Belongs? Soiled goods?My skin prickled with anger. I ground my teeth to keep from saying anything yet.
“She’s a whore,” he continued his tone cynical indifference. “I bought her. Paid a fucking hefty sum too. Only that stupid bitch who owns the girl dressed her up as a waitress.”
The man reeked of lies and dishonesty. That coming from me was questionable, as I was a man with something to hide. While arguable, my secrets had purpose. Nevertheless, I played along. “So she’s a slave? And you own her?”
“Slave, slut, whore, possession, who cares. It’s all the same.” He shrugged.
Rage filtered through my body. I was on the verge of spilling blood when a knock on the door gave me pause as Andrew’s secretary popped her head in.
“Your one p.m. is here, sir.”
“I’ll be another minute,” he replied, looking at me when she closed the door again.
Every cell in my body warned that this man was no longer the friend I’d once respected. “When did youradultparties turn intohuman trafficking?” I emphasized the words with a deathly stare.
He paled, his eyes widening, realizing he’d just implicated himself. “It was the first time, and I don’t own her,” he replied hastily. “The woman returned the money after the girl’s panic attack.”
I didn’t buy it. “And when did you stoop so low to think you can own another human?” My eyes narrowed as rage siphoned through my veins. “Who gives you the right to hurt her, fuck her, treat her with no fucking respect?”
The bastard uttered a nervous laugh. “Don’t get all saintly on me, old friend. If I remember correctly, you Sinclairs and I are the same—”
I shot up, startling him into almost tipping his chair over. With my hands pressed into the hardwood table, I leaned over, forcing his head back until our gazes locked. “Understand one very simple thing, Turner. You and I are not the same. Consent and rape are two very different things. “Did you or did you not fuck that girl?” I growled, ready to let his pale face meet my fist.
He visibly shrank into his chair, and to think this nitwit probably tried to assert dominance in the bedroom. “I didn’t. As I said, I returned the money...” he trailed off with a gulp.
I didn’t believe him. Straightening, I righted my jacket and glared at him. “For your sake, I hope you’re not lying,old friend,” I uttered the last word in a sarcastic snarl before I turned and left his office.
Once I slipped behind the wheel of my car, I dialed Wilkes. “Tell me you have something?” I heard the desperation in my tone.
“I paid someone to part with the number plate. It’s registered to a business that doesn’t exist. I checked the address myself. Our team hacked the street cams leading from Blackhall until it stopped at a junction with none. The man I posted there spotted the number plates about an hour ago. We found the house, sir.”
My skin buzzed, an incredible thrill I hadn’t felt in a long time. “And?”
“Except for a woman who left for about five minutes, returned, then left another fifteen minutes later, there’s nothing else to report.” He paused momentarily before adding, “you want me to go in?”
I leaned my head against the backrest and massaged my brow. “No. The last thing we need is for someone to call the police. If we call the police, what do we say? We have nothing concrete to give them. I don’t want to alert whoever is keeping her.”
“What about Andrew?”
“The bastard’s lying through his teeth,” I grunted, smacking the wheel. “According to him, a woman sold the girl to him then retracted the purchase after the panic attack.”
Wilkes cursed aloud, then apologized. “Sorry, sir. Is she the girl’s mother?”
“Not sure.” I dragged a hand down my face and leaned forward in my seat. “As much as I want to ignore this as nothing more than a family of fuck ups, something doesn’t feel right, Wilkes. That girl...” I trailed off, losing my train of thought and not understanding this magnetic pull to her I couldn’t describe.
“Sir, you’ve always gone by your gut. Why stop now?”
He was right. Since I took over the Sinclair reins, I relied solely on my instinct, which had yet to steer me in the wrong direction. I sighed, watching the rain fall through my windscreen. “My worry is now that I’ve alerted Turner to my interest in the girl, there’s no telling what they will do to her.” My stomach turned at the notion.
“What do you need me to do?”
I stared out the passenger window at the office building I’d just left. “Put a tail on Andrew. I want to know everything. Who he meets to where he shits. Leave nothing unturned. He’s our priority lead right now. If my gut is right, he will lead himself into temptation and deliver us into evil.” I gritted my teeth, wishing I could do more.
“Done.”
“Xavier.” I walked into the castle forty-five minutes later to find Trevena McArthur lounging in my study. “It’s been a while since you came over, baby.” She stood, crossed the room, and kissed both my cheeks.
“Baby?” I snorted.
