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Bruno’s lips went into a thin line. The man wasn’t speaking.
“The moment we’re out of here, we’re talking.”
Well, either Romeo would tell those with us who he was, or he’d let Bruno stay silent. Either way, it was his call to make, and I’d support him.
19
ROMEO
Oh my god. It was a nightmare come true. JJ knew about Jordan. Not in the full context, but with Bruno here, he fucking knew. There was no way out of this. I had to tell them.
Jordan caught wind of what happened. My phone rang when we were still hunkered down in the room. With how quiet it was in there while shit was going on outside the building, JJ and the others easily heard Jordan’s barking command through the phone to get to his place when we left. He made me put Bruno on the phone, who grunted and said we’d be there as soon as we could.
JJ wasn’t happy. His eyes stayed narrowed on me. The only reason he wasn’t spouting off was because we weren’t in private. At least, that was my best guess.
The longer we were stuck in the room with his eyes on me, the more my body shook. I tried so damn hard to keep my panic attack at bay. It wasn’t the shots outside that triggered me or the fact I was closed into a smaller space with so many people. It was JJ and the explaining I was going to have to do.
Eventually, the panic attack became too much, and I bent at the waist, trying to suck in air while my vision swam. Dash was right there with his arms around me, drawing me to his lap as hesat on the floor. Tristan faced Dash, bracketing me in a cocoon of safety. I buried my face in Dash’s neck and fought to take deep breaths.
What I didn’t expect was Slater lowering himself to the floor as well, or his soft words of encouragement.
“You’re okay, Romeo. Listen to the sound of my voice.” He coached me through the deep breathing exercises, much like Dash had done before. Slater had a soothing voice as well, something the brothers had in common.
The rest of the room fell away as I sat with the men who held my heart and my soul, as Slater kept talking to me. He went from breathing exercises to talking about mundane things. Distraction was something I’d tried in the past to get my mind off the anxiety. The more attention I gave it, the more I focused on the fear, the worse the anxiety got. Having Slater talk about going home tonight and passing out after a shower, maybe watching some porn, it helped. I didn’t need to know about the porn, but the desired effect was good. It was getting my mind off me and onto his words.
“Not for nothing, Slay, but stop talking about porn,” Dash said. “I appreciate you helping Romeo. The talk of fucking your fist needs to end.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you implied it. Now I’m trying to scrub the image from my mind.”
“Romeo?” I heard JJ ask. His voice was easily discernible. And he was closer now than he was before.
“You say one wrong word and I’m going to deck you,” Dash threatened.
“Easy,” Greer warned. I’d heard him talk enough at the club when he was there with Dexen to recognize him without looking.
“Greer, man, I’m not afraid of you,” Dash said. “I will protect these men like you will yours. Don’t push me.”
“All right, that’s enough,” Dexen cut in. “No one’s hitting anyone.”
“Good, because while I like all of you, my brothers come first,” Casper added.
Jesus, this had to stop. Now that I could breathe easier and the panic attack dropped to a more manageable level, I pulled back from Dash’s neck and peered at those around me.
I had my legs on either side of Dash’s waist, with Tristan at my back. Slater sat to my right, his back against the wall like Dash’s was. Reed, Casper, and Elic stood beside Slater while on my other side sat JJ in a crouch, his eyes no longer hard. Dexen and Greer were behind him, supportive but also trying to keep the peace.
In the corner near the door were Xaiden, Corbin, and Val. I could tell Corbin wanted to come closer by the way he stood apart from his men, with his kind eyes on me and a small smile on his lips. He was the doctor of the group. While not a psychologist, he specialized in emergency medicine. He would have ways to help me.
I’d already met Xaiden since he came to the club occasionally, though I usually avoided as many people as I could. Val and Corbin were new to me. I talked to them a bit after the concert when we were waiting for the band to be done.
Bruno... Well, he glared at everyone except Dash, Tristan, and me. If I had to guess, he was told to watch Tristan as well when I was with him due to Tristan working for Jordan.
“I’m okay,” I told them. My voice had a bit of a shake to it, but I didn’t let it stop me from continuing. “I appreciate your concern. I just...” My eyes met JJ’s. “We have to go to your dad’s place after this. Can we talk there?”
Before JJ could respond, there was a knock on the door. One of the security personnel for the band came in and said they got the all clear. There were shots fired not far from the stadiumthat stemmed from a fight between two groups of adults. Corbin asked if he could be of assistance. This was his first chance since they’d ushered us into the room. The guard said fortunately no one was hurt. Those who fired the shots and could be caught were arrested. The others fled.
The threat wasn’t on us. For as many times as people avoided walking down the street in front of my house—in front of Jordan’s building—bullets didn’t fly there. At least they hadn’t since I’d moved in. The guards he had watching his back and the way he entered and exited the building kept him as safe as possible.
