Page 133 of Theirs to Desire (Club M: Boxed Set)

KIERA

I thought for sure that Caleb or Nolan would have a quip in response. It’s not like them to shy away from the sexual jokes.

Caleb cracks a grin, but his smile quickly fades. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.”

My heartbeat speeds up. “What’s wrong?” Is it sad that I automatically think something’s wrong? But everything in my life has taught me to always be braced for bad news, to always anticipate the worst-case scenario.

“Nothing’s wrong,” Nolan says. He fiddles with his shirt cuff. “It’s just complicated.” He grimaces. “That sounds like something out of a dating profile. Let’s go get pizza, and we’ll explain.”

“Okay,” I agree. I’m still convinced that whatever they have to say to me, it’s not good. But, if I’m going to have to listen to bad news, it might as well be over a slice of pizza. Ideally, with extra black olives.

By tacit agreement, for the first few minutes after ordering, we talk about everything and nothing.

We squabble amiably about pizza toppings.

Nolan insisted on loading our pizza up with spinach and broccoli, and Caleb ribs him about it.

“What’s next?” he asks, rolling his eyes. “Kale smoothies for breakfast?”

Nolan is unfazed. “I like spinach, asshole.”

I don’t mind the vegetables. We get extra olives, and that’s all I really care about.

Debbie, the woman who runs the tiny pizzeria, takes twenty minutes to make our food. I’m starving by the time it arrives, and when it shows up, I dig right in, completely shameless. “Sorry,” I apologize, my mouth filled with pizza, because I’m classy like that. “I didn’t have time to eat lunch.”

Caleb takes a bite of his slice, and his eyes widen.

“This is really good.” Sauce dribbles down his chin, and he shakes his head ruefully.

Laughing a little, I hand him a napkin. I’m used to Nolan being dressed casually, but Caleb is almost always in a suit.

Not today. He’s wearing khakis and a Baltimore Ravens t-shirt.

He’s eating pizza, and he’s even spilling food on himself.

It’s all very normal. “Why didn’t you have time to eat lunch? ”

“There was an all-day corporate retreat,” I reply. “The restaurant was short-staffed, so I pitched in.”

“Xavier’s lucky to have you,” Nolan says.

It’s a nice sentiment, but I’m the lucky one. I worked in a handful of bars before landing at Club M. You want to know how many of them offer benefits to a bartender? None. “I have healthcare, dental, paid vacation days, and a 401K,” I tell Nolan. “It’s a good job. I’m grateful to have it.”

“Do you like bartending?” he asks. He leans forward, his eyes on me, entirely focused on my answer.

It’s nice. A pair of women get up to leave from the neighboring table.

As they pass me, the women give me sidelong glances.

It doesn’t take an expert in body language to interpret their meaning.

They look at Nolan and Caleb, who both exude that aura that rich people have, and then they look at me, in my department-store dress and drugstore makeup, and I can tell they’re wondering what’s so special about me.

I’ve never been the object of envy before. Call me petty, but I like it.

Nolan’s still waiting for an answer. “I like talking to people,” I reply, helping myself to my second slice of pizza.

“At the start, listening to other people’s problems took me away from mine.

Then I realized I really liked helping people out.

I don’t even have to do much. Most people just want to feel listened to. ”

Caleb puts his hand on mine. “You’re very good at it.”

“Listening? Or bartending?”

“Both.”

My cheeks heat with his praise. I contemplate a third slice but tell myself it’s just greedy. I’ve almost succeeded in talking myself out of it, and then Nolan puts it on my plate. “So,” he says. “The elephant in the room. Should we talk about it?’

Caleb looks around to make sure there’s no-one within earshot. “Nolan and I have wrestled with this all day,” he begins. “Finally, we both realized something. Any relationship we have has to be built on the truth, or it will fail.”

Relationship. They want to be in a relationship with me. This thing between us is actually real. I still can’t believe it.

“Yesterday,” Caleb continues, his face serious, “Nolan and I went to Atlantic City to have a little chat with Greg Dratch.”

My exhilaration evaporates. “Oh.”

“I wanted to find out more about your sister,” Caleb says. “I wanted to find out everything that happened to her from the moment she left San Diego to the present day. I wanted to learn how she met Luis Martinez.”

