I took his hand in mine, lifting it to my lips for a chaste kiss.
“I know you do,” I replied earnestly. “And, just in case I haven't made this fact abundantly clear yet, I love you too.”
There was a second of hesitation from him before his smile returned and he took his place beside me, setting my soup and salad out before me. He had gotten himself some enormous sandwich with layers upon layers of meat. It was far from the elegant food he normally enjoyed. Protein seemed to be the macronutrient of the day for him.
“Now that I'm over the surprise of your early return, do I get to know why you're here, or is that confidential?”
“It's always confidential, Ruby.”
I sighed.
“Fine. Let's talk about something else...like the wedding you've been keeping secret from me for who knows how long.” He took a bite of his meaty monstrosity in response, chewing it dramatically. “Cute, Sean. Very cute, but that sandwich won't last forever. You're going to have to tell me why I got cut out of that. And, better yet, you're going to tell me the plan you have in place to deal with Ronnie because I know you know that she'll flip her shit at this nuptial.”
He swallowed his mouthful and shrugged.
“Seriously,” I replied to his silent response. “That's all you've got for me?”
“What Ronnie wants is immaterial really.”
“How do you figure that, Sean? Peyta is her daughter, who is about to marry a supernatural badass.”
“Which is really all the more reason why she should approve,” he said with a sly grin.
“Well, be sure I'm there when you tell her that. I can't wait to see how that goes over,” I sneered.
“Me?” he scoffed. “I won't be telling Ronnie anything.”
“Really? And why is that?”
“Because I'm quite certain that Peyta has already roped you into that endeavor.”
“Wait a minute,” I sputtered, trying to figure out how, once again, Sean knew things he shouldn't have. “How did you know?”
He laughed heartily, and, irritated though I was, my insides warmed at the sound.
“Please. That girl has you wrapped around her finger. You would do anything for her, and rightly so. She is your family.”
“Which indirectly makes Ronnie my family.”
“Precisely. I have all the confidence in the world that you will find a way to spin this so that Ronnie agrees to it, or at least doesn't interfere.”
I grimaced.
“And if I don't?”
Silence.
“You generally don't enjoy my Plan B options, Ruby. Let's just try not to need one of them. Understand?”
I swallowed hard.
“Yep. No pressure at all.”
“No pressure,” he agreed, taking another enormous bite. He had the nerve to smile at me with his mouth full, as though he fully enjoyed contemplating the battle I was going to have to endure with Ronnie to make her see reason. Maybe that was the payback I had earned for dragging my throat across a blade.
I turned my focus to the food in front of me, picking at my salad with the plastic fork the restaurant had provided.
“We found something in London,” he said suddenly. My ears perked up at the mention of the city across the pond. Infinite mystery still surrounded Tobias, his pack, and whatever testing had been done on them. The mind control that he had the boys under factored into the equation somehow, but there was no evidence left behind to link the two. Nothing. Nada. The PC boys had swept that city from top to bottom and came up short of anything even remotely helpful. The few remaining pack members had been rounded up and interrogated. Some had survived. Others had not. I wasn't supposed to know that, but from the one-sided phone calls I had overheard Sean having with various brothers over there, I knew that was the case. I could always feel the guilt roll off of him once his black-eyed side retreated. I never asked for confirmation.
“What? Anything promising?”
“Trey thinks he may have the start of a paper trail. He's following it up now. If anyone can sort through it, he can.”
“He is a details kinda guy, isn't he?”
“To a fault at times,” he replied enigmatically.
“Well, this is good news though, right? I mean, it's gotta be better than nothing.”
“Time will tell, but it's the only concrete lead we've had. We have to make the most of it.”
“I'm almost scared to find out where it could take you,” I whispered, turning my attention back to my food. I'd had my fill of harrowing events. Something told me that whatever was lying in wait for us at the other end of this evidence trail was not going to be chaos-free. There was just too much secrecy for that.
“Scared or not, the boys and I need to find who was behind it and fast.”
“How long before you think you’ll hear something?” I asked, nervous to hear his response.
“Not sure.”
“And if Trey finds something?”
“Then we hunt down the responsible party in force.”
My mind flashed to a memory from Utah: the wall of PC that had stretched wide across the field. Most were fearsome, but all were lethal, regardless of whether or not they were physically imposing. To invite their collective wrath was nothing short of insanity. Whoever was behind this mess was maniacal at best. At worst, he was the devil himself.
I don't know how long I quietly pondered the potential atrocities, but when I finally looked up at Sean, his eyes had darkened slightly.
“What haunts you?” he asked, his voice tighter and harsher than usual.
“Nothing. I'm fine. Just doing death toll math in my head,” I replied with a forced smile.
“How are the refugees these days? You're still insisting they stay with you?”
“Yep. The loft is starting to really shape up. We need to get the plumbing done ASAP because I cannot survive much longer sharing my tiny bathroom with that many guys.”
