Bri smiles this time. “He is. But I think he got a little too intimidated because he’s trying to hide over by the Christmas tree.”
Dom huffs a little laugh and tips his head. “Looks like my man found him anyway.”
We all turn just in time to see Rob patting Bri’s husband on the back, startling him so much he drops the cupcake he was trying to take a bite of.
“Did you want to hit up the buffet before we go?” Dom squeezes my side.
I narrow my eyes up at him. “How much of our conversation were you eavesdropping on today?”
He looks down at me with zero guilt in his expression. “Learn to pay attention to your surroundings and you’d know the answer to that.”
Bri tries to cover her laugh with a cough.
“For your information, we ate when we got here,” I tell him.
“Good.” Dominic turns to Bri. “It was nice to meet you.” Then, without another word to anyone, he guides me toward the elevators.
The doors open right as we get there, and the two men who were holding my boss’s arms at the railing are waiting inside. One of them holds my jacket and purse.
Well, that’s convenient.
Rob steps into the elevator behind us, and the five of us ride down to the main level together while I pull my jacket on and take my purse from the man I don’t know.
Just as the cab slows to a stop, four phones sound with notifications. Mine is the only one that stays silent.
Dominic pulls his phone out of his pocket, and I look up, watching his expression harden.
There’s no use asking if something is wrong.
Something is.
Dom slides his phone into his pocket and circles an arm around my shoulders while the elevator doors slide open. “We’re bringing Mrs. Gonzalez home. Then we’re going to the shop.”
Dom has never called me that before. Not like this. And it scares me.
Rob steps out first, his head moving back and forth as he moves through the lobby.
Then it’s Dom, with me at his side. And the other two men behind us.
I hug my purse to my front and move with them, their long strides making me walk faster than I’m used to.
Rob steps through the front doors and onto the sidewalk first.
I’m not sure where we’re going since the parking ramp is on the other side of the building, but then I see a large black SUV idling at the curb in front of the building, with two matte black cars in front of it and two more behind.
A man jumps out of the SUV, circling around to meet us.
“We’re going to the condo first,” Dom tells the man, who simply nods once, then jogs to the car directly in front of the SUV.
I continue to let Dominic guide me forward, only pausing for him to open the rear door of the large vehicle.
I climb in, and when Dominic starts to get in behind me, I scoot over to the middle of the bench seat.
Rob gets in on the other side of me, and the two men I don’t know take the front.
“Seat belt, Angel.” Dom’s voice is soft, and I don’t realize I’m shaking until I try and fail to comply.
Dominic turns toward me, reaching across my body to close his fingers over mine.
His hands are steady as he helps me.
The click fills the car, and I see a strobe of light out the windshield, which I think is our driver flashing his brights. Then the caravan pulls away from the curb.
“Did you come here with all these guys?” I try to keep my voice quiet as I ask Dominic.
He literally just got that text a moment before we exited the building. There’s no way they’d have been able to get here this quickly if something just happened.
“Yeah, Shorty.” Dom places his hand on my knee.
I want to ask more, like why he’s traveling in a five-car lineup, but the tension in the vehicle is so thick I swear I could reach up and touch it. So I stay quiet.
We maneuver through the streets in a row, and I feel bad that all these guys are driving to our place just to drop me off when they clearly have somewhere else they need to be.
But I have a feeling that offering to take an Uber home wouldn’t go over well.
And honestly, if something bad is happening, I’m glad I’m surrounded by big, scary men.
We start to slow, and I look up to see we’re approaching our building.
I unbuckle, but Dom doesn’t open the door right away when we stop.
He waits. And I watch as four men, the passengers from each of the other four vehicles, line up between us and the front door of the building. Facing away from each other, their backs creating a hallway of sorts.
“With me.” Dominic must direct the command at Rob because I hear his door open at the same time Dom opens his.