Page 34 of Save Me (The Wolf Hotel Mermaid Beach #2)

Frank has sent another picture, this one of Sloane balancing on a ladder, her back to the camera as she hangs a bright orange “Fuck You!” sign in a tree.

She’s going to fall off the damn thing. Why is Frank allowing this?

“Let me be crystal clear: If even one of Sloane’s employees quits on her, I will sing like a fucking soprano on opening night.”

Belinda’s throat bobs with a hard swallow.

With that threat delivered, I rush for my car.

I slow as my headlights catch an opossum scampering across the driveway. There’s plenty of wildlife around. The outdoor crew chased a sizeable hog across the parking lot last week. They’ve also reported a family of armadillos digging up a sand pit near the sixth hole.

Lights glow in the trees to my left, closest to the golf course. Which version of Sloane am I going to be dealing with? The one who burrowed against my chest while sleeping last night, or the one who left me lying on the beach like a pointless cause?

I pull in next to the Cherokee and hop out, half expecting Ralph to be waiting. But it looks like he and the hens are in the coop for the night.

A large, dark shadow emerges from the woods.

“Good timing. She’s almost got the one about the roaches in place,” Frank declares in greeting.

“She found that story, huh?” It happened at the LA Wolf location.

Turns out the couple who found a dead cockroach in their dinner brought the bug from home in a jar.

The idiots were looking for a free stay and some publicity and didn’t think they’d get recognized on TV by any of the five other hotels they’d scammed with the same stunt.

Even though their claim was discredited, the hotel took a hit.

“It’s gotta stop. You and I both know these little signs of hers aren’t hurting anyone but her .”

Still, they’ll get a reaction tomorrow. “Belinda’s the one who called in the bonfire.”

“Does she know what she’s unleashed?”

“She knows the signs are on their way back.” I drop my voice to a near whisper. “So she threatened to call up all the Sea Witch staff members and give them jobs.” Though if I know Belinda at all, my threats of retaliation will be enough to stop her.

Frank curses. “That would be a disaster.”

“You don’t know the half of it. ”

“Why?” That distrustful scowl appears. “What don’t I know?”

“It’s just … there’s a lot going on. Things I’m not allowed to share.

” Then again, I’m sure there are rules against assaulting the hotel owner and blackmailing the GM, and I’ve broken those.

But if there’s one thing besides Abbi that Henry will protect at all costs, it’s his family’s empire.

Doing anything to jeopardize it will earn his wrath.

Frank folds his thick arms across his chest. “Does it affect Sloane?”

I hesitate. “Yeah. It does. Big-time.”

“Then I suggest you spit it out right now, unless you care more about the hotel than about her, in which case you can get back in that car of yours and never show your face here again.”

He waits quietly, but he might as well be screaming because I hear him loud and clear.

Fuck it, it’s all going to be out in the open in two days, anyway.

The clock is ticking, and it’s too much for me to keep this to myself anymore.

Plus, maybe Frank might have advice on how to break the news to her.

In hushed tones, I reveal Henry’s plans for the harborfront and this property.

“He can’t do that,” Frank blurts when I’m done.

“Believe me, if there’s a way, he will find it. He’s greasing every palm and kissing every baby. In the end, that cocksucker will always get what he wants.”

“Jesus.” Frank pinches his brow, and I know he sees the truth in my words. “How long have you known?”

“I found out two days ago. He told me on Monday when he arrived. How long he’s had it in the works, I can’t say.

A while, is my guess. But the big unveiling for media is on Friday, and then it’ll be all out in the open.

I’ve been trying to get him to leave this place and the Sea Witch out of it, but I’m not getting anywhere. ”

“This could not have come at a worse time.”

I frown. “Why? What else is going on?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing.”

There’s definitely something , but Frank’s not the kind of guy you can push for information. As it is, I have enough to deal with tonight. “How do I tell her?”

“You don’t. Not yet, anyway.”

“I shouldn’t have told you.” But I feel lighter. It’s not all on my shoulders anymore. This behemoth can carry some of the weight.

“Come on.”

I follow him as he trudges through the forest toward the lights, the branches snapping beneath his weight. “How’d you get my number, anyway?”

“You gave it to me. That time you came in looking for her.” His tone screams “you idiot.”

“Oh, right.” I’d forgotten. “And you kept it?”

