Page 35 of Torment
“That’s enough.” Elias enters. His eyes scan the room, analyzing the situation. He steps to my side, shakes Nico’s hand, then stares at Michael.
“If you wanted optics, you should have hired a PR team. You don’t get to demand protection and then complain about its cost.” The low gravel in Elias’ voice leaves no room for debate.
I release Michael and take a step backward, my eyes never leaving his.
“If you want to be filled in on what’s going on, it would behoove you to come back at another time,” Elias tells him. “And to not question my boys again.” His green eyes flash with an unspoken warning. Michael straightens out his jacket. His eyes land on Jeremy, who stares at him blankly, then turns his back and walks out.
“I’ll talk to him,” Nico tells us. “I apologize.” He gives Jeremy a sympathetic smile.
“Not your fault,” Mav says. “I understand his concerns. But he’s worried about the wrong thing. We have this under control.”
“I know that. So does he, that’s why he contracted you,” Nico shakes his head. “You gentlemen have a good day.”
The door closes, and the room remains silent for a long minute. Cole huffs a chuckle through his nose, shaking his head before he turns back toward the monitors. Jeremy rolls his shoulders once, then sits back down, rewinding the footage until Cole finds a stopping point. Walking back over to my chair, I pick it up and sit down. Stretching out, I cross my ankles and my arms over my chest.
“When did you get back?” I question Elias.
“Just now,” he answers. “Heard his tantrum from down the hall.”
He notices the four perched on the back wall, and steps forward to shake their hands.
“Nice to have you boys in here with us,” Elias welcomes them, then turns back to the rest of us. He nods for Maverick to continue.
“Billings,” he says. “Let’s retrace his steps on the property throughout the day. Levi and Kellen, check with the front desk at the hotel. See if he had a room here, and get inside if he did.” Mav orders. The two nod and exit the room.
“Owen and Declan, the club’s going to be closed for the night. You two go back and do a sweep, make sure nothing was missed. Then get the cleaners there.”
“Yes sir,” they say in unison before leaving.
Elias drags a chair next to Slater. “Alright. Fill me in.”
We catch him up to speed, going over everything that happened with the bartender that was taken from the parking garage, and last night in Rapture. He watches the footage from the second floor, shoulders tensing the moment Stan corners Ashlynn. He pinches the bridge of his nose when he notices the cut in footage where Slater deleted my body slamming into Ashlynn’s over and over.
I owe him big for the amount of shit he cuts from footage for me.
It picks up again as I’m carrying her down the stairs, and he shakes his head with a “can you believe this guy?” grin.
“I think it might be a good idea to bring Nick in on this,” Elias starts. “Another set of eyes isn’t going to hurt, and he’s got some experience with this shit.”
Maverick mulls it over, questioning whether or not he wants to involve his wife’s uncle. After a second, he nods.
“I’ll talk to him tonight. He’s coming to the house for dinner.”
Elias stands, slapping my shoulder and giving it a squeeze.
“Good. I’ll be back tonight then.” He says his goodbyes to everyone, then exits the room. The room falls back into rhythm again. Maverick’s gaze lands on me, my arms still crossed and feet shaking side to side on my heel.
“You good?” He asks quietly.
Am I?
My jaw flexes.
No. But I will be.
“Yeah, I’m good.” I nod. Because upstairs, tied to my bed, my terror is sleeping. Wearing my shirt. Leaving her scent all over my sheets. And for the first time since I found her again, she’s not running.
I made sure of it.
