Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

“Say that again.”

I couldn’t stop the anger from bathing my question.

“The BMW’s burned,” Jack told me. “It’s in the employee lot at the Boulevard.”

I didn’t give a fuck about the car or what Joan or Tyree were going to say about Jack needing a new one.

No.

I cared that Atlee had been in danger and instead of calling me, Jack had called Rhode.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

Jack eyed me like I’d gone insane.

“I needed Rhode to run the plate and your woman handled the rest.”

My woman.

I was beyond arguing the point she wasn’t my anything.

Not only because that wasn’t the actual point of the conversation but it was becoming glaringly obvious she was just that—mine.

Speaking of my woman…

Atlee pranced out of my bedroom and smiled at Jack.

“I’m ready when you are,” she chirped like she hadn’t been involved in a car chase.

“I think you need to calm the beast before I take you to work,” Jack rightly noted. “I’ll just be in my room. Shout when you’re ready.”

Atlee looked at me and frowned.

Jack gets the smile.

I get scowled at.

What the fuck?

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Come here, princess.”

The frown was still firmly in place when she walked into the kitchen and stopped in front of me. I hooked her around the back of her neck and her hands went to my chest as I yanked her forward.

“You okay?”

She blinked at my question and for the second time in as many minutes I was looked at like I was the idiot in the room.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Someone was following you.”

“They could’ve been following Jack and I just so happened to be in the car.”

I closed my eyes and prayed for patience. When that didn’t work I thought about Atlee’s breathy moans from that morning. Unfortunately that only served as a reminder that I liked hearing those moans and today someone had put her in harm’s way.

“Wilson, honey, I’m fine. Jack’s fine. We were followed but never in any real danger.”

Christ.

I would kill to hear her call me honey in that sweet voice of hers for the rest of my life.

This shit was getting out of control.

My eyes came open.

Hers bore into mine with concern.

“You need to take this seriously.”

Her hands on my chest flexed.

“I am.”

“Today, I need you checking in with me. And you need to text Jack when you’re moving around the hotel.”

I watched her jaw clench. She looked like she was ready to argue. But as fast as she’d stiffened she relaxed and nodded.

“Okay, Wilson, I’ll check in.” Then she shocked the hell out of me and kissed my cheek. “Whatever you need.”

That was a dangerous offer.

“Whatever I need?” I growled.

“Yes, as long as it doesn’t have to do with me calling in sick, quitting my job, or anything of the kind.”

Smart woman to add stipulations though she’d imposed the wrong ones.

“I need you in my bed.”

“I’ve already agreed to that.”

She hadn’t so much agreed as she’d given in and only with a time restriction.

“I need you to never tell me no.”

Atlee tipped her head and stared at me in confusion.

Just last night I practically begged her to say no, now I was sabotaging my efforts.

“Okay, I won’t tell you no.”

“Even if I push you to say it.”

Something flashed in her eyes but she blinked it away.

“Even if you push me to say it I won’t tell you no.”

The knot in my chest loosened but guilt roiled in my gut.

I shouldn’t be demanding promises. But the fuck of it was I couldn’t stop myself.

“I need you to be safe,” I continued.

Atlee nodded.

“Watch who’s around you.”

She nodded again.

“If anything feels off for any reason, hit your panic button.”

“I will.”

Fucking hell, I was letting her go back into the snake pit hoping whoever was following her didn’t try to snatch her from the hotel.

“I don’t like this, princess.”

“I know you don’t. But I need you to trust me. I’m not stupid, I’m taking this seriously and I’ll be careful. I have to go say goodbye to a client. She’s checking out today and last night I cut my visit short since some control freak demanded my presence.”

She smiled to take the bite out of her words.

“Don’t pretend you don’t love the control freak.”

No sooner did the words leave my mouth than we both froze.

Jesus… fucking… hell, did I seriously just say that?

Atlee came unstuck first by patting my chest.

“You keep telling yourself that, big guy. But no woman loves a control freak.”

I dropped my mouth to her ear, felt her shiver from nothing but my breath fanning over her skin.

“Liar,” I whispered and sank my teeth into the sensitive flesh below her ear. I released my bite but not before she tilted her head and groaned.

Her phone rang, ending the moment.

“I have to get to work.”

“Kiss first.”

Atlee’s hands glided up to my neck, then a little higher until she cupped my jaw and pulled my head down. Her lips brushed mine, then her tongue traced the same path. I didn’t move, couldn’t move. I was rooted in place while Atlee controlled the slow kiss. I couldn’t remember a woman ever kissing me so reverently.

She ended the kiss with a press of her lips to the corner of my mouth and a smile.

“I wasn’t lying,” she murmured against my lips. “I love when his control snaps. I see the real him. I love when the raw, unrestrained power is unleashed. That’s what I crave, Wilson, the real you when you’re not fighting to keep yourself in check. That’s what I love.”

Christ.

This woman.

With that successful arrow to my chest, she gave me a shove.

“Time for work, big guy.”

It was on the tip of my tongue to remind her to be safe when she beat me to it.

“I’ll check in, call Jack when I’m on the move, and watch for creepy sex traffickers. Anything else?”

Yes. Come home to me.

I managed to keep my comment to myself.

“Panic button if you get a bad feeling.”

“Got it.” She nodded.

She was back to sassy and cute.

“Jack!” I bellowed.

“Ready?” Jack’s response came quick.

Atlee studied me.

“Is that all it takes? You shout and people jump to do your bidding?”

“Pretty much,” I returned.

“Poor Wilson.” She mock frowned. “All control, no challenge.”

