A dark chuckle rings out from the dickhead holding the needle to my neck. “She’s getting off on this.”
“It’s fucking freezing, you moron. It’s a natural physical reaction to the cold and nothing more. You all repulse me.”
I scream when he grabs my breast through my bra and tweaks my nipple hard.
“What the fuck, man?!” the main guy shouts, yanking the dick away from me.
I duck down, ready to nut the guy coming at me when the sound of approaching footfalls claims everyone’s attention.
Two figures wearing luxurious full-length gold cloaks appear in the doorway. “Step away from the woman,” a man with a familiar voice says, and my brow puckers in confusion.
“We have our orders,” my kidnapper says, folding his arms and lifting his head up slightly.
“Now you have new ones,” Bree calmly replies, and I almost collapse against the wall in relief.
ChapterTwenty-Eight
Ashley
Astrangled sound rips from my throat when I hear her voice. I have no idea how they are here or why, but that doesn’t matter right now. Bree glances in my direction, shaking her head in silent warning. I can only see the lower halves of their faces, but I know it’s them. I would know Jase’s profile in my sleep and his voice is hardwired to my brain.
“The Greed & Gluttony Luminary personally assigned us to retrieve the woman. Our instructions were to prepare her for stage one of initiation and leave her in solitary confinement, and that’s what we’re doing.”
“Listen here, grunt.” Bree steps up to the guy, uncaring he’s towering over her and at least twice her width. “Our authority outranks yours. You know you can’t deny us, so move along now.”
“We will handle this,” Jase confirms.
“Carter said this could happen,” one of the other men says, speaking up for the first time as he whips his head to his leader. “This is shady as fuck.”
“Agreed.” Their leader keeps his focus on the Stewart siblings. “Unless Rhett Carter instructs us otherwise, we are completing the mission.” He shrugs through his cloak. “No skin off my back if you want to watch, but we’re going nowhere.” He turns around and reaches for me.
Reacting on instinct, I dart sideways, evading his capture.
A clipped noise rings out, and I scream as the guy’s legs go out from under him. I take a few more steps back as he falls forward, his face whacking the stone floor with a loud thud. Shock splays across my face as I watch Jase gun down the other three goons, with sharp precision and lightning-fast speed, before any of them can retaliate.
“Fucking hell,” I whisper, staring at him like he’s a stranger. From the way he handled that and his current cool demeanor, I can tell this isn’t the first time Jase has killed someone.
Did I ever truly know the guy I was fucking?
“Did you have to do that?” Bree sounds irritated as she yanks her hood down and glares at her brother.
Jase removes his hood, drilling me with a look as his gaze rakes over me from head to foot. “We don’t have time to waste. They weren’t going to cooperate, no matter what we said.” He kicks the guy slumped at his feet, ensuring he’s dead.
“The plan was to drug them,” Bree reminds him, bending down to pick up the bullet casings scattered across the floor.
My heart is jackhammering against my rib cage, and my ears are pounding as adrenaline shoots through my veins.
“It’s better not to leave witnesses.” Jase steps over the blood pooling on the ground to reach me.
I open my mouth, but no words come out.
“It’s okay, Ash,” he says in that deep seductive tone of his. “I know you have a million questions. I promise we’ll answer them, but we need to get you out of here first.” His eyes close momentarily before he presses a kiss to the top of my head. “I’m not letting them do this to you,” he whispers.
“Do what?” I’m still completely in the dark.
“Catch,” Bree hollers, and Jase’s eyes snap open. Lifting his hand, he deftly snags the pliers his sister throws at him.
With gentle fingers, he turns me around and makes quick work of breaking the metal cuffs. They clang to the ground with a screeching sound as Jase tenderly massages my sore wrists.
