Page 34 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. One (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #1)

Wren

Each breath Oliver gasps in is like a stab to the heart. His hands are trembling, and when I grab one of them, it’s drenched with tears.

The road is dark and winding, so I go slow, not wanting to slide on a patch of ice and end up in a ditch.

To be honest, I have no idea how I’m staying so calm. But I have one thought and one thought only right now: get as far away from that mess of a crime scene as possible.

As we approach a stop sign, I peer down the road. “Oliver, do I go straight here? Or turn? I don’t remember.”

He doesn’t answer, and when I’ve come to a complete stop, I turn to him. “Oliver,” I whisper, squeezing his hand, but I don’t think he even hears me.

“I can’t lose them. I can’t. I can’t live without them.”

His phone vibrates in my lap, and I snatch it up. “Rhett?”

“Where are you?” he demands.

“I… I don’t know.”

“Are you safe, Wren.”

“Oh. Yes. I’m safe. Oliver. Hey, Oliver. Rhett is okay.” I give him a small shake, and he looks at me, but he doesn’t see me.

“She’s safe, Ell,” Rhett says. Then, “Is Oliver okay?”

“No. No, not at all.”

Rhett swears.

“Shit. Sorry. He’s fine physically. But I think he’s having a panic attack. Rhett, I don’t know where we are. And he’s not in a state to tell me where to go.” I glance in the rearview mirror. It looks like we’re alone, but it feels like we’re being watched.

You’re just being paranoid, Wren.

“Describe where you are to me. Are there any landmarks? Road signs?”

“I’m at a stop sign.” Then I look up. “At… Jefferson and Pineland. Woods to my right, a field to my left.”

“That’s good, Wren. You’re in the right place. Turn left. I’ll guide you to our meeting spot, okay?”

“Okay.” I look around, not turning yet. Still alone. So why does it feel like we’re not?

“You’re going to take that road for a few minutes. Is Oliver able to talk?”

“Um. Hang on.” I set the phone down in my lap and turn to Oliver. “Hey. Rhett and Elliot are okay. They’re safe, Oliver.”

He looks at me. Blinks.

“Do you want to talk to Rhett?”

Gulping in a breath, he nods. So I hand him the phone, watching him for a second. His eyes slide closed when Rhett starts talking, and he slumps into his seat.

Then I get going, turning left after checking our surroundings one last time. Oliver says a couple words, but it sounds like he’s struggling to get them out.

After a few minutes, I tap his leg. “I need to know where to go next.”

His eyes widen. “I don’t—I don’t know where we are. Oh god, I—” He stops speaking, and I hear Rhett saying something through the phone. Oliver inhales through his nose, then exhales, and then repeats.

When he hands the phone back to me, I let my fingers brush over his. He’s still shaking, but it’s more like shivering now. I don’t know if that’s better or worse.

“Wren?”

“Hey. I just passed a farm, I think? There was a silo.”

“Okay. You’re doing really well, sweetheart. Up ahead, there’s another stop sign. You’re going to go straight there, okay?”

“Got it. Um. Rhett?”

“Yes?”

“I’m really scared.”

I’ve been trying to ignore it, but that feeling of being watched keeps creeping back. It’s as if, at any second, the darkness around us is going to swallow us whole.

If Oliver was doing okay, I’d probably be able to keep it at bay. But it’s like my fear is feeding off of his, and if I don’t find a distraction, I may end up in a puddle of panicked tears, too.

“What do you need, sweetheart?”

“Tell me where we’re headed. Are we going home?”

“No. We have to hide the cars first. There’s a cabin about forty minutes out. Well, less than that now. We’re meeting there.”

“Is it yours? The cabin?”

“Ah, no. But a friend is letting us use it. And the cars. We help each other out when we need it.”

“Is he… like you guys?”

“Yeah. Sort of.”

I slow at the next intersection. “Straight at the stop sign?”

“That’s right, sweetheart. You can do this.”

We go on like that for the next half hour, him distracting me and giving me directions. Oliver’s breathing evens out, and he stops shivering, but he stays quiet.

Eventually, I notice another vehicle approaching from behind us.

Panic spikes in my chest.

It’s a road. People drive on roads.

The thought doesn’t calm me at all.

“Rhett? There’s someone behind me.” I know it’s stupid, and I hate that I sound like a scared little kid, but Tyler’s face flashes in my mind, his eyes open and his chest blasted open and bloody.

What if there was someone else who saw the whole thing?

“It’s us, sweetheart. You’re safe. I promise.”

“It’s you?”

“Yep. And we’re at the cabin. See the orange mailbox on the right?”

“Yeah.”

“Turn into the driveway after it.”

It’s narrow, but at least it’s plowed. The driveway is surrounded by trees on each side, and I have to drive for a minute before the cabin comes into view, deep in the woods.

I slow to a stop and throw the car into park. Undoing my seatbelt, I turn to Oliver and take his face in my hands. “We made it. We’re all safe. Everyone’s okay, Oliver.”

The only response I get is a deep breath, which honestly is a relief to hear. For a while, his breaths were so short and shallow, I thought he might pass out.

I hear car doors slamming shut, and then the crunch of snow and ice. Oliver’s door opens, and then Elliot is leaning in, unbuckling his seatbelt, and pulling him out of the vehicle.