Nolan cuts in. “Most of all,” he says, an edge in his voice, “We wanted to know if she was with him of her own free will.”

“And?”

Nolan takes a deep breath. “What we heard isn’t good, Kiera,” he says soberly. “Dratch repeatedly sold your sister to the highest bidder. He sold her to Martinez.”

“He sold her?” The pizza turns to ash in my mouth. “Like a sex slave?”

Caleb nods, his expression grim. “Yes. Bianca thought you were dead. Dratch had stolen money from Sirkovich. He convinced Bianca she would be implicated in the theft. She didn’t have any choices.”

I feel nauseous.

Nolan leans forward. “She’s not with Martinez by choice, Kiera. She’s there because…”

The pieces click into place. “Because of me. She’s trying to protect me from Martinez, isn’t she?

” Yesterday, I would have given anything to learn that Bianca wanted to meet me.

Today, I just want to hurl. My baby sister was sold to this man, and she endures her gilded cage, because she’s trying to keep me safe.

My guilt presses down on me, thick as a shroud.

“That’s our best guess, yes.” There’s one solitary slice of pizza. Nolan gives me a questioning look, and I shake my head immediately. Caleb waves the slice away as well, so Nolan deposits it on his plate. “We have a plan to get her out.”

I look up. “You do?”

“Of course. I called Adrian and Brody and asked for a favor. Their company, Lockhart & Payne, provides security services all over the world. This is right up their street.”

A lump forms in my throat. They don’t know Bianca at all. She’s a complete stranger to them. And yet here they are, steadfast and supportive, and they’re rescuing her.

“There’s one more thing,” Nolan says. “When you joined Club M, Xavier did a background check on you. His intermediaries were able to bribe Detective Armstrong into disclosing the details of your real identity. I’m reasonably confident that the reason Luis Martinez knows that you are alive is because Armstrong talked.

Once Bianca disappears, Martinez is going to come looking for her. He’ll start with you.”

“It would kill me if anything were to happen to you,” Caleb says quietly. “I want you to move in with me until Martinez is behind bars. Nolan will be around too. Adrian is putting a security detail on my house, and on everyone involved.”

He’s looking at me as if he’s expecting me to make a fuss. But why would I? They’re freeing Bianca. They’re protecting me. They’re amazing. “Of course. Whatever you want.”

My reply takes them by surprise. “Well, that was easy,” Nolan says, blinking in confusion.

He puts an arm around my shoulder, and I lean into his comforting presence.

“Matters are coming to a head, Kiera. Brody and Adrian will move quickly. Most likely, they’ll act later this week or early next week. ”

That soon? My palms are damp. I wipe them on my dress. “How soon should I move into your place?” I ask Caleb. “I have plans with Dix, Fiona, and Avery tomorrow. Should I cancel?”

He shakes his head, giving me a familiar smile. “I know better not to intrude on Girls’ Night. If it’s okay with you, Andrei will pick you up at the end of the night and drive you back to my place.”

“It’s actually breakfast. Six-thirty in the morning.”

“That sounds dreadful,” Nolan says, shuddering in horror.

I laugh at his expression. “I’m not thrilled about the early start either. I’ll have to set three alarms to wake up.” I bite my lip. “I don’t know if you wanted me to come over to your home tonight, but…”

“But it’s really far away and you have an early start tomorrow.” Caleb tilts his head to one side. “You could invite us to stay in your apartment.”

He wants to crash at my place? “It’s not fancy,” I warn him. “No Egyptian cotton sheets. And my bed is a double. It’ll be a tight squeeze.”

“Remind me to tell you about the camp my parents insisted on sending me to as a kid every summer,” Caleb replies. “The mattress was an inch thick. The cabin was filled with spiders. Without fail, it managed to rain for at least a week. Trust me, Kiera. I can sleep anywhere.”

Nolan’s eyes linger on my lips. “I’m looking forward to tight squeezes,” he murmurs. “If you’re in the mood for it.”

I shouldn’t be in the mood for sex. I’m still devastated about what Bianca has gone through in the last eight years.

I thought I had it hard, being in witness protection, living with the constant fear of being discovered, ready to run at a moment’s notice.

But it turns out that compared to my sister, I’ve been living in the equivalent of a five-star resort.

But though my emotions are in a turmoil, I want them. No, not want. I need them. “In that case, let’s get out of here.”