Distraction: An underground kings novel (24 page)

“You girls are not getting involved,” Sven rumbles, and I jump, turning my head to look at him.

“What?”

“You are not getting involved,” he repeats, and I hold his stare then snap, “I know that.”

Shaking his head, he rolls his eyes toward the ceiling. I have no idea what that means, so I ignore it and go back to drinking my coffee.

*

Watching a man
walk into the room looking like one of the Vikings from the show on TV, I sit back on the couch and hold Maxim closer to me. Sven, Kenton, and Kai disappeared an hour ago, leaving the girls and me alone so they could go “talk”. When they left, I asked Myla if I could hold her son, and she instantly handed him over. I couldn’t remember ever holding a baby, but holding him, looking into his sweet tiny face, seeing how small and delicate he is, I know I want that for Sven and myself—more now than ever before.

“Um…” I mutter, looking at the guy and wondering if I should ask him who he is or how the hell he got inside.

But Autumn gets up from her seat, runs across the room and into his arms, and cries, “Justin!” as she slams against him.

Relaxing back in the chair at his name and the way Autumn greets him, I hear him mumble, “Hey, Sweetcheeks,” as he dips his head, placing a kiss on her cheek. Then, his huge arms wrap around her in a tight hug as he lifts her off the ground.

“What’s with the beard?” she asks, tugging on the end of his bushy facial hair that matches the rest of his appearance. He’s hot—in a scary kind of way, but no less hot.

“My lady needs a comfortable place to sit, and I’m accommodating.” He grins, and she smacks his chest then rolls her eyes, but I burst out into a fit of giggles, and so does Myla, who is sitting next to me.

“Girls, this is Justin. Justin, this is Maggie and Myla,” she says, turning toward us with his arm around her shoulders.

“Nice to meet you both.” He smiles and we both say hi.

“Is there a reason your hands are on my wife?” Kenton asks, coming into the room, pulling a grinning Autumn away from Justin, and tucking her into his front.

“You know she loves me more.” Justin smiles, and Kenton narrows his eyes then surprises me by pulling him in for a one-armed hug.

“Glad you could make it, man,” he mutters, patting his back hard.

“Wouldn’t miss it. Where is everyone?” Justin asks, taking a step back.

“We’re in the kitchen, though it doesn’t surprise me that you found the women before you found us.”

“Pussy magnet.” He taps his nose, and Autumn hits him in his chest as I start to laugh again hearing Myla giggle at the same time.

“I don’t know how Aubrey puts up with you,” Autumn says, quietly shaking her head.

‘She loves me.” Justin grins, then looks at Kenton and mutters, “Let’s go. I got some information to share, and then I need to talk to Sven alone.”

That comment has my ears perking up, and I wonder what he needs to tell Sven or what he needs to tell him alone.

“You good, babe?” Kenton asks Autumn, and she nods then looks at Justin and takes a step closer to him.

“Are you coming back with us when we leave?” she asks him quietly, and when he gives her a soft smile and nods, I see her body relax. “Good,” she whispers, and his face softens even more.

“I miss my girls.” he tells her quietly, and her face softens even more.

“I know they miss you, too.” She mumbles and he taps her under her chin with his knuckle, and then his eyes come to Myla and me.

“Nice to meet you, ladies.” He winks, and I have the urge to roll my eyes, but I fight it and watch Kenton and Justin leave the room while Autumn comes back to the couch, taking a seat next to me.

“So what’s the deal with that Lane guy?” Autumn asks quietly, leaning closer to me. Swallowing, I wonder what I should say, or if I should say anything at all, since I really don’t know what’s going on with him. “He was watching you with Sven throughout breakfast, and then more when we all came in here to sit down after we ate. I thought he was going to pull you away from Sven when he kissed you.”

“Um…” I breathe, because that is not good at all.

“Pika had a crush on me,” Myla whispers, and I look at her. “I was clueless. I thought we were friends. I had never thought of him that way, and I didn’t even know he felt anything for me until Kai pointed it out.”

