“Pretty sure I was into it.” She ran her fingers along the faint stubble on his jaw. “I missed you.”
“I missed you, too.”
“So,” she started, not quite sure of the words, “what would we be exactly? I don’t just want one of you. Is that something you could live with? I know, I know, not the best time for this conversation, and Ez should be here for it.”
He cleared his throat. “We can figure it out.”
“I’m not wrecking your friendship, right?” Willow asked, suddenly feeling like maybe all this work wouldn’t get her what she wanted in the end.
At least they wouldn’t be stuck anymore.
“Nah, he wrecked it by making me eat at Stacy’s all the time.”
Willow rolled her eyes. Before she could tell him off for making a joke, he said, “For real. I’ll give it a shot. Does it annoy me a little? Yeah, but why give up before even trying?”
“Okay,” she replied. She placed a hand on his chest. “Landon will be back any minute. Let’s not be a spectacle.”
Ryker rolled his hips and grinned. “What? Getting all shy now?”
Sitting up and disentangling herself, she replied, “No, you’re getting me all worked up. Let’s save it for when we can actually do something about it. Plus, I want Ezra, too.” She could feel the heat in her face that had probably changed it to an embarrassing shade. She was about to say something else, but a subtle chime from her laptop cut through the room.
Willow leaned forward to confirm. “They connected. Now let’s see what we’re working with.”
This was strange.
“Their cybersecurity is a fucking joke,” she muttered. “It’s like they want to be hacked.”
A laugh echoed from the doorway, and they shot up to their feet.
Xander Coughlin was standing there with a firm grip on Landon’s hair and a gun to his head.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Very good, Willow,” Xander said, beaming. He marched his captive forward, making her friend’s jaw clench in frustration. “Davidiuk and I may loathe one another, but we have a common enemy.” His gaze narrowed on her. “Anyone who tries to take from us.”
“What happened to Ezra?” she asked, terrified of the answer. This was something she couldn’t have foreseen. Rivals tipping each other off?
“He’s a little tied up,” Xan replied with a devious smirk. He turned his attention to his captive. “I take it this is the ‘friend’ you were supposed to signal. Tell me, how many men do you keep?” A dry laugh came from his throat after she stayed quiet. She didn’t want to give him any more information if it could be helped. “You shouldn’t play these kinds of games if you can’t think ahead.”
“What do you want?” Ryker asked, squaring his shoulders.
“Willow is going to work for me,” he said simply. “And once her term is up—say four years, then she goes to Davidiuk for however long he decides. We worked it out after you left.”
A chill crept up her spine. “And if I refuse?”
That earned her a bark of laughter. “I don’t see why you think you have some kind of say in this, little girl. Even if you couldn’t break us, we can see when someone is useful.”
She shifted her weight back and forth, trying to puzzle out the best course of action. Accepting this would be insane, but maybe she could placate him and run.
As if reading her thoughts, he said, “There is no running. We will find the ones you love—including your little harem of men.”
Her contingency plan was right there, the keys ready to be pressed. Moving would set him off, though, and she couldn’t risk hurting her best friend, or worse, killing him by diving for the keyboard.
A shadow shifted in the doorway. What was th—
Her thoughts were cut off by Ezra tackling Xander to the ground and driving a knife into the space between his neck and shoulder.
Chapter 38
