Chapter Fifty Three

“Fuck, you’re so damn hot. I can’t get enough of you.”

Thomas was kissing his wife’s neck and stroking her inner thigh, well on his way to distracting her as she sat on the bed trying valiantly to work on her laptop. It wasn’t just the soft brush of his fingers trailing up her inner thigh that caused her heart to race, though; it was the look in his eyes.

It was as if he could see everything she’d worked so hard to keep hidden from the rest of the world. She didn’t doubt for a moment that it was true; he was consumed by the need to know everything about her. He was interested in every detail about his wife: her thoughts, her beliefs, her life before she met him, and every inch of her physical form. Sometimes it was unnerving to her, but even that was exciting in its own way. She didn’t think she was all that interesting, really, but that didn’t stop him from studying her every move.

She’d never been around a man as intense as Thomas. She knew that no one could ever measure up to him. She shuddered at the thought of losing him to death or prison. His eyes narrowed slightly, as if he hadn’t missed the subtle sign of her distress. When his phone rang, she was grateful for the interruption.

Thomas picked up his phone and quickly put it on speaker as soon as he saw who it was. The voice on the other end of the line was frantic. “Thomas, listen, I’m in trouble. I’ve done something…well, I’ve done something awful and I don’t know what to do. I thought about getting in touch with your parents but your father terrifies me or I’d have called your mother.”

“Goldie? Hey, calm down, you’re not making any sense. Tell me from the beginning.”

That’s exactly what she did. From beginning to end, Goldie told the truth. For the first time she wasn’t looking in the mirror and hating what she saw, she was finally revealing to someone where those seeds of self-loathing had originated. She waded through all of it and in that moment decided to not only own her mistakes but to try to somehow make amends. She could live the rest of her life in regret or she could own it and grow.

She didn’t expect Bee to ever forgive her, but she was going to make Brian pay for the part he played in the breakup of a true friendship. As embarrassing as it was that her jealous streak had put her friend in danger, it was cathartic to finally admit it to someone else.

“Where are you now?”

“I’m at the club. You’ve got to help me find her. What if Brian Reed is the Mummy Man? Oh my God, what the fuck have I done? I’ll never forgive myself if he kills her.”

Thomas could feel her rational mind slipping away and he needed her thinking clearly. Every detail mattered. If Thomas was anything, he was detailed to a fault.

“Goldie,” he said sternly. “You’ve got to calm the fuck down.” He looked over at his wife whose eyebrows were arched skeptically at his firm tone of voice. He shook his head, silently conveying that, no, it wasn’t too harsh, not if he wanted to catch a killer.

Everything Goldie was saying was raising red flags. When she started rambling on about how Queen Bee’s fiancé would be so worried and what a beautiful engagement ring he’d gotten her from the most exclusive jewelry store in town, he cut her off. “Stay where you are, Goldie. I’ve got to make a couple of calls and then I’m heading out to find her. Stay put. I don’t need you getting killed tonight, okay? I’ve got this.” He tried to sound convincing. “Everything’s going to be okay.” He was talking to Goldie but it was his wife who was feeling the piercing glare of his frosty baby blues.

Teegan and Thomas jumped from the bed simultaneously, pulling on clothes and talking over each other.

“God, I hope this is just Goldie’s guilt talking and Bee isn’t really in the car with a fucking killer.”

“You and me both, baby girl. You and me both.”

They rushed down the stairs and out to where the SUV was parked in front of the house, both hoping they weren’t dealing with a madman who got off on wrapping his victims and suffocating them.

“You need to call your father,” Teegan said in a rush. “We have no idea where he’s taking her; not to mention he’s going to be pissed if you don’t fill him in on what’s going on.”

“Agreed. You need to get comfortable with my dad. Call him, baby.”

Teegan decided arguing with Thomas would do no good. She didn’t want to deal with Black Rose but right now time was of the essence. Her fingers trembled as she placed the call and spent the next five minutes explaining what was happening.

“I’m glad you called me, Teegan,” Charles said in his distinctive baritone that unexpectedly soothed her in the midst of all the mayhem. “Queen Bee is a special friend of ours. Is there anything else I should know? Is anyone else involved, as far as you can tell? I just want to know what we’re dealing with.”

“Well, Goldie said Queen Bee just got engaged.”

“Yes, Melanie mentioned that. That’s happy news in the midst of this madness.”

“Her fiancé, Terry Ransom, gave her the most beautiful canary yellow engagement ring. He got it from this little boutique jewelry shop in town. Appointment only, very posh”—

“Yes, I know the one,” he said, his voice taking on a curt tone.

“Goldie kept going on about how he knows the owners.”

“Does he, now?” Charles took a deep breath and considered this new information. It appeared that Mummy Man had chosen the wrong woman to be his next victim. If Terry Ransom was friends with the owners of the most exclusive jewelry dealer in town, then speed really was of the essence tonight. Fuck…

That jewelry business was owned by the Glazovs. The last thing Charles Wentworth needed was the Russian mafia getting involved in his family’s personal affairs. He had no doubt the Bratva would be most efficient in eliminating any threat posed by Brian Reed, but Charles wanted this handled simply. Involving his contact in the FBI was enough drama for him. If it were the only option, he wouldn’t hesitate. But with the FBI on his side, he sure as hell didn’t need to be obligated to Alexander Glazov and his Russian mafia cronies, even if they did appear to be on the straight and narrow these days.

“As luck would have it, Agent Turner had been planning to put a tracker on Reed’s car. I’m not sure how or when he may have managed it, and I’m not planning on asking for details. But I’ll check in with him to see if it’s in place yet. That should tell us everything we need to know. Keep your phone handy and I’ll be back in touch.”

Thomas waited until she’d ended the call to speak. “Good idea calling Dad. We’re going to catch this son of a bitch tonight. I can feel it.”

She reached over and touched his forearm. When he turned toward her, his face held so much anger that she had to resist the urge to look away. He spooked her when he got like this: absolutely hellbent on making things right and willing to do whatever was necessary to make it happen.

“I don’t want you to kill him, Thomas. I know you want to because of his obsession with me, but please…don’t.”

Something about his expression made her wonder if he actually enjoyed killing. There was something noble about his father’s path in life, but Thomas seemed to have taken it in a different direction. Yes, he killed those that he deemed somehow deserving of death, but he seemed to take real pleasure in it. Maybe there was a beast deep inside him that he had managed to control…up until now, anyway.

It wasn’t the beast she feared as much as the prospect of him going to prison or being killed. She knew if the full onslaught of his rage was unleashed, there would be no turning back. It was one thing to kill because you were a vigilante but this had become personal. Not good. She’d had no problem when he killed that pedophile. But this time? He would be killing for her.