When I'd made the decision to keep my newfound pack under one roof, it had meant sacrificing my third floor dance studio. I knew it was the right thing to do, but I was ready to have my apartment back. Really, really ready.
“You can always come and live with me,” he suggested, his eyes lightening.
Sean had asked me to stay in his apartment on numerous occasions since the British invasion of my home, but I was hesitant. Somewhere deep inside me, something was unsettled by the idea. Though it made no sense, I couldn't shake the feeling. I blamed Gavin for it, knowing that I had allowed him to poison me with doubt on several occasions, but this was different.
“I know. And I'm grateful for that, but you're gone so often and I would hate to leave Cooper alone with the boys. Someone wouldn't survive their cohabitation if I'm not there to mediate and―”
“Ruby,” Sean interrupted, saving me from myself. “You're babbling. If you're not ready to move in, that's fine. Really. I just want you to know that it's a standing offer. I won't bring it up again.”
I searched the air around us for any hint of sadness or anger or irritation—anything that would allude to the fact that Sean was unhappy with my decision to stay at my apartment—but I found none. He had meant what he’d said. No subtext. No catches. If only he, and everyone in my life, were always so literal when they spoke.
“So tell me, what's new and exciting around here? Any new chaos crop up while I was gone?” he asked, feigning amusement. All kidding aside, his concern was valid. Danger loved to find me in his absence.
“I wouldn't say chaos per se, but there has been an unusual development of sorts,” I admitted. Scarlet stirred in my mind the second the words left my mouth.
Careful, Ruby...
“Unusual or unwelcome?” he sought to clarify, eyeing me tightly over his cup of coffee.
“Don't know for sure yet,” I replied, trying to choose my words carefully and ignore Scarlet while she metaphorically paced around my mind. “There's a different dynamic between Scarlet and me.”
“I'm seeing things...things I know I didn't actually see.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Go on.”
“So I was by myself the other night, and I was exhausted. I was just lying on the couch, drifting off, when all of a sudden I started getting flashes of things—images—and they weren't mine. They were completely foreign to me.”
“Could it have been a vision of sorts, like the ones you had because of the Rev?”
“Maybe, but it didn’t feel like that. They felt familiar but not. It was such a bizarre sensation...like the images I saw the other night were scenes I should have remembered, but I didn't. More than that, some of the images I saw were of people I know. Situations I knew had occurred.”
“Scarlet...?”
“I think they were her memories,” I said softly while Scarlet growled loudly within me. “I think whatever happened while I was shut out is bleeding into my consciousness.”
“What did you see?” he asked, leaning in closer to me, searching my eyes as though those memories would be visible to him.
“I saw Jay,” I whispered. “He was bleeding to death in the hallway of your building. I recognized the railing.”
He leaned back with an exhale, running his hand roughly through his hair.
“What else? I need to know everything.”
“Ares. I saw Ares.”
“Where?” he asked with a roar.
“I don't know. I didn't recognize the place.”
“What else?”
“A woman. And I didn't recognize her either, before you ask.”
“Describe her.”
I sat and thought, trying to recall the woman who had so quickly flashed through my mind, but I couldn't. I knew I had seen her. I could remember details about her, but I could not bring that memory back to analyze it. The fragmented recollection was no longer mine. I had only borrowed it for that fleeting moment, and now it was lost to me.
“Dark hair. Pretty. That's all I can tell you. I can't see her in my mind anymore.”
He growled in response.
“Perhaps your other half should come out and finally face the music, coward though she is.”
Judging by her response, Scarlet was neither a fan of his idea nor his insult.
“Yeah, that doesn't look especially promising right now, Sean. And I'm pretty certain that your threats are doing little to remedy that. She likes the idea of not facing your wrath, which is strange given that she doesn't feel pain, but—” I cut myself off, which gave me time to mull over the rampant thoughts that ran through my head. “Maybe she does now. Maybe she does and she knows it and that's why she won't come out. It makes perfect sense, really. She knows you won't kill me at this point—I hope―so that's not an issue. If she couldn't feel pain, then really all she would have to endure is a battle royale with you, which I actually think she enjoys most days. With imminent death off the table, what else could be holding her back?”
“Guilt,” Sean replied dryly. “It's a vile emotion. It changes people.”
He offered no further explanation for his enigmatic reply, and I didn't press the issue. Somehow, some way, Sean related to what he assumed was Scarlet's motivation for hiding. There was a notable change in his tone throughout the rest of his interrogation. “Anything else?”
“Nothing crazy, just the Brits in the woods, then darkness. That was the end of the montage.”
“Well, we know how the story starts and finishes, but what we don't know, and need to find out as quickly as possible, is what happened in between. If Ares was involved, it can't have been anything good.”
“Agreed,” I replied with a nod. “I'll keep trying to coax what I can out of her, but unless I get another rush of her memories, I think we're at a stalemate. I don't think there's anything I can do to encourage her to confess to her sins.”
