The Boss's Proposal (Billionaire Bad Boy BBW Romance)(9)

Jed and Lance had both moved to the door. Jed put his eye to the spy  hole and then nodded to Lance who turned the handle and opened the door.



A young man shorter than both the brothers stood in the doorway. Where  they looked like they were built for strength this young man looked  built for speed. He had long slim limbs with the muscles of a  professional martial artist. He was wearing a uniform, the kind worn in  the kitchens of some restaurants or hotels. His hair was blonde and his  eyes a deep brown.

He peered around Jed and Lance and saw Claire. Then his eyes darted back to Jed's.

"They're here" he said sounding nervous. "I don't know how but they found you."

"Amsel is more resourceful than we gave him credit for" Jed said  nodding. "We will have to leave. Can you get us out the back way?"

The young man nodded. "What about her?" he asked looking at Claire.

"She comes with us. It's not a problem is it, little Wolf?" Lance barked  at him. The young man snarled and for a moment his eyes shone golden.

"Just not sure a human can keep up is all, and the name's Paul" said Paul.

"I'll be just fine thank you" Claire said and then bit her tongue when all three turned to look at her.

Lance and Jed both looked proud, like they had expected her to say that.  Then they moved into action. Lance strode into the bedroom while Jed  took a bottle of something out of a bag that had been stationed by the  door. It was a blue glass bottle with a cork stopper. He used his teeth  to pull out the cork and then began to splash its contents around the  room.

The air filled with a heavy scent of peppermint, lavender and something else that made Claire's head spin a little.

"What is that?" she asked picking up her bag from the floor where she'd let it drop.

Lance, returning from the bedroom, two other bags in his hands was the  one to answer, "Amsel uses magic to find us. This way, we can confuse  his spells."

"Magic? Seriously?" Claire said and then felt ridiculously stupid.

"Yes," Lance said looking sternly at her and handing her one of the  bags, "Magic. Carry this please, Jed will need to be free to fight, if  they catch up."

"What about you?" Claire asked taking the bag. It was a backpack and  really heavy, but when she slung it on her back it seemed fine.

"Silver bullet to the left arm, I'm not as strong as I should be" Lance confessed sounding pained.

"Lance will protect you" Jed said coming up behind her. For a moment he  was close Claire could feel his body heat against her again and she  longed to be back in his arms, feel his kiss. But this really wasn't the  time for stupid emotions. She turned and following Jed and Paul, she  headed for the door.







Paul led them down the hall and to a door marked with a no entry sign.  He waved a keycard in front of a security panel and it clicked open. The  stairwell inside was long and dimly lit with no windows. They descended  the stairs, Paul in the lead.

"So when we get to the basement level, take the tunnel. It's for  maintenance, so should be empty. Go up it. It opens into an alley. Then  you're on your own, man."

"Thank you, Paul" Jed said sincerely patting Paul on the back. "We are grateful."

At the end of the stairwell Paul said his farewell and left them. He  pressed his keycard to the panel and the door opened. Jed, Lance and  Claire spilled into a brick lined basement. As Claire entered she was  hit by the smell of damp and mold hanging on the musty air. Then a sound  ripped into the silence. It was harsh and for a moment Claire  couldn't't place it because a sound like that should never be heard in a  place like this. It was reserved for lighter, happier occasions. It was  the sound of clapping.

"Well done boys, well done!" A man stepped into the little patch of light offered by an overhead bulb.

"Dieter Amsel, and cronies" Jed said pulling up short.

"Indeed. We all know each other don't we? You have led us on a merry  chase all around Europe, England and now here." Amsel said. He was an  older man, greying at the temples, but he still looked strong. His eyes  were clear blue, his hair light brown and his skin pale. A livid scar  ran down his right cheek from just under the eye to his chin. He wore  the trench coat Claire had seen him in the previous evening, but it was  unbuttoned and Claire could see a sword in a scabbard at his waist.

Behind him stood a young man, tall and muscled in black and a young  woman about Claire's own age, her hair blonde, her eyes clear blue. She  was dressed in black leather too and had a set of guns holstered at her  hips.