My heart aches at the way Oliver clings to Elliot, and at the sob that rips through the night air. Rhett comes up behind Oliver, wrapping his arms around both him and Elliot, so Oliver is sandwiched between them.

“We’re okay,” Elliot says, smoothing his hand down Oliver’s arm. “We’re all safe.”

“I thought you were dead.” Oliver’s voice breaks.

Tears fill my eyes. The way these three care about each other is like nothing I’ve ever seen before.

I can’t lose them. I can’t.

Chills run through me when I realize that, if I hadn’t been in the stand with Oliver, he may have been the one we all lost tonight. The only reason Tyler wasn’t able to sneak up on Oliver is because I was watching and managed to kick him down the ladder.

The image of Tyler laying in the snow, shirt soaked red and with blood trickling out of his mouth, sticks in my mind. I try to push it away, but I can’t. The way his eyes were still open, the way blood was all over his face from his broken nose—I can’t distract myself from it.

Maybe that’s why the nausea feels so sudden.

One second I’m in the car, watching Elliot and Rhett comfort Oliver. The next, I’m on my hands and knees on the cold ground, heaving up everything in my stomach.

“Shit,” I hear someone say, and a few seconds later a hand is pushing back my hair. “You’re okay, Wren. I know it’s a lot. I know.”

Elliot helps me stand, and I glimpse Rhett still holding Oliver from behind. His arms are wrapped around his chest, and he’s murmuring something quietly into Oliver’s ear.

There’s no one from my childhood or teen years who I’m that close to anymore. I can’t imagine knowing someone from such a young age and then almost losing them. And it must be so much worse, considering they’ve all been in a relationship for so long.

“Oliver,” I whisper, stepping toward him. But Elliot takes my hand.

“Let’s get inside. It’s too cold to keep standing out here.”

We head into the cabin, and Elliot switches on the lights. He directs me to the bathroom, where I find some mouthwash to get the taste of puke off my tongue.

When I come back into the main room, Oliver is on the couch, slowly sipping from a glass of water, and Rhett is starting a fire.

“Where’s Elliot?”

“Moving the cars into the garage,” Rhett says as he strikes a match.

I frown. It’s dark outside, but there’s no way I missed an entire garage out there.

At my confused look, Rhett says, “It’s underground.”

“More like a bunker, really,” Oliver says. “Finn likes to be prepared.”

He holds out an arm to me, pulling me close when I settle next to him. I take a deep breath, inhaling his woodsy, vanilla smell.

“I’m sorry I freaked out on you, princess. It was pretty terrible timing.”

“Are you okay?”

Oliver sniffles, then gives me a tired smile. “I’ll be fine. We’re all safe. That’s what matters.”

Standing, Rhett watches as the kindling in the fireplace catches. “I hate that Tyler got away. We couldn’t see him once he ran into the woods. I don’t think he even bothered looking for us. Just got the hell away as soon as he could.”

“Actually…” I exchange a glance with Oliver just as the front door of the cabin opens and Elliot steps through.

“Tyler came after us,” Oliver says. “My guess is he realized someone was shooting from behind them when I shot out one of their back tires. Is that why you guys took so long to check in? You weren’t sure where he was?”

Rhett nods. “What happened?”

“I kicked him in the face,” I say.

Oliver gives me a proud kiss on the cheek.

“He got that close?” Elliot comes around to stand next to Rhett. He looks as panicked as Oliver did when they weren’t answering their phones.

“It was my fault,” I blurt before either of them try to pin this on Oliver. “Oliver was busy doing… well, shooting. Whatever happened over there. It was so dark, I didn’t see Tyler until he was on the ladder of the hunter’s stand.”

“And Wren is the only reason he didn’t fucking kill me,” Oliver says. His voice is stronger now. “So the lecture you have coming our way? Save it.”

Elliot’s jaw snaps shut. Then, “He’s dead?”

We nod.

For another second, Elliot stays tense. Then he blows out a breath and runs a hand over his hair, and his face softens. “I’m just glad you two are okay. I was worried.”

He steps around the coffee table and pulls me up. When his arms encircle me, I lose myself in his soothing citrus and sandalwood smell. I didn’t realize how tense I was until I relax into him.

Tears prick my eyes, but I blink them back. Rhett and Elliot already had to deal with Oliver breaking down. I don’t want to give them one more emotional burden.

“You were really brave tonight, Wren,” Elliot says, pressing his lips to my forehead. “I’m proud of you.”

Fuck. The tears come back, and this time it’s harder to calm myself down. I need some sort of distraction.

“What happens next?” I ask, looking between the three of them. Oliver looks absolutely exhausted, but Elliot and Rhett look as alert as ever.

“After a finished job, normally we celebrate,” Elliot says. “But Wren, I’m sure you have a lot of questions, and—”

Tyler’s body flashes in my mind again, and my empty stomach turns. “Celebrating sounds great. How do you normally do that?”

Oliver grins lazily. “With sex.”

“Oh.”

“Unfortunately, I’m much too tired to do anything but watch. But it’s lucky for us, those two—” he nods to Elliot and Rhett, “—like to be watched. What about you, princess?”

My body is still a little shaky from throwing up, and emotionally, I’m in shambles. “I don’t think I’m up for it, either.”

“That’s okay, love.” Elliot gives me a reassuring kiss. Then he does the same to Oliver, and it’s so tender it melts my heart.

Oliver rubs his hands together. “Oh, princess. You have no idea what you’re about to witness.”