Page 4 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)

Oliver

Our ice cream tradition isn’t as fun and lighthearted as it usually is. Elliot is pacing around the living room, barely even eating his as it melts in his bowl. Rhett is tense as well, and I don’t think it’s because of our earlier interaction.

I suppose I should’ve expected as much. This job is stressing the hell out of all of us. But going to the museum and spending time with these three has filled me with so much happiness, so I was hoping it’d bleed into the rest of the night.

From across the room, Wren shoots me a worried look. She’s sitting on the love seat with Rhett while I’m on the couch by myself. Elliot is supposed to be sitting with me, but I understand that he needs to move around.

Eventually, Elliot turns to face the three of us.

“We need to maximize this opportunity. We have a chance to get inside Ludo’s temporary home. Inside his operations. We need to make the most of it.”

Rhett freezes with a spoonful of ice cream halfway to his mouth.

“Are you saying we should bug Ludo’s condo?”

For a few seconds, they stare at each other. Then Elliot sighs.

“I’m not sure we could pull it off. No doubt, he’ll have security cameras positioned all over the place. There’s no way we could plant something without getting caught.”

For the first three days of this trip, Ludo is going to be gone in the mornings and early afternoons. That’s when we’re supposed to be with his fiancée, Aubrey. But during the rest of that time, being able to hear Ludo’s conversations could give us essential knowledge into his life.

I’m pretty sure all of us have thought about bugging the resort condo he’s renting out. None of us have voiced it because it’d never work. But maybe…

“Do you have an idea of how we could pull it off?” I ask.

With a big sigh, Elliot sets his ice cream on a side table and plops onto the couch next to me. He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together tightly—too tightly.

“If we break Ludo’s trust, we’ll never get it back again. We can’t afford to make mistakes here.”

I glance between Elliot and Rhett. There’s no way we’re losing everything we’ve spent the past decade working toward. But we have to move forward, and there’s no way to do that without some risk. It’s just a matter of determining what’s too far.

“You can hide a bug in anything these days. Clocks, fire detectors, electrical outlets, sunglasses. But if Ludo finds out we did…”

Elliot shakes his head.

“So you don’t think it’s worth the risk?” I ask.

Instead of answering, Elliot presses his lips into a thin line. When his eyes flit to Rhett, I wonder if he’s worried to say it’s too far. We’re already compromising on multiple aspects of our grand plan, and we feel like that’s enough of a disservice to Sammy. But at the same time, we need to be careful. We have Wren to think about now.

“What about me?”

she asks. She’s fidgeting in her seat, her eyes bouncing from me to Elliot to Rhett.

“We’ll keep you safe, love. I promise.”

Shaking her head, Wren says, “That’s not what I mean. You guys can’t bug the condo because there’s a chance you’ll get caught on camera. But no one would ever expect me to do something like that, so no one would be watching me. Right?”

Elliot narrows his eyes.

“I don’t like where you’re going with this.”

“Just hear me out,”

she says.

“You can teach me how to plant something discreetly. We’re going over to the condo tomorrow night, right? So Aubrey can meet you guys? What if I do it then?”

“No,”

Elliot says.

“Not in a million years. You’re a horrible liar, Wren. I have faith that you could pull it off, but not without training and practice. And we don’t have time for that.”

“But—”

“Sweetheart, no.”

Rhett covers his hand with hers.

“We’re not risking it. You’ve been through enough.”

“I agree with Elliot,”

I say, which earns me a halfhearted glare from Wren.

“But I think we could make it work.”

Now Elliot and Rhett give me glares from hell. Wren, however, perks up. I give her the most reassuring smile I can.

“What if,”

I start, ignoring the look on Elliot’s face that means he’s going to shut me down no matter what, “Wren doesn’t plant anything?”

“That’s what we’re saying,”

Elliot says, gesturing between him and Rhett.

“She can’t be a part of this.”

Wren crosses her arms.

“I already am a part of this.”

Elliot lets out an exasperated sigh, but I cut him off before he can say anything.

“She won’t plant anything. But what if she ‘forgets’ something at the condo? Something that could easily be mistaken as Aubrey’s, like sunglasses?”

“It won’t—”

Elliot stops himself, and his expression turns almost surprised.

“That could…”

His eyes kind of glaze over as he thinks, and I smile when he runs his thumb over his bottom lip. It’s an old habit I’ve always found cute.

