Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

GREY

Sloane slips in when Finn opens the front door to The King's lavish mansion. She's smiling from ear-to-ear, her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"That was so thrilling!"

I set a hand to my heart, feel the jagged thump-thump and internally agree.

"I felt like I was in a spy movie. Can you believe that just happened? That THEY made that happen? "

"What happens now?"

The question comes from my left and forces my attention away from my best friend.

I stop in the giant foyer with the grand chandelier and face Dutch. He's staring at me intently, eyes narrowed.

"Now?" I lift my chin. "We get what we need from Slavno."

"Don't you have to send him a message first?" Cadence points out. She's standing slightly in front of Dutch in a black T-shirt, black jeans and black sneakers.

All of them are dressed in all-black except for me and Zane, who are still in our doctor and nurse costumes.

"His family probably contacted him by now," Finn mutters. He runs a hand through his silky black hair and squeezes his eyes shut.

"Makes sense," Dutch grunts.

Zane's gaze sweeps over the others before landing on me. "Slavno's family seemed like they'd been expecting the drop. Their bags were packed and everything."

"He probably told them to get out of town," Cadence says.

I swipe a curl away from my eyes. "That means they have a way to communicate with him."

"Do we? " Finn asks.

"Maybe. I'll send Slavno a message through my contact." Zane walks away with his phone.

Cadey nods weakly and leans against her husband. Dutch wraps an arm around her shoulders and kisses her forehead.

Finn rubs his eyes as if he has a headache.

An exhausted silence falls on the room.

"These guys really went all out for you," Sloane observes solemnly.

I know.

A wave of gratitude swells in me. Although he wasn't present for the extraction, Finn played the biggest part in making sure Grandma Slavno could slip out undetected.

Dutch and Cadence ran point on our escape route.

Of course, Sol did his thing with the fire—although a part of me will always feel guilty for forcing him to let that beast inside loose rather than teaching him to restrain it.

"What about Zane? You can't forget Zane. " Sloane points to where Zane is walking back into the foyer, the cell phone loose in his grip.

I clear my throat. "Did you get through to your contact?"

"Not yet. I left a message asking him to call me back."

Dutch and Cadence nod.

Finn walks over to the grand, winding staircase and sits on the bottom step. He leans his head on one of the posts. It looks like an uncomfortable pillow.

Zane continues, "I keep feeling uneasy."

"Probably because we both know Slavno can't be trusted."

"We kept our end of the deal. Slavno backing out at this stage of the game would set us back by a long shot."

"Even so…" I clasp my hands together and look each of The Kings and Cadence in the eyes. "Thank you. For tonight. For everything."

A muscle in Dutch's jaw bunches. "Don't. It's not that big a deal."

"He's right. There's no need for that amongst family." Cadence waves her hand as if blowing my gratitude out the window.

Another silence falls, but this one is less uncomfortable.

Or maybe I'm the one who's starting to become more comfortable.

"You tired, Brahms?" Dutch asks, looking down at Cadence with a tender look.

It's strange to see. At school, Dutch's rugged face seemed capable of only two settings—the angry scowl and the disgusted scowl. With Cadence, he's like a little puppy, eager to please her.

She covers her mouth with a yawn and nods. To us, she announces, "We're heading upstairs now to check on Vi and get some rest."

"Goodnight." I wave.

Cadence smiles softly and waves back.

Dutch takes her hand and leads her past Finn to mount the stairs.

"Aww. If Dutch and Cadence weren't already a couple, I'd ship them." Sloane leans on the railing beside Finn, her chin cupped in her palms and her eyes on the newlyweds.

I feel a warm hand on my lower back.

Zane is behind me, giving me a long, observant look. "You ready for bed?"

The words feel loaded with a different sort of meaning and I stiffen.

Sloane runs up to me, hovering over my shoulder. "He's not talking about going to sleep, Grey. "

I swallow hard, feeling the same adrenaline as I did when we were extracting Grandma Slavno from the nursing home.

Zane waits for me to answer with words, but my tongue is heavy and all I can do is nod.

I was annoyed that we couldn't get our bedroom activities out of the way yesterday. Why does today feel so different? Why does it feel like more?

"Because yesterday, you felt like you were being manipulated. But today, you feel loved." Sloane shrugs and walks a circle around Zane. "Even if you'd dated a guy who was six years OLDER than you, he wouldn't have done what Zane did for you tonight."

My heart picks up speed, pounding faster.

I don't think I feel loved like Sloane assumes, but… I know that at least I'm not going to hate tonight.

My eyes slide over the lean, hard muscles filling up Zane's scrubs. The material is absolutely unflattering and a strange shade of green, but on him, it might as well be a fashion statement.

I run my tongue over my teeth, mentally preparing myself.

It's just sex, Grey. No need to be nervous.

Or maybe there is.

Nothing is ever easy with Zane Cross.

He's the very definition of a heartbreaker. A ‘lady killer' as one of mom's fellow waitresses at the diner used to say, with his slow, slow grins, tattoos, and a dangerous ability to look straight into a woman's eyes and make her feel things she never asked to.

The way he's looking at me now. Straight into my eyes. Heated. Possessive. Blue. His gaze emits its own heat, its own energy, merging with my frigid persona, melting the ice woman inside me until she's nothing but liquid.

"That's a lot of words just to admit he's hot."

Zane is… okay-looking.

"Oh, that's such B.S."

Fine, he's very handsome.

Better?

"Marginally."

"Let's go," Zane says.

"Uh, do you mind if we both shower first?"

He stares at me.

"What?"

"Are you stalling?"

"No."

He smirks. "We didn't shower that night."

"I wasn't myself that night."

He leans in to whisper, "Whichever version of yourself that you are tonight, I'll have you screaming the same way."

My heart leaps and I watch the dangerous smirk curl one corner of his lips.

Confidence. Dirty promises. Wicked fantasies.

He exudes it like he's studied all the ways to make a woman groan.

I remain silent.

Zane just laughs and offers his hand to me.

I take it, slipping my fingers past the callouses on the inside of his palm and clasping on.

Cadence and Dutch are already on the second floor landing and Zane and I are right behind when Finn launches to his feet, staring at his cell phone with a concerned look on his face.

"Guys."

Dutch and Cadence freeze.

So do I.

Sloane bunches her mouth. "No! No more interruptions!"

Zane must feel the same because he growls, "Listen, Finn, whatever Jinx said, let's deal with it tomorrow. We have bigger things to worry about than her stupid gossip app."

"It's not Jinx."

"What is it then?" Dutch asks impatiently.

"I programmed an algorithm to keep an eye on any new articles about the nursing home." He pauses and swings his phone around. "It got a hit."

"About what?" Dutch asks, his voice already low with dark anticipation.

"They found a body at the scene."

Apprehension becomes a full weight on my chest.

Zane exchanges a worried look with me before lunging forward.

Cadence and Dutch roar down the stairs.

Sloane gives me panicked eyes. "Grey, what does that mean? What… a body? Did we kill someone?"