Reign (Riders of Apollo #1)

Chapter 42: Roman Hayes

They've been in there for two and a half hours. 

I got banished as soon as the women turned up and Hunter came as well, dropping himself onto the armchair with Gemma in his lap. I know there's a story there and I will pull it out of him at a different time.

Gemma decides to join her mother when she realises we aren't much fun, both of us staring blankly at the TV with some stupid programme on. To be honest, I'm working a hundred miles a minute trying to calm myself down, I really don't want to let the love of my life walk into an HR stronghold where she may or may not be hurt. Especially because I won't be there to help her.

I know that Boulder will be there and he is lethal in his own right, Peyton is as well. Still doesn't make me feel any better because I'm supposed to be the one putting his life on the line to protect his woman not let his woman risk her own life.

There's no point in trying to stop her. She could fight through me and if something does happen to her, I don't want the last thing we did together to be an argument. Besides, I'm sure everything will be fine, right?

You know what, don't answer that.

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It's another hour before the phone starts ringing with Bear's impatience shouted from the other side. It's almost seven, Peyton and Boulder need to be there in an hour to make sure the cover stands and the rest of us need to be in close proximity so that we can protect and follow wherever we're needed.

My heart is in my throat and my stomach is turning inside out at the thought of tonight. But my breath is caught in my lungs when Peyton comes down the stairs wrapped in green silk like a gift. That is until my eyes reach hers and instead of the entrancing whiskey colour I fell in love with, they're green, the hair is a deep red and matches the colour of her lips.

She's gorgeous, don't get me wrong but this is not my woman. "I know, you hate it. I promise it is just for tonight. I'll be back in leather with blonde curls by tomorrow."

"You better be, Peyton I swear if you get hurt..." I catch her in my arms, still incredibly weirded out by what she looks like right now. I can't even see her real eyes nor can I touch her hair. I hold her close, brushing my thumbs over her skin to ground myself. She is here, she is alive. I keep repeating that as I look at her freakish green eyes.

"I am going to be fine, I promise." She pulls back to do our secret handshake and smiles proudly when we complete it perfectly. She leans up to kiss me and I pull away.

"I can't, you don't look like you and it's freaking me out. Just by touching you I feel like I'm cheating on you." She laughs adorably and bops my nose before grabbing her purse and walking out of the house, all of us following behind her like lost puppies.

Since the club is on the other side of town and everyone in town decided that they want to drive this evening, it takes over an hour to get to the club which means we are running behind schedule. Peyton is able to flirt her way inside and Boulder follows after bribing the doorman.

The rest of us spread out in cars and bikes, I'm currently behind the wheel of Peyton's Impala and I sit by the front door. I begged for this position because I'm paranoid and this is the only way I'll be able to stop myself from storming in there and dragging my woman out. We're all tuned in on the comms so we can hear both of them and the loud music blaring from the speakers, I can only imagine what she's doing in there.

Who is touching her or buying her drinks or thinking they'll be able to take her home with them and my thoughts enrage me, tightening my fists on the wheel to the point where my knuckles are white as my eyes tinge red. 

She wouldn't cheat on you, dumbass. 

I scold myself, knowing and trusting that my woman will choose me just as I choose her, my hands release their death grip on the wheel and I lean back in my seat, rubbing my top lip in anticipation.

"Twitch is in the house." Boulder mumbles into the line after an hour of waiting, we set him up at the bar in a position where he can see everything that's happening. He can track both Twitch and Peyton and any protection that Twitch might've brought with him. He shouldn't be travelling alone so I wouldn't be surprised if he brought a few heavily-geared guards on the look out for us.

Their defences are going to be weakened by the alluring nature of Peyton and then hopefully we'll have enough information to launch a full scale attack on HR.

"Are you drinking alone, darling?" His voice is very close to the mic so I can only assume that he's close enough to touch her. Deep breaths, Roman, she's got this. The bright side is that her disguise worked, she knew exactly what type of woman he was looking for and brought him in with minimal effort. 

She continues to astound me.

"Apparently so, my boyfriend stood me up." Her accent sounds exactly like a valley girl, gone is the British twang.

"Come dance." He's not exactly trying very hard to win her over, cocky bastard. I'm sure any woman would refuse him but right now Peyton has no choice but to accept his invitation. Some loud song with a strong baseline comes on and I try not to think about the dancing that she's gonna have to do to convince him that she wants to sleep with him.

Peyton's soft breathing is all the comes across the lines except the god awful music and the rustling of Twitch's groping hands. That's the first thing I'm going to lop off when I get my hands on him, after that is his dick. "Let's take this somewhere more private." Peyton's voice is soft and almost unrecognisable with the accent and saccharine sweetness of her tone. She's laying it on thick.

How did we get in so deep?