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Chapter Sixteen

Chelsea

"What the hell is he doing here?"

I glanced over to Storm, who half-held the door open.

Atlas shouldered past him, Ramsey right behind. Neither seemed intimidated by the big fullback.

"He's part of this." Atlas moved to stand beside Jay, who was equally unruffled.

Clearly he knew why Ramsey was here too. He shifted his shoulders uncomfortably when the other guys approached. As though there were suddenly too many people in the room.

Even without being on the spectrum, I understood. These guys each had a presence that sucked the air from the room. With all of them here, becoming overwhelmed was easy.

I trusted if Jay needed to step aside, he would. We'd understand if he did. He had to do what was necessary to take care of himself. Like everyone else here did. If we were going to be any kind of family, we'd have to learn to understand each other and support everyone's needs.

Ramsey shrugged and stepped over to help himself to one of the bowls of salmon and salad that sat on the kitchen island. He sat on the back of the couch and started to eat like he owned the place.

I hadn't ever seen him quite so relaxed. The opposite of everyone else. The tension was so thick I could have touched it.

Frost smiled, but he still looked tense.

Dallas looked like he wished this was over with. I could relate to that sentiment.

Storm glared at the newcomers, but closed and locked the door before he picked up his bowl.

"I'll make one more," I said.

Hand shaking with anxiety, I spooned more salad and fish into a seventh bowl and grabbed another fork to sit inside it.

The food looked good, but I wasn't hungry. Between the run-in with Otis Skinner, and anticipation of what Atlas was going to tell us, I was full of nerves.

It also wasn't lost on me that I was surrounded by testosterone. So much of it. Each of the guys were attractive in his own way. Each different from the last. Dark and brooding, light and cheerful, but all with an edge of danger that drew me in more and more every day.

I was a butterfly caught in a web, surrounded by spiders. All of who might just want to eat me alive. I wasn't even trying to struggle to get away. I was happy to spread my wings and let myself be consumed.

In some ways, that was the most terrifying thing of all.

"Start talking," Storm said to Atlas. He waved his fork at him to hurry up.

"Are you sure it's safe here?" Atlas looked around, scrutinising the room. Searching for hidden cameras and listening devices. Or ones that weren't hidden.

I looked carefully too, but I hadn't seen any. According to my brother, this place should be as secure as Storm suggested it was. If it wasn't, we'd find out the hard way.

"It better be," Storm growled. "Stop fucking around and tell us what's going on. Are you working for Dominic King?" His tone was direct, blunt. He wanted all the answers and he wanted them right this minute. He wasn't the most patient person in the first place, and clearly he'd run out of every last remaining fuck.

Atlas met his gaze, unwavering. "No," he said firmly. "The opposite. I work for the Brantley family. I have for a long time. When King started making his move, they wanted me to keep an eye on him. They knew he had his eyes on Dusk Bay. At least, they suspected he did." He rolled his lips, brow creased in thought.

"So you killed Bruce Fergus, allowing him the in he was looking for," Storm concluded. He scratched the centre of his brow with his thumbnail, trying to get his head around everything. This clearly wasn't going the way he expected. He obviously wasn't ready to believe anything Atlas, or the other two, said. Not yet.

"I told you why I killed him," Atlas replied evenly. "Because he would have hired someone else instead of Chelsea. But I had approval to do it, for the reason you said. If it wasn't me, it would have been someone else. Probably King himself."

"What does that have to do with you playing for the Smashers?" It was Frost who asked.

"They wanted Jay and I in place before he made his move," Atlas said. "We might have…" He glanced over to Jay. "We might have objected to being sent here. Where we were, it was good for our careers. But we were given no choice." He shrugged. "We were also told to figure out which of the guys would be recruited."

"You recruited Ramsey?" I asked. My gaze swivelled to him, then back to Atlas.

Ramsey snorted. "Nope."

"He was already working for the Brantley family," Atlas supplied. "He was our first contact on the team. We got our orders through him."

I raised my eyebrows at Ramsey, who raised his back at me. I should have seen that coming. Someone who doesn't say much, who blends into the background, what else would he be?

"So, we're all working on the same side," Frost concluded. He seemed both relieved and pleased at the idea. Of course he was, this changed everything and made his attraction to Atlas a lot easier to swallow. So to speak. Also may be literally.

"Exactly." Atlas snagged up a bowl of salad and stabbed a piece of lettuce before pushing it into his mouth.

"You didn't think to mention any of this to us?" Storm asked.

"You weren't friendly," Ramsey said. He wasn't accusing, not exactly, just stating a fact.

"And they weren't working with us until recently," Jay added. "We didn't know if we could trust them." He clearly trusted Atlas and Ramsey.

