Page 78 of Illicit Heir

"Please!" I beg.

"Shouldn't we tell Caleb?"

My face hardens.

"Lauren?"

"What would I say?" I ask.

She stays quiet. Sympathy and confusion mix in her expression.

I plead, "Please tell me you'll do what I need ya to do."

She straightens her shoulders. "Okay, I will. When is all this happening?"

I shrug. "I don't know, but try to stay in eye contact with me at all times, okay?"

She nods. "Okay, Lauren." She briefly studies me, then asks, "Are ya feeling okay?"

I'm actually not. I'm nauseous again but swallow the bile and convince her, "Yea, I'm fine. I just want to make sure you're okay tonight."

She takes a deep breath. "As many bar fights as we've been in, we can handle anything, can't we?" She gives me a smile.

I softly laugh. "Yea, we can."

She puts her arm around me. "Okay then, it's ya and me, huh?"

I smile for the first time all day. "Yea, ya and me. Thank ya."

"Sure." She gives my shoulder a squeeze, then says, "Shall I let Bradan back in?"

"Yea."

I return to the pub, and within minutes she's back as well. For the next few hours, we serve drinks and food. We work our butts off serving Caleb, his brothers, and all the rest of the men in the pub with too much alcohol.

Six strippers work the crowd, and the men get drunker and drunker, getting handsier with the women as the night progresses.

It's near midnight when my phone finally vibrates. I glance at it.

Devin: Get into your flat now.

Panic erupts inside me.

I glance at Emily, and she freezes across the pub. I nod toward my flat. She sets a pint on the table and rushes toward me. I grab her arm, and we shove through the crowd, ignoring the men ordering us to get them more drinks. I open the staircase door, and we both step inside.

Someone tries to follow us.

I push him out of the way, tug the door shut, and lock it. We hurry up the steps, enter my flat, and I lock that door as well.

"Lauren, what's going to happen?" she frets.

"I don't know."

She goes to the window, staring through my curtains.

Another text comes in.

Devin: Go into your bathroom and sit on the floor. Do not go near the window. Lock all the doors, and do not leave until I tell ya it's safe.

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