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It was Lukus's turn to panic. "What do you mean, they're all in danger?" He had stepped closer and the rage on his face frightened her. Dylan slid between them, pressing Lukus back. She noticed his warning glance as he silently told his boss to back off. Once again, she was grateful for his protection.
It was Dylan who turned and pressed her gently for answers. "Tell us about why they're in danger, honey."
"Jake talked about a loft. It was while we were at that stupid party watching those women enjoy being in pain. I didn't know what he was talking about. He kept talking about howsheshould have trusted him. Howshe'dbe the star of the parties with her intense pain tolerance. I didn't know whoshewas that he was referring to. Then he said..." She took a few seconds to try to remember his exact words before continuing. "He said that they were fools if they thought they could keep their women safe at the loft. He could get inside anything and everything, including the loft. In fact, he said it was the only thing he did better than fuck."
She glanced up then to see that Lukus had turned as white as the sheet she was wrapped in. He stood motionless, as if he were in a trance. It was Dylan who urged him into action.
"Lukus! We need to call them right away. They need to be on extra alert."
It was as if he hadn't even heard. "I need to be there. Now. Come on. We're leaving."
Hannah glanced at Lukus before asking, "Connor is there, isn't he? He's in danger with your fiancée?"
Sheer anguish crossed his face. "They're all in danger."
* * *
Tiffany
"Miss Scarlett in the study with the candlestick. I win again." Brianna threw her cards down in the center of the board game, knocking everyone's tokens over.
Tiffany wanted to smack her best friend, and not only because Brianna had won the last three board games in a row. They'd played for hours in an attempt to keep their mind off the danger they were all in. More importantly, she hated how jealous she was that Brianna had spent the last two days holed-up in the loft with Markus as her round-the-clock bodyguard while Lukus was out in California protecting others, leaving Tiffany alone.
Okay, so she wasn't alone.
They'd had a veritable slumber party for the last week. One of the only good outcomes from being in danger was that she'd gotten to spend a lot of quality time with Aiden, which was important for repairing their precarious relationship. She tried to reason that everyone was just doing what they had to do until Jake Davenport was behind bars, but that didn't make it any easier to sleep with Rachel instead of Lukus each night.
Since Derek had arrived back safe and sound from California early that morning, even Rachel would be sleeping with her husband tonight. Tiffany had assumed she'd have to sleep alone, but then Markus had gotten a mysterious call from Lukus a few hours ago and he'd been downright jumpy ever since. He wouldn't tell Tiffany and Brianna what was going on other than that Lukus had decided to come home today, too. Tiff should be thrilled to have him home—and she would be—but something was off. She just couldn't put her finger on it.
Stop being such a drama queen. Lukus will be home soon and then everything can get back to normal around here.
Markus and Brianna were putting the board game back in the box when he suggested they give up on board games and move down to the movie theater to watch a few movies. Tiffany was movied out. They'd watched no less than a dozen flicks in the last week. They'd played board games, card games, and video games. They'd shopped online and worked out in the gym. All-in-all it would have been a fun week if they hadn't been living under the shadow of danger.
Tiffany grabbed her cell phone, pressing redial for the tenth time in the last hour, praying Lukus would pick up. She needed to hear his voice. When it went to voicemail, she lost her temper, throwing her phone onto the couch, almost hitting Markus. "God dammit, why won't he pick up?"
Markus was short-tempered, too. "All right, that's enough. I know we're all wound pretty tight, and I've let quite a few cuss words slide, but I draw the line at throwing objects. Maybe a nice hard spanking on that naughty ass of yours would calm you down."
Tiff looked at him sheepishly. She hadn't meant to let the phone go. "I'm sorry. I just want to talk to him, you know?"
His face softened. "I know, sweetheart, and he'll be home in a couple hours, if not sooner. You sure a spanking wouldn't make you feel better?" He grinned a wolfish grin. "I'm pretty sure it would helpme."
Leave it to Brianna to agree. "You can spank me, honey. I know it would totally makemefeel better." She snuggled in close to him as Markus held Tiffany's phone out to her. She grabbed it and returned it to her back pocket, hoping to get a text from Lukus soon.
She was just about to sit back down when the elevator dinged an arrival. Tiff was thrilled. He was home already!
She took off in a sprint to greet Lukus and was only a few feet away when Jake Davenport stepped off the elevator and into the foyer of the great room. He was dressed in all black from head to toe, a veritable vision of evil.
It was just like in the movies when the bad guy made his appearance. Tiffany registered shocked fear as he raised the gun he was carrying and pointed it directly at her face. She managed to stop her forward movement, pulling back so fast she lost her balance and fell on her ass to the marble floor of the foyer. She scrambled backwards in a crablike motion, but Jake was moving too fast.
Tiffany vaguely heard Brianna's blood-curdling scream filling the air as Jake grabbed Tiff's ankle and started dragging her towards the elevator. She kicked wildly to free herself just as Markus sailed over her body, tackling Jake to the ground.
Markus was screaming at the women. "Run! Go back to Derek! Now!"
Tiffany tried to move. She really did, but she was only a few feet away from the men who were now wrestling for Jake's gun. It was then that Tiffany saw the handgun tucked in the back of Markus's pants. She lunged forward to grab it but she didn't get the chance.
The sound of a gun firing only feet away deafened her. For one long second time stood still, while she waited to see who had been shot. She couldn't see the gun, she could only see the steely glint in Jake Davenport's eyes—and in that moment she saw a victorious smirk.
Jake had shot Markus.
