His to Take (Wicked Lovers #9)(41)
Author: Shayla Black

“Sure. We won’t leave the place or anything. Maybe just grab a glass of wine?”

Even better. She rarely allowed herself an alcoholic treat. The extra calories showed when she wore only a leotard. But right now, as she wondered when—or if—she’d ever resume her normal life to put on spandex or dance for a crowd again, booze sounded fabulous.

“Please,” Bailey all but begged. “I’m so keyed up.”

“I totally understand that. Follow me.” Callie led her out the door and down a long hall.

Odd, but it didn’t look like any house Bailey had ever seen. More industrial, perhaps. But maybe that was the stained concrete floors and long hallway. Then again, some people liked that sort of thing.

She glanced around, waiting for Joaquin to jump out of a corner or one of the other guys to follow them. “They’re really going to turn me loose without an armed escort?”

The woman’s heels clicked down the hall as she cast a surprised glance over her shoulder. “You’re with me. Besides, there are security cameras all over this club. They’ll be watching and they’ll know immediately if something is wrong.”

“Club?” Though Bailey kept walking, everything inside her froze. She could only think of one club Sean, Callie, and Thorpe would all spend time in.

Callie opened a portal that led to another hall, this one with doors lining the left of the corridor. Each of the portals was closed and the lights overhead turned down low. “You didn’t know?”

“Are you saying we’re—”

“Pet?” A male voice farther down the hall and beyond an open door drawled.

Callie dashed to the portal. “Yes, Sir?”

Bailey came up behind her to find Thorpe sitting in what looked like his office, behind an enormous desk. Sean lounged opposite in a plush chair, holding a tumbler of Scotch.

“Where are you taking Joaquin’s guest, lovely?” her fiancé asked with a nonchalance Bailey didn’t believe at all.

“Did you have Joaquin’s permission to remove her from her room?” Thorpe sent her a smile that looked a lot like a challenge.

“She wants some fresh air. I promised her a glass of wine. She’s had a terrible day.”

They both looked to Bailey for confirmation, their gazes a silent demand. She wondered how the hell Callie didn’t stammer or falter under the weight of those two intent stares.

“I’m just really nervous, worried . . .” Bailey didn’t know how else to describe the restless edge of fear biting into her.

Sean nodded, then sipped at his drink, as if weighing his words. “You know, Bailey, that bad things await you outside these walls. You wouldn’t use my lovely’s good heart to try to escape now, would you?”

Ouch. He might look like the more easygoing of the two, but Bailey was beginning to think that looks could be deceiving.

“No. I have no interest in playing hide-and-go-seek with ruthless psychopaths bent on my destruction. I swear.”

The two men exchanged a look before Thorpe nodded in permission, then addressed Callie again. “I’ll be letting Axel know you’re on the floor. Don’t dawdle and don’t mingle. Keep Bailey behind the bar and away from prying eyes. No one needs to see her.”

“Absolutely,” Callie promised. “The last thing I want is someone recognizing her and showing up to ruin my wedding.”

At that, Sean smiled. “I don’t care if the ceiling is coming down and there are twenty terrorists chasing us. You’re not wriggling away from the altar until you’re my wife.”

“I’d hold the ceiling up and shoot them myself.” Callie grinned.

The men laughed, then Thorpe called back to them. “Ten minutes. You two come back by then or—”

“I have a clear picture of the ‘or,’ Sir. You’ve made that crystal over the last few months.”

He smiled smugly. “Excellent.”

As Callie turned away with a giggle, Bailey just blinked. She still was a little stunned by their unusual relationship.

“Who else knows? About the three of you, I mean?” Bailey murmured as they walked away. She’d heard whispers in the press, but never imagined it was more than innuendo or rumor.

Callie shrugged. “We don’t flaunt our relationship. Of course, we don’t go far to hide it, either. Sean likes public displays of affection, so when we’re all out, he’s more likely to hold my hand or kiss me. Thorpe is very private. He usually smiles at me in public. Sometimes he puts an arm around me or kisses my forehead. That can be construed in a lot of ways.”