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"Yes we should, I'll be back later to check on our guests." She laughed softly.
I can't fucking wait, I thought.
Their voices and footsteps faded before a door opened and closed somewhere a few metres away.
"Well this is fucked up," Parker said.
"That's one way to put it," I agreed. I swallowed and winced at my dry throat. "We need to find a way to get the hell out of here. Whatever that bitch has planned, I don't think either of us are going to like it."
CHAPTER20
LILA
"Is everything all right?" Chloe flopped down beside me as I clicked out of my messages and threw my phone down on the table.
"Yeah." I pretended to be interested in my laptop screen, but I hadn't read a word of anything on it for the last hour.
"Just a message from Parker to let me know Reuben needed him and Hunter to do some urgent business." It wasn't unusual, but the timing sucked. Although, the timing always sucked. Reuben seemed to have a knack for knowing when the worst times were, and sending the guys off somewhere.
"It must get really tiring," Chloe said.
When she didn't elaborate, I decided to take the bait anyway.
"What must get tiring?"
"The guys always prioritising their brothers over you." She pulled her phone out of her pocket and toyed with it for a while. "Any time Reuben tells them to jump, they jump without thinking. Have they ever told him no? After what happened to us, there's no way Dane would leave me here alone."
Her words hit too close to home. As far as I know, they never told Reuben they wouldn't do whatever he asked them to. They enjoyed working for him. But to leave now, when so much was at stake?
When I was head of my family, I'd have to consider my options where Reuben was concerned. There may be a time when assassinating him was my only option. He may prove impossible to work with, especially if he was going to keep pulling the strings with the twins. I didn't care for it in the short term, but in the long-term it was definitely not going to work.
"Slade is still here," I reminded her. "And you."
She flashed a brief smile. "Of course I am."
There was definitely something off about her expression. I put it down to this uneasy alliance.Temporaryalliance. As soon as we dealt with Zachary, we'd be back at war. For all I knew, she was planning her next move.
"Have you spoken to Zachary?" I asked.
She looked even cagier, but shrugged. "I have. He claimed to know nothing about any explosive devices in either of the teddy bears. He actually suggested he was set up by Reuben Brantley. What better way to get rid of us, while pinning it on someone else?"
I mulled that over for a minute. "Is there any chance that's what happened? Maybe Zachary is innocent in all of this."
Iwantedto believe he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. He'd seemed so sincere when we last spoke. Setting up others wasn't necessarily Reuben's style though. He usually didn't care who knew he was behind attacks like this. Perhaps he saw an opportunity and took it.
"At this point, anything is possible," Chloe agreed. "Maybe we should cut Zachary some slack. Have you talked to him?"
I shook my head. "Not since that night. I saw him arrive, but that was all."
"Maybe you should talk to him," Chloe suggested. She glanced around. "In the meantime, we're still supposed to be on opposite sides. We wouldn't want anyone to see us talking and think we're friendly toward each other."
"Definitely wouldn't want that," I said with an edge of sarcasm. "I guess I could speak to him. I just wish the guys told me what he said to them before they left. I tried calling them, but it went straight to voicemail. I'm sure they'll call me back as soon as they're able to."
They fucking better. Taking off without a word was bad enough, but leaving me in the dark where Zachary was concerned, was worse.
"I'm sure they will." Chloe stood and shoved her phone into the pocket of her skirt. "No doubt, wherever they are, they're pining for you." The smile she gave me before she walked away gave me chills for some reason.
"They better be," I said under my breath. I closed my laptop with a sigh and gathered it up. If I couldn't concentrate in the quiet of the library, then I had no chance. I slipped it under my arm and headed out the oak trimmed doors and up the stairs at the end of the corridor.
