Shane's gaze flickered over Kody and Archer, then back to me. He knew he was out of his depth—I could tell by the sheen of perspiration on his brow and the nervous way he licked his lips.
"Look, I just want to find Scott," he tried again, his tone marginally less aggressive. "I know he was hanging around with you, and you're bad fucking news. So just... just tell me where he is. I'll leave you alone."
Kody scoffed a laugh, giving me a look that clearly said, "Can you believe this idiot?"
Shit, maybe I was handling it all wrong. We knew where his brother was, after all. We knew he was dead and had disposed of the body so thoroughly there was nothing left for Shane to find. Nothing left for him to mourn over.
Shane took a step towards me, his fists clenched and murder written across his features. Instantly I found myself remembering a similar scenario with Scott, just a few weeks ago. There was no doubt in my mind Scott had meant to harm me that day. Just like Shane wanted to now. The only thing holding him back was Kody and Archer's threatening presence.
"Get out of our house, Officer Shane," I snapped, folding my arms. "Don't come back again without a warrant."
Archer let out a dark chuckle from beside me, his arm looping around my waist. "And good luck getting one of those. Do give my best to your captain, Shane."
The officer looked like he wanted to pull his gun and start shooting, but a moment later his better judgment kicked in. He turned on his heel and stormed out, not looking back once as he slid into his patrol car.
Kody kicked the door shut and turned to me with an expression of admiration. "Babe, you handled that really well."
Archer's hand on my waist squeezed. "He's right. You did good. It's not easy, the first time you face questions from a family member."
"That happens a lot?" I asked with a weak laugh. In Shane's absence, my skin was chasing with shivers and my head swirled.
Neither of the boys responded immediately, then Archer let out a small growl. "Not if you don't leave anyone alive to ask questions."
A deep shudder rolled through me. "You guys are fucking scary, you know that?
Kody came closer and kissed my hair as his hand trailed down my arm. "Yeah, we are. And we'd do anything to keep you safe, babe."
I leaned into Archer's hold as I let the two of them wrap me in their big dick energy for a moment. It would be so easy to sit in my ivory tower and let them clean up my mess... but then I'd never be able to live with myself. I needed just as much blood on my hands because we were equals.
"I think I might go take a shower or something," I said with a sigh. "Officer Shane gave me all kinds of creeps, and I need to wash all of that away."
The boys let me go, but I’d only made it a couple of steps up the stairs before Archer spoke again.
"Actually, I forgot to tell you. We have an appointment this afternoon. Can you be ready to go in an hour?"
I paused with my hand on the stair rail, giving him a pointed look. "We have an appointment in an hour, and you were going to tell me this... when?"
A devilish grin crossed his face. "Probably after you'd come all over my cock while Kody watched."
I rolled my eyes and flipped him off, but Kody's laughter was infectious. By the time I’d made it up to my room, I wasn't even mad, just cursing Officer Shane for interrupting that scenario.
Still. There was plenty of time for do-overs.
It wasn't until I was halfway through my shower that I realized I had no idea what our appointment was even for. Apparently I'd reached the blind-trust phase of my relationship with Archer, because it hadn't even occurred to me to ask.
13
Archer stuck his head back into my bedroom after my shower and told me to wear something "pretty," which immediately made me suspicious. I was tempted to throw on a pair of ripped jeans and one of Steele's band T-shirts just to piss him off, but I was curious enough to play along.
Which was how I found myself wearing a body-contoured dress in pastel purple and a pair of nude heels as I shook hands with our wedding planner. Yep, legit wedding planner who gushed all over how pretty I was, how handsome Archer was, and what a gorgeous couple we made.
Then she asked to see the ring.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask, "What ring?" but then it hit me. Archer and I were fake engaged, and I wasn't wearing a ring.
Major plot hole in that plan.
"It's being resized," Archer smoothly lied. "My Princess has such delicate fingers it just kept falling off. Didn't it, sweetheart?" He damn near purred the endearment, and I bit my cheek to stop from elbowing him in the ribs.
"Uh-huh," I replied instead. "Sure did."
Alyssa, our wedding planner, was gazing at us with hearts in her eyes like she was feeding off all the love in the air. An emotional vampire.
"Princess," she whispered with a happy sigh and wide smile. "That's adorable. I can see the two of you are like a match made in heaven, and I swear I don't say that to all my clients." She laughed at her own joke, and I forced a chuckle in response.
"Something like that," Archer murmured, leaning down to kiss my cheek, then he brushed his lips over my ear to whisper, "Or Hell."
I smiled and let Alyssa think I was just smiling at her compliments.
"Okay, let's get started, shall we?" She clapped her hands and indicated for us to follow her over to a table. "I have all my samples ready to run through, and the cakes will be ready for tasting by the time we're done."
She bustled over to a table set up with stacks of color swatches and papers. We were in a bakery cafe in the Shadow Grove business district, but the place was totally empty, which was odd, given that it was lunchtime and the streets were busy.
"Now," Alyssa continued, sitting down opposite us, "you were so clear with your instructions over the phone, Archer, I thought it'd be best for us to lock in every imaginable detail today and save you from having to do more meetings with me. After all, we're very tight on time, aren't we?" Her smile was still pasted in place, but her gaze flicked over my midsection ever so quickly.
Great. Either she'd just assumed it was a shotgun wedding because I was pregnant, or Archer had told her that. We'd have words about that later.
"I appreciate that, Alyssa," Archer replied, ignoring the glare I was drilling into the side of his head. He shifted his chair closer to mine and slipped his hand onto my leg, his fingers curling around my thigh just below the hem of my dress. "As I mentioned, my fiancé is still such a public figure we really prefer to keep a low profile."
Oh. Sure. I was the public figure. That was rich, coming from Mr. UFC-fighting, male-model billionaire. Did he practice these lies in the mirror to have them come out so smoothly?
"Of course," Alyssa gushed. "And that new campaign for Copper Wolf you’re both featured in must be bringing so much extra attention already, even without the wedding."
Ah yes, the billboards, magazines, freaking buses painted with Archer and I in fuck-all clothing looking like we were about to devour each other whole. I mean... we were. But it was taking a bit of getting used to, seeing my face everywhere.