“I’m not fucking around, Theo.” Shep’s hand on my chest moved then, sliding up to my throat to hold me against the door. Not enough to cut off my breath, but just a warning, a threat that he was serious. It wasn’t like I doubted his words; in fact, I knew them to be true.
“No, you’re not, which is unfortunate for my dick.” I wrapped my fingers around his wrist and tried to pull his hand off my neck, but his grip was unyielding. “Don’t you have a phone call to make?”
Shep’s eyes narrowed to slits. “Keep pushing, I dare you.”
“What? I’m sure King’s already seen the explosion all over the news. He’s probably blowing up both our phones.”
“Probably.”
“And you’re not running off to answer?”
“No.”
I could see the hundreds of thoughts in Shep’s mind flit across his face like a to-do list in the making. He wasn’t the man I was sleeping with right now, he was second-in-command of the Libertines, a man with incredible power and connections, and I couldn’t help but admire the way he took charge.
He didthatwell in the bedroom too, but even with my always-inappropriate behavior, I could tell now wasn’t the time.
“All right,” I said, holding my hands up to show I was relenting enough that I was willing to at least listen. “What’s the plan?”
Shep dropped his hold on my neck. “Whatever royal obligations you have left until Jean returns, get out of them. Don’t tell anyone a thing, not even Amaya.”
“I can’t tell what I don’t know.”
“Exactly.”
I waited for him to give me a little more than that, but when he didn’t, I pressed, “Care to give me a heads-up on the plan? I can keep a secret.Obviously.”
“It’s better if you don’t know.”
I followed him back into the living room of the suite, where he headed straight for his bag and began to dig through it.
“Don’t call for the plane,” he said, pulling out one of the burner phones he kept tucked away. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Okay…is there anything Icando?”
“Yes.” Shep looked up and nodded at the mess of clothes I’d strewn all over the couches when deciding what to wear. “Pack.”
28
SHEP
Location: Off the Fucking Grid
THANK GOD THEO trusted me enough to let me handle our move without asking any more questions. While he showered and packed, I made plans to get us the hell out of there.
We needed somewhere he wouldn’t be tempted to run wild when he got bored, which was inevitable, considering this could take days or even weeks.
There were Libertine safe houses all over the world, and while I’d been to all of them, I had a feeling the one we were heading to wasn’t on Theo’s radar. I didn’t tell him where it was, and he didn’t ask, but the flight was long enough that I figured he had a good idea of the general vicinity once we landed.
As with any of our safe houses, we kept cars near the airport so we wouldn’t leave a paper trail from renting one, nor would anyone working for a private car service know our whereabouts. It was as under the radar as we could get without removing our trackers, which only our brothers, specifically Alessio, hadaccess to. And considering we trusted them with our lives, I refused to entertain the idea that we’d been infiltrated in that way.
Whoever was coming after Theo was close, but notthatclose.
“You know I’m not one to complain,” he said from the passenger seat, side-eyeing me. “But Jesus Christ, are we there yet?”
I couldn’t blame him for asking. Every time I moved, a body part cracked from the long hours spent on the flight, and then we’d added several more on top of it driving out to the remote location. I was ready for a hot shower and to pass out, but there were still things to do and someone to contact once we arrived.
“Actually, yes. Should be coming up on it soon.”
