In the Beginning

by Marks, Teir

  “It’s alright, Beauty. Everything will be fine, and you’ll do great.”

  “I can’t believe that I was talked into this. It’s risky.”

  Grae turned her in his arms, and she looked up at him. “You’ll be okay. Just remember everything Ashton taught you and just be you.” He leaned in and kissed her. “Remember, I’ll be right there with you. Seeing everything you see.” He reminded her, tapping the necklace around her neck that had a camera and a microphone in it — courtesy of Sutton and Miles.

  “Okay. I can do this.”

  “That’s my girl,” Grae responded, winking at her.

  Maleiha rose up on her tiptoes. “One more.” She told him.

  He leaned down and allowed their lips to find each other again. The kiss was slow, and it calmed Maleiha down immensely. She could have gone on kissing him longer, but they were interrupted by Nyela.

  “We should get going.”

  Maleiha pulled away from Grae and nodded, making her way out of the hotel suite they had rented. It was two blocks away from the party that Brian was having.

  After Grae and Kylen had calmed down, which was the day after she and Nyela had gotten into their altercation, they had all sat down and listened to Nyela’s plan. It was relatively simple. The two of them would make their way into the party, and the first opportunity they got, they would sneak away and find any information on his other associates.

  The party was being held on the bottom floor of his office building, so they were hoping they could get something, anything. Otherwise, they were going into this, risking their lives for absolutely nothing.

  The hotel suite made sense. It would put the siblings in close proximity to the building if something went wrong. They could get there quickly.

  Maleiha made sure that she had everything she needed as she followed Nyela out of the door. If she were honest, she would say that the older woman was the last person she wanted to do this with. They hadn’t really spoken to each other since Nyela had attacked her.

  She didn’t entirely trust her. Anyone that could turn on her at the drop of a dime to prove a theoretical point to her was not someone to be trusted easily. The only reason she was going was because she was the only other one that could.

  Though Ashton had tried to come up with another solution and Treece had volunteered to go, it had been shot down. Nyela had reasoned that there was a high possibility they knew who Treece was as well. That gaining access would be easier if it were the two of them — two of the girlfriends.

  They made their way to the lobby and out of the front door, where they made their way to the parking lot. Both women slid into the SUV they would be taking. It was another precaution with its bullet-resistant glass and body.

  “Listen, Maleiha. When we get inside, you need to follow my lead. Try not to overthink anything or get too worked up. Don’t react to anything said. He’ll try to push our buttons to test us. Don’t give in.”

  “I know. Grae already went over all of that with me.”

  It was quiet for a minute until Nyela broke it again.

  “About attacking you the other day. I was trying to prove my point.”

  “That could have been done without you attacking me.”

  “I tried to talk to you about it. I gave you a hypothetical. You wouldn’t answer it.”

  Maleiha turned in the passenger seat to look at her. “So, the logical thing to do was to talk with your fists.” She stated sarcastically. “That makes so much sense.”

  “I’ve apologized for it. What more do you want me to do?”

  Maleiha lifted a brow, even though Nyela’s eyes were focused on the road. “You apologized when? I must not have been present when that took place.”

  “Just a moment ago.”

  She wanted to point out how that had not been an apology. She had merely stated the same nonsense about trying to prove her point as she had after they had fought. Instead of calling her on it, Maleiha turned forward in her seat again as they pulled up in front of the building. There were valets there.

  Maleiha got out of the car when one of them opened the door for her. She waited for Nyela to make her way around the vehicle.

  “Once we get in here, they’ll probably be all over us. Remember what Grae told you and stay alert.”

  Nodding her head, Maleiha took a deep breath as the two of them headed towards the entrance and inside.

  Nyela had been right. They had barely made it ten steps inside, and she could see what she could only assume to be bodyguards, approaching them.

  “Ladies. Follow me, please.”

  Though he had added please, Maleiha was well aware that it was not a request. They were expected to follow him. She felt Nyela take her hand and figured it was in an effort to make sure she stayed calm.

  They were brought to a sectioned off area of the lower floor. You could still see all the people in attendance at the party. However, it was private.

  The bodyguard that had led them turned, halting them while the other demanded they put their arms up, and he went about frisking them to make sure they weren’t carrying any weapons. Once he was satisfied, they were allowed inside. Brian sat in an armchair, eyes trained on them.

  He gestured for the two of them to sit, and she followed Nyela’s lead, sitting on the loveseat beside the chair he was in. Grae had told her, if at all possible, not to place her back to anyone. The loveseat was against a wall, so it was the perfect place for them to be. Considering they were in enemy territory.

  “You know, I could have had you both killed before you ever made it in the building.” He told them before taking a sip from the brown liquid in the glass tumbler he held.

  “You could have,” Nyela told him. “But, it isn’t us that you want dead.”

  “It doesn’t matter to me either way. Killing you would simply be collateral damage.”

  “Maybe, but then you’d lose the advantage we could give you.”

  “And what would that be?”

  “We have information that you could use to your advantage.”