“Really?” I ask.

“Really,” she answers, smiling down at Maxim when he stretches his tiny arms over his head and pouts out his lips.

“I…I don’t know what’s going on with him. A few weeks ago, I was drugged,” I whisper, and both women gasp at the same time. “Sven thought it was one of the bartenders at the club, but now he thinks different.”

“Well, from the outside, not knowing your story, I would have sworn you and Lane had history,” Autumn whispers quietly.

“We don’t. I don’t even recall him ever hitting on me, to be honest,” I tell them, wondering if Sven has this all wrong.

“You may not have history, honey, but his reaction was not a normal one. He was pissed.”

“That may be so, but it still makes no sense,” I tell them, wondering if I should just try to talk to him and see what is going on for myself. If he does have feelings for me, I may be able to just tell him that I don’t feel the same way, and we can put this weirdness behind us and focus on what’s really happening.

“I can see what you’re thinking, and I don’t think that’s smart,” Myla whispers, gaining my attention. “If Sven is anything like Kai, and I have a feeling he is a lot like him, he won’t like it, and by not like it, I mean he will probably be pissed and lose his mind.”

“I don’t know. If it were me, I would probably just ask him what’s going on,” Autumn mutters. “Even though Kenton would most likely kill me after I did it.”

“My point exactly,” Myla murmurs, looking down at Maxim when he starts to fuss, and I carefully move him into her arms then sit back on the couch.

“I’m not going to do anything. Sven made it clear this morning that he wants this to play out,” I tell them, even though I don’t know if that’s the right thing to do.

“I think that’s smart,” Myla replies, but Autumn’s eyes meet mine and I can see she doesn’t feel the same. Now I feel like I have a good angel and a bad one on my shoulders.

“I’ll give it a couple days,” I mutter, and my good angel, Myla, sighs. My bad angel, Autumn, smiles and I bite my lip.

“I need to
go to the store,” Autumn says, plopping down on the couch next to me, and I turn to look at her, noticing she’s dressed for the day in jeans, a black tank, and cute black sandals that have a large silver and turquoise jewel twisted between the leather straps on the top of her foot. When I got up this morning, I didn’t even bother getting dressed. I showered, and put on a pair of yoga pants and a hoodie. Yesterday and the day before that, we spent the entire day sitting on the couch. If I was going to sit on the couch today, I was going to do it comfortably.

“That’s not going to happen,” I mutter, tucking my sock-covered feet under my bottom and looking back at the TV. It’s been two days since we got here, and the guys have been gone most of the time, leaving us with Zack, Teo, and Pika. Sven has been keeping an eye on Lane by keeping him close. I’m not sure if this is smart, but when I tried to bring it up, he made it clear he was doing what he was doing for a reason only known to him and that he didn’t want me to worry about it. Honestly, I was surprised every time Lane walked back into the house.

“I’m going with or without permission,” she tells me, and I turn to look at her again and notice she looks serious.

“What’s going on?” I ask, turning my body toward her.

“I’m late,” she whispers.

“Late for wh—” I pause when her words register. “You’re late?” I repeat, taking her hand.

“We’ve been trying for awhile.” She shakes her head. “With everything happening, I didn’t even think…then this morning—” She closes her eyes and drops her voice. “Kenton said something about the date, and I did some math in my head and I’m late…two weeks late.”

“Holy shit! We need to go to the store,” I whisper-hiss, and she smiles then her eyes fill with tears. “This is awesome,” I tell her softly.

“I know, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. It could just be stress.”

“So we’ll find a way to get you a test, and then you’ll know for sure.”

“How do we go about doing that?” she asks, and I look across the room at Pika and Zack, who are sitting in front of a computer and talking quietly. Then I remember Teo went out for a run a few minutes ago, and Myla has been upstairs with Maxim most of the morning, because he’s teething and not feeling well.

