“No, we can’t be certain about that,Monique,” she says, emphasizing her best friend’s full name. To my knowledge, she never calls her by it unless she’s annoyed with her or truly upset.
“Okay, so maybe we don’t need to worry. For all we know, the man could be sipping Mai Tais in one of those countries we don’t have an extradition treaty with and laughing because everyone was too busy checking under the beds of the White House for him while he was crossing the boarder.”
It’s a pleasant thought, truly it is, but I know Leland Marsh. I looked into his eyes and heard the vitriol in his voice whenhe told us that he’d rain hell down on all of us if something happened to his son. Now Jacob is dead, and he’s stolen his freedom back. I’d bet my last dollar that he’s planning on using this time to make good on that promise.
Monique splits a woeful gaze between me and Beck, reading our faces easily. “Wishful thinking, huh?”
I nod. “Running would be the smart thing to do, but I’ve never met a man in the Marsh family that’s been acquainted with common sense.”
“Ohhh. Can I use that?” Monique asks. We all look at her like she’s lost her mind, and she frowns. “What? I’m always looking for new ways to call men stupid.”
“Can you be serious for once in your life, Mo?”
“Girl, it’s serious enough in here. I’m trying to keep everyone off the train to death and despair.” Selene narrows her eyes, and Monique rolls hers, conceding. “Fine. I’ll be serious.”
She squares her shoulders and sits up even straighter, aiming a severe look in my direction.
“I’ve authorized overtime for our security team indefinitely. They’ve all agreed to work around the clock, but Dean wants to know if we’ll give the okay for him to bring in contractors.”
Beck shakes his head. “No. We don’t have time to properly vet or train them.”
“That’s what I told him you’d say,” Monique says, pulling out her phone and typing out a message. “I’ll let him know it’s a no go.”
“Thanks, Mo.”
She waves Selene’s expression of gratitude off, moving on to the next thing. “Mama J keeps calling me. She’s mad that you’re not answering your phone. I told her Cal and Beck were taking care of you, but she’ll want to hear from you sooner rather than later.”
Once again, Selene tries to escape Beck’s grasp, and once again, he denies her.
“I need to find my phone, Beck.”
“You said you needed to be held,” he reminds her. “Monique just said she spoke to your parents. They’re fine. We can call them once we’re somewhere safe and have a plan in place.”
She starts to protest, but I cut her off. “He’s right. If you call them now, they’ll just have a million questions you don’t have the answers to, which will add to your stress.”
A resigned sigh passes through her lips as I try to read her. I know that she’s afraid, but there’s also this eerie kind of calm around her that makes me think she’s dissociating a little. I can’t tell if it’s an intentionally deployed protective measure or a subconscious result of lingering shock, but it worries me.
“So, what’s the plan?” she asks, lashes fluttering as she blinks up at me.
“You can’t go back to the White House.”
Her brows dip together. “Don’t be ridiculous. I can’t just disappear. Aubrey?—”
“Who gives a fuck about Aubrey?” Monique interjects.
“He threatened to have me killed, Mo. He told Cal and Beck if we continued our relationship, he’d make sure one of the awful things people fantasize about doing to me online became a reality.”
“Girl, these men have been here with you every day for almost two months. I’m sure he already knows that you’re still involved.”
“He came right out and said it the day we got fired,” Beck says. “I don’t know if we were on his radar before that, but when we came into the room, that was all the confirmation he needed.”
“But this would be different,” Selene argues, finally managing to break free of his hold so she can stand. “This wouldbe giving him the ammunition he needs to load a gun and point it in my direction. Inourdirection.”
I approach her with slow cautious steps, grabbing her chin to make her face me. “You loaded the gun when you accused him of murdering his mistress, Selene. Taking away your security detail was him clicking off the safety. For all we know, Marsh was the bullet waiting in the chamber, and Aubrey just pulled the trigger.”
Fear flickers in her irises, but she’s following my logic. “He wants me dead.”
“He wants you dead,” I confirm, tightening my grasp marginally when her chin starts to wobble. “But he won’t get to have that, baby. We will keep you safe until you have everything you need to fucking destroy him, and when it’s done, when you’ve vanquished every demon and slain every dragon, we will build a life so beautiful, so full of happiness, you’ll forget you ever spent a single second being afraid.”
