“Dragging you back to bed already? Nice life if you can get it,” Bridge said to me with a wink. She rose to her feet as well, wrapping her arms around me and holding me in a long hug. “Stay strong, Paige. They’ve tried to take you down, just come back swinging.”
“Only way I know how to,” I replied.
We walked back to the car, Lorcan joining us not long afterwards.
“Those photos weren’t shot here,” he said in a low voice as we got inside. “I stuck my head in a few rooms before we left. The mouldings, the paint colours, they aren’t the same.”
“Nice work,” Mason said with a nod. “So she was filmed somewhere else.”
“You locals know anyone in the real estate game?” Zack asked. “Probably the person who’d be able to work out where they were shot.”
Micah and Declan looked at each other, but it was Declan who shook his head and answered. “We do, but you’re not gonna like it.”
“Who?” I asked, my eyes flicking from one man to the other.
“Aidan,” Micah replied, staring at me steadily.
Chapter 8
Lupindorf had a real estate cum stock agency, but it had been run by the Weber family for as long as I remembered, Dad taking many meetings with Mr Weber about the town and where it was going. We arrived the following morning, bright and early, but as we pulled up to the front, I saw the new façade, freshly painted and looking a helluva lot slicker than it used to. Evidently, the business had changed hands.
“This shouldn’t be a problem,” I said. “I’ve made my choice, so things should’ve settled down now.”
“The guys said that’s true,” Declan said, turning off the car. “The pull has eased for the other enforcers.”
So then why was the car thick with tension? Zack opened the door first, ushering me out, Mason carrying a sheaf of printouts from the files we’d found. We’d blacked out the faces in the ones we were going to show Aidan, not wanting to out my cousin to the town. A hand grabbed mine as soon as I got out of the car, the guys moving in close as we approached the door.
“You know he’s not gonna attack me in his office,” I muttered to them as Declan’s hand went to the door.
“He won’t while we’re still breathing,” Declan growled out.
And with that, we went in.
“Hi, my name’s Angie,” the receptionist said, getting to her feet, bright, professional smile spread across her face. “Are you looking to buy a property or stock today?”
“We need to see Aidan Peters when he’s free,” Declan replied.
“Mr Peters?” She frowned slightly. “Um…he’s in a meeting right—”
Her spiel was cut short by the opening of an internal door, then the man himself strode across the office floor towards us. But his eyes, they zeroed in on me.
“Paige…” he said, brushing the receptionist aside, not even recognising the other guys, which drew growls from them.
“We’re after some information,” Mason said, stepping in front of me. “Did you have somewhere we could talk?”
“Of course,” he replied, then turned to Angie. “Can you let the Schuberts know that something’s come up?”
“Sure. I could ask Bill to look after them.”
“Good, good. Do that. Now unfortunately, I won’t be able to fit everyone into my office,” he said to us. “Perhaps if you could select one of your bodyguards to come through—”
“My mates,” I corrected. “They’re not my bodyguards, they’re my mates.”
I watched Angie and Aidan stand there, trying to keep their professional façades up and kind of succeeding, but the muted reactions I got from them were very different. Angie started to back away, ostensibly to get Bill, but mostly because she was feeling really uncomfortable. Aidan, however, took a step forward, moving as close as he could without going past the counter, his eyes shining silver.
“Of course,” he said, trying to recover himself. “Well, bring one of your mates through, and we’ll see what I can do to help you.”
I turned around, all of them shuffling slightly closer, as if to make sure they were seen, but it was Micah I held my hand out to. Zack would have been a perfect candidate, as no one was getting past his wall of muscle. He’d have Aidan down on the ground, painfully pinned, if he tried anything, and Mason had a lot of pull in the town. But Micah was the one I knew the least, and if I didn’t give him the opportunity, I never would. Mason passed me the pile of photos as Micah smiled, bringing my knuckles to his lips for a second before drawing us through the gap in the front counter, following Aidan’s lead to the empty office.
For a long moment, Aidan just stared with hungry eyes as we sat down, eyes flicking from me to Micah, to where he still held my hand, watching that broad thumb brush against the back of my hand. Did he sense how my skin burned? A sidelong look at Micah stopped him from caressing me, but I was still exquisitely attuned to his touch, which still had the sting of strange to it. I squeezed his fingers, then pulled away, my focus and theirs not returning until I did.
“So can I get you a tea or coffee?” Aidan asked, recovering his composure.
“No, thank you. What we’re going to ask is a little unorthodox,” I said.
“Oh?” Professional Aidan was fighting with personal Aidan, and personal was winning right now. His eyes grew heavily lidded, and he inspected the two of us slowly, thoroughly. “Looking for somewhere new? A place that will be a better fit for your growing…family?”
“In a way, yeah.” I placed the photos on the table, and it took a few seconds for Aidan to drop his eyes and look at them, but when he did, personal Aidan came rushing forward.
“What are…?” When he looked up, his gaze was pure silver, his beast looking at me, transposing the woman he saw before him into
