just not today. Not when they had just dealt with an array of shit.

  “Roman,” he greeted.

  “Sal,” Roman replied, shaking his hand.

  “Dinah,” he said, turning to Bridgette. They shook hands, and once again Roman could feel every muscle in his body tense. A scumbag like Sal shouldn’t be touching a girl like her. It made Roman incredibly angry. Get a hold of yourself, he commanded. The last thing he needed was to out her in front of everyone.

  Sal stepped back, shoving his hands casually into his pockets. His black hair was gelled back off his face, his prominent nose crooked from an old break. His skin was dark from the sun, something they didn’t see much of here in New Berlin. Roman had never felt easy around the man, and now that Bridgette was there he felt downright hostile.

  “I hear ya been havin’ some trouble up here,” Sal said, smirking.

  “Minor issues,” Ludwig said, waving him off. “Nothing we can’t handle.”

  Sal didn’t look convinced. “These rebels just blew up your warehouse, Ludwig. I’d say that’s a bit more than a minor issue. Seems to me they’re gettin’ mighty ballsy.”

  “We’re handling it,” Roman said darkly.

  Sal laughed, splaying his hands in front of him. “Makes no difference to me, boys. These rebels keep blowin’ up your stuff, just means more business on my part. How much did yas lose today?”

  “We’re not sure yet,” Ludwig answered. Deep lines bracketed his mouth. He wasn’t happy. “Our clean-up crew is still working through the debris. Your newest shipment was in the basement, so it survived the fire.”

  Sal looked back at Eve who was pretending not listen. “Good thing for that. Can’t say I’d be too happy to arrive here and find out I was down a man.”

  “Our men also got out alive,” Roman said, “if you care to know.”

  Sal snickered. “Right,” he smirked. “Good to know.” He and Roman stared at each other for a tense moment before Sal looked back to Ludwig. Roman really didn’t like this guy. “When is the shipment going to be moved to another location so we can go over what I have?”

  “Tomorrow morning,” said Ludwig.

  Sal nodded. “Good. Then we’ll go get some rest, since we’ve had a long flight, and we can pick this up tomorrow.” He signalled to the others to follow him out, pausing at the door. “By the way, what news from across the ocean?”

  Roman saw out of the corner of his eye, Bridgette look between Sal and Ludwig in confusion. This was information she couldn’t know about. Other than dragging her out of the room suddenly, alerting the others that something was wrong, what could he really do? He tensed, waiting to see what might be said.

  Ludwig waved this off too. “All under control.”

  Sal grunted. “Warehouses blowing up, trucks hijacked…you seem to have everything under control,” he said challengingly.

  “I do,” Ludwig replied, his eyes hard. Sal stood there for another moment before nodding and walking out. As soon as he was gone, Roman let out a breath of relief.

  “He’s getting more annoying,” Ludwig said, walking over to sit behind his desk.

  “I believe his head is getting too big for his body,” Roman said dryly, taking one of the seats in front of him. Bridgette moved to take the other.

  “I’d say,” Ludwig remarked. “Unfortunately there aren’t very many weapons dealers out there with the supply he has.” He opened a drawer, taking out one of his cigars he reserved for abnormally stressful days. The smell permeated the air a second later. Roman loved the fragrance of cigars, but didn’t smoke them himself. They sat in silence as Ludwig puffed a few times, lost in his own thoughts, before he looked over at Bridgette.

  “Tell me what happened today,” he said.

  Bridgette fidgeted in her seat. “Well, I was watching Roman go inside the building, and then all of a sudden two people appeared behind me and tried to drag me back into the alley.”

  “This was before the van?” Ludwig asked.

  Bridgette nodded. This was the first Roman had heard of it.

  “Did they say anything?” Roman said.

  She shook her head. “No, just started pulling at me. I got free and started running back toward the building when I felt a prick in my arm. One of them shot me with a dart. The rest is a little fuzzy. I know I was thrown into a van because that’s where I was when I woke up.”

  “You couldn’t have been out long,
” Ludwig said, eyebrows pulled together. “Our men caught up to you not long after you were taken. I was told you were awake when they found you.”

  “I was,” she confirmed. “I woke up inside the van. I have no idea how long I was out. They seemed surprised that the drugs hadn’t knocked me out for longer. One of them said something about the injections, or treatments, something like that. Said that might be why the drugs were working out of my system quicker. I have no idea what they were talking about.”

  Ludwig sat back, a strange expression on his face. “Well that explains one thing,” he muttered.

  “What’s that?” Roman asked.

  “They were definitely Douglas Hatcher’s men.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “I just know,” he said in that voice that offered no further questions. “What else did they say?” he asked, looking to Bridgette.

  “They started arguing about what to do. I guess your – our – men caught up by then. One of the tires blew out, and then they decided to push me out of the van in hopes you wouldn’t follow them any more if they didn’t have me.”

  Ludwig snorted. “They’re idiots. One survived, but he’s been unconscious since he was brought in. Apparently the van rolled quite a few times.” He chuckled. “Idiots and poor drivers. Looks like Douglas needs to start finding better soldiers for his little army of misfits. I’ll question him in the morning. I think you both need to get to bed.”

  Bridgette nodded, getting up. Roman could see the fatigue in the set of her shoulders. All he wanted to do was walk her back to her room, but he knew that was a bad idea. If he got anywhere near her bedroom again, he probably wouldn’t be able to control himself. She needed rest.

  “Roman, you stay back for a minute, I need to talk to you privately,” Ludwig said.

  “Of course,” Roman said, relieved he had a reason to stay now. He had a gut feeling his restraint was going to be extremely weak when it came to Bridgette. Even though he had already been telling himself not to walk her back, his body was gearing up to do just that. What was she doing to him? Bridgette waved goodnight to them and left in silence.