Bossed Three Times

Chapter 15

Arianna

I should have been there for her. It was the only thought going through my head as the plane rumbled towards New York; a very different plane ride than the one before. The three of them were on cell phones, making calls with stony faces and terse voices, trying to assess the situation. Finally, Hunter put his phone down, walked towards me, and wrapped his arms around me. “We’re going to handle this, I swear.” “I should’ve been there,” I murmured into his chest.

“What exactly would you have done? Stopped them yourself?” “Yes.” “I don’t doubt you would have tried,” he said tightly. Sean’s phone rang and he snatched it up. “Yes?” His eyes went wide. “Shit, hey, hang on, I’m putting you on speaker.” He looked up. “It’s Luke and Jordan.” I lurched to my feet. “What?!” “Ari?” Luke’s voice came on through over speaker, his voice jagged and harsh. “Luke! What’s—” “They have her,” he growled.

“They’ve fucking got Sasha.” “She called me,” I sobbed. “Right as they came, she called me. She said you two—” “They called her and told her that so she’d panic. No, no one fucking has us except we’re Goddamn grounded in London.” “Luke? It’s Hunter Black,” Hunter said suddenly. “Whatever you need, we’re here.” “Hey, Hunter. Hang on, I’m putting Jordan on too.” There was a beat before another line clicked in. “Hi, guys.”

“Tell us what you need, man,” Damien growled. “We’re being kept right now by London police. They’re not letting us leave.” “What?” I hissed. “Why the hell are they keeping you?” “Liability,” Jordan said, his voice like gravel and ice over the phone. “We’re fucking suspects.” “You’re kidding me.” “I wish I fucking was.” “Ari,” Luke addressed me. “We know who it is. It’s fucking Mark.” My eyes went wide in horror.

Mark, as in Sasha’s shitty ex boyfriend who’d ended up shooting his way into Steel and Stone Holdings to try and rob the place after she’d hooked up with Luke and Jordan. He’d wound up winging Jordan with a bullet before Sasha had shot him herself. Last I’d heard though, he was in jail for a very long time.” “There was breakout — we heard about it, but until it was too late.”

The emotion was raw and bitter in Luke’s voice, the same bitter rage I could feel inside my own chest. When I looked around the plane cabin, I saw the tightness in the faces of my three guys. “He has demands, Ari.” I couldn’t respond. All I could think about was that asshole Mark getting his hands on my friend. My friend and her unborn baby. “Listen,” Jordan growled.

“We’re suspects right now, and they’re fucking keeping us at the hotel right now. But if we give them what we know and tell them it’s Mark behind this, you know they’re going to fuck it up. We can’t chance this, not with Sasha and sure as shit not with our kid.” The cabin started to spin around me, and Sean took over as Hunter helped me sit. “What the fuck do these clowns want, guys? Cash?”

“That’d be easy, man,” Luke muttered. “He wants revenge.” I listened in stunned silence as Luke filled Hunter, Damien, and Sean in on what had happened that time back at their offices with Mark trying to rob the place. “He fucking called, us, Arianna,” Jordan said, his voice tight. “He wants revenge, he wants to hurt us, and he’s going to do it by hurting her.”

“That not going to happen, guys,” Damien growled with steel in his voice. “It’s not.” He took a deep breath. “What do you know about me and Hunter and Sean?” There was a moment of silence before Jordan spoke up. “We did our homework,” he said evenly. “Marines, huh?” “Hoorah,” Hunter muttered under his breath. “Look, we can’t ask you guys to—” “Ask whatever you need,” Sean said fiercely, his eyes locked on me.

“Mark’s got her at our lodge, in upstate New York. He’s got a lot of guys with him.” “We’re on our way,” Hunter said, before moving to the front of the plane to knock on the door to the pilot’s area. “Guys, could we talk to Arianna for a minute?” Sean nodded, took me off speaker, and handed me the phone.” “I’m here,” I said quietly. “Are you okay?” My breath hitched as I shook my head, trying to blink back the tears.

“Am I okay? Jesus, Luke, I feel like I should be asking you that.” “We’re fine, just…” “We’re scared, Ari,” Jordan said quietly. “Look, the guys you’re with.” He paused. “Do you trust them?” “Yes.” I didn’t even think before the word came out, but it was true — utterly and completely. “No hesitation,” Jordan mused. “I like it.” “Look, I know they’re your competitors, but trust me when I—”

Luke barked out a laugh. “We don’t give a fuck about them being business rivals, Ari. The point is, you trust them, and that works for us. We only did a little research, but it seems they’re good men. And if you vouch for them—” “I do.” “Good,” Jordan finished. “Are they keeping you safe?” “Definitely.” “Look,” Luke whispered. “Truth be told, we’re going to break out of this fucking hotel and fly home right after we get off the phone with you. Fuckthese guys. But you’re going to get there before us.” Jordan sighed.

“Put the guys on speaker again.” I looked up at my three men, all staring at me with hurt and pain and fierceness in their faces. “They want to talk to you guys.” I put the phone on speaker. “Guys? We need to ask you something big—” “We’re already on it,” Hunter said evenly. “We’ve already got parts mobilizing on the ground for when we land.. “Thank you, really,” Jordan said tensely.

“Look, I don’t need to tell you—” “You don’t need to explain a thing, we understand more than you know,” Damien growled, looking right at me. “Do not let him hurt her,” Luke said, his voice almost breaking. “That’s not going to happen,” Sean said, looking right at me with the same intense look on his face as his two friends. “We swear it.”

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