Page 67 of Love Fire

This would be a nice moment for us, the four of us, had it not been for the tension. Nate’s arms are crossed over his chest. He bites the inside of his cheek. Leanne looks at the floor.

“I need to talk to you guys,” she says.

Nate snaps at her. “No, you need to talk first.”

He jumps off the railing and stands close to her. The same way he did when he found us lurking by the bunker. Anger doesn’t show on his. He looks deeply hurt, instead.

“Why did you leave? Did our father put you here?”

Leanne shakes her head. “I ran away. I knew there had to be a way to take our father down.”

“Why didn’t you tell me or Erin? We thought you were dead,” Nate says.

“I didn’t want to put you guys in danger. I’ve been hacking into his security systems for months trying to catch his whereabouts and listen in on his conversations.”

She looks at Erin. “Then, I saw you getting dragged to the warehouse and knew I had to go immediately.”

“How did you get there so fast though?” Erin asks.

“I have to be close to the network in order to hack it. This is the biggest warehouse our father has so I posted up in a nearby cabin.”

Then, she looks at all of us.

“I know how, but I need all of you on board.”

54

ERIN

After the long discussion with Nate and Leanne, we’re finally back in the room again. I’m drying my wet hair before tucking into bed. The hot water and warm steam is what I needed after what happened these past few days. I’m ready to sleep it off.

I exit the bathroom wrapped in a towel. A cloud of steam follows behind me. I reach for my clothes first until I remember Leanne mention an extra set of pjs in the drawers. Maybe she’ll have something “accessible”?

I look through the drawers for them. The door to the bedroom creaks open. Brent peaks his head in.

“Are you getting ready for bed already?” he asks as he walks in.

I scoff. “Obviously. I feel like I haven’t slept in years.”

I pull my cheek with a finger. “Look at these eye bags!”

He chuckles. “You look beautiful as always.”

“Are you saying that because I’m wearing just a towel?”

He pulls me by the waist. A mischievous smile plays on his handsome face. He kisses me briefly.

“As much as I want to take advantage, that’ll have to wait.”

“Oh really? Are you able to do that though?” I say as I slither up against him.

He grunts, then takes a deep breath. “I’m very tempted right now.”

I flutter my eyelashes.“But?”

“But I can’t, at least not now. I have to do something very important first.”

“Like what?”

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