Page 53 of The Editor’s Choice

There had been no texts or phone calls between Cain and any of his guys that would indicate anything was being planned or executed.

Literally. Nothing.

Sitting around waiting the entire day built my anxiety up to proportions I never considered possible. We talked. We played games. We strategized. We talked possibilities. None of it really helped to ease the feeling of my chest tightening until I couldn’t breathe properly.

Something felt wrong.

“There’s something we’re missing,” I said for the millionth time just to have it dismissed yet again.

“We aren’t missing anything, Jade,” Roman said patiently for the umpteenth time. “We’ve been through every detail. Over and over. We’ve watched the videos, checked the live feeds from all over the warehouse. We’ve gone through the texts and listened to the phone calls.”

“Okay, but why would they call it off? After all that talk yesterday about having the meeting this morning and initiating the plan?” I question, heart racing inside my chest. “They wouldn’t just abandon that plan.”

“Sometimes things happen that take priority,” Finn reassures, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. “It happens all the time in this world. Emergencies that are a lot bigger fish than taking care of a small time debt like this one.”

“He’s right,” Roman agrees, relaxing back into the couch once more. “It could have been any number of things truthfully. The only thing I do know is it doesn’t look like anything is happening today so everybody should go home and get some rest.”

I stand along with Sara and Finn before Roman wraps his hand around my forearm. “Obviously not you,” he says, urging me to sit back down with him.

Rolling my eyes, I pull my arm from his grip and walk the others to the front door. “We’ll call later. Let us know if anything changes,” I say as they step through the door.

Making my way back to him, I wrap my arms around my waist, feeling paranoid about the entire day. “I’m telling you something is off, Roman. There’s something coming and we have no clue what it is,” I plead, begging him to at least justify my feelings on this.

“We know what’s coming, babe,” he says, gluing his eyes to mine. There’s sympathy and concern lingering in the look, as well as understanding. “This isn’t my first time dealing with something like this, but I fully understand that it is your first time. Finn wasn’t lying when he said this happens all the time. Plans fall through. They’ll have their meeting, and when they do, we’ll be listening. We’ll be ready whenever they decide to take action.”

Settling in beside him, I do my best to put my feelings to the side, burying them deep inside. I can’t get past the feeling rolling in my gut, can’t quite make myself relax, but I try for his sake.

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Roman

An eerie feeling overtakes me as I wake suddenly, arm still wrapped around Jade. We’d finally called it a day and crashed around midnight. After we sent Sara and Finn home, we spent the evening talking through everything that hadn’t happened and possibilities going forward.

Rubbing my temple to ease the building tension, I run it all through my head again. None of it makes any sense. No matter how much I reassured her this was fairly normal, I couldn’t get past the heaviness in my stomach every time I thought about it. She was right when she said something was off. I just don’t know what that something is yet.

After tossing and turning for what feels like hours, I toss back the cover and swing my feet out of the bed. Staying in bed isn’t doing me any good.

You up?

Hitting send on the text, I snag a bottle of beer from the fridge, hoping to ease the stress just a bit, but after the first pull, I find myself pouring it down the drain. Drinking isn’t going to help anything in this situation. It’s just going to make my thoughts less clear than they already are. I need to focus.

Turning on some low music, I set my mind to the task at hand, focusing all my attention on it now. I need to get a step ahead of him. Hell, at least even with him. I’d settle for that right now.

Yeah, what’s up? Trouble sleeping?

As much as I hate to admit needing help, I really could use another set of eyes on this one.

You could say that. Care to lend a hand?

Less than a minute goes by before I get another text from Finn saying he’s on his way. The next breath comes a bit easier with that knowledge. If anybody can help me crack this, it’s going to be Finn.

“Let’s get this figured out,” he says as soon as I crack the door open, and in this moment, I am eternally grateful to have a guy like him on my side. Any time I’ve ever needed him, no matter the time or circumstance, he was there without hesitation. Though we started out as co-workers, we quickly became friends and then brothers.

Half smiling at the thought, I close the door behind him and follow him back to the couch. Notes are spread out haphazardly across the coffee table and couch cushions. More questions than answers truthfully. I don’t even know where to start with this mess.

Puffing out his cheeks with a sigh, Finn takes in the state of the living room. When he left, the room was tidy and organized. Not a thing out of place. Now it resembles the aftermath of a tornado.

“Alright,” he says, voice lacking any sense of enthusiasm but plenty of determination. “Let’s get this figured out. Clue me in.”