first time in three weeks, he looked tempted to speak, but then Loren shoved the words back down his throat before he could utter them.
“Save it,” he snapped at the drummer. He then walked onto the empty elevator, leaving us no choice but to follow before the doors could close.
The entire way up, Rich stared at Loren from under the cloak of his hood while the bassist stared at the metal doors with no expression and pretended he didn’t notice. The tension was stifling, and when the elevator finally stopped and the doors opened, I hurried off before either of them.
We ignored the receptionist when we entered the office suite, and she yelled at our backs that Carl wasn’t expecting us.
No fucking shit.
He’d purposely left us out of this meeting.
Everyone in our path parted like the Red Sea when we stormed the hall. It wasn’t until we reached our destination and pushed inside the room, uninvited, that the feeling I’d been here before hit me.
Most of the seats at the long table were filled by suited men and women, including Oni Sridhar, and the man I assumed was the arbitrator. He stopped speaking mid-sentence when we entered.
All eyes were on us, but our eyes were for her.
She was seated at the head of the table, furthest away from the door. The exact spot I’d been standing when I saw her for the first time eight months ago when she burst into this very conference room and interrupted the meeting taking place then too. Even though she was dressed differently, and I knew better now, Braxton still looked as innocent today as she did then.
It was those big, brown eyes, light freckles, and her full mouth that never ceased to make a fool out of me. The only clue of the fire burning underneath was her red hair pinned up to show off her neck.
She was a living flame.
Our eyes met, yet she gave no reaction to us showing up. After what we’d done, just acknowledging our presence even briefly was more than we deserved.
I could only see her top half, but I recognized that sheer, black dress with crystal print and holographic detail. I knew the hem reached her calves. I knew there was a high slit showing off her left leg. I even recognized the black bra she wore underneath and knew she’d paired it with her favorite black boots. I couldn’t see her hands, but I knew she wore her rings. Braxton was part goth, part punk, and part boho. She didn’t want anyone figuring her out.
On opposite sides of her sat Xavier and her lawyer, who looked way too unsure of himself for my liking. We’d sent someone who stood a chance, of course, but Braxton had refused to accept our help. I was willing to bet she’d ate into most of the paltry advance Savant had given her to hire this amateur and all to prove a point.
At least she hadn’t turned away Xavier, not that he would have listened.
Heading in Braxton’s direction, I shook his hand as we passed, and then we commandeered the wall behind Braxton before anyone thought to protest.
“What are you three doing here?” Carl spat from the other end of the table. “I made it clear I’d deal with you later.”
Loren snorted and smiled. “Hilarious. I’ve been utterly bored these last few weeks. Why don’t you deal with us now?”
Rather than get upset, Carl returned his smile as he sat back in his chair and drummed his fingers on the arms. His gaze shifted to each of us before he spoke. “I thought you’d be smarter, knowing what happens to you, yet you’re trying to help her anyway.” Shrugging, he looked down at the papers in front of him as he shuffled them around. “I guess the rumors are true.”
He looked up then to wink at Braxton, and I slammed my arm across Loren’s chest to keep him in place before he could even finish stepping forward.
Fucking up Carl would only make things worse for Braxton.
I didn’t remove my arm even after Loren relaxed. A calm Loren was just as unpredictable as a homicidal Loren. I glanced at Rich standing on my other side to gauge where his head was and if he’d force me to restrain him too.
He was staring at Braxton like he was stuck in time.
She pretended we weren’t even here.
I was pretty certain Jericho hadn’t heard a single word spoken since we stepped inside the room, but