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Moving deliberately, I level the burning tip with his clavicle, close enough that he feels the heat but not the burn. “Try. Again.” My jaw clenches so rigidly, it wouldn’t take long for my teeth to crack.
Zak leans in to whisper in my ear, only loud enough for me to hear, “She’s awake.”
Growling at this news, the last thing I want is for her to come down here and see what I’m doing. The entire basement is soundproof, so I know she’ll never hear a thing unless the door to the kitchen is opened.
“Eli.” I snap his name and glance over my shoulder. “See to it.” I won’t hint at who or what I’m speaking about while in the presence of these men.
“On it.” He leaves through the door leading outside to enter through the front of the house.
“Are you sure you both want to circle the drain with your lies?” I ask one last time.
Their mouths remain shut. Stronger men than I anticipated, which means that this is going to last a while, and we’ll get to have some fun with it.
Sitting back in my chair, I nod to Craig and Joe, allowing them to work out some of their frustrations on the two men. They grunt and cry with every blow of a fist to their centers.
On the off chance that one of them is innocent—my money oddly being on Soren’s father—I don’t want to fatally injure them.
So far, Stark has remained silent, and I want nothing more than to crack him like a can of worms. I know once I get him started, it’ll be difficult to shut him up. Men like him try to hold steady, but once the dam breaks, a wealth of information will be spilled, and I’ll have more answers than I anticipated.
“Sorry, boss.” I hear Eli’s voice a second before I smell her. I don’t turn; she’ll come to me. I can’t even be that mad at him because Soren is hard to say no to. I, myself, have extreme difficulty with it. While I had wished to shield her from this particular aspect of my life, I hadn’t intended to hide what I did from her. She’s an intelligent woman and would have figured it out eventually.
CHAPTER 18
Soren
I wake up to a deliciously rundown body. Adonis takes after his namesake; he is a god with that wicked tongue of his. I realized what he was doing, exhausting me because I was so restless, and I let him. There is nothing that man can do that I won’t enjoy with every fiber of my being.
But now, I miss him. I’ve gotten used to sleeping cuddled up against him, loving the way he lies half on top of me to keep me from rolling around and helping me settle down. It’s become an addiction, and with him not here, even though I knew he wouldn’t be, I can’t shut my brain off. It doesn’t seem to matter that I’m exhausted.
Getting up from bed, I slip into a tank top and a pair of sleep shorts that he ordered for me a few days ago, along with a bunch of other clothes.
Seeking him out, I come across Sally in the kitchen. “You’re here quite late,” I comment. Ordinarily, she’s gone after dinner. I think she lives on the property, but I am not certain; I’ve never asked.
“Had some things to do.” She flashes me a welcoming smile as she hands me a cup of tea, like she knew I was coming down.
After pulling out her phone and sending a message, she sits down next to me. It’s silent until I hear the front door open, and I immediately get to my feet, hoping Adonis is back from wherever he went.
“Ladies.” Eli nods in greeting as he stands in the doorway.
“Where is he?” I ask, confident that he’ll know. There’s not much Eli and Zak don’t know about the goings-on around here.
His gaze moves to Sally behind me. “He’s in a meeting.” I narrow my eyes at him.
“In the house.” I don’t pose it as a question because I know it to be true. He arrived too quickly after Sally sent someone a message for me to remain clueless. “Where?” I ask again.
He sighs. “I don’t think he wants you involved.”
“Take me to him, Eli.” I know the meeting is about me; however, he wasn’t in his office when I passed the empty room on the way to the kitchen. “Please.” I try a softer approach.
He groans and shakes his head before leading me to a wall in the kitchen that opens to a descending staircase. I never would have guessed it was there.
Male voices carry as we descend, and it’s not until we’re at the bottom that I pause when I see what’s happening. My father and another man are chained to a wall. Adonis sits on a chair in the middle of the room while Zak leans against another wall. Joe and Craig are pounding the men being held prisoner, and all I do is wonder about the blood stains on the ground.
“Sorry, boss,” Eli says. Adonis goes rigid where he sits. He knows I’m here, but I stay rooted to the spot, unsure of what I’m seeing and why it’s happening.
In the back of my mind, I know. My father and the other man had something to do with what nearly happened to me. He’s doing this to find out who the assailants were.
“Adonis.” I speak his name gently, drawing the attention of every man in the room. Holding out a hand for me, he otherwise doesn’t move, remaining motionless as I place my palm on his. Dragging me in front of him, he grips the back of my thighs and settles me on his lap so we’re chest to chest. “What’s going on?”
