Plugging It In(15)

She hadn't returned to her office at the repurposed warehouse that was the base of her gaming business. Her personal assistant, an outrageously camp young man of unquestionable loyalty, refused to divulge where she was.

"Business as usual," he'd told Ruckus when Ruckus confronted him at her office on the second day. "She said to take a chill pill and enjoy your new HEA."

Ruckus had scowled. "HEA?"

Her PA had rolled his eyes, lips curling. "Happy ever after."

"There can't be a fucking HEA," Ruckus had growled, turning away from the man, fists clenched, "without the contrary pain in the arse." 

Six days without contact. Without knowing where she was, what she was doing.

No, that was wrong. He knew what she was doing. Actively avoiding him and Bran.

He should have stopped looking for her then, let her calm down and think. He didn't. Neither did Bran.

Bran had tried to contact her via their professional relationship.

Tried and failed.

Anything pertaining to Virt.Real as the sole distributor of Hell's Harbour 2 had been taken over by RG's second-in-charge.

Bran informed Ruckus-as they lay in bed on the third night of RG going AWOL-that her second-in-charge was incredibly smart, talented, professional, and loyal to a fault. "He won't tell me a thing. And all the emails I'm sending to RG, whether from my personal address or my Virt.Real one, are coming back with an auto-response."

Ruckus, absentmindedly drawing small circles on Bran's shoulder with his fingertips, had sighed. "What's the auto-response message say?"

Bran's chuckle was a mix of exasperation and approval. "I'm off slaying demons for a while, which means I'm totally not available to play. Go live your own adventure. Live it hard. Especially you two. Yeah, you know who you are."

The response was typical RG. A tight pang of love and admiration had shot through Ruckus, exaggerated by the fact she wasn't there in the bed with them.

Stubborn pain in the arse.

Now, six days later, his patience had run out.

Standing at the front door of a secluded home in one of Sydney's most leafy suburbs, he pressed the doorbell and smiled at the CCTV camera pointed straight at his face.

He knew it pointed straight at his face because he'd installed the state-of-the-art security system it was a part of only a few months ago.

"What the hell are you doing here?" came a male voice from a hidden speaker next to the doorbell.

Ruckus smiled wider at the camera. "Need to talk to you about your sister, Mike."

A few minutes later, Michael Bailey-RG's older brother and Australia's most-voted Sexiest Man on Television-opened the door.

"Before you say a word," Mike said, "I should warn you I've just got back from covering the Rugby World Cup, I've had bugger-all sleep for the last week and I'm not in the mood for shit."

Ruckus nodded. "Understood."

Mike studied him, his expression impossible to read. "What's on your mind?"

"Do you know where RG is?"

Mike chuckled. Ruckus wasn't expecting the reaction. "Do you really think I'm going to tell you if I do? Trust me, I hate seeing her so conflicted and I'd do anything I could to take her pain away, but she's promised she will give me the world's most painful nipple-cripple if I give her up, so I'm not."

A hot beat thumped in Ruckus's temple. Conflicted? About what the three of them had done? Or about what she'd done after?

"And even if she hadn't threatened me with physical pain … " Mike continued, leaning against the doorjamb with typical nonchalance. Mike was one of the few people Ruckus had come face to face with who never seemed unnerved by the way Ruckus looked. Bran was another. RG, the third. "I still wouldn't tell you."

"Because you don't want me in her life?"

Surprised filled Mike's face a second before he laughed. "Are you kidding? You're the best thing that's happened to her, Ruckus. As unconventional as you are, you fit her perfectly. I always thought the pair of you would one day ride off into some weird cyber sunset on the back of a dragon-or whatever the hell you ride in Hell's Harbour-and spend the rest of your lives together."



       
         
       
        

Warmth threaded through Ruckus at the image Mike painted. For a second, he saw RG-as she appeared in Hell's Harbour-holding her hand out … and then Bran took her hand and the warmth unfurling through him grew hotter.

"I'm not telling you," Mike continued, watching Ruckus closely, "because RG clearly needs time to get it worked out in her head. And figure out how she's going to move forward, and you should know by now, you don't rush RG. No one rushes RG, not even me."

