Someone found me through you.
The landline rang a few minutes later, the shrill tone causing me to jump in the chair. I hurried to answer it and tensed when I heard Lucas ordering the driver to go faster. His tone had an edge to it that sent a shiver of fear through me even though his threats weren’t directed at me.
“Luc—”
“Where are you?” he growled closer to the phone.
“In your office.”
“Are you safe, yes or no?”
“Yes, but—”
“Don’t stop,” he snapped at the driver then came back to me. “We’re headed back to the house, I’m only a few minutes away. I need you to open the bottom right drawer in my main desk.”
I did as he said. “Okay.”
“Take out the false bottom, then open that safe. It’s the same code you use to call out on the landline.”
“Is there anything in your life that isn’t secret and locked up?” I asked, exasperated.
“Can’t afford it. Now—”
“What am I supposed to do with these?” I yelled as I stared at the handguns and extra magazines of rounds.
“Grab one and go to my room. Lock yourself in there.”
I shook my head quickly. “No, this isn’t necessary. You’re overreacting.”
“Bri—”
“I’ve never even touched one of these in my life.”
His voice boomed through the phone. “Briar, don’t you understand what is happening right now?”
“Yes, but I’m not in any danger. It was just on the computer.”
“Computer or not, if you’ve been found we’re all in danger. Take a gun and go lock yourself in my bedroom closet. If anyone is already in the house, shoot them. If someone tries to get in the closet that isn’t me, shoot them. Understand?”
“Yes,” I whispered weakly. I felt nauseous thinking about holding one of the guns in front of me.
“And, Blackbird,” he said, his tone lighter and with a hint of amusement, “keep your finger off the trigger. I don’t feel like getting shot today.”
By the time I finally grabbed the smallest gun in the mini safe and walked out of the office, Lucas was storming into the house with a murderous look on his face.
“What happened?” he demanded as soon as he saw me from across the hall.
“I don’t want this.” I held the gun out toward him with it between two of my fingers.
Lucas gripped the gun in his large hand to take it from me, and passed it to the driver as he came hurrying in behind him. “Stay with her after I’m gone. If anything happens . . .” He let the warning trail off and shoved his hands into his pockets. “Now tell me what happened, Briar.”
My eyes weren’t leaving where his hands were now hidden. I tried to tell myself it was just his fear and anger that had him reacting like this, but the sight of his stance still sent ice through my veins. “Um, I uh . . .” I shook my head and forced myself to look up into the fury in his dark eyes instead. “I was checking e-mails. This guy started messaging me. He knew who I was, and he was saying—well, I left it up there.”
His jaw was clenched so tightly I thought it might shatter. In one quick movement he stepped forward and grabbed the back of my head to press his mouth roughly to mine, and then he was gone.
“This way, Miss Holt,” the driver said once Lucas was gone.
I pointed down to the gun in his hand and asked warily, “Do you know how to use that?”
His face was all business when he responded, “Yes, ma’am. I wouldn’t be Mr. Holt’s driver if I didn’t.”
“Of course not.” I let out a shaky sigh as I followed the driver into Lucas’s room and then into the closet, locking all the doors behind us on the way.
The messages led to a dead end.
People had come over to help Lucas just minutes after he’d arrived—people who didn’t exactly care about doing things legally, which had been one of the reasons Lucas had wanted me locked in the closet with the armed driver—and they had started investigating immediately.
Thankfully, it hadn’t taken long before their investigations led the other men out of the house, and soon they were calling Lucas with updates.
The chat messages had been sent from an abandoned, dilapidated Internet café, and they had nothing else to go on.
A look had snapped into Lucas’s eyes that had left me feeling cold for hours. He’d left immediately after, leaving his driver with me, and hadn’t said anything about where he’d gone or what he’d done when he came home. Only that I needed to let him know if I was contacted again, and he didn’t want me in the backyard unless I had someone else with me.
He also wouldn’t leave my side or work away from home for two weeks because of it.
As much as I loved every second with him, those weeks had been uncomfortable because he’d been on edge the entire time, and it had left me unable to prepare for tonight.
Thank God there had been things at the office that needed to be taken care of in person today so he’d had to leave, but now I was running around Houston with the driver, trying to find the perfect gift for the man who had more money than he knew what to do with.
“What’s this place up here on the right?” I asked the driver, who still refused to give me his name.
“Clothing.”
I sighed and sank into the seat. I’d already been into seven stores—two had been clothing stores—and nothing had stood out to me. At least I’d finished Lucas’s caramel banana cake before we left so I wouldn’t need to worry about it once we got back to the house. I’d considered making a devil’s food cake to be funny, but I’d paid enough attention to what he liked over the last months that I was sure he’d be happy with what I’d made.
“This one on the right?”
“Jewelry, Miss Holt.”
I groaned in frustration. Lucas and jewelry did not mix. “What does he like?” I asked out loud, even though I didn’t expect the driver to answer since he rarely answered any personal questions about anyone.
“Guns.”
I glared at his reflection through the rearview mirror. “What about all of those coming up on the left?”
“There is a—”
“You know what, it’s okay. Why don’t we park and I can make my way through this strip? Maybe walking through these stores will help me think of something.”
He nodded and slowed to find parking. “I pick up lunch just over there for you quite often. Would you like me to get you something to eat? You haven’t eaten all day.”
“I’ve been busy all day,” I mumbled. “Thank you, but no, I just want to find something and get back to the house. But if you’re hungry you can go.”
“I’m not hungry,” he responded easily.
“Of course not.”