Keeping my voice low, I asked. “How do you know him?”
“He’s Jared’s personal security guard. I met him when Riley and I went to Jared’s concert.”
The guy turned the lock on the door, and then hit the light switch on the wall, casting the room into a soft glow from the waning sunlight coming in the front window.
He then proceeded to walk around the couch, making his way to the front window. Lifting the corner of the curtain to peek outside, he said something under his breath.
Paige let go of my hand and darted toward the stranger. I caught her wrist and jerked her back to me.
“What are you doing? He could be dangerous,” I hissed at her.
The curtain twitched as the stranger looked over his shoulder at us and said, “Oh, I’m dangerous all right. I’m just not dangerous to you.”
“Well, that makes us feel loads better, asshole,” Paige said, all but growling at him.
He snickered. “Relax, Paige. I promise I’m not here to hurt either of you, but the guy who followed me here might.”
The hair at the back of my nape tingled as Paige sucked in a sharp breath.
“Look, I really wasn’t kidding when I said that I’m not here to hurt you. Name’s Oliver, by the way,” he said, looking at me as he pulled a phone from his pocket and hit a button. I could hear it ring from where we stood as he put it to his ear.
“Tell me everything is okay!” Riley’s voice rolled out of the speaker.
“In a matter of speaking, yes, everything is fine, for now. Listen, I need you to do something for me. Well, two somethings really. First, I need you to let Nadia know I’m making the call to bring them in. And second, I need you to talk to Paige.”
Paige looked back at me with wide eyes as she briefly searched mine, before Oliver held the phone out for her to take.
Her voice shook as she spoke, “Hello?”
“Hey, Paige.” With the phone volume up, I could hear Riley’s tired-sounding voice. “I’m sorry about all this.”
“You’re sorry? Riley, what the hell is going on? Why is Jared’s personal security guard standing in my apartment?” Paige asked, flicking a glance at Oliver.
“I need you to trust Oliver. Can you do that for me?” Riley asked, not explaining.
“You want me to trust him?” I could hear the anger brewing in Paige’s voice.
“No, I need you to trust him. Please? I wouldn’t ask it of you if it wasn’t really important,” Riley pleaded.
“You’re scaring me, Riley,” Paige answered, leaning against me.
“Is Mark there with you?” Riley asked.
Paige stiffened. “Yes, he’s standing right beside me. Why?”
“Can you put him on the phone? Ace wants to talk to him.”
Paige handed the phone to me without answering Riley.
I put it up to my ear, catching what sounded like a hissed argument on the other end of the line before Ace got on the phone.
“Mark?” Ace’s voice rumbled through the speaker.
“There better be a damn good explanation for this, Ace,” I said, using a tone I’d never used with him before.
He blew out a long breath before replying. “There is, trust me. I need y’all to pack whatever clothes you can and go with Oliver. And I need you to do it right now. Okay?”
Anger burned through me at those words. “Why? What the hell is going on?”
“I can’t explain that to you right now, but I will soon,” Ace answered.
“I’m not packing shit until you tell me what the hell is going on,” I demanded.
“Damn it, Mark! This is serious. I need you to do this for me right now. I can’t explain it until Oliver gets you here to me,” Ace barked through the line.
“What the hell have you gotten yourself into, Ace? And even more so, what the hell have you dragged Paige and me into? You want me to just pack my clothes and leave everything behind? I have a business to run. I have thousands of dollars’ worth of equipment sitting here in my apartment that you want me to just walk away from. I deserve to know why!”
Before Ace could answer, there was another knock at the door.
Oliver moved with a stealth-like grace. A kind I’d never seen before. When he made it to the door, he looked out through the peephole and unlocked it. On the other side, the delivery guy thrust our food at Oliver with bulging eyes.
“What’s going on?” Ace’s voice whispered.
“Our dinner just arrived,” I answered, digging my wallet out of my back pocket as I made my way over to pay the kid.
“Sorry, we seemed to have lost power,” I said as he tried to peek around me, taking in the situation.
The kid backed up a step when Oliver smiled a toothy grin at him, and then ran down the stairs in hasty retreat.
Oliver handed the food to Paige, and then closed the door, twisting the lock back in place.
“We need to get out of here soon,” he said.
“Mark?” Ace said, calling my attention back to the phone at my ear.
“Ace, just tell me this… are we really in danger? Like real danger?” I asked, keeping my eyes on Paige.
Ace sighed. “Yeah, bro. You really are, and I need you to pack and get here as fast as you can.”
I turned to Paige, seeing her wide-eyed stare as she listened to my conversation. “We need to pack our clothes. Can you get the suitcases down by yourself?”
When her hands flew up to her throat, I felt a wave of sickness roll through me. I never wanted to see the look she had on her face ever again.
She gave me a brief nod, and then flicked a worried glance at Oliver.
“It’s fine. He’s here to keep up safe, but we need to pack as much as we can. I’ll be right there to help you. Okay?”
She swallowed hard. I could see the movement of her pale throat from the last bit of light coming in from the window.
“Okay,” she replied with a sharp nod of her head.
