Page 42 of Master Vidar & Vali

“What do you think?” Colin rolled his eyes.

“Fine, did he at least give you a where or when we could meet this friend?”

Colin smirked. “The meeting’s at the Gentlemen's Whiskey Club.”

I groaned. The Gentlemen’s Whiskey Club was an exclusive and expensive bar that had hidden locations around the world. Jared had been a member since our college days but the prices were so high that even Colin and Declan, who was a billionaire, refused to put out the monthly dues. Occasionally, Jared would drag us along as guests and that was more than good enough for me.

“Of course it’s there. Fine, when are we meeting?”

“An hour.”

“Shit. We have to go get changed.” The gentlemen’s club had a dress code and neither one of us was dressed for that. Our usual khakis and V neck T’s wouldn’t get us inside the front door. I pushed my chair back and stood up. “What this guy has better be worth going home and changing into a suit. Why couldn’t he just bring his friend here?”

“How should I know?” Colin retorted. “He’s your friend, maybe you should have answered his message and we’d both know why.”

I texted Jared while Colin drove us to our apartment, but of course the asshole left me unread. It felt strange walking into the condo we called home. We hadn’t been back since Zara had come into our lives. Unsurprisingly, the place was exactly the way we’d left it, but it didn’t feel like home anymore. We’d redesigned the place when we bought it, combining two units into one, but it now felt small and confining.

Once you entered into the main living space, you could go left to Colin’s suite which consisted of a small kitchen, bedroom and bathroom. I had the same on the other side of the combined living room. I’d thought the room big, but now compared to the two-story open-concept entertainment room at the cabin, it was practically tiny.

If we brought Zara to live with us here, she wouldn't have any space to call her own. The place was nice for a bachelor pad, but that was all it was. We’d probably keep it for when we had to work late or emergencies. But it wasn’t where I wanted to spend my free time.

If Zara wanted to live in the city, we’d look for something else. Something that would allow us all to have our own space while also sharing the important moments in life. If we went in that direction, I’d have to reach out to Gabe and ask if he knew of anything that might work. He owned several buildings, ours included.

We rode down the elevator in our custom suits and got in the car. The address Jared had sent us for the current location of the club was about ten minutes from our apartment. He was driving and my anxiety was pushing at me. Going new places was a trigger for my own form of PTSD, so I tried to hold back the attack by talking and distracting myself.

“Hey, what do you think about Brody bringing Zara into the city and we can treat her to a night out while we're dressed in our monkey suits?” The moment I said the words, I knew it was a bad idea and not just because of the security concerns. Colin nor I did well in crowds. The only exceptions we made were when on the job or going to the BDSM clubs.

Colin gave me a hard look before turning back to face the road. “Don’t be a numpty. It’s too dangerous.”

“Yeah, I heard the stupidity as it came out of my mouth. This bullshit is driving me crazy. I want to get back to normal and show her a good time.” I tapped my fingers on the door handle.

“Normal? What the fuck is that? Does she even want that? We are far from normal, and I’m okay with that.”

He was right, not that I wanted to admit it. There were so many more discussions to be had, but it felt wrong to have them until things settled. What if it took months or even years for Mihal to back off? Would she stay patient or would she leave us? What did I really know about Zara’s wants, dreams, plans?

“True. She might want the white picket fence and five kids on a farm.”

Colin snorted. “Doubt it. But you’ve got to stop overthinking things. We told her that we’d support her in whatever it is she wanted to do in the future. I somehow doubt that’s farming with fuzzy animals but who knows. Hell, with a burglar skill set, maybe she’d want to work at G&H with us.”

That had possibilities even though I doubted she’d like working on a security team. But we sometimes used specialists for assignments, and I could see her fitting in there. I needed her to be happy. I needed her to stay.

My heart was racing like a speeding train. I grabbed my AirPods from my pocket, stuck them in my ears, and put on my calm-the-fuck-down playlist. I had to breathe. Focus on anything but not knowing what was going to happen. I wasswirling in the what ifs and had to pull out or I was going to lose it. I was like I was right back in the desert. I could hear myself arguing with Colin that we had to act. Why couldn’t he see that if we didn’t do something, Zara was going to leave us?

“That’s bullshit, Colin. We need to find out if the woman wants babies and what we're going to do about it. We can change. You need to get your shit together for her. I can’t lose her because you won’t act. I can’t let them kill her. I can’t.” My breath felt heavy like the air was fighting me as I inhaled. I didn’t know how I was going to save her, but it had to happen. I knew in my heart that we would fail if we didn’t have a plan.

Colin looked like he was going to argue but after he looked at me he took a deep breath. “Linc. We have a plan. We’re going to talk to Jared’s friend, remember? We’ll keep Zara safe.”

We had a plan? Yes we did. And I knew where we were going even if I’d never been there before. Fuck! I closed my eyes and forced my mind to blank. Slowly my pulse came under control. I felt like I’d just run a race, but I was okay. Or as okay as I ever was.

I felt the car stop and waited another minute to open my eyes and slip my AirPods back into my pocket.

“You okay?” The tic in his jaw told me he wasn’t happy with what I’d said, but understood I hadn’t been myself. That was how the attacks were for me. Half real concerns and half echoes from the past.

“I’m sorry.” Putting the blame on him if we lost Zara wasn’t right no matter that everything else I had said was true.

“We’ll discuss it later. Let’s see what Jared’s friend has to say.”

I doubted we would talk later. We never did and that had worked for us so far. The building next to us didn’t have a sign, but the well-dressed valet probably meant we were in the rightplace. Colin stepped out of the car and tossed the keys to the uniformed man, not even waiting for me before heading inside.

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