Page 53 of Whatever It Takes

Briar will be sleeping with me tonight. Possibly today after we arrive. What she won’t be doing is spending every moment sandwiched between Calder and Keir while I’m left on the outside.

I’ve already spent half the drive envisioning ways of slaughtering the two men I once considered my closest friends. Unless Briar would like to find herself responsible for their deaths, she should put some of her focus intome.

I’ve been patient—as understanding as my system will allow—but she’s pushing my kindness to its limits.

This little excursion is for her, after all. Once I have the records in hand, I’ll be able to use them to force Titus into a meeting. Then I’ll focus my negative energy there and remove his head to offer to Briar as a courting gift.

I just have to find a way to not snap before that happens.

“We have under two hours left, and you need to be in actual clothes when we arrive,” I tell Briar, dragging her toward the rest area bathroom.

“Why? Don’t want anyone to know you kidnapped me in the middle of the night?” she sasses, yanking her arm away.

“You were not kidnapped,” I grind out, shoving the outfit I picked for her under my arm. “You were invited on a business trip to check on our colleagues while the office is being remodeled. Keep up.” I don’t just mean physically, but I stride off toward the family restroom and tug on the door, holding it open for the stubborn omega.

She shuffles past me in the flats I placed her in when I wrestled her away from Keir—proverbially, of course. He will be taking the last two-hour driving shift, and I will be keeping Briar company. Whether she likes it or not.

Otherwise, I’m going to stab my bodyguard in the kidney and leave him on the side of the highway, so I’m no longer tormented by the sounds of them fucking.

I follow her inside and turn back, locking the door.

“What are you doing?” she asks with wide eyes. “I don’t need an audience to pee, or to change, for that matter.”

A slow smile crosses my face. “You may not want an audience, but you’ll have one. You’ll also be sitting with me for the last leg of our journey.”

“Joy,” she mutters, ripping off the jacket that Keir helped her into as she climbed from the vehicle. She balls it up and chucks it at me.

I catch it one-handed and wait to see what comes next.

She turns, shooing me away with her hands. “I’m not using the toilet with you in here.”

“Then I suppose you’ll hold it until we arrive.” I shrug. “We both know you’re dripping in Keir’s cum. I thought I was being generous by giving you a chance to clean up.”

Briar scoffs. “Boundaries, Easton. We need boundaries.”

“No.” I chuckle darkly.

She huffs, rolling her gorgeous bluish-gray eyes as she tugs off the T-shirt.

Her perfect tits bounce, and she moves to shove down the sweats.

Goddammit.

I’d like to move past this playful banter stage and get to the point where she accepts that she can’t live without me.

I text Arden a warning that Briar is still claiming I kidnapped her and to ensure he has time to make sure no one else is around.

We make it to the door, and Briar shoves her way inside, bolting to find a bathroom without waiting for our knock to be answered.

I’m half tempted to follow her to the toilet, but I have colleagues to greet while Keir and Calder unload the SUV.

I settle against the wall, keeping a close eye on the bathroom door my omega disappeared into, but I’m distracted by the heavily pregnant woman standing a few feet away.

That must be Chelsea, the omega who somehow won Arden’s, Kase’s, and Lincoln’s affection. My God, she has to be about to pop, as in, any day.

I’m also confused about how the scent of sex lingers everywhere.

Shouldn’t there be some cutoff or point in time when a very pregnant woman loses interest in sex? The stench alone says she hasn’t reached that threshold.

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