Chapter 25
Wren
“Are we having our first fight?” I ask against Whitney’s temple as I hold her to my side, waiting to board the plane back to St. Louis.
“You promised to keep me safe,” she returns, and my smile falls immediately.
“I am,” I promise, moving her along as the line inches forward.
She’s upset because I wouldn’t let her use her fake ID to buy her plane ticket.
Ignacio recovered her real ones when he went to scope out her apartment, and she went white as a ghost when I presented her with them before leaving the hotel room. We need to catch Jones for me to keep my promise, and we can’t do that if he’s following the breadcrumbs she tried to cover on her trip to Iowa.
She doesn’t answer me, but at least she isn’t trying to pull away from me.
“I can take you to the bathroom and remind you why you need to trust me.”
Her breath hitches, the slightest sound rushing into her nose, and I know she isn’t completely turned off by the idea. My cock has stayed perpetually hard since I snuck in her room and wrapped the soft cuffs around her wrists. It took all the power I had to keep from inching inside of her with the filthy things she confessed to me in the darkness last night. I’ll be damned if I give in and break now.
“I’m just scared.”
“I know, baby.” I press my lips to the top of her head, only releasing her long enough for her to offer her ticket to the gate attendant. After handing over mine, she’s right back at my side.
Her eyes are drooping, and her steps are unsure as we board, but once the door closes, eliminating the threat of Jones boarding with us, she settles, her head dropping to my shoulder for the hour-long flight back home.
As guaranteed, the SUV is waiting in the pickup line outside when we breathe our first breath of St. Louis air. The airport security guard is waving others around the parked vehicle instead of urging Flynn to make another loop.
I watch with pride when my friends all pile out of the SUV to greet us. Gaige takes both of our bags, grinning when Whitney keeps her fist tight on the strap of Simon’s backpack carrier. I don’t know what strings Flynn had to pull to get us on the plane with an animal, but I’m grateful. The purring cat calmed her in ways I couldn’t in front of the other passengers.
“Ms. Nelson,” Flynn says with a quick sweep of his hand to the vehicle.
God, I loved the sound of that, even if it’s her birth name and not because she’s mine.
Brooks and Quinten climb into the third-row seating, and I climb into the middle first, holding my hand out to her, offering the seat next to me before Gaige takes the seat on her other side. Finn grins from the passenger seat as she settles Simon’s bag on her legs and looks around.
“I feel like I’m on an episode of SWAT,” she whispers, but it’s loud enough for the guys to hear apparently, as a wave of low chuckles fills the air around us.
“Feel safe?” I ask.
“Yes,” she answers without hesitation, and I try not to let the disappointment that she couldn’t feel that way with the two of us alone eat at me. If it takes five other BBS employees to get her there, I won’t complain.
“Are we going to the office or back to your place?” Flynn asks as he nods at the security guard before pulling into the traffic ebbing and flowing near the front entrance.
I look down at Whitney, letting her know the call is hers. I’ll have to go to the office eventually, but for now I’m offering her control since I know she feels like she’s lost every ounce of it to the threat of danger.
“If we’re going to end up back at your place eventually,” she begins, swallowing as her eyes lock on mine, “I’d rather just go there from the beginning.”
I hold her hand in mine, bringing it to my lips to brush the inside of her wrist, nodding in understanding. I know she doesn’t like to go out often, and even though she’ll be in my place instead of at hers, I know that small comfort will help keep her calm.
Due to traffic, the drive back to my place takes longer than it should, but considering it’s Monday, I’m forced to just deal with it. The closer we get, the tighter the tension is in her shoulders. The guys joke, mostly ribbing me for being a nerd, but they keep the fact that I stalked her online before actually meeting her to themselves. I don’t know how long I’ll hold on to that reprieve, but for now I’m grateful. Small smiles tug at her lips, but what these guys are failing to realize is that she’s just as big of a computer nerd as I am.
Whitney is wound like a top by the time Flynn pulls into the underground garage. Her hands are trembling so hard, she doesn’t fight Gaige when he reaches for Simon’s bag. I pull her tight to my side as the guys circle around us at the elevator.
“We’re safe,” I whisper when the elevator opens with a ding. “My keycard assures no interruptions on the way up.”
I offer the card in question to Gaige, and he plugs it into the slot because it’s too far for me to reach, and I’m not going to let her go for a second.
I nod at Braden, a guy we’ve used in the past, when I see him standing guard outside the elevator. There are only two other apartments on this floor, and since we can’t demand other renters move, he’s there to make sure no one can reach my apartment door without prior approval.
“He’ll stand guard until seven,” Flynn says as Whitney looks
