Page 72 of The Charmer's Gambit
If he hadn’t shown up when he did, who knew what would have happened. My body had frozen when Ryan started to unzip his pants, and all the fight inside of me fled. He’d reduced me to my most vulnerable state with a simple act. I’d managed to stand up to him in person for the first time in years, but one flip of a switch sent me back to my knees. Literally.
“I hate him,” I seethed. “I fucking hate him.”
Will’s arms came around my middle as he hugged me awkwardly from the floor. We stayed like that, holding each other, without speaking, for countless minutes until a buzzing interrupted the moment. He pulled the phone from his pocket, took one look at the number, and handed it to me. “This will be for you.”
“Just put it on speaker.” I didn’t have the energy to move, and everything hurt.
“She’s okay,” Will said by way of answering.
“That remains to be seen.” My brother’s voice knocked my brain into motion. I’d completely forgotten that he called before Ryan arrived.
“Caleb?”
“Hi, little sis.” The affection in his tone floored me. He never cooed at me, not like this. “Kincaid will be there in about three hours, so just hang tight, okay? I would come myself, but he was closer.”
I gaped at the phone as my mouth filled with questions. “What are you talking about? And how did you get Will’s number? No, scratch that, how did you know about Ryan? And what number are you using? Where—”
“Whoa, whoa, don’t go all lawyer on my ass, Rach. Look, all you need to know is Kincaid is on his way to you. He’ll explain as much as he can. Until then, stay put and I’ll handle things from here. Oh, and don’t worry about Albertson either. I should have handled him years ago, but I didn’t want to intervene. Now he’s left me no choice.”
“I’m going to need more answers than that, Caleb.” I told him flatly, my fire slowly returning. “How do you even know about Ryan? You weren’t there the one year I brought him home for the holidays, and Lord knows we hardly talk.”
The sigh that came over the line was trademark Caleb. Always brooding, always tired. I couldn’t even remember the last time I’d seen my brother smile.
“We may not see each other or talk very often, but I’m always there, Rach. And I’ll always be there.”
The line went dead.
Will pocketed the phone and arched a blond brow. “What did you say your brother does for a living?”
“He has some desk job with the government.” Whenever someone brought it up, he would shrug, spout something about it being boring, and change the subject.
“Right,” Will replied with a snort. “He’s the reason I found you. Not only did he figure out my private phone number and call me to say Albertson was in the hotel, but he knew what room the bastard had dragged you to. That requires a level of security access that goes well beyond the typical ‘desk job.’?”
“Caleb called you too?” Obviously, he did. Will just said that, and he recognized the number when my brother called him back again. Stupid question. “I wonder how he knew.”
“I’m guessing he hacked into the hotel’s security cameras, which, again, implies skills beyond that of a clerk. Not to mention, I don’t think it’s necessarily legal either.”
“You think he works with Mark, then?” I’d never thought about it before, but it would make sense. As far as I knew, they were still best friends despite working in different cities and rarely seeing each other. Was it all a cover?
“Absolutely, and no way they’re FBI either. From my understanding, federal agents operate inside the United States, not outside of it.”
His assessment matched mine, but I didn’t have the energy left to ponder it. I exhaled heavily and winced. My shoulder felt stiff from holding my hand up, which was sad considering it’d only been about ten minutes.
“Here, let me.” Will slipped onto the couch beside me and took control of the ice pack. My arm fell limp to my side, thankful for the break. Everything ached. My feet, my throat, my stomach, my ego . . .
I relaxed into the strong man beside me and fought the urge to cry. This emotional roller-coaster ride we were on needed to end, and there was only one way to do it. But it would require all the strength I had left, and then some.
“He’ll never stop,” I whispered. “He’ll consider this a setback and come after me again later when we least expect it.”
“And I’ll kick his ass.” So certain, but it wouldn’t solve anything. Knowing Ryan, he would frame it in a way to make Will look bad or ruin his reputation somehow. My ex held an advanced degree in manipulation and never hesitated to use it when he wanted something.
I shook my head but stopped when the room started to spin. “No, we have to beat him at his own game. It’s the only way.” A restraining order would just make him laugh, as would increased security or bodyguards. Which reminded me . . . “What happened to Sam and Beau?”
“According to your brother, Ryan fucked with their water upstairs and knocked them out cold. I don’t know if he did ithimself or hired someone, but either way, it shows he had access to their rooms and the bottles in their fridge.”
Because that wasn’t terrifying. “I warned you. He knows people, Will. It’s always been this way with him.” I shivered and folded myself into his warmth. “He was talking about his friends with the TTB.” I knew Will would recognize the abbreviation, as his company would have filed several documents with them over the years.
Will chuckled. “He wants to come after Mershano Vineyards, does he? I’d love to see him try. He seems to be under the impression that I don’t have access to similar resources, which is a fault on his part. And you call me arrogant.”
