THE REVENGE PLAN

3. Wick-2

“Well I need my laptop,” she muttered moodily, slinging the strap over her shoulder before scooping up her overnight bag and then her book bag and sending me a defiant glance to show me she could manage what she had packed just fine in one trip all by herself.

With an amused sniff, I shook my head. “Always gotta prove me wrong, don’t you?”

She shrugged even as a proud smirk lit her face. “Just stop being so wrong and I won’t have to.”

I opened my mouth, trying to think up a worthy comeback when my phone rang. “Thank God,” I breathed, spotting Cannon’s name. “What’s the plan?” I asked as I answered.

“We’re pulling in now.”

“Wow.” I lifted my brows, beyond impressed. Cannon really got into this s**t. “That was fast.”

“Yeah, well…” He sounded irritable. “We would’ve been here sooner, except Bear had to put on his makeup and pantyhose or some such bullshit before we left the apartment.”

In the background, I could hear Bear telling Cannon to go suck it.

Then Cannon’s voice was in my ear again. “Give us a few minutes to set up a perimeter, then someone will give the shave-and-a-haircut knock on your door when we’re ready for retrieval.”

“The what knock?” I asked with no idea what he was talking about.

“You know,” Cannon prompted as if that would somehow jostle my memory, which it did not. Then he sang, “Dah-di-di-dah-di,” before pausing and adding, “Di-dit.”

I shook my head and snorted. “Only you would know the name for that knock.”

“Shut up,” he growled, clearly aware how much I wanted to hassle him for being such a secret-agent geek. After someone in the background said something to him and he answered, he added to me, “Gotta go. Cannon, out.”

As the line went dead, my heart pounded hard with the challenge we were about to face. I shifted once more to put the phone back into my pocket and glanced toward Izzy. “Get ready to move.”

But my sister already had her shoes on and all three straps of her assorted bags hefted over her shoulders. She lifted her eyebrows mockingly, seeming to silently tell me she was more prepared than I was, so I ignored her and turned my attention to the girl in my arms.

“Hey,” I said softly. “We’re going to get you out of here now. Do you think you can walk?”

She didn’t answer. I glanced toward my sister, silently seeking advice. Izzy merely shrugged.

Fuck.

“Okay, then,” I decided on a nod. “I’ll just carry you. No problem.” She couldn’t weigh more than a buck twenty. I could handle that. But first, I had to get us upright. “Uh…” Mentally picturing all the places I’d have to touch her in order to position us, my body stirred.

Being attracted to her was going to make this so much more awkward than it needed to be.

Just do it already, Webster, a logical, impatient voice in my head growled.

When that knock came, we were going to have to move, no dicking around. Who knew how much time we’d have out in the open, undetected? I didn’t want her exposed any longer than she absolutely needed to be while she was stuck in this state. I would legit sacrifice myself before letting Nicholl set a single finger on her. So, I was just going to have to suffer through risking an accidental boob or ass graze in the process.

After blowing out a steadying breath, I moved, sliding a hand under her thighs—her warm, tight thighs that could probably wrap around my waist with ease—and the other around her torso, where I—yep—unintentionally slid my entire arm across her soft, giving breasts, and nudged her onto her side.

I tried to keep it as clinical as possible, but seriously, she was so f*****g warm and curvy and female, things on me reacted without my permission. And she moved so amenably to my every prompt—trusting me to safeguard her—that it stirred the protector in me; made the beast swell its chest out in pride and purr over her complete faith and compliance. I liked helping her. I liked the way she let me help her. And I liked how our bodies molded to each other throughout the entire ordeal.

So it wasn’t any surprise to me that I had a straining erection digging into her ass by the time I’d managed to swing us around and sit upright on the bed with her in my lap, hugging my neck. But it was beyond mortifying, regardless.

I froze, certain she’d become offended and scurry off me or tell me in no uncertain terms what a jerk I was, but she made no move at all. The poor girl didn’t even realize my hard-on was there, insistently poking at her for attention.

Damn, her mind really wasn’t present at all, was it?

Rage infused my bloodstream. What the hell had Nicholl done to crush her spirit to the point of this kind of madness? I suddenly wished I’d hit him in the hallway a few minutes ago, after all. And hit him hard enough to leave a mark.

A knock sounded on the door: one slow, two quick, another slow, followed by a quick and a pause before it finished with two slow knocks. While Izzy jumped and let out a startled yelp after the initial knock, the girl on my lap did nothing. My anger at Nicholl mounted, and I tightened my arms protectively around his girlfriend.

He wasn’t hurting her ever again.

“That’s our cue,” I said, getting ready to stand, only to think I should give Haven one last chance to walk on her own. “You sure you don’t want to walk?” I asked quietly.

I started to let go of my hold under her knees in order for her feet to drape toward the ground. But she tightened her arms around me, buried her face deeper into my neck, and tucked her knees up snuggly toward her chest, letting me know, she didn’t want down.

