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“Really with the stupid ringtones, asshole?”
Archer’s temper is worse than I’ve ever seen it. He keeps a tight leash on it normally, but the past few days, it’s been leaking out like toxic waste all over the place. Garen’s the only one of us holding on to his sanity.
Maybe, that punch to the wall was enough of an outlet for him. That or the pain of his three broken knuckles has taught him to settle down. He’s into giving pain, not feeling it. I know because he’s told us constantly over the past few days.
The goofy chime of Garen’s phone sounds in the tense cab of the car again. Aliens landing UFO music. Not what someone would expect for a wealthy CFO, but Garen does what he wants.
“Calm your ass, Archer. How ‘bout you worry about your own phone and let me handle my business?” He sounds laid back, but I hear the steel in his voice. I hear it, and I feel it deep inside places I’m not totally ready to acknowledge.
While the others wrestle their phones from their pockets, I might as well check mine. In the second before my screen unlocks, the preview shows a group message coming from an unknown number.
As soon as the text opens and I see who it’s from, tension and misery vanish into nothingness. It’s her! She’s come back to us, and this time, I’ll figure out whatever it takes to make sure she doesn’t run away again.
CHAPTER15
GAREN
If the offer for coffee’s still good, I could use a cup. This is Poe, btw. Poe Collier. From the club?
Her nerves are so obvious they’re damn near a fifth member of the group chat the little sub opened. The only typing bubbles on the screen appear to be mine. I pause and look up to see Archer and Felix both staring at me.
“What?” I ask.
“You’re freaking me out, man.” Arch looks from my face to the phone in my hand and back up again. “That laugh. It’s eerie.”
He gives a fake shiver, but his point is clear. I need to rein in my inner sadist, or I’ll scare her away for real. Because the words I’ve gleefully typed so far? They’re claiming ones. And she’s not ready to be claimed the way I’m gonna be claiming her when the time’s right.
“One of you say something then. Fuckers.”
Bubbles appear and disappear as they type, then delete, then type again.
Where and when? - Archer
Give us your address. We’ll pick you up. -Felix
“All that scrambling, and this is what you come up with? We’re fucked.”
I get their point about not coming on too strong, but for fuck’s sake. I half expect the two of them to burst into song. Felix has hearts in his eyes so obvious it’s comical. Even Archer’s lost the thundercloud that’s gloomed around him for days.
We don’t even know what she’s thinking, and these idiots are practically picking China patterns.
“Slow down. Breathe. Let’s see why she’s messaging us after all these days. Yeah?” I’m not normally the cautious one, but damn.
“What do you mean ‘why is she messaging us’? It’s obvious!” Poor Felix.
He’s more like an unruly fox than Poe is. The guy’s vibrating with so much manic energy the car is bouncing on its axles.
Can we meet at Rendezvous Cafe in an hour? Do you know where that is?
If we don’t, we can damn sure figure it out.
“Driver, change in plans, please. We need to be delivered to the Rendezvous Cafe. Are you familiar with it?” Archer asks the hired driver.
“Over on Grand? Yeah, it’ll take us about a half hour with traffic. Won’t make it to the airport in time for your flight if we change course, though.”
“Not a concern. Nobody’s flying home today. G, rebook the condo, if we can. If not, find us another one. Then work on transportation for us while we’re here. This might take a bit of time. Felix, let admin at the office know we’ll be remoting for at least the next few weeks.” He slips into that leadership role so easily, even between the three of us.
It’s easier to let him think he’s the shot caller than to fight him for responsibility I don’t necessarily want. Still, I have to bite my tongue to keep from telling him I don’t need to rebook the condo, because I never terminated the short term lease on it as it is. I’ve also been in touch with my righthand man and personal driver from home, Luther, to ask that he bring my town car to Chicago and plan to stay and gather information about Poe’s circumstances. All this before she even reached out to us.
