Chapter 19

NINETEEN

ARIANNA

I get everything I want. It’s that simple.

So why don’t I want it anymore?

“Just drop me off here. I can wait for Leo.” Blinking rapidly, I smile at my husband.

His blue eyes harden to crystals for a moment. “Empress…I’m not sure how I feel about this. You’ve been spending more time shopping alone, and it doesn’t sit right with me that you’re going in there without security.”

Crawling my fingers up his ripped, tattooed arm, I tilt my head. “I love you. I love that you care for me and want me to be safe. It’ll just be a minute before he gets here.”

“No, vix. You’ll stay in this car until he gets here.” Wyatt’s forceful voice breaks through my moment with my husband. His tone has taken on the same as it did when he found out I was marrying Asa. Gruff, angry almost.

I don’t like it. So I ignore it.

Moving my eyes off Wyatt’s scrunched face to my husband’s, I ask quietly, “King, what is your command? What do you want me to do?”

Asa places his lips against my forehead and my body heats with his affection. His fingers stroke back some of my hair that’s escaped in front of my shoulder. I love him.

“Please, baby. Just wait a minute— Oh! Here he is already!” His face lights up so brightly when he smiles, and I want that expression to live there. I want to make him happy.

But Asa’s so innocent and doesn’t understand what’s happening. And maybe I don’t, either.

But I feel like we’re being played.

I just haven’t figured out the game yet.

So, I stay silent. Waiting for my opportunity to strike. And when I do…

It’s game over.

Maybe it was my brother’s stern reaction and how much it hurt me. But it let me know who I am now. I’m a wolf. Not just a bear. And not only will I protect what’s mine…

I’ll attack. Hunt down whoever threatens us. Stalk them and prey on them until they are no longer.

Figuring out exactly who they are is the question.

Leo opens my door for me, and I give Asa a quick kiss on the cheek, but he grabs my hand and snags my cheeks between his fingers. “Hey, be careful. Please.”

Wyatt rubs my arm from the backseat and kisses my shoulder. I let him, though I have to suppress a shiver of dissatisfaction.

“I will be,” I tell them both. “Love you!” I call it out like it doesn’t mean much to me, like I could take them or leave them. But that’s just not true.

The morning sickness isn’t just because of Asa’s baby inside me, it’s also because I’m nervous. I don’t like this. Something is wrong.

I just wish I knew what it was.

“Ready, Mrs. Donovan?” Leo is annoying, but at least he’s quiet.

“Yes, thank you.” Being the dutiful wife, I place my hand in his and let him help me alight from the high running board.

We head inside the first boutique, and Leo follows me behind my right shoulder. My fingers trail over the fabric of every item I pass as I pretend to look at various pregnancy outfits for the third trimester.

I remember in school, Mona Lee Chatterly fell in love with me. Or was just obsessed with me. I was nice to her once and loaned her my sparkly heart pen, and from then on, she clung to me wherever I went.

It was rather embarrassing because I was trying to impress Kimmie that year. And every time Mona would sneak up behind me with her plaid skirt way too long and her shirt tail untucked, her thick glasses making her eyes seem way too big, Kimmie would sneer at me and walk away.

So, what did I do?

Did I tell Kimmie to fuck off and accept poor Mona for who she was?

Of course not. I was in seventh grade and lacking in true friendships. I needed Kimmie to deem me with her attention. So, I wandered to our overly flirtatious history teacher and asked him if he would separate me and Mona because she was making me feel uncomfortable. That I was afraid for my life. That I thought Mona was dangerous. But she wasn’t.

I was.

“Excuse me a minute. Just going to try this on,” I tell Leo, who still tries to follow me into the dressing room. “Um, I don’t feel comfortable with you there.”

“Mrs…” Leo gives me a warning nod, but he takes a deep breath and stands close to the entrance of the little rooms in the back. “Fine. I’ll wait right here for you. But you have five minutes only.”

The attendant seems to notice as I shirk back from him and let my shoulders slump. A defeated, battered woman. She approaches us slowly.

“Can I help you with anything, miss?”

“Yes, please, I’d like to try this on.” Darting a shifty glance to my guard, I lower my voice. “But I’m only allowed five minutes.”

The woman’s eyes scan Leo’s big frame and, if her gaze was filled with daggers, he’d be dead.

“Let me help you. Come with me.” Once we bustle to the back, she lowers her voice. “Are you in danger in any way?”

I muster up pregnancy tears, nodding as I bite my bottom lip. Whispering, I ask, “Can you help me get out of here?”

Tossing her arm around me in womanly solidarity, she pulls me to a back door. “Yes, I can. D-do you want me to call someone for you? The police?”

“No! Not the police.” Oh, god. If Strauss’s men show up, it would be over for me. “I just need to evade him for a while and call a friend to get me.”