“That could work. Rhett? What do you think?”

He’s staring at Wren, his features clouded over. I can practically see the battle in his eyes. He wants to keep her safe—we all do. But she committed to this, and we could really use her help.

She’s right. She is a part of this.

“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.

Second, considering we’re going to be watching over his fiancée, he trusts us at least somewhat.

And lastly, we bring something the average bodyguard doesn’t bring to the table: experience tailing and killing people. It doesn’t sound relevant until I realized we’ll look at every situation more thoroughly.

We’re hitmen first. At this point it’s part of our DNA. So every room, every scenario, every event we go to will be analyzed from a different perspective. We know what we’d do if we were hired to do the opposite of protecting Aubrey, which gives us a leg up in keeping her safe. Extra vigilance and foresight are valuable to Ludo.

Once I get to Finn’s, he’s waiting for me at the front door. His dark hair is tousled and messy, like he’s been running his hands through it absentmindedly all night. Hell, now that I’m looking at him, he looks paler than normal as well.

“You good?”

I ask as I step inside.

“Just tired.”

His voice is rough and scratchy. When I give him a look of disbelief, he rolls his eyes.

“Maybe a touch sick, too. Probably best to keep your distance.”

“Sorry to keep you up all night.”

Hovering near the door, I grimace. He really does look like shit.

“Probably wouldn’t’ve slept anyway. Too much on my mind.”

He tosses me the sunglasses.

“Wanna explain why you’re doing things this way? You know, instead of doing it yourself, since you guys are the fucking professionals?”

I catch the sunglasses with ease, eyeing him carefully.

“Are you worried?”

“How the hell could I not be worried? You’re going up against one of the most powerful men in the city, and Wren isn’t ready to protect herself if something goes wrong.”

“That’s what we’re for. We’re not letting anything else happen to her.”

“Right.”

Finn crosses his arms, cocking an eyebrow.

“And if Ludo decides to use all his resources against you? What then?”

“That won’t happen. We’re being careful. He won’t know what hit him until it’s too late.”

“Going to the man I’m trying to get close to and accusing him of knowing where my kidnapped girlfriend is, is far from careful, Moore. Jesus. What were you thinking?”

“What? How did you find out about that?”

“A little bird told me.”

With a shake of his head, Finn says, “Don’t you think the timing is odd? You storm into his club and accuse him of keeping tabs on Wren, and not even a week later he’s offering you guys a job.”

That makes my blood run cold.

“I hadn’t thought of that.”

My admission seems to make something break inside Finn. He laughs, throwing his hands up, like he’s dealing with a petulant child.

“You guys are losing your touch. I don’t know if it’s Wren or if it’s that you’ve been playing the game for too long. But if you don’t get your shit in order, you’re going to lose her. You’re going to lose more than her.”

“Fuck,” I mutter.

“Seriously. How did Elliot not put this together?”

The snack in my stomach sours.

“I never told him.”

“What?”

Finn yells.

“I… shit.”

Scrubbing a hand over my face, I say, “I forgot to mention it. There was so much happening, and I was so focused on getting Wren back. And then she’s been—fuck. That isn’t relevant. I have to go. We need to figure this out.”

“Damn right you do,”

Finn growls.

“And you need to do something about Wren. She couldn’t even protect herself in her own apartment.”

“We’re doing our best,”

I grit out.

“Are you?”

he snaps.

“Are you doing your best? Or are you hoping to do your best?”

He taps his head while his glare bores into me.

“It all starts up here, Oliver. Don’t leave room for mistakes in your head, or you’ll find yourself making them. Get your heads straight.”

I’d be angry about the way he’s talking to me, but it’s well-warranted. If I hadn’t been so distracted, my earlier suspicion of Ludo would’ve made a lot more sense.

Finn sighs when I don’t give him an answer.

“I know you know what it’s like to lose someone,”

he says, much more softly this time.

“But Sammy’s murder wasn’t your fault, not even remotely. And being the reason behind the death of someone you love…”

He doesn’t continue.

He doesn’t have to. I know his past.

“You’re right. Thank you.”

He nods.

“Let me know if you guys need anything. I’ll try to help in whatever way I can.”

With that, he claps me on the back.

“I’m glad you’re safe. And I’m glad you guys got Wren back. Now let’s keep you all together, okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”

And then I’m off, trying to figure out how to break it to Elliot, Rhett, and Wren that I’ve fucked up royally.