“How else am I supposed to threaten you?”

If I hurt Sloane, he means. That’s the last thing I ever want to do. Odds are good that she’ll be the one to crush me.

Multiple camping lanterns line the chain-link fence, casting enough light to illuminate Skye holding the base of a twelve-foot ladder while Sloane teeters at the top. Nearby, the dark-haired coffee girl is threading string.

My palms are sweating. “You let her up there?”

“ Let ?” Frank snorts. “That’s funny.”

She’s going to break her neck.

“Hey there,” Skye greets with her Southern twang.

“Hi, we haven’t officially met. I’m Rebel,” the other introduces herself with a wide smile. “Ronan, right?”

“Right.”

“Oh look, Frank tattled on me,” Sloane muses, her tone a mixture of grim amusement and annoyance.

“Hard at work on a Wednesday night?” I choose a light, playful tone, even as a voice inside my head screams for her to get down from there.

“We were enjoying ourselves by the fire until our asshole neighbor called the cops on us.” Sloane loops the string and fastens a knot with force.

“Yeah, that was Belinda.” May as well give credit where credit’s due.

“I know y’all are swimming in money with your mermaid tanks and thousand-dollar-a-night rooms, but for local folk that Wolf is screwing, a five-hundred-dollar fine isn’t chump change. That’s groceries.”

I let out a whistle. Fucking Belinda. I’m feeling less and less guilty about the dick move I pulled in her office.

“So glad I didn’t pitch these.” Sloane stretches on her tiptoes, her little yellow sundress climbing high, her calf muscles straining.

“Careful,” Rebel warns, stalling on her task, her brow furrowed with worry as she watches her boss. Skye’s face doesn’t look much happier.

The crazy woman is going to fall.

“Need any help?” I ask, moving in closer.

“Nope,” Sloane declares curtly, while Skye and Rebel chirp, “Yes!” in unison. Even in the poor lighting, I don’t miss the pleading look in their eyes, the way their heads bob.

They’ve strung three signs up already. I shine my phone flashlight on the closest one. “‘Wolf Empire Tainted by Death and Scandal.’ It’s a little broad if you ask me.”

“If you’re here to convince me to not do this, you’re wasting your breath. You may as well go home to your beach mansion.”

“I’m not here to convince you of anything.” Other than to get off that ladder. “I figured another set of hands will make it go faster.” I’m vibrating with energy. It could be the tension, or it could simply be seeing Sloane again.

She pivots on the ladder rung to face me. I wish those eyes weren’t hidden by the dark so I could read them. “You want to help me put all my signs back up?”

“I can think of other things I’d rather be doing, but sure.”

There’s just enough light to make out the corners of her mouth twitch before she returns to tying her knot.

Skye and Rebel share a private glance. They’ve been roped into this insanity against their will.

I nod toward the house and the trailers.

Skye’s head bobs in understanding. “Oh, you know what? I forgot my water. I’m just going to grab it back at my place?—”

“Same! And more string!” Rebel adds.

I take over holding the ladder, and with a mouthed “good luck” from Rebel, the two girls trot off through the trees, stumbling in the dark .

“You abandoning me too, Frank?” Sloane asks.

“Yup. You got it from here?” Frank’s big, bushy brows climb halfway up his forehead. They seem to say so much.

You won’t let her fall?

You’ll talk her off the ledge?

You’ll take good care of her?

“I’ve got her.”

With one last furtive look at Sloane, he ambles back the way he came.

“Aim this on the branch for me?” Sloane tosses her flashlight down. I have to move fast to catch it, the beam of light inadvertently shining upward, showing off white panties beneath her skirt.

“Not exactly dressed for climbing trees.”

“It’s not what I expected to be doing tonight.”

“That makes two of us.” I’d so much rather be peeling those off her in bed. My dick jumps at the thought.

“You don’t have to stay.”

“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” Even if I’m catering to this insanity.

“I think that one’s good.” With her last knot tightened, she climbs down. “You can let go now.”

“Not a chance. The ground here is uneven.”

“Suit yourself.” She keeps moving, her ass bumping my face on her way down.

The urge to pin her body and bury my tongue between her legs is overwhelming, but I can read the room—or dark, gnarly treed area—and her mood does not say Enter, so I resist, instead getting some enjoyment from the way her body rubs against mine as she continues until her feet touch the ground.

