Sebastian clears his throat, and I see Ariah’s sleeping form sprawled out on his chest. Her lips slightly parted, soft snores escaping her. She’s fucking stunning. “Should we go to the Tombs now?” he asks, pressing a kiss to her forehead and brushing the few strands of hair from her face. I don’t think the idiot recognizes he’s gone for her already— just like the rest of us.
“Nah. King won’t get her here for at least eight hours. I’ll see you fuckheads in the morning,” I say before ending the call.
Dropping my phone on my desk, I get to work drawing up the files on the sex trafficking warehouse King’s uncle’s been running stateside.
* * *
“No friend this time?”King observes once he’s placed Madeline on the table.
“They’re on their way,” I reply, unzipping the bag Madeline’s in.
King watches me for a moment, then nods, “Where are the files on my uncle?”
Once I have Madeline strapped in, I walk to the table and grab the flash drive. “It’s all on here. Your uncle’s into some seriously sick shit.”
“What did you find?” he probes, taking the drive and putting it in his pants’ pocket.
Rubbing the bridge of my nose, I explain. “He traffics women, men, kids— fucking whole families. The warehouse you’re looking for isn’t even a speck of sand in the desert with the number of holdings he has.”
King sighs. “I know, but this is my foot in the door.”
I open my mouth to speak but pause for a moment, thinking through my words carefully, knowing what it will mean for us if he ever decides to do it. Then I say, “If there ever comes a day you need help taking this piece of shit down, let us know.”
King reaches his hand out, signaling a gentleman’s agreement. “I have your word?”
“Have your word for what?” Wes asks, his eyes narrowing suspiciously to where King’s reaching for my hand.
“To help when the time comes,” I reply, holding my hand out.
Owen, Wyatt, and Sebastian walk in and take positions around the room. Owen stands over Madeline— one of his knives in hand, ready to play.
Wyatt quirks a brow, looking away from the table of tools.“What’s going on?”
King and I drop our hands, accepting I need to explain the situation before an agreement can be made.
“King’s going to take back his birthright from a sick, twisted fuck, and we’re going to help whenever the time comes,” I state, then peer around the room into each of their eyes for confirmation. Once I have, I turn back to King. His arm is already outstretched. I return the gesture, our hands clasp, shaking on it. “You do.”
King steps back and says, “I’ll leave you all to it then. Until next time, be well, Levi,” before exiting the room.
“How fucked are we because you made the deal?” Wes sighs.
I rub the back of my neck. “As long as we can get rid of the Filiae Bellonae and take over the Fraternitas, we’ll be more than ready for Serge Volkov.
Owen drags his blade down Madeline’s arm. “Can we wake the bitch yet?”
Stalking to the table, I grab the syringe, then approach Madeline and plunge it into her neck.
Seconds later, she gasps awake and immediately attempts to pull from her restraints. Once she realizes she can’t get free, she takes stock of her surroundings. “What the hell am I doing here?”
“You’re here to answer questions.” Wes begins, grabbing a corkscrew before slowly approaching her.
Madeline laughs. “You stupid little shits are in over your heads, and none of you fucks even realize it.” Her laughs promptly turn to cries when Wes buries the corkscrew into her thigh and turns it.
“Now, where’s Elise?” Sebastian growls.
“You think one stab to my leg will get me to tell you fools anything?” she seethes.
A loud smack turns into a crunch before morphing into a shrill cry. I look to see Wyatt hammering away at the bones in Madeline’s leg. He pounds the hammer until her left femur is nearly nonexistent. His chin dips, and he smiles. “You have so many more bones to crush. Are you sure we’re in over our heads and that you have nothing to say?”
