Page 139 of Nest of Thieves
“Jo—”
“No. Don’t tell me it’s not possible. Your boss knows where it is. I stole it once; I can steal it again.” I hop out of his lap and pace, trying to count the days that have passed. I had two months. It’s been six weeks. “I have two weeks left. Those pictures are a warning, but if I don’t get that ring”—I look at Lark—“I need to meet your boss. It’s the only way.”
He presses his lips together and looks at the messages again. “Okay,” he concedes. “I’m telling you right now that I don’t like it. The guys won’t either, but I’ll do whatever I can to help.”
Some of the tension bleeds from my shoulders. “We should go now.”
“Breakfast first. Vette is probably nearly done, anyway, and we need to fill them in.”
I clench my fists on the way downstairs, hating the danger I’ve put my family in. Vette and Mac notice something is off as soon as Lark and I enter the kitchen.
“What happened?” Mac asks, voice rough with the promise of violence.
“We’re taking her to meet Damien,” Lark explains.
“No.” Vette slides two fried eggs onto a plate.
“Yes,” Lark says before I can respond. “Laurence, her old boss, is threatening her sister. He sent pictures to my phone.” Lark shows them the images. “Where are your phones?”
Mac glances over his shoulder at where they sit on the counter, plugged in.
“Check them.” I grip the back of the barstool as the Vette and Mac go to their phones.
“Puta madre.”
“Where can I find Laurence?” Mac asks, locking his device.
“You won’t find him. He’s already been in your house, and you didn’t even know it.” I slide my gaze to Lark. “I’m surprised you didn’t see him on the cameras.”
“The missing footage,” Lark murmurs. “I thought that was you.”
“It was him. If he can get in here without you three noticing, think of how easy it’ll be for him to kill my sister and my niece.” My throat clogs with emotion.
Would he really hurt a baby?
It’s becoming more and more clear that I have no idea who Laurence really is. At one time, I thought of him as my savior. The only one who understood the darker side of me I had to hide away from everyone else. Then I realized how fucked-up he is.
“If you meet Damien, he’ll only help if you swear your allegiance.”
I’d rather die than give away my loyalty to another deranged alpha, but lives are at stake if I don’t give Laurence what he wants.
“That’s fine.”
“You should eat.” Vette places the fried eggs and ham in front of me. “We were out of a lot of ingredients, so it’s not as fancy as I wanted.”
“It’s okay, I’m not really hungry now, anyway.” I go to push the plate away, but the three of them growl.
“Even so,” Vette begins, “you need to eat.” He sets a bottle of Valentina in front of the plate.
“I’ll call Damien and request a meeting.” Lark leaves the room.
As helpless as I feel, Vette is right. I do need to eat. I can’t be hangry when we go to meet with Damien. I’ll also need a shower. Two days of sex hasn’t exactly done my body odor any favors.
“Fine.” I sit on the barstool and scarf down the food while Vette prepares something to eat for everyone else.
“He’ll meet us in an hour. At the club.”
Good. I can shower and prepare what I want to say. And, just in case, I can figure out how to sneak in a weapon. I’m desperate enough to resort to violence to get what I want.