“You can move the ladder over?—”

“Hey.” Gruffness laces that single word as I dip down to kiss her neck.

Her body shudders with a soft sigh, and after a beat, she tips her head to give me better access.

I greedily take it, inhaling her scent as I nip at her skin. “I’m sorry,” I whisper.

“It’s not your fault.”

Taking a step back, I seize her hip, guiding her body around to face me. “It was a shit thing for Belinda to do.”

Sloane’s gaze drifts in the darkness toward the beach.

“Gigi built that fire pit when she first moved here. Sea Witch staff has sat around it every night during the season for decades. There are so many good memories, and it’s never been an issue until now.

Why couldn’t she just let us be?” She sounds so defeated.

“She’s jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Of you.” Was Belinda planning on reporting Sloane’s fire anyway? Probably, but I helped solidify that decision for her. I hesitate. “She propositioned me yesterday, and I turned her down, then showed up with you at dinner.”

Her jaw drops. “She hit on you? She’s your boss. That’s harassment. You can go to HR. You can have her fired?—”

“But I won’t. I’ve crossed more than my share of lines, including with her.”

Understanding fills Sloane’s face. “You’ve been with Belinda too.”

“Once,” I admit reluctantly. “Connor was there.”

“Of course he was,” she mutters. “You two are like a pair of dirty socks.”

I chuckle. “I don’t think I’ve ever been called that before.”

“Honestly, is there anyone you haven’t slept with? Any one attractive woman in your life that you haven’t fucked.” I can see the wheels in Sloane’s brain moving quickly as she asks that question. And then she gasps, and I know where this is going before the words are out.

“Oh my God. There was an article about you guys in Alaska. It actually named you. I can’t believe I didn’t connect the dots until now.”

My irritation flares. “That was a shitty hit piece of fabricated nonsense.” And it caused months of whispers and turmoil in all our lives. Even my mother heard about it and questioned me. That was an awkward conversation.

“So, it’s not true, then? You haven’t fucked Abbi?” Sloane watches me.

The denial is on my tongue. I’ve never admitted it out loud. Only Connor knows—because he was there—and even he doesn’t know about that last time, in Abbi and Henry’s cabin. “Do you really need to hear me say it?” Because I don’t want to lie to her.

She falters, as if taken aback. “So you literally have slept with every woman you’ve ever met. You know what, don’t answer that.” She holds a hand up to stop me. “I don’t think I want to know.” Sloane wanders over to lean against the chain-link fence.

What’s going on inside that head of hers? Is she deciding if she can get past my track record?

I’ve never regretted a second of my life choices. Until now.

I edge in behind her, caging her in with my arms. We listen to the sprinklers watering the grass for a lengthy moment.

“If it makes you feel better, I only loved two of them,” I admit.

“It doesn’t.” After a beat, she asks, “Who?”

“Tasha and Abbi.”

“Does Henry know?”

“He does.”

“Bet he loves that.”

“He does not .” I rest my chin on her head and slip my arms around her, one hand settling low on her flat belly.

The sound of her breath catching cuts into the quiet night, and then her hand presses against mine, holding it there.

“I’m sorry about what Belinda did. I wish I knew how to fix it.” I wish I could fix everything for Sloane.

“You can’t. And my stupid little signs won’t help, but they make me feel better.”

“You want to hop the fence and go fuck on his green?” Because I know that will make me feel better.

“He probably has cameras.” But humor laces her voice.

“ I know where they all are.” There’s no way I’d let that prick get off watching a video of Sloane and me .

She sinks back into my body. “I wish I had something more than old headlines to throw at him, something to really get under his skin.”

A thought strikes me. I hesitate, but only for a second. “I might have something for you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Something that will definitely gain notice.” And likely cement my spot in the realm of the unemployed if Henry figures out I’m the whistleblower.

She twists in my arms and peers up into my eyes, hope shining in hers.

My fingers trace her jawline in the dim light. “God, you are beautiful.”

“What is it?” she pushes, undeterred. “What do you know?”

I shouldn’t cater to this spiteful mission of hers. Frank’s right—it’s not healthy. But if she’s going to do it anyway, I’ll be there right beside her.

“Fine, but you’re not getting back up on that ladder.”