“You’re close with Justin, right?” I ask, glancing at the guys again to make sure they’re still busy.

“Very.” She nods, squeezing my hand.

“The guys trust him. Maybe he can take us to the store.”

“Kenton doesn’t want me leaving the house at all, not for any reason. He even used his I’m the boss tone when he told me so I know he’s serious.”

“I hate that voice.” I scrunch up my face, knowing Sven uses that same tone all the time and it’s annoying.

“It’s annoying,” she agrees vocalizing my thoughts making me smile.

“Okay, so if
not Justin then we need to come up with a plan,” I mutter.

And we do come up with a plan…even though it’s not a good one
at all
.

As soon as
we pull up in front of the drug store, I put the car in park, look at Autumn, and smile big, whispering, “We did it.”

“I know.” She grins.

Biting my lip, I look at her then remind her, “Now we have to get back, so let’s run in, get the test, and get out.”

“They don’t even know we’re gone.”

She’s right…or I hope she is, anyway. We left when the guys were busy upstairs. We triggered the door alarm earlier while we were still in the house, and opened the gate so we could leave without being noticed. Then we put pillows in each of our beds so it would look like we were laying down for a nap. No one followed us when we left, so for now, we are good—or once again, I hope so.

“Let’s go.” I laugh, opening my door, and then scream when a large hand presses down on the top of my head, shoving me back in my seat before slamming the door.

“Oh no,” Autumn whispers, and I look over at her then through the window and see Justin.

“Crud,” I whisper as the backdoor opens and Justin slides inside, shutting the door.

“Hello, ladies.” He smiles, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What are you doing here?” Autumn asks, and his eyes go to her.

“Sweetcheeks, do you really think you guys can outsmart us?” he prompts, and my heart starts to pound as I look around for Sven, expecting him to walk up to the car.

“Don’t worry, Maggie. Sven isn’t here,” he mutters, and I let out a long breath.

“Though he does know you two dipped out.”

“Great.” I drop my forehead to the steering wheel and pound it there a few times.

“How did you know we were gone?” Autumn asks, glaring at him.

“Zack spotted you before you even got off the property. I was heading back to the house when he phoned and told me you took off. I pulled over, and you two drove right past me.” That was alarming. I was making sure we weren’t being followed, and still missed him. “I followed you, wanting to see what the fuck you were up to.”

“Oh, well me and Maggie just need to run into the store real quick. We’ll be right back,” she tells him.

“Not happening, Sweetcheeks.” He shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’ll take less than five minutes,” she argues.

“Not happening. Start the car up, Maggie. We’re going back,” he tells me, but I pretend I didn’t hear and keep the keys in my hand.

“I need to go into the store, Justin, and you’re not going to stop me,” she replies, putting her hand on the handle.

“Open that door, Sweetcheeks, and I swear I’ll shoot you.”

“You won’t,” she hisses.

“I will, because unlike you, I remember what happened to you. If something like that happens again, Kenton will lose his shit,” he says quietly, and I bite my lip, because I know from the history Sven shared with me that Autumn was shot at close range by one of Paulie’s hit men a little over a year ago, and she almost died. Kenton would lose his mind if something like that happened again; any man who loved a woman would.

“Fine, then you go in and buy the damn test,” she cries, and his smile drops.

“What test?” he asks, studying her.

“This is so irritating,” she screams.

“What test, Autumn?” he repeats, and she turns in her seat so she can face him.

“A pregnancy test,” she hisses.

His face softens as he asks, “Seriously?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I need a test.”

“Fuck.” He rubs the back of his head. “I’ll buy it. Lock the doors as soon as I’m out. And Maggie?” he calls, and I focus on him. “If you see anything, take off. Don’t wait around. Just drive back to the house.”

“Got it.” I nod and he opens the door. Putting the keys back in, I start the car up and put it in reverse, just in case.

“We’re in so much trouble,” I inform Autumn as we watch Justin walk into the store.