  Brian stopped his glass as it made it halfway to his lips. “I was born during the day, but not yesterday. Why would I believe anything you had to say?”

  “Because we want out. We didn’t sign up for this.” Nyela told him as Maleiha continued to listen on.

  “Sure, you do,” Brian responded sarcastically.

  “We do.”

  “Why?”

  Nyela again took Maleiha’s hand and intertwined their fingers. “We fell in love.”

  Brian raised a brow at them, and Maleiha schooled herself to act normal. She was trying to control the tensing that wanted to take over her body.

  “Then leave.”

  “If you think they’re going to let us just leave, then you don’t know them at all.”

  “I don’t see what their objection would be to their women wanting to fuck each other,” Brian responded with a smirk before he took a sip from his glass.

  Maleiha knew he was trying to be deliberately crude to see if it would garner a reaction from one of them. She was determined not to give him one. She knew it would be easier for Nyela to brush off what he said because she did this quite often.

  “Again, you don’t know them as well as you think you do, if you believe they’d allow that. They’re possessive, to say the least.”

  It was quiet between them for a moment. The only sound being the moderate music playing throughout the room. Maleiha watched as Brian swiveled the little bit of liquor that remained in his cup around. It was only a few seconds before his eyes settled on her.

  “You’re too quiet,” Brian told her.

  “I don’t want to be here,” Maleiha responded.

  He leaned forward in his seat, quirking a brow. “Oh? And why is that?”

  “We’re putting ourselves in a tight spot.” She replied in a tone that told him it should have been obvious. He made a gesture for her to continue. “We walked right in here, knowing that you could
hold us here or kills us. We also run the risk of them finding out what we were up to tonight. We’re damned if we do and if we don’t.” She leaned into Nyela’s side. Trying to play the correct part as the older woman wrapped her arm around her. “So, again, I don’t want to be here.”

  She watched as he rubbed his chin before leveling them both with a look. “Prove it.”

  “Prove what?” Maleiha questioned.

  “Prove this “in love,” shit.”

  “Sure,” Nyela responded sarcastically. “Let me just fuck her on the couch for you.”

  “I’m not opposing it.”

  Maleiha’s nose twitched as she listened to them. He could not have been serious, though she didn’t have much time to dwell on it before she felt Nyela’s lips on hers. She had never kissed a girl before, had never gotten a little too drunk at a party and tried it out. So, this was foreign territory to her.

  However, she knew that she couldn’t mess this up when they had been able to get in, and at the moment, he didn’t seem intent on killing them.

  She began to kiss Nyela back, the entire time thinking of Grae. If she could convince her consciousness that it was her boyfriend she was kissing, everything would be fine.

  Maleiha felt the older woman’s hand on her knee as it slowly began to journey up to her thigh. Her other hand came up to cup Maleiha’s neck, and mildly she wondered just how many times Nyela had kissed another woman.

  Nyela pulled away, ending their kiss with a soft peck. Maleiha felt as if it was the perfect moment to try to find out some information. She cleared her throat and bit her bottom lip lightly.

  “Um…is there a bathroom around here?” She questioned.

  “What exactly for?” Brian inquired as if he knew why she was asking. Which admittedly, it was what she wanted him to think.

  So, putting on her acting hat, she looked down sheepishly and shifted in her seat. She hoped her small performance would be enough to get her out of the section.

  When she looked back at him, she saw him signal one of the bodyguards and telling her to follow him. She got up and followed him around a corner. She paid close attention to her surroundings. There was no elevator where the bathrooms were, but she did see a sign that indicated there were stairs. Now, all she had to do was get away from the bodyguard. Lucky for her, it wouldn’t be a problem.

  She wore a bracelet that Sutton had placed three unique pearls on. Inside of one contained a sleeping agent. When it was cracked, it would release and take effect almost immediately when it came into contact with skin. The second housed a USB to download whatever information was on any computer that she could find. The final one, which looked like two together, housed an earpiece so she could communicate with them back in the suite.

  Maleiha made her way into the bathroom. She had half expected him to follow but figured he hadn’t because they had patted them down. Still, she made her way into a stall in the event that he decided to stick his head in while she was getting the sleeping agent ready.

  She first went about taking the earbud out. She held it up to her necklace so that they could see she was about to put it in. Once it was in, she pulled out a clear adhesive pad they often used in medical school to close wounds that didn’t quite need stitches. She placed it on her hand before taking off the pearl with the sleeping agent in it.

  Making her way out of the bathroom, she found the bodyguard leaning against the wall across from her. She shifted her feet before looking up at him.

  “The toilet is overflowing.” She told him.

  He scowled at her. As if he was pissed that he had to deal with anything extra tonight, but moved to enter. She stepped aside, and once he was in, she grabbed onto his bicep with the sleeping agent. Sutton had been right. He’d had enough time to turn and look at her, and then he was hitting the ground.

  Maleiha quickly grabbed a paper towel and pulled the adhesive off, making sure not to touch it, flushing it down the toilet.

  “Good work, Beauty, but that was the easy part.” She heard Grae’s voice in her ear.