I watched her walk down the hallway to our room, holding her hand out, running it along the wall beside her for support. It was so unlike Paige to just give in and do what was asked without putting up one hell of a fight.
“We’re packing now, and you better have a damn good reason for this, Ace,” I said before turning the phone back over to Oliver. He took it, and then I made my way to where Paige stood, shaking in front of the closet.
I pulled her into my arms and held her tight against me. “It’ll be okay, Paige. Ace and Riley wouldn’t ask this of us if it wasn’t important.”
Her head burrowed against my shoulder as she pulled herself together. There were no tears spilled, but that didn’t mean they weren’t coming.
“Why don’t you get your clothes together while I get the suitcases?” I said, getting her to move before her switch flipped and she dug in her heels, demanding answers.
She stepped out of my arms and crossed over to the dresser. Her movements were jerky as she pulled clothes out in stacks, not really looking at them.
I grabbed the suitcases from the top shelf of the closet and put them on the bed, opening them so that, together, we could pack as much as possible. That’s what Ace had said, right? I thought. Pulling open the top drawer and scooping up the contents, I dumped them into the closest suitcase.
By the time we were done, hangers hung drunkenly from the closet in complete disarray as Paige sat on the largest suitcase to keep it shut while I zipped it closed.
“None of this makes any sense! How is it that Jared’s personal security guard is standing in our living room waiting for us to pack because Riley and Ace say we’re in danger? I can’t even wrap my mind around it,” she said, smacking her fist down on the suitcase, narrowly missing my ear.
I grunted, not knowing what to say to that, and helped her up from her perch. After I flipped the suitcase on its wheels, she grabbed a tote and headed for the bathroom.
“I think whatever this is, it’s important enough that they’re worried. Let’s jus
t do what they’re asking us, and once we see them, we’ll get answers,” I replied, grabbing the second suitcase and getting it ready to roll out to the living room.
Paige zipped the oversized tote bag closed and squared her shoulders. “Ready.”
When we made it to the living room, Oliver was wrapping up a conversation on the phone. When he saw us, he hung up and crossed the room, taking the tote Paige held. “I’ll take these down to the car. Don’t come out until I give you the all clear. When I do give you the all clear, get in the car immediately. We’re rolling out as soon as the doors close. Okay?”
“Got it,” I answered, moving to my computer. I pulled the flash drive from it, and then shut it down.
As Paige collected her purse from the hallway table, I tossed the flash drive in my camera case, clutching the strap in my hand. Both of us were too shocked to say much of anything else.
We didn’t have to wait long before Oliver poked his head in the door. “Let’s go,” he said, gesturing Paige to get behind him as we made our way down the steps, putting us at street level.
When we got to the sidewalk, Oliver’s head turned on a swivel, as if scanning our surroundings. He kept close to Paige and opened the car door for her. Both of us slipped inside with Oliver right behind us. No sooner did the door close then the car shot forward, moving at a clipped pace.
ACROSS THE TABLE, JARED SAT with his arms crossed and a look of annoyance on his face. The girl to the right of him leaned close and whispered something in his ear. His face transformed from a scowl as he turned his head to look at her. I almost swallowed my tongue when I saw it. Reading people was my thing. And watching the way his mouth turned up and his eyes crinkled as he looked at her told me all I needed to know. Jared Jackson was in love.
When had that happened? And why was Jared sitting in the basement of what Grant called Cole Enterprise when he was supposed to be out on the road, playing music and making bad choices?
At the end of the table, Eli sat beside Oliver, chatting like they’d known each other forever.
Beside me, Mark shifted in his seat as he reached for my hand. Every time we’d asked for an explanation, we’d been shut down. He wasn’t taking it very well, which made my temper flare up even more.
The sound of a door closing behind me had Grant on his feet. “Now that everyone is here…”
He didn’t get to finish talking because Riley all but pounced on me, jerking my seat back and tackle hugging me before I could fully get to my feet.
Her arms felt like twin steel bands squeezing me into a bone-crushing hug as her bubbly laughter rolled through the room.
I wasn’t in the mood to be bubbly, but that didn’t stop me from hugging her back. After all, she was my best friend. My only friend for a long time, and I’d missed her fiercely.
“Riley, what’s going on?” I asked as she let me go and turned her attention on Mark.
“I thought I’d never see you guys again.” It was like a light switch had been flipped as her face twisted, tears pooling in her eyes.
She brushed them away quickly and moved over to take the chair beside me as Ace pulled Mark into a back-pounding hug. “Good to see you again, bro.”
Grant cleared his throat as I grabbed Riley’s arm with the intention of shaking the information loose from her if I had to.
The room quieted as all eyes turned to Grant.
“I know this is a little unorthodox…”
“A little?” Jared snorted, receiving a scowl from his father.
Grant continued. “But necessary. What I’m about to tell you is more than classified information. It is information even the government doesn’t know.”
In that moment, reality shifted for me. What the hell was Grant talking about? Classified information? Confusion swept over me, wondering what he’d say next.
“Due to a breach in our intelligence files, and the hack into our database, each and every one of you sitting here has now become a target.”
My questions died on my lips when Grant held up his hand to ask for everyone’s silence. My teeth clicked together on a curse. I kept my outburst locked down, wanting him to explain what he meant. A target to whom? And even more so… why?
