“Oh hey, there you are,” Holden calls, stepping over the canister. “Sorry I took so long. Miles McCallister was arriving as I closed the doors. He’s here to have another look through the zoo.”
Normally, I would have asked Holden about their interaction, but I’m too interested in what I’ve found here to care.
“Oh okay,” I respond absently, putting in the same code that worked for all the other doors.
It doesn't do anything, so I sit back on my heels, the feeling of disappointment huge. I thought for sure it would work. But after a minute of moping, there’s a low buzz, a click, and then a door pops open from the wall.
“What the fuck?” Holden breathes as I scramble to my feet, then I feel him crowd in close behind me. I go to grab the edge of the door to pull it open, but he stops me.
“Stop, we don't know what’s in there,” he warns, but I scoff at the spoilsport.
“Seriously? What could be worse than a dead body?” I ask him. He shrugs, but I wait while he goes back to the kitchen. When he returns, he’s holding a large butcher’s knife.
“Okay.” When he tips his head at the door, I pull it open. It’s heavy, much like the one down in the vault, and we cautiously step inside once it’s open wide enough for the both of us. Again, like the vault, an automatic light comes on, illuminating the inside of the room. However,unlikethe vault, this room has a more sinister feel to it. It’s concrete, with a drain in the bottom and a chair sitting in the middle of the space. There are shackles on each of the arms and legs, which is definitely not a welcoming sight. On the wall is a cabinet, and I can see a whole heap of tools lying haphazardly on the top. A queasy feeling rolls through my stomach.
“Are those bloodstains?” I ask Holden, pointing to the brown splotches on the floor. He pushes past me and squats down for a closer look.
“Yeah, I think so. Looks like the count added to his depravity with a little bit of torture on the side.” He gets up and walks over to have a look at the tools on the counter. After a minute, he frowns and gestures at one of them. “This is weird. All the tools are clean except this one. Why would he have cleaned all the others but left this one?”
Unable to stand not looking, I leave the doorway, solid in the notion that the door is too heavy to slam shut on its own, and hurry over to look at what he’s pointing at. One of the knives has a brown patch of dried blood on it, but that’s not the only thing that makes it stand out. All the other tools are lined up neatly, like someone took great care in keeping the area tidy, but the dirty knife is lying on the side like someone carelessly tossed it down when they were finished with it.
“Who knows, but this is creepy as fuck. Let’s get out of here.” A shudder rolls down my skin, but when I turn to leave, Holden moves to the back of the room. I don’t really want to follow him, but what other choice do I have? I didn’t get my boyfriend back just to lose him to some angry ghosts or whatever the fuck is lying in wait around here. Unsurprisingly, there’s yet another door. This one has no panel on it, so he simply pushes the handle, and it opens up to a set of stairs.
“Wow, I’m pretty sure this wasn't on the map, but what’s the bet that it leads into the underground tunnel system?” His quiet voice seems to carry through the doorway and down the stairs.
“No bet.” I push him out of the way and slam the door shut. “I don’t like the fact that this wasn't locked. It means that if you can get into the right tunnel, you can get into this room.”
“Yeah, but without the code, you couldn't get past that door.” Despite his argument, I drag him with me out of the torture room before pushing the door closed.
“True, but I still don't like it. Dude was fucked up. Thank god the twins weren’t raised around him. At least Dad and Nana insist that their dad was nothing like him, which I guess is something to be grateful for.” I bend down and pick up the canister, placing it back on the shelf and letting the freezer door close behind us before doing the same thing to the pot when we finally get back to the kitchen. “For now, I don't even want to think about that room. We’ll deal with it later. Now, I just want my coffee and to go deal with the secret sex room.”
A small smile pulls at Holden's lush lips as I hand him his coffee before we leave the kitchen. “That has nothing to do with wanting to restock it with our own stuff, does it?” he teases, and I shrug, not embarrassed at all.
“Why not? The sex room looks fun, and why shouldn't I want to make use of it with my lovers?” I crowd him up against the wall just next to the painting of the count that opens up to the elevator. Holding my coffee off to the side so I don’t spill it on him, I lean in and take his lips, pressing my chest against his.
He kisses me back with a kind of desperation that has been present since we got back together—like he’s trying to make up for all the lost time. I don’t know how I can soothe that need in him, and even though I want him to feel secure and comfortable in this second chance at our relationship, I’m certainly not complaining about his current enthusiasm. When I pull away, he’s breathless and panting, and I can feel how hard his cock is as I rub against it.
But then I recoil with a groan as I brush my new tattoo against it. He chuckles when he looks down and sees me trying to pull my jeans away. “Maybe tight jeans on your new tattoo wasn’t such a great idea.”
