“Yeah?” I asked as I picked up the phone.
“Where the fuck are you?” he growled.
“Busted,” I mouthed to Chloe.
She cupped her hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh out loud.
“Let me rephrase that,” Stone said curtly, “get your ass back home or stay gone.”
And when he hung up the phone, I stood to my feet and uttered the words that demolished any sort of time I may have had with the mysterious best friend ofmybest friend’s lover.
“Time to clean up and ship out.”
Four
Chloe
The second West answered his phone, I heard Stone’s muffled, clipped voice. We were in deep shit for leaving, so we wolfed down the rest of our food and chugged our drinks before we headed out. Clinging to him on the ride back to the suped-up warehouse stirred things inside of me that I refused to entertain. The last thing I needed was to further complicate things in an already complicated position.
But when Stone started laying into West the second we walked through the front door, I felt a protective wave wash over me.
“Are you fucking insane!?” Stone bellowed.
The man stormed down the hallway just as I got the front door closed behind us. West stepped in front of me, and it gave me pause because no man had ever done that before. No man had ever thrown himself in front of me in order to keep me away from harm or danger.
If anything, the men in my life were the ones that caused the danger in the first place.
“Stone, I can explain,” West said.
The man went from bellowing to growling. “Save it because I don’t give a shit. You had a direct order from me for the safety of everyone in this damn place, and you chose to ignore it because of your own selfish whims. What the fuck do you have to say for yourself?”
I stepped out from behind him. “It’s my fault, actually.”
West shook his head. “She’s got nothing to do with it.”
But I stepped in front of West and looked up into the angry man’s face. “I felt cooped up and claustrophobic around all of these people that I don’t know. My anxiety ratcheted up and West heard it in my voice from behind a closed door. He tried to talk me out of leaving because I was determined to do it. Just to get out and get fresh air that isn’t recycled through these vents all the fucking time.”
Stone glared down at me. “Do you know the kind of danger you put everyone in?”
I shrugged. “I don’t care. I don’t know you guys, I don’t care about you guys, and while I’m thankful for the protection, I’m never going to put your well-being over my own. I almost had a panic attack while taking a bath. I could’ve drowned. I was leaving anyway, so West tried to stop me. I refused. So, he said he was coming with me if he couldn’t stop me. That’s all that happened. So if you’ve got anger for anyone, it’s for me. So, have at it.”
I flopped my arms out before they came back down to my sides, inviting Stone to yell at me. But all he did was volley his eyes between me and West. We all stood there, practically holding our breath as the man cracked his neck. And as Stone rolled his shoulders back, the anger that had washed over his face—as well as his voice—quickly disappeared.
“At least you weren’t completely disobeying orders,” Stone said to the man perched behind me.
Then, Stone’s attention dropped to me. “We are willingly giving you protection because of what happened. But that protection comes with rules. You don’t want to play ball? We don’t give you a bat. Understood?”
I nodded. “Read you loud and clear, bossman.”
“No one leaves this compound without discussing it with me first.”
I shrugged. “Sorry.”
“Are you, though?”
I scoffed. “You know nothing about me. You don’t even know why throngs and crowds of men make me so uncomfortable. So, yeah, I’m sorry. But I’m also not going to grovel at your feet. You either accept my apology, or you toss me out on my ass. The choice is yours. But yeah, I’ll listen to your rules for now until I feel that I’m safe enough to go home. Then, I’m going home whether you like it or not.”
Someone whistled lowly down the hallway, but I stood my ground. This man wouldn’t bully me around. I didn’t even know who the hell he was! I outstared him, though. I kept gazing into his eyes until he pulled his own away and looked at West towering over my shoulder.