“I know this is really confusing, and I’m going to try my best to explain it to you without causing unnecessary panic.”
“Unnecessary panic? You just told us we’re being targeted. How else should we act?” Mark asked.
I could feel the tension snapping around him, and knew he was seconds away from flipping out.
“I understand how the both of you might feel right now. And I promise you, we’ve done everything we could to keep you from this life. Keep you safe. Nadia and I have spent the last ten plus years doing this for the eight of you without any of you knowing up until this last year,” Grant answered.
Nadia rose from her seat and moved around the table to stand beside Grant. “The truth is, all of this is our fault,” she said, briefly touching Grant’s arm. “If not for our relationship and starting a family, none of this would be happening right now. But it is, and now we have to do everything in our power to keep all of you safe.”
“Why would the fact that you two got married and had Jared affect us?” I asked, darting a glance at Jared when he heaved a sigh.
“In any other normal suburban life, it wouldn’t have. But we’re not normal, and we definitely don’t have what you’d call a suburban lifestyle,” Grant answered, pausing only a moment to continue, “Cole Enterprise is what you might call a shell company that works for the United States government. On paper, we supply leading technology and prototypes to branches of the military. But that’s not all we do. In this room, there are seven off-the-grid operatives who handle all the things the government either doesn’t want to or cannot get involved in. We’re the ones who operate so far under the radar that we’re practically ghosts.”
Jared snorted. “Or in some cases, listed as dead.”
“Dead?” Mark asked, beating me to it.
Grant sighed. “You’re making this harder than it needs to be Jared.”
“And you're drawing it out way too much, Pops,” Jared answered with a shrug.
“I’m trying to give them as much information as I can without confusing them. If you have a better way, by all means…” Grant said, gesturing for Jared to speak.
Jared leaned forward in his chair, looking between Mark and me with a smirk on his face. “While you two have been cozied up in New York, congratulations on the wedding news by the way, I’ve been kidnapped. Ace came to save me and his helicopter crashed in Haiti. We thought he was dead until Eli called us, which then brought Eli into the fold. Not only did my dad pluck Ace straight from boot camp, he nabbed Aiden too.”
He took a quick breath and continued. “Aiden went to Scotland to help set up our newest location, and he was almost killed by the same guy who had me kidnapped. So, all in all, you’ve pretty much been sucked into this fabulous life of mayhem and crazy people because my parents are so badass at their job that it made me a target for retribution, and in turn, pulled the rest of you in for the ride. That about sum it up good enough?”
“I don’t think he took one full breath trying to get it all out.” Ace chuckled as he shook his head.
“You were in a helicopter crash?” I asked, trying to make sense of everything Jared spewed.
Riley’s hand reached for Ace’s. He smiled at her as he answered. “I was. But that’s over now. What’s important is keeping all of us safe. And the only way we can do that is by sticking together until we can figure out who hacked the system and was able to get into our personal files.”
Mark pushed his chair back enough to swivel in Ace’s direction. “I’m sorry, but how are Paige and I in any way connected to this? If it’s some secret government database, our names would in no way be affiliated with it.”
“Trust me. It affects you more than you know,” Ace answered with a stoic expression.
“Trust you
? How can you even ask us that? The three of you have done nothing but lie to us,” Mark shouted, coming to his feet in one swift move.
Riley shot up, putting her hand out. “You’re right, Mark. All of us, including me, have kept things from you. And there isn’t a one of us who doesn’t feel like shit for doing it. But we had to. And honestly, had it not been for intel coming back with information on suspicious activity around your apartment, you would have never known. But now you do, and there’s nothing we can do about that except keep you safe.”
“Safe from what?” Mark bellowed. “All any of you have done is talked in riddles and circles. What threat, Riley? And what about Josh? If you’re so fuckin’ worried about us, shouldn’t you be just as worried for him?”
“Aiden is bringing Josh. They’re en route now,” Grant answered, taking a seat as he clasped his hand on the polished surface of the conference table. “Please sit, Mark. We’re going to do our very best to fill you in on everything so you can process it. It’s a lot of information, and I can’t stress to you how much Nadia and I are sorry this has happened. But it has, so we must deal with it the only way we know how. No one’s lives can get back to normal until we do.”
Eli, who’d been quiet up to that point, spoke up, “If we’re being honest, then that’s not true either. Paige, Mark, and Josh will never be able to go back to their everyday lives. None of us can, because the minute we do, we’re dead.”
Hearing calm, cool, and collective Eli say that made something inside me crack wide open. Shoving myself up from my seat, I backpedaled until I was close to the door. “I… I can’t do this. I can’t even…”
Something like a sob broke loose from my chest as Aiden, Josh, and a willowy redheaded girl walked into the room.
Aiden took one look at me and said, “Airen, maybe you can take Paige out into the hallway for a minute.”
“I’ll come too,” Riley said, moving to stand up.
I shook my head vigorously at her. “No, I don’t need… just give me…”
I couldn’t finish what I was saying as my throat constricted and my vision swam.
The Vows We Make (The Six Series Book 4) Page 2