the outskirts of the city before Ben speaks again.
“Have you decided what to do about the Reid brothers?”
“No fucking clue. I’m supposed to be done with them, but even though I’ve cauterized the wound, it’s still bleeding. I don’t know if Kai knows Jude is a cop or if Jude is playing Kai as well as Zodiac, and I can’t ask while I have all this hanging over us.”
“I’m sorry, V, I know you care about them.”
“I don’t just care about them, Ben, I’m in love with them both. How fucking pathetic am I? I turned into my mom, loving someone, or in my case, someones, who are the kind of people who will never return it. I’ll never get my happy-ever-after with them because I’ll always have to worry about one of them slitting my throat in my sleep.”
“I don’t know everything that happened, V, and I don’t need to, but I have eyes. I’ve seen them, and yes, I have no clue right now when it was one or the other, but they care for you. It was in every look they gave you. Oh, they might fight it, but the heart is fickle and wants what it wants, and those boys want you.”
“I don’t trust them, Ben, and worse, I don’t trust myself when I’m with them.”
“Then just let the dust settle where it may. If it’s meant to be. it will figure itself out.”
I look at him and feel my lips twitch. “You’re awfully philosophical tonight.”
He groans before looking briefly at me. “It’s Chris’s fault. She watches all those Hallmark movies when she comes around. It’s been so quiet without the boys that I’ve had that channel on for some familiarity, and I swear those movies are addicting. I’ve lost hours, V, because I had to find out if the small-town lumberjack really could win over the big city girl who was just returning home for Christmas.”
He looks at me again with such a look of distaste on his face that I can’t help it, I laugh and keep laughing until we pull up at the docks.
“I’m never telling you anything again.” He huffs as I finally get myself under control.
“Oh come on, if the shoe were on the other foot, you’d be the same way.”
“Maybe,” he replies, trying to hide his grin before sighing. “Okay, let’s get this over with.”
We make our way down to where Will told me he would be and see him standing there waiting.
“Hey, Viddy, thanks for getting here so fast. You armed? “
“Always.”
He nods and with a hand at the small of my back, he ushers me onboard with Ben following up the rear.
“Anyone need any medical attention?” I ask him quietly.
“Some have a few minor scrapes and bruises but nothing major. They are just through here.” He takes me down the steps and opens a small wooden door, revealing a dozen people. I nod to Will’s guys guarding them, guns in hand but not aimed at anyone.
Scanning the room, the first thing I notice is these are not Kristoff’s usual fare. He has his girls snatched to order, but they all have beauty and youth in common. These people look like ordinary everyday people picked up from a shopping mall or something. There is a young girl or two sure, but also a couple of middle-aged women, a few men in their 30-40s, and a couple of men who must be in their late 60s.
“What the heck is this?” I mutter to myself.
“That’s what we want to know,” Will says.
“Who’s the guy that wants to speak to me?”
“He’s next door. Come.”
I take the hand he offers and follow him out and down the short hallway to the second door. When it swings open, I gasp before I’m running and hitting the man with my body hard enough to almost knock us both back a step.
“Viddy.” His deep voice washes over me, making tears spring to my eyes.
“I guess she knows him then,” Will comments before stepping closer.
I lift my head and stare into Wyatt’s pretty eyes. “Fuck, Wyatt, I missed you.”
He lifts his hands and shows me they are cuffed. “Think you can get these off?”
I turn to Will and he steps forward with a key. “Sorry, man, we had to be sure you didn’t mean her any harm,” Will tells him as he opens the cuffs.
“Wyatt, what’s going on? Why are you here? Where is Megan?” I fire off as my brain recovers from the shock of seeing