She pushes on the metal bar and the afternoon’s summer sun streams in. It’s warm when I step out behind the row of shops in a small alley. “Good luck. If you need anything, come back and knock.”

“Thank you. You saved me!” And she did, in a way.

As I hurry along toward the end of the long row of interconnected brick buildings, I pull out my phone to alert my ride. A large dumpster will provide the perfect cover for me as I make the call, so if Leo steps out, he won’t see me.

Just as I round the corner of it, I freeze. A woman who could only be described as a blonde Viking stands in a long red satin dress and a string of high pearls that collar her neck. Her hair is coiffed into an elegant French twist, perfect makeup adorning her face. Standing maybe six feet tall, the woman teeters above my shorter frame. She’s mesmerizing. But her expression is unsettling.

Stoic, unafraid, and devoid of human emotion.

As she spots me, her hand comes from around her back and holds up a tiny silver pistol. “Mrs. Arianna Donovan. You’re coming with me.” Her voice rings out in a reverberating sound that echoes off the walls surrounding us.

“Or you’ll shoot me?” I ask, hoping to stall so Leo can catch up.

I’m an idiot. If this is Strauss’s person…I’m fucked.

“Yes. Move forward.” Her lithe arm points the way to the end of the alley, and as she turns her body, I catch a dark branding on her exposed shoulder where the dress cuts in.

It’s a bull.

My feet stumble forward as she follows with a gun held close to my lower back. “I-I’m pregnant. Did you know that? If you kill me, then you’ll kill a Donovan baby.” Glancing up to the tops of the buildings, for once I want Dash to be near watching this entire scene. I’ve been good about avoiding him while he watches out for Ace, but now I’m regretting it.

“We know. March.” With another shove, she presses the heavy weapon into my skin. My pulse skyrockets, but I try to focus on getting out of this alive.

“Where are we going?” I try to stall again. To know what’s going to happen. I think I may vomit for the twelfth time today, except this time wouldn’t be hormonal. Maybe I should, so I can slow us down. When I think about hurling, she shoves until I stumble.

“Right here.” Gripping a metal handle of a rusted blue door, she tosses it open, but the room inside is black with no light escaping. Is this it for me? “Inside. Now.”

A sob erupts from my lips. Why did I come here alone? I should have brought Asa with me. “Please, please don’t.” Tears fall from my cheeks. Surely, I can talk my way out of this. I have my whole life. If I can just figure out what she wants.

Moving closer to my body, the woman presses her lips over my ear and holds me by the neck. “Listen, little girl. I’m about to save your life. But you need to get the fuck in that room. Your tears only make my pussy ache.”

Shock ricochets through me, and her hands move to my waist until she thrusts me forward. Tripping over the threshold, I catch myself on the door frame and place a hand on the exposed brick interior wall. She slams the solid metal door behind us, and my eyes slowly adjust to the lack of light. It’s completely empty. There’s nothing and no one else here. Some tension eases in my constricted throat.

Turning to her, I try to pick a question. “Wh-why, what…”

“Shh. Stop asking questions.” Walking me back against the wall, she places a long arm on either side of my head and leans down to be closer to my face. Almost as if she’ll kiss me. “I need to show you something.”

Whipping out a phone from an unseen pocket, she taps on the screen, then holds it up for me. It’s from a bit far away, but there are two men in a dusky cavern. The light is very poor, and the image is grainy. There’s a tall older man in a tuxedo. He looks so out of place in the woods with his perfect outfit and shiny shoes. Just entering the stone hole is the other, a younger man, who is shielded by a shadow.

But it looks like Wyatt.

Their voices come out clear on the video as Wyatt shuffles inside and the older man calls out, “Hello, Barrington.” My brow furrows. Who is Barrington?

Glancing up at the woman, she keeps her eyes focused on the screen, so I do the same.

Wyatt replies, “Don’t call me that. Here’s the leftovers. Got the cash, too. About twenty grand this time. Did you all ask for rifles?”

Some more conversation about guns takes place, but I don’t really understand a word of what’s happening. Isn’t this just one of his drops for my brother? Is she warning me that Strauss knows about the underground trades and is going to hurt us?

As he turns to leave, Wyatt tells the tuxedo butler-looking man, “Tell John to watch the homeless population over there. Make sure they aren’t scheduled for a riot we don’t know about.”

Who is we? Does he mean the crew over at the motorcycle shop? East Side? Is East Side starting something?

Stopping the video, she places the phone back in her pocket and crosses her arms, but still stands like a formidable statue directly in front of my body. “Barrington blew up your husband’s casino. Don’t you think something should be done about that?”

Confused, I shake my head. “Why… Who is Barrington?”

