Po paced the parking lot in front of his warehouse in the neighborhood that held a strip club down the corner, three bars, and lots of storage units, waiting for Liam in the only place he could think of where he wouldn’t feel Rebel’s presence. It was stupid, and he was avoiding her, but the look in her eyes made him uncomfortable.
More so than her masturbation session last night, if that was possible.
He’d pushed people away his entire life. Not out of any self-serving purpose, but out of self-preservation. The only people he’d loved had left, his sister being the final one. A psychotherapist would have a ball with him, and the fucker had the chance. But instead of actually talking to him, the good Doctor Pedigrew had drugged him into madness.
He appreciated Rebel’s efforts at making him sane, but deep down inside him, he knew he could never be what she wanted from him.
He ran his forked tongue over his teeth, the perfect illustration. He was getting better on the outside, getting his teeth fixed, horns removed. But like his tongue, there was a part of him, deep down, that was split and would never be normal.
No matter how much he wanted it.
A growly engine accompanied an enormous black truck as Liam and Levi pulled into the parking lot. The guys in the office joked that he was compensating for something with the loud, throaty beast, but Po had to admit it was a comfortable ride.
They emerged and Po realized he was glad to see them. A round of back-clapping hugs ensued, and he led them inside, a bit worried about Rebel. He hoped she was okay after his last rejection.
He hadn’t missed the anger in her eyes, but it couldn’t be helped. She was sitting in what passed for his living room, looking at his tablet plugged into the charger next to her. When she set it down, he could see she had been reading the newspaper on it. She looked up at them, standing when she saw who had entered.
“Mr. Thompson, good to see you again.” She held her hand out and shook his before turning to Levi and exchanging nods.
“So, you guys all know each other.”
“Yeah, we were afraid she’d gone and done something dumb, like infiltrate the facility you were being kept in.” Levi drawled out slowly. “Glad it all turned out okay.”
“For now,” Po tacked on.
“I need another place to stay. Apparently, I can’t go home, and I can’t stay here. Is there another place?”
Liam pursed his lips in thought. “Does Jamison have the safe house ready?”
Levi shook his head. “Not if electricity and running water are necessities.”
“Not really.” She was tense, ready for anything. It wouldn’t be fun, but it wouldn’t be here, either. Win.
“That was a joke. It’s not secure, either. We just got it and haven’t got it at all ready yet.” Levi looked amused, shooting Po a look.
“Okay, so what happened?” Liam changed the subject and made himself comfortable on the least padded chair Po had in the room, while Levi sat next to Rebel, his toothpick rolling back and forth in his mouth. An unnecessary pang of jealousy rose in Po. Was she as horny for the muscly country boy as she had been for him? He watched her carefully for clues as she recounted how she had gotten the job, and her impressions of him when she first got there, then her very carefully administered weaning off the drugs he’d been on. She managed to point out he wasn’t completely weaned off and would probably suffer some withdrawal effects soon. Po rubbed his stomach. He felt a little nauseated, but he was just ignoring it. She touched on the sex drug, glossing over details yet still managing to make it sound horrific.
She was businesslike and gave the facts. Not the least bit flirty with Levi, who, along with Liam, would stop her periodically to ask her questions. When she got to the part where they’d drugged her and they’d escaped, she stopped.
“And that’s it,” she finished, without any information about last night, after stealing the Charger.
Liam and Levi looked at him. “So, they know who she is now and will be looking for both of you.” Liam said the words pointedly.
“But this place is a good hideout. We should focus on getting the drug.” Levi spoke, and Po nodded his agreement, along with Rebel.
“Yes. Daisy said it was already being distributed among a few select circles, but it’s only a matter of time before he makes the connections necessary for a wider distribution,” Rebel added.
“Wright is in on this,” Liam said. “He’s been working this angle, but it was put on the back burner when you guys disappeared.” Wright was Alex Wright, a guy with fair computer skills, but nothing like Po’s. He’d been trying to get Po to talk to him about his ‘secret project’ when Po had been communicating with Daisy before he’d been taken.
And she’d been killed.
Po’s stomach twisted. If he’d talked about her to Alex and Liam, this probably wouldn’t have gone down the way it did. He’d never had anybody actually care enough about him before Liam. He’d taken him under his wing and helped him get straight. It still blew him away, but affection wound its tendrils around Po’s heart and tugged at it. He cared for these guys. Closest thing to brothers he had.
“What do we do?” He couldn’t help it. His brain may still be fuzzy from all the drugs he’d been given. Rebel had said she hadn’t finished the weaning process; he still had a week or so to go. It was entirely possible all these fucking feels he had right now were residual shit. He would have no way of knowing for a while more.
Meanwhile, he felt stupid. Yesterday had used all his problem-solving skills quota for the week. He needed direction.
“There’s a bar downtown. Upscale place. It seems to be the place he’s starting. It’s a private club, requires a membership and guest passes and shit. They’re having a VIP gala in a few weeks, and we were making a plan to go to that.”
“I want in.” Rebel stood, her hand on her hip.
