“I’m assuming this is yours?” Archer asks, rolling it closer to Brielle.
“I got hungry.” She shrugs as if she needed some excuse to order food. That concerns me all on its own. She needs to know she can have anything she wants, whenever.
Archer lifts the lid and laughs. “French fries and chicken tenders? You do realize the restaurant here is a five-star restaurant, right?” He directs his question to Brielle.
Her eyebrows lower before she raises her head, walking over to the rolling cart and grabbing her food.
“Yeah, I tend not to eat food I can’t pronounce, so…” she plops down on the couch as if this is just a normal day. Not like two men who murder people daily are questioning her food choices. “Plus, you can’t go wrong with this. So, it’s a win in my book.” she shrugs before eating a fry.
“I love this girl,” Killian says, his goofy ass smile still plastered to his face.
“You know what goes best with fries and tenders?” He asks Brielle while walking to the mini fridge. “Yes! Still some left,” heshouts, rounding the counter with two small bottles of Sunny D in hand.
He’s such a child.
“Here.” He holds one out to Brielle, and her face lights up with a smile. “I love Sunny D!” she exclaims. Both of them sit down on the couch, sharing food and juice. I can’t lie and say I hate seeing her a little relaxed and happy. Killian’s the kind of person who makes you feel safe around him, and it’s clear he’s having the same effect on her.
I need to talk with Archer while he’s here, so I walk over to Brielle and bend down. My lips meet hers in a soft kiss before I stand to my full height. She looks taken aback for a second before her cheeks turn pink.
A perfect color for her.
“I’ll be back in a few. I need to talk to Archer. Killian and Carson will stay,” I tell her, and she nods without saying anything else. I’m thankful she’s comfortable for the time being. I just hope it stays this way.
“So,tell me what you found out,” Archer says once we sit down in his office a few floors above us, beer in hand from his mini fridge.
“We found her with some guy at a strip club about halfway between here and Hollowbrook. A real weird guy. Older. Odd-fitting suit. Brown hair. Something about him rubbed me the wrong way,” I explain to Archer. He seems to think it over, but I continue. “Susie’s back at my place handcuffed to the wall in my basement. Ray and Ash are there to look over everything untilwe get back and begin our questioning,” I tell him, bringing the beer to my mouth and chugging half of it.
“And Brielle?” Archer raises his eyebrow. I sigh, knowing this was coming.
“She’s a fucking nut job. Stabbed me once. You saw the bullet hole in the window. But fuck if she doesn’t speak to my soul.” And that’s the truth. I’ve never met someone like Brielle. She’s a sassy one when she wants to be, but she pushes me more than anyone else has before.
“Keep a close eye on her. She seems like a sweet girl, but the crazy ones you need to watch the most.”
“While we are on the subject, are you seeing anyone yet?” I ask him, already knowing the answer. He and his crew are working hard to make this place safer. He knows if he lets himself get close to anyone, there’s a chance they could disappear, and he can’t handle that again.
“Nah, I don’t have time for dating right now,” he mumbles before bringing the bottle to his mouth.
“You’ve been saying that for years, Archer.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. No woman could handle what I do. Nor could I put her in harm’s way until things are dealt with.” He runs a hand down his face before finishing off his drink.
“And how do your parents feel about that?” I ask, raising an eyebrow at him.
“We’d better get back before Killian has your girl asking for nothing but Sunny D and chicken tenders.” We both laugh as he ignores my question as we leave his office and head back upstairs, but before we get far enough, a security guard is running in our direction.
31
EMRIS
“Sir!”The security guard waves us down. “Someone said they saw Mr. Lancaster enter the hotel about twenty minutes ago and head to the bar area, but when we went to escort him out, he was gone. No one has seen him leave.” He looks like he’s going to shit his pants the way Archer is glaring at him. If there’s one thing Archer doesn’t mess with, it’s the safety of the people who stay here and the highly trained guards who are paid a shit ton of money to keep people like this out.
Which they didn’t do.
Archer steps forward, closing the distance between him and the guard, gripping him by the front of his shirt. “If you don’t find him, I swear to God I won’t hesitate to decapitate you and every other guard that’s working tonight.” The guard nods before Archer releases him. The second he does, the guard stumbles backward and runs in the opposite direction to report the news to his coworkers.
“Who’s he talking about?” I ask Archer as we make our way back upstairs. By the look on his face, I can tell he’s livid. “He’s the man we’ve been trying to take out. A piece of shit that’s in charge of buying the women in the ring we are trying to shut down.”
That’s what I was afraid of.