I couldn’t stop from smiling at her fake concern.

“You up to the task of challenging my control?”

Atlee fought back a grin.

“Thought I already did that.”

She wasn’t wrong.

“You know I’m standing right here listening, right?” Jack grumbled.

I dropped a kiss to her lips and commanded, “Go to work, princess.”

When I turned to look at Jack he was staring at me with a smile.

* * *

“It tooksome digging but I found it.” I watched the screen as Rhode shuffled some papers around his desk. “Langford, Inc. is a subsidiary of Timber Ridge Properties. Timber Ridge’s parent company is The Ozark Corporation, which is owned by LWE.”

LWE.

Didn’t take a genius to figure out Louis and Will Evans owned LWE.

“So it was Louis who was following Atlee.”

Rhode nodded but remained quiet.

“What’s your take?” I asked. “Is Louis trying to bypass the auction by snatching Atlee or is he scouting for Martin?”

My friend’s expression turned menacing.

“I reached out to Shep, asked him to see what he could find on Louis’s activities in the last twenty-four hours. He was able to trace some searches on Atlee back to LWE offices.”

Fucking hell.

“What kind of searches?”

“Job history. Family. General background.”

“He wants to know who will come looking for her if she disappears.”

Again Rhode nodded but didn’t comment.

I fucked up.

I should’ve anticipated this and had Shep build a cover for Atlee, giving her lots of siblings, community ties, and parents who were overly involved in her life. It would’ve made Louis think twice about taking her. Instead I was too busy playing grab ass and selfishly working through my issues with Atlee.

Another failure.

“He’s not getting his fucking hands on her, Rhode.”

“She’s got you and Jack there and we have the upper hand. We’re coming at this from a place of knowledge.”

“Thanks for the call and good work.”

My finger hovered over the touchpad of my laptop, getting ready to disconnect the video call when Rhode said, “Your priorities have shifted.”

A chill seeped in.

I seemed to remember saying something similar to Rhode when he found Brooklyn and her life was in danger.

“Rhode—”

“It’s time, Wilson,” he grunted. “Well past time. You’re the first one in the office, the last to leave, the one who has our backs, always has wisdom to share. Yet you stand removed and drown yourself in work. What happened to your wife was a fucked-up tragedy, but it wasn’t your fault. You didn’t have the tools to help her because no one told you. How were you supposed to know something was wrong when everyone including her was hiding she was sick?”

I was always alone. You left me and didn’t see it.

“I knew something was wrong,” I snarled the truth. “I fucking knew and I still left her alone.”

I tried to be the wife you wanted. I tried to give you the life you deserve but I couldn’t. I’m tired, Wilson. I’m tired of pretending I’m good enough for you. Maybe if you’d left the military after we lost the first baby. Maybe if I’d had more of you I wouldn’t be so tired.

“Wilson—”

“For years we tried to start a family. Years of disappointment made harder because I was gone all the time. Hard to knock up your wife and give her what she wanted most when you put your service before her. Hard to help your wife deal with the aftermath of miscarriage after miscarriage when you’re doing workups and training. I didn’t miss shit, Rhode. I saw the sadness, the grief, the devastation. I chose to ignore it.”

“Bullshit!” Rhode matched my tone. “I don’t believe for a second you didn’t ignore her pain.”

You moved on with your life and left me to mourn our losses by myself.

“I buried my pain in work and left her to hers.”

My chest felt tight, old scars tearing open, reminding me I had no business falling in love with Atlee. My love came with a price—the cost too steep for my beautiful Atlee to pay.

“I have to go.”

I ended the video and opened my private email account I only used to contact Shepherd Drexel. I shot off a short email forgoing the normal finesse required to get the man to call me.

Shep was the best but he was about the drama and hoops he made you jump through before he’d deem a call worthy of his time and skills.

I leaned back in the sofa and scrubbed my hands over my face.

Fuck.

I’d fucked up huge.

Barb’s soft blue eyes invaded my mind. The way she looked at me like I had all the answers. The misplaced trust. Blue morphed into brown. The same trust. But behind Atlee’s gaze was a fiery attitude.

Different women.

Night and day.

But the same misguided faith.

My phone clattering on the coffee table pulled me from my fucked-up comparison.

I set my laptop on the cushion next to me and snatched up my phone.

Blocked caller.

“Shep,” I answered.

“Got your message, what do you need?” He shockingly cut to the reason for the call.

“I want LWE bankrupt by the end of the day.”

“Done. Anything else?”

“I want Louis Evans on the no-fly list. If he’s got access to private jets I want them grounded for maintenance. All of his private assets seized.”

I heard what sounded like hands rubbing together.

“My day just got brighter.”

And he just got richer. Shep would take the assets, keep his share, then line the pockets of charities he thought worthy.

“I want Louis Evans hamstrung. Put the word out he’s a rat and talking to the CIA about his connections.”

“That will take me a day or two to lay a trail.”

“Make it a day, Shep. I want this asshole’s head out for bounty and I need that done before he thinks to fuck with my woman again.”

“Be easier to take him out yourself.”

He wasn’t wrong—a bullet would be easier. But in Vegas with all the cameras it wouldn’t be smart. There was only so much Shep and Rhode could do.

“That option’s on the table but last resort.”

“Vegas sucks,” he grumbled.

“Enjoy your day, Shepherd, and thanks.”

“Nothing more enjoyable than dismantling a piece of shit’s life.”

The line went dead and I tossed my phone back on the table.

Even if you push me to say it I won’t tell you no.

What the fuck had I done?