“And they were sins, indeed, I am sure.” His voice was low and distant, his mind a million miles away. He was undoubtedly contemplating the myriad scenarios that Scarlet could have caused while free and unmonitored. The set of his brow told me he didn't enjoy any of them. “I should head out and check in with Trey,” he said suddenly, gathering his leftover lunch and stuffing it back in the bag. “You'll be around tonight?”
“I guess so,” I replied hesitantly. “Do you really have to run out now? Is it something I said? Do you know something you aren't telling me?”
He stopped for a moment and turned his green eyes to me.
“I promise you, I have nothing to hide, but I do have mysteries to solve. Your revelation regarding Scarlet only further illustrates the need for me to work harder than ever. We need to catch a break, Ruby...on either of these two issues. The best way I can do that is to do what I do best and hunt things down. If that means helping Trey chase that paper trail, then that is what I'll do.” He hesitated for a moment, struggling to find the words he needed. “I have a bad feeling about this, Ruby. All of it.”
I stood to face him, moving closer with measured steps.
“We'll fix it. I'll work on Scarlet. You worry about London.”
Running the back of his hand lightly down my cheek, he leaned down and kissed me slowly―softly. I didn't want it to end.
“I'll see you later,” he murmured against my lips.
“Deal.”
Pulling away, he gave me a smile before he walked toward the door.
“I love you,” I called after him, feeling like our encounter was unfinished somehow.
“Always,” he replied, closing the door behind him.
That single word had weight to it when he spoke. He meant it, truly.
Feeling a bit like Peyta when she floated into the shop that morning, I couldn't help but blissfully smile. All was right with the world, if only for that moment. And that was where I would choose to live—in the moment―because in a life like mine, one could never be too certain when the moments would end.
Chapter 4
“Hey, Jay. What's up?” I asked, placing my cell phone on speaker.
“We have a bit of a situation on this end. I'm not sure Peyta will be coming back to work today,” he replied, his voice tense.
“Oh no. What happened? Is she okay?”
“Physically, yes. Emotionally, not so much. She decided after lunch that she should man up and talk to her mom about the wedding.”
“No, she didn't!” I gasped, covering my mouth. “Why? Why would she do that? I said I would as soon as I could.”
“I know. That's what she said too, but she told me that if she was old enough to marry me, then she was old enough to confront her mother. I didn't want to baby her, so I let her do it, but I went along.” I inhaled a sharp breath. “Yep, that's about how well it went. So now Peyta is a crying mess, and rightfully so. Ronnie was way out of line with her.”
“Tell me you didn't point that out to your future mother-in-law. Please?”
“I might have told her she was being unreasonable.”
“And?”
“She cold-cocked me. She's got a nasty right hook.”
“Where are you now?”
“I took Peyta back to my place in the city. I think it might be best for those two to give each other a little breathing room while Ronnie cools off and Peyta calms down.”
“Agreed. And don't worry about Peyta coming into the shop. It's fine. I'll make Alistair come down and help. He's a bit like a magpie; he loves shiny things.”
“Thanks, Ruby.”
“Of course. Do you need anything from me?”
“Yeah,” he replied, hesitating slightly. I prepared for the bomb I knew he was about to drop. “Can you still talk to Ronnie?”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “I hate cleanup duty even more than being the bearer of objectionable news.”
/> “Sorry. You asked.”
He didn't sound sorry at all.
“Fine, but you owe me. Big time. Huge, in fact.”
“Deal.”
The entrance bell jingled when a group of high school girls entered, giggling and texting as they did.
“I have to go, Jay. Give her a hug for me, will you?”
“Already did. Talk to you soon.”
I hung up and turned my attention to the gaggle of teens taking over my store. They almost made me wish for a crisis to occur—almost. I really hated spoiled rich kids.
* * *
They had to have been there for a couple of hours, because it seemed like not long after they left, it was time to close shop. I couldn't have been more grateful. If I'd had to endure one more inane conversation about who was boning whom and where and how hard and why their mean old daddies weren't buying them the newest Mercedes or Beamer or Range Rover for their sweet sixteens, I was going to walk out the door and go straight to Ronnie. Surely by the time I was finished telling her that she was being a stubborn old mule about Peyta and Jay, she'd have shot me, thereby putting me out of my misery.
Thankfully, it didn't quite come to that.
I took a few minutes to tidy up the displays the girls had disturbed and clean the glass that they had smudged. Didn't kids believe in washing their hands anymore? By the time I was done, I just wanted to run out the door, lock up, and hightail it up to my apartment where, with any luck, I could have a minute to myself.
But fate was a sadistic bitch, and she had other plans.
Just as I went to flip the sign to “closed,” a fiery redhead stepped in front of the windowed door, looking in at me questioningly. Her retro pin-up style was harshly contrasted by the hardware in her ears and face as well as the tattoos peeking out from the collar of her slightly open jacket. She was stunning in her own right, though there was something about her―a hardened edge. I couldn't tell in that moment if I saw or felt it, but it was there nonetheless.
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