Page 251 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“Um… hi. Meredith, I—”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Wren. Oli—”

“Where’s Oliver?” she asks immediately.

My heart is beating rapidly as I try to keep my voice even. “We need to talk. Can you meet me?”

“When?”

“Now would be great,” I say, glancing at Finn, who nods. I tell her where to meet me, praying she won’t find it suspicious that I’m asking her to meet me in the middle of the woods.

“I can be there in forty-five minutes,” Meredith says.

“Okay, that sounds—”

The line goes dead, and disappointment winds through me. It’s stupid, but I guess I was hoping for her to sound happier that we finally get to meet. Under these circumstances, though, I’m not particularly happy either.

“She’s coming?” Finn asks.

I nod. “She sounds angry, but yeah, she’ll meet me.”

“At least she cares enough about Oliver to look for him like this,” Aubrey says softly.

Finn grunts in response. “Life is a lot easier when you don’t have all these people whocareabout you,” he grumbles, but there’s a strange undercurrent to his voice. Jealousy, maybe?

No,I realize.Longing.

For all his talk about working alone, Finn has adjusted quite well to having me around twenty-four-seven. I’m curious about his past, like if he had siblings or if he had any close friends before the guys, but I don’t ask. This isn’t the time, nor does he seem like the type who opens up easily.

“Get ready to go,” Finn says. “The hike will take a while.”

***

I wait in the woods by myself, leaning against a tree and scanning the path for Meredith. Finn is somewhere out of sight. When I asked why he can’t wait with me, he said he doesn’t want to deal with Meredith yelling at him.

Not what I want to hear.

Shifting nervously, I go over what I’m planning on telling her. It’s pretty easy since it doesn’t involve lying at all. Finn will probably kill me, but I’m following my gut on this one. I have to.

Since I haven’t met Meredith, I’m judging her character solely based off what the guys have told me about her. She sounds tough as steel, impossibly determined, and fiercely protective of her children.

It’s what made me land on the decision to tell her the truth. If she understands the whole situation, then she’ll realize she needs to step back and let our plan unfold as-is. It’s the smartest option, and she cares about Oliver, so she won’t want to get in the way and potentially mess things up.

That’s what I’m counting on, anyway.

Whatever issues she has with Finn won’t help things, considering I need her to trust us. I’m hoping that she can trust me, though—or at least trust that the guys trust me.

What if she hates me?

Not what you should be thinking of right now, Wren.

When Meredith comes into view, she’s walking cautiously up the path. Her eyes sweep over the forest before they lock on me, and a chill settles over me.

I thought the first time I met Meredith, she’d smile, and we’d hug, and we’d have some awkward small talk before we got comfortable with each other. But she’s not smiling. Her brows are pulled down, and her lips are pressed together into a thin line.

As she moves toward me with careful steps, my heart rate picks up. Her glare is murderous, and her hand is resting on a gun that’s holstered at her hip.