Next comes the decanter. I remove the crystal stopper and pour enough Rohypnol in to sedate a prized fucking stallion. I swirl a few times until it settles. Like nothing’s wrong. Like no one would ever know what’s waiting in their glass. Just likemyNoah didn’t.
Through my earpiece, Cole checks in. “Doing okay, Rhett?”
“Yeah. Just adding the final touches.” Once again, I reach into my pocket and pull out a folded white note card with embossed lettering that will tie all this back to Bradley.Compliments of Hemstock Holdings.I leave it next to the decanter.
“Don’t forget the camera,” Jace reminds me. “Paulie and Marcus just pulled up.”
“On it.” Breath quickening, I scan the suite until I spy an air vent above the mini fridge. I move toward it and pop it open, sliding the micro-camera into the grate before resealing it—just like my tech-savvy brothers suggested. “Done.”
“Visuals confirmed,” Cole notes just as Kade’s voice cuts through the line. “Rhett, they just walked in. Seems like they’re heading straight up.”
“I wouldn’t doubt it,” I confirm. “This suite has everything they’d ever want. But more than they’re expecting.”
I’d love to get the fuck out of here, but I have to hang back and make sure everything goes as planned. With one last check of the room, I slip behind the bathroom door, angling myself enough to see through the crack.
A few minutes later, footsteps sound, followed by gruff laughter, then, the click of the suite door.
Showtime, motherfuckers.
I remain silent as Paulie shrugs out of his jacket, tosses it onto the couch like he’s done it a hundred times before, and beelines for the party favors left on the table. He takes a seat, elbows braced on his knees, and lets out a pleased exhale. “Now this is how you welcome your boys.”
A grin tugs at Marcus’s face. “Didn’t think he’d bother cutting it ahead of time.”
“As if.” Paulie chuckles, dragging a finger through the powdery substance before sniffing it up his nose. “Probably paid someone from the waitstaff to set it up.”
Reaching for the decanter, Marcus sits down next to him and holds it up so the light catches the glass, watching the amber liquid slosh. “Want some?”
“Don’t ask stupid questions.”
For several minutes, they take turns doing line after line, polishing off half a bottle of whiskey as they go—none the wiser that this will be their final curtain call. Once they’re feeling the effects start to kick in, Marcus tips his head back against the couch, gaze drifting and unfocused. “You remember the last time we got this fucked up?”
Paulie snorts another line. “You mean the night of Noah and Bradley’s wedding?”
My spine goes rigid, and Cole’s voice sounds in my ear. “Don’t fucking react, Rhett.”
The wall behind me presses into my back, and I anchor myself to it.Fuck. This is going to be harder than I thought.
Paulie laughs like he’s retelling a joke they’ve already told each other a dozen times. “Always wanted to fuck a bitch while her husband watched.”
“Salacious.” Marcus gives a low whistle.
My knuckles turn white as I fight to keep my composure.
“Fuck yeah. She was half out before we got to the bed…” Paulie recalls. “Just how I like them. Compliant.”
The words crawl under my skin, and it takes everything in me to stay fucking put. “Don’t,” Kade warns, drawing me back to the task at hand. “Can’t believe I’msaying this,” he huffs. “Now’s not the time to lose your head. You’re almost there.”
Closing my eyes, I focus on my breathing. Noah’s image comes flashing through my head without warning. Pale. Quiet. Not there.
She couldn’t focus. Her hands shook when she finally told me pieces of what they’d done to her. She kept apologizing for not remembering everything.
I mumble under my breath, keeping my voice low, “I don’t know how much longer I can listen to this.”
This time, it’s Jace. “Stick to the plan, Rhett. If you bust in there, blinded by rage, we’ll be behind bars before sunrise. That’s the last thing Noah needs.”
He’s right.And I hate that he is. “I’ll get it under control.” I stare at the crack in the door like it’s the only thing keeping me from tearing through it.
“Who would have thought Noah Lane’s pussy was so fuckin’ tight?” I want to put my fist through the smirk that twitches to Paulie’s lips.
