Pretty Promises Don’t Play

“We all knew about the old horse barn,” Cy grumbled. “Why hasn’t he ever seen it?”

“Have you?” I countered. Dr. Bliss had a lot of patience because Cy was getting on my last nerve.

“No,” Cy mumbled, and I left him sitting there, taking the keys with me.

Damon was explaining Swanton to Wes when I entered the barn.

“We train horses to win the Triple Crown, and everyone has horse barns,” Damon said.

Wes kept moving, checking out the stalls.

The building had been well-maintained and only needed a few horses, but it was empty. Someone cleaned it regularly. No cobwebs, dust, or rotting wood.

“Don’t you have a horse?” Wes asked as he stopped in the aisle and turned to Damon.

“I do,” Damon smiled.

“So,” Wes turned and continued towards the tack room. “You aren’t staying.”

Well, damn. Wes had gone through all the possible definitions of the word job, and come out on the other end drawing the wrong conclusion.

“Why do you say?” Damon asked, hurrying after him.

“One bag of clothes and you didn’t bring your horse,” Wes said. “You were already in Midtown when we got there. Someone sent you for some reason.”

“Aren’t you worried about Zee?” Damon asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“He ain’t worried about me because he found me,” I said.

“I want a horse,” Wes said. Oh, he wasn’t ignoring us.

“Can’t you stay on topic?” Cy asked, walking up the aisle. “You want to know what they are doing here, Wes. Just ask.”

“Zee’s here because Nate fucked up and the damn party will happen soon. Arnold wants me dead. I know why he’s here. They sent two, Cy,” Wes said.

“Oh,” Cy nodded slowly. “Right. Why are you here?”

I laughed out loud then. Cy wanted to be the great protector and couldn’t keep up with Weston’s logic.

“Wes, you’re a Hinden,” I said.

“Got that part,” Wes nodded. “Bram was a Hinden. Haven’t figured out how he ended up here and didn’t get to stay with his Miann Cridhe…” his voice trailed off as he looked from Damon to me, and then walked out of the barn to the field.

“What did he figure out? What’s Miann Cridhe?” Cy yelled as Damon and I ran after Wes.

Wes climbed the wood fence then, and headed for the house.

I went back for the SUV because Damon was faster than me. I wasn’t built for speed, but to knock people down. Wes, however, had the body of a runner, and swam every damn day.

“You need to lose some weight,” Cy said when I climbed into the driver’s seat. Dumbass had already returned to the vehicle.

“You need to keep those words from flyin’ out your mouth,” I grumbled. “You don’t understand what’s going on.”

“You two got caught up in how fathomless Wes is, and he’s scared. I got that part. He’s got this way about him. Now, either Damon fucked him, which is kinda hard to do. Wes is picky about who touches him, or you both did, and he’s thinking you’re leaving after you deal with Arnold. Then where will he be?”

I headed down the drive, trying not to tear up the gravel and also not lose sight of Damon and Wes. “You’re smart when you aren’t stuck up your own ass.”

“And that’s why you’re a bartender, isn’t it? No bedside manner?”

“I own a club. I tend bar sometimes, yes. Is that why you and Wes broke up? You had your nose in the air and assumed because he’s been a barista, a valet, and a concierge that he was beneath you? I have shoes more expensive than your entire gaming system in the office. And yes, I know what that is. Don’t test me. I am not in the mood.”

"I'm not trying to test you. Just saying Wes is strong as steel and shatters like glass, but he keeps going. Billy shattered him."

Wes and Damon came into view then, and Damon had Wes over his shoulder, heading to the house. Everyone had come to watch the show—all the people employed at the house stood on the front steps because the porch that had spanned the length of the front was covered in amber glass, studded with black polka dots.

It looked strange until I stopped by the stairs.

Skulls. Skulls dotted the glass. Instead of the dirk between the teeth and the blood dropping from the tip, the blood drop had become a tongue, and the top of the dirk protruded from the top of the skull.

Someone had changed the Hinden family crest.

"That's creepy," Cy whispered when I parked the car. I ignored him and climbed out, waiting for Damon to reach us.

They stopped halfway, and Damon set Wes on his feet for a second.

"Wes is arguing. Somebody's fired," Cy laughed, and then got quiet when Damon kissed Wes. Wes tore away, and Damon hoisted mim over his shoulder again. "Well."

Cy cleared his throat and stared at the ground.

They reached us finally, and Damon set Wes down again, holding onto him as if he might dart away.

"Hello, Miss Molly," Wes greeted the woman standing in the center of the house staff.

"Weston," she smiled. "It's good to see you. What can we do for you?"

"I need a bedroom, and I don't want Leo's," Wes stated, even as he squirmed in Damon's hold.

"Let's see what we can find then?" Molly said, her voice hitting a high note as she tried not to laugh.

She pressed one of the skulls, and the glass swung open on silent, invisible hinges.

