Cruz
“Wehaveanissue,” Paul said the moment I answered my mobile. He was the manager of the club I knew Tilly frequented. I paid him well to make sure they look after her and never bothered.
“Go on,” I said.
“Matilda Connors is in the club.”
I hummed.
“The beta she dated is here,” he said.
“And you’re only telling me now,” I yelled. “How long has he been there?”
“My guys are monitoring both, but he is going to make a move on her.”
I turned to Jackson. He was already putting his jacket on and taking the keys. Luca ran to this room. I assumed he was going to put on more clothes because Luca liked to wear a scant amount of clothes in an evening.
“Oh fuck,” Paul said. “The list of men you’ve been hunting.”
“Just tell me.”
“One of them is here, staring at her.”
“Shit, we need to get there. When you know which one, tell me. Don’t let Tilly out of your sight.”
“Should I take her to the office?”
I thought that through, as much as I wanted Tilly seizing by Paul and taken to his office until I got there. I also knew it wouldn’t bode well. The little omega was a feisty one, and one wrong move from us, and she would make sure each one of us heard from her. And that could be very unpleasant. Tilly was as stubborn as she was beautiful. She had hidden herself for five years, but I would never allow her to hide from me again.
Though I always knew where she was. I checked on her by myself for a year before joining Jackson and Luca, when I felt they were in my pack. It wasn’t long after my brother Saint found his omega, Georgie.
Once the three of us committed to the pack, I told them about Tilly and told them I had scented her from before she presented as an omega.
It surprised Luca and Jackson when they found out Tilly was Blair’s cousin and they’d heard the news of what happened that night. They knew Blair because Jackson’s brother Jacob was in a pack with Blair, Dylan, and Luca’s brother, Nico.
It surprised them more when I also told them they had to wait for her to be ready.
They weren’t too happy about that, and it took a trip to the Lake District, where I showed them their omega. And it only took passing her in the street for them to know she was ours, but we agreed only when she was ready. But now she wasn’t hiding any longer—I had to make a move. If the gang that took her sister still wanted her, that was a disaster. It meant one of two things. She was still a target for the Italians or the gang wanted their revenge.
“It’s Ryker,” Paul said after five minutes of silence. “What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing for now. Just watch him. If he makes a move toward Tilly, then do whatever it takes, but do not take your eye off him. The man is the devil.”
“And her ex?”
“Keep your distance. I don’t want her being spooked and doing something that harms her,” I said. “But don’t let her out of your sight.”
Luca came back clothed. I took my gun, and Jackson took the keys before we made our way to the nightclub.
I sat in the back seat, waiting for more information from Paul. Finally, it came.
“Ryker is walking to her, she is on the dancefloor with her friend,” Paul said.
“Keep talking,” I shouted. “Get a bouncer near her. Don’t let him touch her.”
“She left the dancefloor, and is sitting with her friends. But she is looking around the nightclub. I think she just recognised him,” Paul said.
“Fuck,” Jackson growled from the front seat as he ploughed his foot to the floor.
Paul was silent for a couple of minutes, and I wanted to slam my fist into the window of the car. “Talk to me, Paul.”
“Okay, it’s not so bad. She’s in the ladies’ bathroom at the moment and I’ve sent Dev to stand outside and keep guard.”
I didn’t respond but looked at the signpost. We were only ten minutes away. But I knew those ten minutes were going to feel like ten hours, knowing Ryker was in the club. She was a constant in his goals.
“Ryker is looking around for her. I think she slipped away from him when she left. Oh fuck,” Paul said, his voice low.
I growled.
“Talk to us,” Luca yelled from the seat in front of me.
“Her ex, James, must have slipped into the bathroom when I was getting Dev to stand in the corridor. He and Tilly are walking toward the exit of the club.”
“Does she look stressed?” I asked.
“They’re arguing. I think they’re taking the argument outside, presumably because of the noise in the club.”