Boy they do kick it old school, Claire marvelled.

"And who is this vision of loveliness?" Amsel said looking at her.

"My name is Claire Underwood" Claire said before anyone else could say anything.

"Well, Claire I'm pleased to meet you. This is Klaus my right hand, and  Elsa my daughter. Now we are all introduced. Isn't this lovely?" Amsel  said spreading his arms wide and turning a little side to side.

"What do you want?" Lance asked in a rumble that barely hid his anger. "All this standing around is tiresome."

"I agree. So let the girl go and we will arrest you. You have so many  crimes to answer for, don't add her death to them," Amsel said his eyes  boring into Claire.

"I don't think so" Jed said and moved like lightning grabbing Claire  around the neck, using her as a shield. He dragged her a little to the  left, toward the darkness. For a moment she was shocked and scared. Is  this what she meant to him? But his voice came soft in her ear as his  grip lessened.

He said, "Trust me."

"Now, now Jed, you don't want to hurt her" Amsel said his hands up in  surrender, "Do you? Just come quietly and we need not spill any blood.  You know you deserve to be punished. You killed humans. The Brotherhood  has very strict rules about that sort of thing."

"The Brotherhood be damned" Lance said and flung something at Amsel and his crew.

Smoke rose up around them. Claire felt Jed's hold on her disappear as a  sound like bones crunching filled the air. A big black bear ran passed  her and somehow Claire knew it was Jed. She watched him go until the  smoke consumed him. Then she heard terribly sounds, shouts, gunfire and  the thud of a sword on brick.

A moment later a bigger black bear stepped up to her. It had blood  dripping from its jaws where it held Lance's bag. It looked at her and  she saw the piercing eyes. Lance. Claire touched the thick black fur and  felt its silkiness. She slung the bag in front of her and hauled  herself up onto his back.

Lance ran and Claire hung on for dear life. She had ridden a pony once  in her life at a petting zoo when she was about five years old and there  were still things like that. This was nothing like how she remembered  that experience. This was raw and primal, a beast panting and straining  under her as he ran up the tunnel and out into the sunlight.



The alleyway was full of garbage and the smell of rot. Lance burst out  of a round hole and cannoned down the alley, garbage flying in his wake.  Claire, still clinging onto his fur, risked a moment to look back over  her shoulder for Jed. But he wasn't there.

"Lance!" she yelled. "Lance, he's not out of the tunnel! We have to go back."

Lance hearing her skidded to a halt and turned panting. He stood for a moment unsure than sniffed the air.







"So now what?" Claire asked sliding down off his back. "We can't have  you looking like that and running through the streets. You'll cause  panic."

The bear seemed to consider this. The change back to human was also  accompanied by the sounds of bones crunching and Claire looked away not  able to watch that horrific transformation. Lance stood before her once  again in his jeans and black t-shirt. He took his and Jed's bags from  her and then clasped her hand in his.

"We have another hideout we can go to" Lance said. "Jed will meet us there."

Claire nodded and let Lance lead her out of the alley, across the street  and into another alley so fast she barely had time to see anything  around her. She still had no idea which part of the city she was in.  Lance moved in fits and bursts, and she was moved along with him. They  were keeping to alleyways, and the back entrances to hotels and  apartment buildings. Everywhere they went people like him opened the  doors for Lance. Eyes glinted golden and emerald green, there was the  hint of a fang, or a slightly pointed ear. And finally Claire realized  that they were at the marina, where all the rich folks tied up their  yachts and pleasure boats.

Lance led her along a jetty to a particularly fine looking boat, the  Margo. Claire knew nothing about boats except that this was a big one.

"We can't go on that!" she exclaimed. "Doesn't someone own it?"

"Yes" Lance said smiling and Claire noticed how handsome he was. How in  this light, as the sun began to draw on another night, he looked boyish  and charming. His big shoulders shook as he chuckled. "And you thought  we were poor little thieves, huh?"