“Jesus. You can’t go in. They know you.” He couldn’t even stop his exasperation if he wanted to. It was the stupidest idea he’d ever heard, even stupider than infiltrating the facility he’d been in.
“I want in.” Her jaw firmed and her eyes flashed dangerously at Po. “Daisy was my best friend; I’m half in love with you; these assholes abused me, and I want something to hold on to to make this right. I don’t know how to explain it, but y’all can’t cut me out now.”
Her words shocked him, spoken with such honesty, just tossed out there like they meant nothing. And in front of these guys.
Po couldn’t take his eyes off her as she stood there, unashamed and fearless. Liam and Levi said something about making a specific plan with backup and getting invites and whatever. But he barely heard them.
Nobody had ever said anything remotely like that to him. He was half-afraid she didn’t mean it, but she’d never actually lied to him. Even when he’d been hateful to her.
He fisted his hands by his sides, listening to the knuckles pop. He was strung tighter than a piano wire or bow string.
“Po.” Po’s eyes snapped to Liam, who had apparently been trying to get his attention for a while, based on the urgency of his tone. “How did they get you in the first place?”
How did they get him? That part was still fuzzy. He reached deep. For some reason, he couldn’t remember this part as well.
“Drugs. Daisy had sent me a text message, saying she was going to do something if I didn’t. Some shitty ultimatum she knew I wouldn’t be able to resist. Like a ‘I bet I get him before you do.’ We’d been sort of working on this together for a couple of weeks, since she’d figured out the doctor was who was dealing this drug her bosses were talking about.” He shrugged. “That’s all I really remember. I’ll have to go back and dig into our old messages. I’ll let you know though. I should have from the beginning.”
He really should have. He trusted them; he didn’t know exactly why he hadn’t brought them in from the beginning. Except this was something him and Daisy were doing together, and it had been so long since they’d done something together, and it had never been anything like this. It had been fun. Sort of.
“He must have drugged me and taken me to this facility, because the next thing I remember was lying in the hospital bed, being pumped full of God knows what.” He shrugged, knowing it had been a dumb decision, but it was done now, and they were out of there, safe.
Except Daisy, of course.
“I think Dr. Pedigrew was trying to create a chemical psychosis. Why, I’m not sure, except he seems to have a sadistic streak. And then he hired me to take care of him, for whatever reason,” Rebel cut in, clearly desperate to stay a part of the conversation. He almost scoffed at her transparency. She was trying to keep herself relevant to the situation, be useful.
Perfect, useful, little Rebel.
Liam’s attention turned back to Rebel. “Do you think he knew who you were? That you and Daisy were friends?”
She pursed her lips to the side of her face as she thought, and Po relaxed measurably. She was cute like that. He’d seen the face multiple times, and it never failed to make him focus his eyes on her lips with a laser-like focus.
“I don’t think so, but it’s really hard to know for sure, isn’t it?”
“Well, at any rate, I think it’s a bad idea for you to get involved in taking down this guy.” Turning to Po, he said, “Talk her out of it. Use any means necessary.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rebel stood as Liam and Levi stood. “Wait! What does that mean?” But Liam simply looked at Po and winked.
Winked.
Po did a double take. Weird. That was the first time Liam had ever insinuated someone should use sex to get what they wanted from a client. Or anyone for that matter.
Not that Po would.
Forcing his jaw to relax, he finally managed to speak when he realized Liam and Levi were gone and they stood there together. Alone.
Rebel stood, helplessly fidgeting in the living room, while Po realized he was about to hit something.
Frustrated, he forced himself to relax.
“What. Did. He. Mean. By. That?”
“What he said. You can’t go.”
“Why not?” Her hands on her hips, her lips jutted in a completely different way from her earlier curious manner. She looked a little scary.
Po had to admit he liked the look. But now wasn’t the time. In fact, he wasn’t sure there ever would be a time.
“Because Pedigrew’s dangerous. I can’t believe you’re not seeing this.” He was yelling at her but didn’t care. She had to understand his stance on this.
“I eat danger for breakfast,” she said in a really bad Russian accent.
“Was that an attempt at humor? Now isn’t the time, Rebel.” He gripped the back of his neck, hard, twisting the skin until he felt the sharp sting of pain grounding him.
“Don’t patronize me. I was a prisoner there too. That gives me some legitimacy in wanting him to pay, doesn’t it?” Her voice had gone quieter, meeker, and he thought he heard the beginning of tears in her voice. Tears because of him.
He steeled his spine. “No.”
She spun around to escape him, but he grabbed her elbow and kept her from leaving the room.
“Promise me.” She wouldn’t face him, but she lifted her head to stare directly at the doorway in front of her.
“I won’t.”
What was he supposed to do now? She wouldn’t promise to not go, and Liam had told him to not let her, basically giving him the go-ahead to use any means necessary. That meant he could fuck her into submission until she was jelly under his touch and compliant to his wishes.
Or possibly kill her. That thought almost made him laugh, but holding Rebel’s trembling arm in his hand, he knew she was too angry to get the joke, so he simply released her.
It was a little too close to his past with Scorpio to find funny anyway.
Her shoulders shook as she raced up the stairs and slammed the bathroom door.
Great.