Page 56 of Obey

Jace sits upright. “Hold on. Somebody assaulted this Preston guy, and Sloane was the one who bailed him out?”

“That's what the records show.”

“And she was in the hospital three days before that?” Nate asks.

I nod.

His hand settles at the back of Jace's neck as he considers the information.

“Could be connected,” he says.

“Could be,” I agree. “But we don't know how.”

Jace looks between us. “Then who the fuck is Preston Lane?”

“That's what I'd like to know.”

He holds my gaze for a moment before leaning back against Nate. “Jesus. What the hell happened to her?”

I have a dozen theories. None I'm willing to put into words.

“I don't know,” I admit.

For a while, nobody speaks, then Nate closes his hand around Jace's shoulder. “Whatever happened, Sloane decides when we hear the rest.”

I settle into the chair opposite them, still thinking about those three days between the hospital and the arrest.

Someone knows what happened.

But it isn't our story to demand.

fourteen

Haunted Echoes

Damn them.

Damn them straight back to the pits of hell that they came from. Or maybe they're the rulers of it. That would make much more sense if they were.

Nate would run it like a Fortune 500.

Jace would convince you your damnation was your idea.

And Elias would stand at the gates looking like he personally decided who got through.

And apparently, even hell isn't far enough to get those three out of my head.

Which is how I've ended up in bed with my vibrator, determined to enjoy one damn thing this week that has absolutely nothing to do with Nathaniel Blackwell, Elias Baptiste, or Jace Narváez.

Fifteen minutes later, I've already had to restart my fantasy four times. Four. Every time I settle on something that doesn't involve those three arrogant assholes, one of them finds his way into it.

I picture a handsome stranger between my thighs, only for him to open his mouth and speak with Nate's commanding authority.

Absolutely fucking not.

I try again. A different man, a different setting. Everything's going beautifully until I imagine a large hand closing around my hip, and suddenly all I can think about is Elias taking me from behind.

“Get out of my damn head,” I mutter.