"I like this," Damon said as he carried Wes into the house.

"I designed it," Wes bit out, and I laughed.

"You did a good job," Damon said, grunting.

"Thank you," Wes said, and almost fell when Damon let him go. "The reception area," Wes said, motioning at the groupings of white sofas between the original wood and stained-glass entry and the amber glass.

"I'm Benji," the gentleman in the three-piece suit introduced as he opened the double-hung oak doors. "River, the chef, and Kyle, the driver," he added when those men filed in.

"Zaffre, but my friends call me Zee, and my brother, Damon. We're Weston's security," I said. "It's nice to meet you."

I stopped in the grand foyer, taking in the layout. Study to my left, grand staircase along the same wall, and Leo's portrait hanging on the landing. One lonely, round table in the center of the stone floor, and the dining room across the way.

"There are twenty-five bedrooms upstairs, Wes," Molly said. "Do you want up or down?"

"Down?" Weston's eyebrows rose, and Molly smiled.

"The blue room," Benji said. "Leo spent more time there than upstairs. "

We followed them through the foyer, to the swinging door which didn't look like a door at all. It led to a glassed-in pool, and a wall of books.

"The library hall and the poolroom," Benji said.

At the end, another wall filled with the altered crest, and Benji motioned to Wes, who stepped forward, cutting his eyes at Benji before choosing a skull. The door swung inward, protesting loudly.

I followed Wes in, along with Cy, who took notes on his phone while Wes moved around the octagonal space not saying a word.

Wes found another hidden panel, and I stopped him from going first, but he didn't protest.

Discovered a hidden passage and a bedroom with more books. Wes perused the shelves, and Damon stepped into the room then.

"It leads to the study," he said, and Wes found a book he wanted, taking it from the shelf.

"I want the blue room?" He looked from me to Damon.

"You want us in here?" I asked, and he nodded slowly as his gaze met mine.

Damon closed the panel, leaving Cy on the other side of it. "Wes, if Hellfire is here, I'm gonna be, too."

"Do you have a horse?" Wes asked me.

"I don't, but I do ride," I said. "Do you want to live here? That's the question."

"Depends," Wes murmured, choosing another book.

"Name it," I said.

"Is this just another cage?" Wes asked.

"I don't get it," Damon said. "You're the Bentley, Wes. This is a fortress. You live the bare minimum right now. Great house, yeah. I like it. Your closet is bigger than the bedroom Zee and I shared as kids, and we got money, too. We like to keep it simple. The more Leo piles onto you, the less your house will feel like a home. You need structure, office hours, and a place to hide."

"And this home will give that to me?" Wes asked.

Oh, he'd already figured something out. He wasn't sharing, and had fallen back on playing dumb to see if his idea was valid.

"Where are we?" Damon asked, motioning around the room. "If someone walked into this house right now, they wouldn't find you. I love your house, but it's too open for me."

"Zee?" Wes glanced at me then. He was asking more than my opinion on his house.

"This will provide that," I said.

Wes studied the pages of the book he'd picked up and set it back on the shelf before opening the door.

"Did you hear any of that?" he asked Cy, who stood right where Damon left him.

"No, it's soundproof," Cy said.

"Good. I want that room, and new furniture," Wes said. "New beds in here, too," he added as he wrinkled his nose over the one single bed in the corner, which was more the size of a cot.

"Noted," Cy nodded. "What are you doing with me?"

"Nothing in here," Wes said.

Cy rolled his eyes. "You are not leaving me at the other house. Tucker will move in there and Ramsay's gonna be there and they fuck everywhere."

Wes laughed. "Discuss it with Benji. He's in charge of the house. I pay you now, so that means you work here and you don't have a maid."

"Thank you," Cy sighed, leaving the room, and Miss Molly peered around at us.

"Lord, have mercy. I have never seen a Lawrence that worked for a living," she said. "Always running around telling people they are richer than God. Well, you are richer than that and never expected anything. He's gonna be an issue downstairs, Wes."

"Tell him off, and if that doesn't work, tell me and I'll tell him off," Wes said. "I can't cut him loose, but he and I don't fit Miss Molly."

"I know that. So did Leo when Barty came that night to kill him before the Cufflink's party. Leo didn't bet on anything, but he bet on you and then added the caveat. I didn't agree that Cora would make a good wife, now," Miss Molly said. "All Barty got out of the deal were shares, but he just wanted to come to the party anyway, and that got him in. I thought for sure Cy ended up with them. We all knew Barty wouldn't give them to Bob."

Wes smiled at her then. "Thank you, Miss Molly."

"What?" She looked around then. "Oh, yes. I have to sort this room, don't I? Let me find that boy. Cy?" she yelled and hurried out of the room.

"She is a fount of information," Wes said, and headed after her.

"Now, why do I feel like Wes knows who owns those shares?" Damon asked, and I laughed.

"You made pretty promises just now, Damon. He knows that, too."