She closes her eyes and drops her chin to her chest for a moment. “Wyatt Barrington. Your lover. Your husband’s lover. The snake. Don’t trust him or his plans for you two and Gnarled Pine Hollow.”

“Wha-what? He’s selling weapons to men in tuxedoes?”

She murmurs, “You’re asking the wrong question. I don’t have time for stupidity.”

With my brow furrowed and nostrils flaring, I’m about snap at her. But she lowers her arms and still holds the pistol in one. Probably best not to slap someone holding a gun.

“Look at me, little girl. Your school games aren’t going to get you what you want. The players in this sport are much better at it than you.”

I try to piece together what I’m supposed to learn, clearing my throat before I speak this time. “You want me to hurt Wyatt? Who is called Barrington? And I shouldn’t trust his plans for Gnarled Pine Hollow… For consort?”

“Shh! Listen! I don’t know what the snake will do when he discovers what’s about to happen. Continue with the secret strategy you started, but beware.” Grasping my chin with her long fingers, she forces my face to peer into hers. “Mrs. Donovan, pay attention. You are in extreme danger. Do not mention what I have shown you, except to your husband. You’re alone out there.”

Her words hit me in my core, and hot tears form in my eyes.

She steps back from me suddenly and rips off her dress. But instead of being nude, the red fabric falls to the floor, revealing another dress underneath. When she turns to throw open the back door, I catch a glimpse of black satin before she disappears around the corner.

The breath gets knocked out of my lungs as I fall back into the wall and slide down. What just happened? My fingers lace through my hair. Utter confusion feels like it’s melting my mind. But I do know one thing.

I was right not to trust Wyatt.

And I need to save my husband.

How? He seems to be more under Wyatt’s thrall than I ever was. Swallowing roughly, I call the one person I’ve been able to trust for the last few weeks. Well, the one who has the same goals as I do.

“Cass?”

His warm bass rings through the speaker. “’Sup, sweetheart?”

“Can you pick me up?”

“For sure.”

Sending him my location, it doesn’t take long before his icon shows near the end of the alley. When I jump in his vehicle, his familiar cedar scent floods the cabin. “Hey, sweetheart. Same place?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

He pauses for a moment, then grabs my hand and kisses the knuckles. “Are you okay?”

A deep sigh leaves my chest. I’m not sure who I can tell, so I’ll keep it to myself. “Yeah. Just trying to shake Leo again.”

Nodding, he smiles and heads toward the next location. Stopping outside one of the older buildings that was a Bingo Hall, Cass puts the truck in park and waits.

“I’ll just be a minute.”

“I’ll be right here,” he says, then adjusts the radio.

This used to be one of the Donovans’ old casinos and still has a vault in the basement. And opens with the codes I found in his parents’ old bedroom.

That’s where I hide the money, bonds, land deeds, burner phones, extra clothes, food, and water. Today, I stash more cash and some baby food jars. I figure if we don’t use this, it’ll be good for someone else that doesn’t have anything.

I saw Cass one day at the casino while the boys were out riding. He was searching for Asa and looked so forlorn. We sat down and had a long conversation and came to a mutual understanding. We both love Asa and want what’s best for him. He doesn’t trust Wyatt, though, and we bonded over both of those things. I promised to try to get Asa to forgive him if he and the rest of the wolf pack would grow up and stop using my husband for his money.

And he agreed. They all did. And respect for our connection turned into a loose partnership and is slowly becoming a friendship.

“Done?” Cass asks when I jump back inside.

“Yep.”

He turns off the radio. “Dave and I were talking. If there’re jobs at the casino for any of us, we’ll gladly help. Even Jinx, though he’d probably be best away from the other guests.”

My sympathetic eyes meet his deep brown ones. I know he misses my husband. “Okay, I’ll mention it to him.” But I’m not sure how to do so now that Wyatt’s running the staff. And my anxiety skyrockets thinking of how to tell Asa what I need to without letting Wyatt know.

Gazing out the windshield, Cass asks, “Um, want me to drop you back at the store, or…” He’s been stealthy up until now. Hiding because he wants his best friend back, but both men are too proud to get over their disagreement. I’m here to help with that.

“No, actually. I want you to take me home. And I think it’s time you and Asa made up.”

His tongue escapes to lick his thick lips. “Sweetheart…”

“Please, Cass. He needs you. He just doesn’t know he does.” I bat my lashes at him and smile as sweetly as I can until I see his chocolate eyes soften. If I can’t get my husband to loosen up about his wolf pack, maybe Cass will make the first move. Plus, it would be good to have him there in case things turn scary… I don’t know what to expect.

“Fuck, I bet you get everything you want, don’t you?”

Turning to stare out my window, I murmur, “I hope so.” Then I tell him exactly what just happened.