When I came back around to him, he’d slumped forward on the chair, the ropes tugging on his wrists the only thing keeping him on it. Part of the angel-wings tattoo that took up his back was visible. I snorted.Angel, him? What bullshite.Aspen smoothed a hand down his suit, the one he’d had on since yesterday, and smirked at me.
“Go home,” he said, short and blunt.
“Ye sure?” The desire to play with Reed a wee bit more warred with the idea of getting home and driving my cock between Vail’s arsecheeks, into that tight warmth where I could shoot my load—two very fun options.
Aspen shook his head and waved at the door, and I grinned, slapping him on the shoulder.
“Thanks, mate. Ye’re a champion.”
He snorted as I nearly did a jig on my way out of the room, then I headed down the stairs and grabbed my keys on the rickety table near the door. I locked up before I ran to the Expedition and hopped inside. I texted Rowen to let him know I was on my way home, and about five minutes later my phone rang through the Bluetooth. Accepting the call from Rowen, I grinned.
“Is our pretty firebug naked and ready for our cocks?” I teased.
Rowen cleared his throat. “No. Fuck. His place was ransacked.”
“What?” I frowned at the road as a small Volkswagen Beetle pulled out in front of me, doing five miles below the speed limit and firing up my anger. I swung the Expedition around the wee car, and it was a tight fit, but I got past. It couldn’t be accomplished without my hand out the window flipping them the bird, though. “What the fuck do ye mean ransacked?”
“Ye know what that means, Cillian. Someone trashed the place.” He heaved a sigh, and the sound of liquid pouring into a cup echoed through the line. “I’ve brought him home. He’s pretty.... Well, I don’t know what he is. He’s not upset. Almost like he’s in shock, I think. Or resigned. It wasn’t ye, was it?”
“Why would ye ask me that?” I snapped, slamming my hand against the wheel. “I would’ve told ye if I’d planned on doing something like that.”
I wouldn’t have done it anyway. There was something about Vail I couldn’t quite put my finger on. He was a strange man with interesting quirks. I’d never met anyone like him, and I was intrigued. Rowen and I were two completely different men, but he’d taken us both as we were. He’d let us fuck him our own ways. When I shared people with Aspen, they were more inclined toward one or the other of us, even though we fucked almost identically.
“What about the Italian?” Rowen lowered his voice; Vail must be close.
“What about him?” I glared at the road as I maneuvered the busy streets of New York City. This was the worst time and there were cars everywhere. It would take me an hour and a half just to get through the traffic. I cursed this place and the people who lived in it.
“He’s dead.”
I squeezed my fist around the leather steering wheel and it made a noise under my palm.Shite, I’d wanted to kill the fucker myself. “It wasn’t me. Ye know me, if I wanted him dead, I would’ve dragged it out. Put him beside Reed and made him hurt.”
He let out a breath, and clinking ice sounded from the speakers. “That’s what I thought. But I needed to ask.”
I glared at the screen in the middle console that said his name. “Ye didn’t,eejit. As much as ye are a twat, I would’ve told ye if I was doing something like that. Wanker.”
“I thought maybe ye talked to Ardan about it and he dealt with some problems.”
I snorted and shook my head even though he couldn’t see me. “Ardan’s got more finesse than killing someone and dumping him somewhere he can be found. I’m assuming the cops stumbled on him?”
“Yeah. Vail went to the hospital to get checked over and a cop was there. The cop overheard that kid tell the nurse Vail was attacked, and he put two and two together. Told Vail the Italian was dead, wanted to know if Vail knew about how it happened.”
Spikes of anger shot through me, pooling heat in my chest. The urge to slam my fist into something had me regretting I’d left Mount Pleasure already, or I would’ve had more fun with Reed. “Rowen, find out who that cop was. We need to know whatheknows.”
“Don’t be stupid, Cillian. We can’t interrogate a cop.” His words were whispered and rushed. “We need the boss’s permission for something like that, and he wouldn’t give it to us because of one man. He won’t risk his empire for Vail.”
“Wait.” I slammed on the brakes and the Expedition’s back wheels slid out. There was a honk behind me, but I ignored it. “His research in his office. Was it still there?”
“I don’t know.” I could hear the confusion in Rowen’s voice. “I didn’t check. I was more interested in getting Vail out of there to safety.”
I rolled my eyes and silently cursed him. “Ye fuckwit. Ye should’ve put him in the car and went to check. If someone’s ransacking his apartment and nothing valuable’s missing, they were searching for somethingelse.”
“I know that,” he snapped. “Vail was my priority.”
“That’swhy I don’t do relationships, Rowen.” Hitting the accelerator, I turned a corner sharply, heading in the direction of Vail’s apartment. I nearly hit a pedestrian, and from my side-view mirror I saw her yelling and waving her hand at me. “The Company comes first, not Vail. If the wrong person gets that information on us, we’re fecked. And if Sloan finds out we knew about what Vail had and didn’t tell him, he’ll slice us to bits.”
“I know, but he had some names. That’s not gonna hurt us. Our enemies know who we are.”
“How do ye know that’s all he had? Did ye ask him?” I pressed my fingers into the center of my forehead, kneading it. “Listen, I’ll go there now and attempt to find out what they’ve taken. Ye look after Vail. I’ll be home soon.”
