It also ensured if any of the three were attempting to follow, or betray her further, that their efforts would be delayed.
Aaron, Brick and Malcolm didn’t look happy either. They were glaring at her, lips pressed tightly together, their gazes shuttered. “What the fuck is going on, boss?” Aaron growled.
Diane gave a quick shake of her head. “I don’t know, Aaron, but I intend to find out.”
“You won’t be doing anything,” Lawe snapped behind her as his fingers suddenly gripped her arm, pulling her to a stop. “The five of you are out of this. The rest of you go home.” Then he turned to Thor. “Take Diane to Sanctuary. A heli-jet will be here within the hour to transport you there, and then the pilot will fly you wherever you need to go.”
Diane froze.
Her gaze met Thor’s as Lawe began shouting orders to the Breeds still in the lobby. Most of those orders centered around protecting her.
Like hell.
She was aware of her men watching her. Brick, Aaron, Thor and Malcolm remained silent as she stared back at them.
She could feel the sudden distrust, see a glimmer of it in their gazes.
She wasn’t going to be protected. It had taken far too many years to prove to her men that she could lead them. That she could protect them.
Unfortunately, for the moment, she needed them away from her. Until she found out what was going on, it was for the best.
Lawe stalked away as though his orders were all that mattered.
“Boss?” Thor questioned her softly. “What do we do?”
“Sounds to me like we’re heading home.” Brick snorted as he shot her an accusing glare.
In that second, so easily, Lawe had damaged the very foundation of her life.
“Boss?” Thor asked again, his pale blue eyes narrowed.
“We haven’t found anything yet, Thor,” she stated, keeping her voice low. “If we don’t have more information before morning, then it sounds like vacation time.”
Her smile was tight. She felt icy inside. Frozen.
She knew where she was going. She didn’t have to turn over what she knew; it could wait. If she found who or what she was looking for, then she could call Jonas in. Perhaps by then she would know which of her men was the traitor. Not that there was a chance of gaining any help from them now. Lawe was another story.
How dare he think he could rule her life so easily? That he could make such decisions and force her to follow them.
“Since when do we obey Breeds?” Malcolm bit out furiously as Thor’s nostrils flared and Malcolm cursed under his breath, while Aaron laid back, his eyes closing in disgust.
She was very aware of their perception of her, but even more, Diane was aware of her perception of herself, and her determination to never be weak again. Let them believe Lawe could weaken her, for the moment anyway. Until she found out what she was dealing with and what the hell was going on, then it was for the best perhaps.
“Looks like we’re all taking a vacation,” she stated. “There’s nothing we can do with the three of you wounded anyway.” She nodded to the three stretched out on the floor.
“He’s weakened you,” Aaron muttered without opening his eyes. “Hell of a way to be taken out of the game.”
“Is that what you really think?” she asked, her chin lifting as she deliberately kept her voice soft, her expression clear.
“What else could I think?” he grunted, refusing to even give her the consideration of opening his eyes.
“You could think, ‘I hope you have a nice vacation, boss. See you when we’re all healed,’” she told him softly before informing him, “You’ll get your pay when we’re back to work.”
Once, long, long ago, she had been weak. She hadn’t been able to protect herself or Rachel, and she hadn’t been strong when it had mattered the most.
She had sworn it wouldn’t happen again.
Never again would she allow herself to be so weak and so dependent on someone else that if they failed her, then it could destroy her.
Hell, maybe she should have just let Thor carry her bags last night after all. Then she could have gotten used to that edge of suspicion in their gazes.
She couldn’t deny the charge though. The sudden opportunity the wounds provided her couldn’t be wasted. That didn’t mean she had to take Aaron’s insults.
His eyes opened slowly. “If you were a man . . .”
“What?” She actually laughed at him. “I kicked your ass the last time, Aaron. You’re stronger, but I’m smaller, and your balls are damned vulnerable. Remember that one.”
His nostrils flared with instinctive anger before he glared at her with silent resentment.
“Anyone else?” She met each man’s gaze steadily.
“That’s all well and good, Di,” Brick said softly. “You control the money and you can put us on the ground, we get that. But there are other ways to be weak, and right now, those Breeds are making you weak.”
Diane shrugged. “Your opinion. Now, I hope you all enjoy your vacation. I intend to enjoy mine.”
“We will.” Malcolm nodded slowly, the amused quirk at his lips only slightly mocking. “We might be available when you call us back.”
“Your choice,” Diane assured him, as though she didn’t doubt for a moment they would all jump at her command.
Turning her gaze to Thor she lifted her brow inquisitively. “You have anything to say?”
Thor nodded slowly as he watched her, his eyes narrowed, the icy blue intent, thoughtful. What that nod meant, she wasn’t certain and she wasn’t about to ask.
“I’ll be waiting, boss,” he finally stated. “I suck at vacations, just like the rest of these morons do.” He nodded at the other men. “But today ain’t my stupid day, so I’ll just say we’ll miss you.”
She almost grinned. Damn smart-ass. At least they didn’t suspect her of having plans of her own. After the meeting with Jonas, she would head out and see if Honor Roberts was where she suspected her to be, without anyone being the wiser.
If Lawe wanted to convince himself that she was on her way to Sanctuary, then hell, whatever helped him sleep at night, right?
But she wasn’t going to Sanctuary.
She was going hunting.
And she would go alone. Her uncle had trained her how to protect herself first. How to track alone, hunt alone, how to slip out of sight and do what had to be done if something happened and his men weren’t with her.
Working alone wasn’t her preferred course, but the only man she trusted at this point was Lawe. And Lawe would never allow the hunt for which she was preparing.
Malcolm drew her attention. “I wonder how long your Breed has been watching your back. I wondered how we were all so damned lucky these past six months. A few of those jobs you took us on should have been suicide missions. His Breeds were protecting us though, weren’t they?”
“Not to my knowledge at the time, Malcolm, but if he and his men want to save us from a few bullets, then that suits me fine.”
Malcolm gave a mocking snort. “Didn’t save us this time, did he? Makes me wonder if maybe he didn’t arrange it. Keeps you out of the line of fire, doesn’t it?”
It did.
“Only for the moment,” she told him shortly. “That I promise you, only for the moment.”
*CHAPTER 5*
Lawe had been watching her all along.
She hadn’t been protecting herself and her men as she had assumed. Her careful preparations and alternate plans could only lend confidence to her men if no one interfered.
Lawe had interfered.
That knowledge swept over her once she had her men taken care of and returned to their rooms with medics.
The old-fashioned bullet wound was cleaned and the bullet dug out of hard male muscle and flesh and bandaged within the hour. The Breed heli-jet was on its way from Sanctuary and it would fly her men home before returning to fly her and Rachel back to Sanctuary.