Page 35 of Entangled in Them

“Then they’ll come to collect her.”

I sensed the gazes of all three of the men turn toward me. I gave them a tight smile and wrapped my arms around my body, suddenly self-conscious.

“And then what happens to her?” Ryan asked.

Dillon shrugged. “They wouldn’t say. It’s not like I can question the Capello brothers’ business.”

Kodee turned to me. “What do they need you for, Rue?”

“I told you already, I can’t say.” The last thing I wanted was to get any of these men in trouble simply because they’d had the misfortune of being landed with me.

Kodee pressed his lips together and frowned. “Okay, you don’t have to tell us, but is there anything we can do to help you?”

I shook my head. “This isn’t your problem.”

He gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Well, the Capellos have kind of made it our problem.”

“It doesn’t have to be. Just pretend I’m not here. Carry on with your lives, and I’ll do my best to stay out of your way. Then they’ll come and get me, and you can forget I ever existed.”

To my surprise, tears filled my eyes.

Immediately, Kodee was at me side, his arm around my shoulders. “Hey, don’t think like that. It’ll be okay.”

I leaned into his solid presence, the warmth and scent of him wrapping around me. It took me back to the moment in the bathroom the previous day where I’d folded myself into his shirt.

I sniffed and nodded, but I couldn’t agree with him. It wasn’t the Capello brothers who were the problem—they needed me alive—but the moment I stepped out into public again, there were others who would want me dead. And the Capellos would only keep me alive long enough to make sure I’d done what they wanted. Once that was over, I’d be on my own.

I sniffed and swiped at my face. “I’m sorry. Just forget this ever happened.”

Dillon stared at me. “How are we supposed to forget when you’re living here?”

“Isn’t there anything we can do to help?” Kodee asked him. “Surely, with our skill sets, we’d be the perfect people to get her away from here.”

Dillon threw up his hands. “And then what? The Capello brothers show up here and we tell them what, exactly? That she ran away?”

Ryan shrugged. “We could say that.”

“And how do you think the brothers are going to react to that little bit of news? The Capellos handed her over to us, despite them knowing what we did for a living. They’re counting on us realizing what our punishment would be if we even attempted to get the girl away from here. We’ll be signing our own death warrants.”

I twisted toward him. “Please, don’t do that. I couldn’t handle it if something happened to any of you because of me.”

Ryan’s blue eyes narrowed a fraction. “You hardly know us. Why would you care?”

“You’ve been kind to me. I haven’t experienced that before. I know whatever it is you do is probably illegal, but honestly, I don’t care. There’s something different about all of you.” My stomach twisted, and I realized I was about to ask them about the thing that had been playing on my mind this whole time. “I mean, I can see that your relationships with each other are a little... different.”

Kodee frowned. “What do you mean?”

Dillon spoke up. “She saw you and Ryan together last night. I told her that the only reason I hadn’t been invited to join in was because of her arrival here and my role in that happening.”

Ryan scowled at Dillon. “You should have kept your mouth shut, Dillon.”

“She was watching.” He smirked at me. “And it didn’t look like you exactly hated what you were seeing, either.”

My face burned. “It was hot. I... I couldn’t help myself.”

Kodee looked at me with new interest in his eyes. I’d seen that spark before, that flash of attraction. “You thought seeing me and Ryan together was hot?”

Dillon chuckled. “So hot she had her hand shoved down the front of her panties.”

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