“Okay,” I eased softly. “I got you. I won’t put you down.”

After sliding my arm back under her knees, I stood, and she nearly choked me with how hard she held on. Her added weight made me grit my teeth, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle, so I nodded toward Izzy, who raced to the door and pulled it open.

Bear’s hulking frame filled the entrance, causing her to rear back in surprise. But big teddy bear that our team’s nose guard was—hence the nickname—Bear merely gave her a respectful bow and greeted her with, “Little Web.”

All my friends called Izzy that, so she immediately calmed and hurried into the hall when he stepped aside to let her out. Then he turned his attention to me, only to freeze with his mouth half open and eyebrows arched high.

“Dude,” he said, blinking repeatedly at Haven until recognition set in. And just like that, his brow dropped low. “Hey. Isn’t that Nicholl’s girl?”

“Let’s go,” I answered, shifting sideways to fit us through the doorway and shouldering past him. “We don’t have enough time for me to explain.”

“Uh…” Bear shook his head and finally seemed to wake up. “Yeah, okay,” he murmured. “This way, man. Roark’s got Tyrell distracted in the stairwell and all riled up about the next game.”

I nodded, and Izzy and I followed him to the end of the hall, where he eased the door open and peered around the side. The voices of two guys talking s**t echoed back to us as they argued about Northwest, the team we were set to play this weekend.

In front of me, Bear motioned with his finger, giving the all clear, before he stepped into the stairwell and positioned himself to help block us further from Tyrell as Izzy and I slipped past.

“Hey.” Izzy poked me in the back. “Let me in front of you. That way I can break her fall in case you lose your grip.”

“I’m not going to lose my grip. What the hell?” I hissed back, even as I shifted closer to the railing so my sister could squeeze by, because s**t, what if I lost my grip? I’d be forever known as that asshole who’d dropped Topher Nicholl’s girl down a flight of stairs.

As soon as Izzy was in the lead, however, she scurried forward, leaving us behind so she could scout the area some more. All the while, Haven Gamble held on to me for dear life, letting me carry her to who-knew-where.

At the bottom of the steps, José, a fellow safety on the team, waited at the next door. “Hey, man,” he started when he spotted us, tipping up his chin in greeting. “We’re good to go. Cannon’s paved a nice, wide path for you from here, straight to your…” But his words trailed off when he peered past Izzy and caught sight of me, along with who I was carrying.

“Whoa, what’re you doing with Nicholl’s girl?”

I shot him a don’t-ask glance, but he only seemed to freak more when he transferred his attention to her face. “Holy damn. What the f**k is wrong with her?”

The door from outside swung open, and Cannon peered in. “Did someone mention Nicholl’s girl?” He stepped in beside José to gape down at Haven. Then he looked to me, his expression filled with absolute confusion. “Um…”

“She looks drugged.” José backed away suddenly as if she were contagious only to transfer an incredulous glance to me. “You drug her or something?”

“Yeah, I drugged her,” I answered drolly before scowling moodily, unable to believe one of my own would even entertain such an idea. Then I exploded. “Are you f*****g kidding me? Really? You think I drugged her?”

“Of course, we know you didn’t drug her,” Bear placated as he jogged down the steps to join us. “But who did?”

With a shrug, I admitted, “No one that I know of. She was running like a bat out of hell down the hall when I left Izzy’s room tonight, and she plowed right into me. She seemed desperate for a place to hide and escape the douche who was chasing her, so we let her in—”

“Actually, she pushed her way into my room,” Izzy added.

“Who was chasing her?” José asked, his eyes wide with shock.

I lifted my eyebrows meaningfully. “I’ll give you three guesses.”

“Nicholl,” all three of my friends answered, their voices grim and expressions dark.

I nodded. “He attempted to barge in after her. But I kept him out and tried to convince him he really hadn’t seen her go in there, to begin with. Not sure if he believed me or not, but he left, only for her to break down and lose her s**t completely. She’s been like this ever since.”

“Well, f**k,” Cannon murmured, stepping closer to squint at her face. “Whatever he did, she did not take it well.”

Then he lifted his gaze, and I saw all the questions. And accusations. He looked pissed and betrayed that I hadn’t already told him everything.

Unable to handle the glint in his eyes, I glanced at Haven and repositioned her in my arms to reinforce my grip on her. I’d done what I thought was best for her, and I refused to feel guilty about it.

But s**t, Cannon was looking at me as if I’d stabbed him in the back with his own knife.

“What do you think he did?” Bear asked.

I shook my head. “No idea. Before she checked out, she said it was nothing physical, but it was definitely something.”

“Hell yeah, it was,” José agreed on a dumbfounded nod. “Poor girl.” Awkwardly reaching out, he patted her arm. “You just hang in there, mamacita. We got you.”