That was true. When it came to making up her mind, RG did it when she was ready, not when anyone else was.

"But I will tell you one thing," Mike said, his gaze unwavering. "However things pan out, if you hurt her, no amount of tattoos and mysterious background and super security skills will stop me from making you suffer. Not even that scary cousin of yours who I'm ninety-nine percent certain isn't really a tattoo artist, but some kind of government agent. Do you understand that?"

All Ruckus could do was nod. The fact Mike seemed to know more about Lincoln than most people should have troubled Ruckus, but all he could think about was RG. The very notion of hurting her left him cold. The idea that he might be now, in trying to find her, in trying to change her mind about him and Bran …

He swallowed, his gut churning.

"Now," Mike straightened from the door, rubbing his palms together, his grin relaxed, "I can invite you in, or you can go back and collect the third member of your party and bring him back here so I can meet him. You and RG riding off on a dragon I'm good with. You and RG and a guy I haven't met yet? Not so much."

Ruckus blinked.

Mike laughed. "Bloody hell, mate. I didn't realize ruffling your feathers could be this much fun."

"How do you know about Brannum?"

A dangerous glint in Mike's eyes made Ruckus swallow. "RG told me."

He'd known all along Mike was protective of his little sister, but in that glint, Ruckus saw just how far the sports reporter would go when it came to her. It made Ruckus like him a lot more.

"And honestly?" Mike's smile grew lopsided. "I'm not surprised. But I am her big brother, the one person on this planet who loves her more than you do. Got me? So bring Brannum West round here before sunset and we can all sit back, crack a beer, and have a chat."

Ruckus studied him.

Mike didn't move. His smile didn't waver.

"Can you tell her one thing for me?" Ruckus asked, his heart crashing hard against his chest.

"I can."

"Tell her when it comes to love, when it comes to being together, it's not a matter of who came first, it's a matter of who makes it perfect. And she makes the three of us perfect." 

Mike smiled. And then, he reached for the doorknob. "I'll pass the message on whenever I see her again. Now, time for you to go, Ruckus. Think about what I said. Think about what she needs."

"I will." Ruckus turned and walked from the door.

"And Ruckus?"

He paused, giving Mike a look over his shoulder.

"Don't think about getting your cousin to find her."

Ruckus dipped his head in a single nod and strode away from the house.

It wasn't easy, but for the woman he loved, he would do everything Mike told him to. He'd give her time. He'd bring Bran to meet Mike.

And he'd call off Lincoln.

Chewing on her bottom lip, RG stepped away from the wall, where she'd been standing for the duration of Mike and Ruckus's conversation, hiding behind the door like a little girl.

"Thoughts?"

She frowned. "Do I have to have any?"

Mike snorted. "Sis, the only bloke I've ever seen you remotely besotted with just came here and poured out his heart. As much as I think a guy like Ruckus can pour out his heart, that is. You probably should have some thoughts on that."

With a shaky sigh, she made her way to the living room, gnawing on her bottom lip once again. She'd been convinced Ruckus and Bran would have settled into blissful cohabitation by now. It was clear they were completely gone for each other. She didn't want to be their third wheel, no matter how much she wanted to be with them.

It was a weird mental and emotional state to be in, wanting something but refusing to surrender to that want. She hadn't experienced anything like it.

"You going to drag your feet around my place for another day?" Mike walked past her, dropped himself onto the sofa before crossing his ankles on the coffee table and giving her a Well? look. "Or are you going to tell your big brother what's really going on?"

Before she could stop herself, RG looked at her feet.

Mike snorted again.

Shooting him a glare, she flopped into the armchair opposite him.

He grinned.

"You're annoying," she grumbled. "You're meant to be letting me work out how to move forward. Isn't that what you told Ruckus?"

"Oh, Ruckus can bloody well wait and like it. Me, on the other hand … " His grin turned devilish. "I don't wait. Now cough up. All I've got to go on so far is you finally realized you're in love with Ruckus, he's in some kind of tortured-brooding-mysterious relationship with this guy called Brannum, and the three of you did stuff together I seriously don't want the details to, so don't even think about going there."