Page 19 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“Please?” she whispers. She takes one of Rhett’s hands in hers, squeezing gently. “I want to help. I want Ludo to get what he deserves.”

Her willingness has Rhett’s expression softening. “You’re sure?”

“I’m positive.”

Slowly, he nods. Then, with his eyes still locked with hers, he says, “Could we get sunglasses in time?”

“I bet Finn could whip something up quick.” Elliot checks his watch before explaining to Wren, “He’s always been obsessed with tech and gadgets and whatnot. I’ll give him a call.”

Wren’s eyes are lit up with excitement as she throws her arms around Rhett’s neck.

It makes me a little nervous—she’s committed to this, to us, but I’m not sure how I feel about her actually getting involved. At the same time, seeing her planning and coming up with ideas has pride flaring in my heart. She wants this, and she’s trying her best.

Fuck, I love her so much.

Elliot leaves to call Finn, and when he returns, he says, “Finn can get us what we need before we leave. One of us will just have to stop by his place early tomorrow before our flight.”

“I’ll do it,” I say quickly. Rhett has slept like shit the past couple nights, so if there’s a chance he’ll be able to get rest tonight, I’m not cutting it short. As for Elliot, he looks just as exhausted. I can handle an early-morning errand no problem.

“Thank you,” Elliot murmurs, leaning over and kissing my temple.

“Of course.” Intertwining our fingers, I rest my head against his shoulder. He smells good, sandalwood and sweet citrus, and I inhale deeply. I barely even realize I say the words out loud until I hear my own voice. “I’ll do anything for you, Ell.”

***

When my alarm goes off in the morning, I shut it off and settle back into bed.

Just a couple more minutes.

Wrapping my arms around Wren, I pull her into me. She barely stirs, but her arm still comes around my waist. Gently, I kiss her forehead. Her body fits so perfectly against mine, and I never want to leave our cocoon of warmth.

The past couple days have been hard on me. I can’t convince the anxious side of my brain that Wren is safe now. It’s like it thinks she’s going to vanish into thin air, and that eventually I’m going to end up tied to that chair, watching her teeter on the edge of life and death.

“You’re safe,” I whisper to her sleeping form, more for my own benefit than hers.

My eyes close of their own volition, and just as I’m drifting off again, my second alarm goes off. The sound makes me jerk awake, and the sudden movement disturbs Wren.

Groaning, she removes her arm so I can roll over and turn off my alarm again. She tries to push herself up, but then she collapses onto the mattress. “Too sleepy.”

“You don’t have to get up, princess. I’ll wake you when I get back.”

Groggily, she reaches for me. Her fingertips brush against my skin, and she sighs at the physical contact. “I love you.”

My stomach does a giddy flip as I smile down at her in the darkness. Hearing those words from her lips feels too unreal, and I wonder if that’ll ever change. It still makes me melt when Elliot and Rhett tell me.

Leaning down, I press a kiss to her jawline. “I love you, too, Wren. Always will.”

She makes a small noise, one that has me smiling. She sounds tired enough that I’m not sure she’ll even remember this when she wakes up fully. That’s okay, though. What matters is that it happened.

“I’ll see you later,” I whisper.

In the bathroom, I don’t turn on the light until the door is fully closed. I get ready for the day as quietly as I can so Wren can stay asleep. Then I slip out of the bedroom, but not before kissing her cheek again.

I don’t bother turning on any lights since we have all the night lights we set up for Wren. I walk through the dimly lit house, pausing in the kitchen to grab a snack before heading out to the garage. Finn stayed up late getting a pair of sunglasses ready for us to use. Now we just have to hope everything else works out.

Finn’s house is thirty minutes away, and I spend the drive worrying about the job. We don’t normally offer protection services like this, and Ludo knows it. It sparked suspicion in me when he first asked until I thought it through.

There are plenty of good reasons for him to think of us. First, we delivered on the Williams job. It was stressful and scary for us, but Ludo got exactly the end results he was looking for.