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It didn’t even have to be the words “I’m sorry.” Honestly, I would’ve forgiven her after she set up my security system if I wasn’t sure Alex had forced it on her. Hell, I was enough of a woman to admit I would’ve forgiven her after she bought me lunch, a small flare of surprise lighting when she listed the exact lunch I usually bought myself when I was busy at work. Not the fact that she knew - I wasn’t dumb enough to doubt the hacking skills that allowed Alex to know every facet of Ames’s life didn’t also extend to Bex - but rather that she cared enoughtoknow.
But she ruined it with her possessive touch and sweet words whispered so close to my ear that I got goosebumps. Her actions threw me so far off equilibrium that I barely recalled the few words we exchanged as she passed me my lunch. We had eaten silently, my eyes focusing on a far wall as I tried to get my breathing under control. My heart kept attempting to beat out of my chest, something akin to claustrophobia settling heavy on my lungs. My heart rate hadn’t slowed until Bex moved to the back room, giving me space to breathe.
I took my first full breath in hours, the air punching too quickly out of my chest when the door slammed open mid-inhale. The bell that usually chimed gently to alert me to customers rang so loudly I thought it would break off and fall to the floor. I let out a gasp as I stood too quickly, blood rushing to my head as the sliver of fear that had ridden my back all day grew heavier until I felt a hand on my shoulder. The warm palm grounded me until my eyes focused on the familiar faces entering the door.
Only the expressions they wore weren’t the indulgent smiles I usually got from Alex and Dev but rather faces lined in pure anger and aggression. I frowned, glancing back at Bex, whose face held the uninterested expression she usually wore around me, before looking back at the men, their anger taking up so much space in the small shop.
“You’re sure?” Alex bit out, stomping toward Bex, his anger so focused on her that I couldn’t help my feet from moving me slightly to the right, placing my body just in front of Bex’s. Bex didn’t falter back, instead pushing me out of her way, switching our places as she straightened slightly, nodding to her boss with confidence. She turned on her heel, Alex following close behind.
“What’s going on?” My voice broke with my question, and the fear must’ve been evident enough because Dev’s anger finally cracked. His face softened as he wrapped an arm around my shoulders, leading us behind the other two until we were all crammed into the back room. It was barely big enough for myself and the gift baskets I sometimes wrapped back here, much less four grown adults.
Dev sat in a chair that someone had shoved into the corner, pulling me onto his lap so we took up less space. His hand ran gently over my spine, infusing some warmth into my skin, which had grown cold in the face of the anger suffusing the room. I knew they weren’t mad at me, but I also knew that their anger couldn’t mean anything good. The last time I felt this tension, Ames had been kidnapped.
I glanced over at Bex, only to find her frowning over at me. When our eyes met, she immediately broke eye contact, wiping her face clear of any emotion.
“You said Wren was in danger,” Alex huffed out, eyes flicking over toward where I sat, as if checking I was still whole. I melted quietly at his words, tears pricking at the backs of my eyes when I realized they were angry over my safety. Then the words actually registered, and I attempted to stand up from Dev’s lap, only for him to pull me gently back down.
He wrapped his arms around my waist, settling me with a bear hug that allowed me to squeak out an incredulous, “What?”
“Nothing’s happening to you, Wren,” Dev assured me, but his arms gripped me tighter, as if his hold would keep me safe. He glanced up at Bex, jerking his chin at her in an encouragement to explain.
“When I got here, Wren was cleaning up glass from a broken window. Looked like someone had thrown something through it to break in.”
“A stone, like from the pavers outside,” I added. The trees downtown were all surrounded by large gray stones, forming an attractive ring separating the mulch from the sidewalk. One of the stones had been sitting on the floor of my shop, dirt still clinging to the underside. It was all too easy to find the missing spot under a tree sitting twenty feet from my storefront when I replaced it early this morning.
She nodded at my confirmation. “That suggests sloppiness, a crime of opportunity. But the disorganization didn’t continue. Nothing else was broken, nothing was stolen, and the safe looked untouched. Usually, you’d expect scratch marks around the edges where the thief tried to pry off the door, but it’s pristine. Something kept niggling in the back of my mind, and I remembered Wren’s safe combination. Five…eight…”
She stepped closer to the safe as she listed off the first two numbers of my combination. I couldn’t muster up any surprise that she knew the code to my safe, the birthday of my favorite boy band member from when I was a tween, especially since it made up a majority of my passwords. However, it took no effort to be surprised as Bex pointed at the safe, noting the number already lined up at the indicator notch, “Ninety-four.”
Without touching the dial, Bex turned the handle. We stood frozen as she pulled open the door to the safe that Alex had advised me not to touch all morning, until Bex had looked over everything. Bex beckoned me forward, allowing me to count through the stacks of money and receipts that I kept in the safe.
“It’s all here.” I watched their faces, trying to connect the dots I knew they already had, faces tight with anger and concern, “Spell it out for me.”
“Someone with enough skills to crack this safe wouldn’t have been so sloppy breaking in the front door. Nor would they have left the safe unlocked with all the money inside…Unless this wasn’t a robbery but a warning. Someone broke the window and cracked your safe combination just to fuck with you.” Bex turned her attention to Alex and Dev before continuing, “To fuck with you guys.” She shot a look at Alex, “To show you that they’ve been observing you.” This time, a look at Dev, “And that they know your weaknesses. To show they can get to the people you care about, especially those you don’t properly protect.” Bex crossed her arms, jaw set as she glared at the two men in front of her, almost as if she blamed the two of them for this situation.
“Fuck,” Dev breathed out as Alex ran his hands through his hair.
“It’ll be fine,” Dev continued, his knee bouncing in a nervous tick I’d noticed over the course of our friendship, “Xan can start talking to contacts, see who might be trying to come after us. I’ll start shadowing Wren, keeping her safe, and -”
“No,” Bex’s voice cut off Dev’s planning, all eyes swiveling at her objection.
“What?”
“Wren’s mine. Alex assigned her security to me, and I’m not giving it over to you. I can do the job.”
“She’s my best friend,” Dev growled as he stood up, setting me to the side as he stepped so close to Bex his chest bumped against hers. But Bex didn’t back down, barely needing to raise her chin to meet Dev’s eyes. I had never seen Dev this angry, and his sudden worry over my safety caused me to collapse into the now-vacant chair.
What was the point in standing if someone was taunting you, threatening your safety? I quietly considered if having a dangerous entity - or possibly several - coming after me due to my friendships qualified as a good excuse to skip my workout that night. It was probably a good reason to have an extra scoop of ice cream too. I could consider it a reward for getting through this interaction without crying.
In actuality, I was likely the calmest in the room. Bex and Dev had entered into some kind of alpha stand-off, fighting over who was going to be my security guard. It would’ve been more flattering had the potential threat to my life not given a sour edge to the entire interaction.
Alex finally spoke up, just as the tension between Bex and Dev thickened enough that I thought someone might throw a punch. For the record, my money would’ve been on Bex. “Bex will take the job.”
“She doesn’t even care about Wren!” Dev’s outburst wasn’t in anger but concern, eyes softening as he looked at me. I knew he worried that Bex’s indifference toward me would leave me vulnerable, and I gave him a small smile in appreciation of his concern. I also flinched in anticipation of Bex’s confirmation of his words.
Instead, she surprised me, quietly responding, “Don’t tell me how I feel.”
I hated how my heart thumped a bit at her words, as if they were an admission of something rather than a stubborn refusal to agree with Dev.