"I'm so glad we don't have to kill you," Frost said, gesturing to all three of them.

"I'm mostly relieved about that too," Atlas said. He glanced sidelong at Storm.

Storm glared back at him. "If I haven't mentioned it lately, fuck off. Just because we're on the same side doesn't mean we have to be friends. I haven't decided if I trust you yet."

"Same to you," Atlas said. "You haven't given me any reason to."

Storm grunted. "You can talk. It wasn't a stretch to think you killed Bruce so your boss could take his job. How do we really know that's not what happened?"

"Because I'm telling you it isn't," Atlas said. "If you don't believe me, there's plenty of people you can ask. Daisy Lasalle, for one. Gianni. Hell, go ask Reuben Brantley himself if it'll make you feel better. They'll all back up what I told you."

Storm looked over to me.

"I can check with Daze." I was going to have to, because I suspected he wouldn't believe Atlas until someone like her confirmed it. Otherwise, we'd spend all night going back and forth, both guys trying to take verbal bites out of each other. Or maybe literal ones. Storm had a whole drawer full of sharp knives. For cooking, but it wouldn't take much for the situation to escalate out of hand.

"Do it," Storm said.

I slid my phone over the countertop to me, and tapped on the screen before holding it to my ear. While hoping like hell she didn't mind me calling out of the blue.

"Hey," she said when the call connected.

I waited for her to say more, but she didn't.

I cleared my throat. "I'm sorry to bother you, but I'm here with Atlas Underwood, Jay Lang and Ferris Ramsey." I chewed my lip and waited for her response. People didn't just ring up Daisy Lasalle for a friendly chat. Chances were, I'd owe her favour just because she answered. It might take years for her to ask for payment, but she would. I was very, very certain of that.

She laughed. "Oh, I've been waiting for this conversation."

"You have?" I eyed the guys.

They all looked back at me, wondering what Daze was saying in my ear. My nerves quickly doubled. Maybe we should have gone to see her face to face, instead of calling her. That would have meant arranging a meeting, and doing that would have taken time. Assuming she'd agree to it at all. She was a busy woman; she didn't have to bother with everyone who wanted a few moments’ conversation with her.

She continued. "Atlas told me about the team, and how they didn't trust him and Jay. After Dominic King arrived in town, closely followed by Otis Skinner, it wasn't difficult to figure out how coincidental that would look. It's not. We had plans in place for a long time. Even to the point of encouraging Bruce to retire. What Atlas did pushed things forward a little faster than we planned, but we wanted King where we could keep an eye on him. And we're relying on you to do exactly that."

"And by ‘you,’ you mean—" I winced.

"All of you," she said firmly. "Including you, Chelsea. I know you don't want to be involved, but you are. You're in the perfect position to keep an eye on both of them, Skinner in particular. I know you won't let me down."

I winced harder. "I don't really think?—"

"I'm not giving you a choice, Chelsea," she said, her voice bordering on stone cold. She could be tougher than nails when she wanted to be. "You can do what I'm asking you to do, or we'll find you somewhere else to work. Somewhere you might not enjoy as much as you enjoy working for the Smashers."

I swallowed. There was no doubt in my mind she meant exactly what she said. If I didn't do what she wanted, she'd shove me out of the way. Without a second thought. If doing that pissed off anyone, including my brother, she'd have them dealt with.

"Do we understand each other?" she asked.

"Ye—" My voice squeaked. I tried again. "Yes, we understand each other."

"I thought we did." Her voice softened like she was smiling through the phone. "I know you'll do a wonderful job. You and all of those boys. It looks like you're going to have your hands full."

"I guess so," I said. All I wanted now was to end the conversation. "Thank you for clearing everything up."

"Any time," she said sweetly. "You can take any orders that come from Ramsey as coming from me."

I glanced up and met his gaze. He looked back at me like he was amused in some way. Right now, I couldn't get my head around why that might be.

"Okay," I said, glancing down at the kitchen island.

"Are the rest of the guys with you?" Daze asked.

"Storm Keller, Daniel Frost and Dallas Gregory are here," I confirmed. My gaze skimmed from one to the other as I said their names.

Storm frowned, but the other two seemed curious. Whatever was going down, they were ready for it.

"Good, you can tell them what I just told you," she said. "I expect all of you to keep an eye on Dominic King and Otis Skinner. And anyone else they bring in from the Sydney Devils. Players, staff, whatever. I don't care if it's the person who cleans the toilets. They're planning something and I want to know what it is long before it happens."

Even though she couldn't see me, I nodded. "We will. Nothing will get past us." I hoped like hell that was true.

"Make sure it doesn't," she said. "I'm sure you'll understand what will happen if it does."

"Yes,” I said. “We’ll die."