Page 169 of The Elusive Billionaire

He walks around her and opens the sliding door with a push of a button. She scrambles to block him again, but in a tone that sounds like he’s been gargling with wood chips, he says, “Move.”

Behind him is what appears to be the workings of an ambulance, so before she can lay into him, I pull her to my side.

“Hey.” I spin her so she can see what I’m seeing just as Valen lays Clover on a gurney. We all crowd around as he opens another set of smelling salts.

Clover blinks her eyes open, dreamily, peacefully. Then they widen, and she goes full rigor mortis. “Am I dead?” Only her pupils move from side to side as though she’s terrified of any movement at all.

Valen’s laughter is unexpected but warm. “No, Honeybee. You just passed out.”

“Honeybee?” Madi asks. “Where the heck did that come from?”

Valen frowns. “Beats the hell out of me. You good, lady?” He stares down at Clover, and if heartbreak had a photo, she would be the poster child.

“Valen?” Clover’s body vibrates.

“Roman, you’d better have a really good explanation for this. What the hell, man?” Braxton says as he shoves his way to the front, trying to get his hands on Madi, who is attempting to wrap herself around Clover.

Clover appears to be in shock.

“Get him out of here, Roman. Let us get Clover home, and then we can talk. But to be clear, this feels like an ambush, and I’m not impressed,” I snap.

“It’s not,” he says with such determination I stop in my tracks. “It’s family.” There’s something in his eyes I recognize, something that makes me want to punch him just a little less, something like loyalty. “Valen was supposed to arrive in the morning.”

“We’ll talk.” I lean in closer to Clover. “Clove? Are you okay?”

“How? How?” she says in response.

“We should get everyone home,” Braxton says at my side. “We’ve been out here too long without guards close by. With Riley on the loose…”

I nod. “You’re right.”

“Clover?” Madi tries again.

I find a blanket hanging on the wall and wrap it around Clover’s shoulders. She flinches away from my touch, and my gut sinks.

Braxton meets my eye, and we both know there’s more to this story than anyone is privy to.

“Let’s take her back to the Hideaway,” Braxton says. “I’ll see what info I can get from Madi, and then we’ll get a doctor or…someone to talk to her.” Neither of us can take our eyes off our girls’ best friend.

Clover calls that man a friend, but if this is what happens when she sees him, we need to seriously reconsider her definition.

I inch closer to Clover with my hands held high. After close to a minute, she still doesn’t focus on me, so I move slowly toward her. “Clover? I’m going to lift you out of here, okay?”

She doesn’t say anything, her blank stare focused on where Valen had previously stood. This isn’t good. “Sav?”

Braxton backs away, and I lean out of the van.

“Savvy?” I spin in a circle, then run to the back of the van, where Valen squats with his head in his hands, but no Savvy, so I sprint to the front. “Where the fuck is Savvy?”

My heartbeat pounds in my chest.

Thump.Find her.

Thump.Where the hell is she?

Thump.I can’t lose her now.

“She was just—” Madi’s voice cuts off as she too spins in place.