“I didn’t think about it when I packed them. I had planned to change when we went past Dad’s, but I forgot in our hurry to get here. I might take them off while we’re cleaning so it doesn’t keep rubbing. Come on.” I grab his free hand and drag him up the next flight of stairs to the other secret elevator.
God, I can’t believe we’re making this our new home. I mean, with the money we have from the family businesses, we’ve lived a very privileged life with Dad, Nana, and Poppy, but there’s something that’s special and exciting about our new home. It has something that our family home never had.
I love all the mysteries in the house, and we haven't even started exploring the secret passages between the rooms. Though I’m firmly choosing a ‘pretend it doesn't exist’ approach with the hidden freezer room. I’ll let everyone know what we found at our first family meeting when Harlow and the others get back from the cruise. And by family meeting, I mean Harlow and the rest of the guys. It’s one of the ways we're going to attempt to keep this unconventional relationship on track. Because things aren't going to settle down for a while. Not until the renovations on both the house and the zoo are done, and who knows how long that will take. We’re heading into winter, and although California weather is mild compared to other parts of the country, there are still going to be delays due to weather.
Plus,my mind reminds me,there’s going to be a baby in all of your lives sooner or later.Instead of that thought making me panic, it just builds up the warm fuzzies that I have when I think of Harlow and Holden. The baby isn’t any of ours, not biologically, anyway, but it will be another little puzzle piece to complete the family we’re building.
“Are you as excited about all of this as I am?” I ask my boyfriend as he programs the code into the elevator. “Running Neighpalm Ink is awesome, and opening the new store in New York is exciting, but it’s kind of all done now. Staff are hired, and the shop is fitted out. After the grand opening, it’s done. I’m kind of getting bored.”
He frowns, looking a little worried. “But I thought you loved tattooing. Has that changed?” he questions, and I carefully think about my answer. This whole honesty thing needs to apply to our relationship with Harlow, but it also needs to be an essential part in our relationship with one another, too.
“No, I still love tattooing, but I kind of love building up a business from scratch. What we’re doing here is exciting, and I’ve loved watching how thrilled Harlow has been when she’s been talking about her plans for the zoo. It’s how I felt when I was building Neighpalm Ink. I love Harlow's idea of taking abandoned places and renovating them. I’m thinking maybe I might start looking at starting a nonprofit housing thing. Buy up old, abandoned places and renovate them into homeless shelters or affordable housing to help people get back on their feet. Or even something for foster kids aging out of the system. A place where they can go when their foster parents don't want them anymore. Somewhere safe to live while they finish their schooling or look for a job and establish themselves as adults. You and I and the others got lucky,sofreaking lucky, but so many of us don't. And as much as I want to foster and adopt, there are only so many we can take.”
He’s staring at me now like he doesn't know me and can’t believe the words coming out of my mouth, but his eyes are shining with so much love and a heap of pride. “Wow, Oli, I think that’s an awesome idea. I had no idea you felt that way, but I am so impressed. I guess it’s kind of like how I wanted to take over the day-to-day management of Ninja Starfish. Running Neighpalm Records has been a dream come true, but it’s also taken me away from my music, and I miss being involved with bands and touring and all of that kind of thing. I’m ready to hand more of the responsibilities to Hope and the rest of the team and start getting my hands dirty again, so to speak.”
This right here makes me so fucking happy. I’m thrilled for Holden to get back into his music. He used to play all the time, but he’s so busy organizing all his clients' careers that he hasn't picked up a guitar or sat down at the piano in so long. I know he’ll still be taking care of Ninja Starfish, but I’m kind of hoping that he’ll be so involved he won’t be able to help himself. Music has always been such a big thing for him. Even back in the group home, we would sit for hours, sharing earbuds and listening to playlists he’d made. Our first time together was to one of those playlists. I still can’t listen to any of those songs without getting hard. There’s a spark back in his eyes that dimmed a long time ago. Our break-up certainly didn't help, but at least back then he still had his music lessons. It was when he took over as CEO and had less and less time to play that it finally dimmed completely. Harlow has certainly been helping it return, and I’m hoping I’ve had some part in it as well. This career move will only solidify it for him.
“Well, it sounds like both of our lives will be changing in the next coming months,” I say to him as the elevator doors open, then we both step into the sex dungeon. “But for now, let’s get this room cleaned out. I’ve already found a supplier to replace all this equipment. The red leather is too gaudy. Plus, Harlow made a comment about Jax’s granddaddy defiling women on these, and now I can’t get it out of my head.”