  Maleiha knew he was right.

  Grae sat on one arm of the couch in the suite living room. Like the others that were gathered there, he could hear everything that was being said in the vehicle, and it sounded like, despite whatever attempt to amend things Nyela was going for, his little beauty was not having it.

  He couldn’t say that he blamed her. He would be pissed too if it were him that had been in her situation. Hell, he wasn’t quite over the fact yet that his brother put his hands on his woman, and they were blood. So, forgiving someone that was barely an associate to you in the span of three days, was a lot to ask.

  Grae knew that he and Synn would get over it. They always did when they fought about something. He was more worried about Kylen and their older brother.

  It was apparent that if given a chance, Kylen would sleep Nyela. No fucks given and with no remorse. Grae knew that Synn could feel it too and was on guard in the event that the two of them had to throw hands with one another next.

  They had brought in some of Sutton’s large computer monitors that were the size of small televisions in suitcases, and she had been able to hack into the cameras housed at the building, though there weren’t a lot of them. They also had blueprints of the building. At least what the city had, but there was the possibility that rooms had been added on, and modifications had been done that had not been reported.

  When they pulled up in front of the building, Grae turned his attention to the screen. He’d told her that he would be with her every step of the way, and he had every intention of keeping his word.

  It had honestly taken a lot for him to be comfortable with her going with Nyela tonight. Though he still wasn’t one hundred percent sure he was. It had made sense, after all. The only logical person to go with her was Maleiha. While she didn’t have the experience, he and his siblings or Nyela had, she did have more than the other women and the plan Nyela had laid out before them, which was simple, would still require two people to execute.

  The thought of having Treece go with Nyela was one that had crossed Grae’s mind as well when Ashton brought it up. However, Nyela had pointed out that it would be unrealistic for them to think that Brian would believe she’d had a sudden change of heart after being loyal for so many years.

  The easier to believe would be that Maleiha and Nyela had both had a change of heart. Neither of them had been with Grae and Synn for an extensive amount of time. So, them changing their minds and wanting to get away from them was not a far stretch.

  This was putting her in danger, however, and he had been adamant about never putting her in that position when he could help it. This just happened to be one of those times where he couldn't.

  He listened to the conversation being had and was able to see Brian, courtesy of the microphone, camera combination in Maleiha’s necklace. Nyela had one as well, but the double feedback would have been too much, and Sutton decided she would only turn it on when the two women separated.

  When Nyela told Brian that they wanted out and Maleiha agreed with her, his eye twitched. He knew that she didn’t, but he could only image for a few seconds at that moment, her saying that to him and meaning it. Which was something he would never allow to happen.

  Though he was crazy, far more so than his siblings when you fucked with him the wrong way, he was a good man — a damn good one. He knew his little beauty thought so as well, saw something in him that made her want to stay with him. So, for that reason, he wouldn’t allow her to leave him.

  Grae found himself raising a brow when Brian told them to prove it, and he watched as Nyela, from what he could tell due to the placement of the necklace and now being able to see the older woman’s chest, begin to kiss Maleiha.

  “So, if you want an orgy…” Emery stated, letting the sentence trail off, and he snorted before rolling his eyes.

  Once they pulled apart, he listened as she told Brian she needed to go to the bathroom. This was it. Sh
e was taking her opportunity, and to be honest, Grae didn’t think she could have timed it any better than she had.

  His eyes were fixed to the screen that gave her necklace view. The other screen was blocked off into sections and housed images from the cameras equipped throughout the building. None of which were on the first floor.

  It felt as if the entire room went quiet as she showed them she was placing the earpiece in. Yet, no one spoke. Only when she had dosed the guard, and they all watched him hit the floor did it seem the atmosphere in the room went back to normal.

  “Good work, Beauty, but that was the easy part.” He spoke.

  “Unfortunately, I figured as much.” She responded.

  Grae watched as she headed towards the stairs, opening the door and heading up them. He made sure to keep a watch on the other screen as well. Just in case there were any bodyguards lingering on any of the upper levels that they had missed.

  “You remembered to be quiet on your feet. That’s good.” Ashton spoke.

  “I took my heels off.” She whispered to them as she made her way quickly to the door that would take her out to the second floor. She paused for a moment.

  “It’s clear,” Grae told her. “According to the blueprints, there should be at least four offices on that floor along with what looks like a conference room and two storage closets. You need to check all of them.”

  “Okay.”

  He watched as she made her way down the hall quickly to the first office. He knew that time was not on their side. It would only be another couple of minutes before Brian noticed that she and his bodyguard had not come back. She would have to work fast, though they had already anticipated him catching on to them and came up with a contingency plan. Maleiha just needed to get as much information as she could.

  “I’m in the first office. There’s a laptop on the desk.”

  There wasn’t a camera in that office, so he focused back on the view her necklace gave them, watching as she opened up the laptop.

  “It’s password protected.” She told them.

  “It’s f-fine. Just put the drive in.” Sutton responded even quieter than Maleiha’s whisper, and Grae wondered how that was possible.