Page 22 of Marked By the Devil

I shrugged, trying to look like it didn’t matter to me whether she was held hostage for intel or not. It did fucking matter. Because I wasn’t through with her yet. Keeping her hostage didn’t seem like high-stakes of a need anymore in terms of Adrik staying alive. Because the more I asked her about what happened that night, nothing indicated that she knew that we’d even be there.

“I said she might not know anything about the hit placed on you.” That was a transgression we wouldn’t slack on finding answers to. Men were delegated to investigate it. Normally, I’d be involved in that, asking around and searching for clues about who placed that hit. But with Wren in my custody, I was detouring into seeing how she could’ve been involved. “She still might know something else.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Like what?”

“Anything we want to know about Smithson and his assholes.” We kept tabs on the agents, just like they did on us, but it was a complicated war of law versus crime.

“Anything that could pertain to Gregori,” I added.

“If she’s a rookie and just got into fieldwork, what the fuck would she know?” He sat up. “She would be too new for him to have bribed.”

“Give me time to see what I can find out.”

He raised his brows. “You want to dick around and keep her here?” He scoffed. “No one is even looking for her.” He wasn’t assuming that. We were looking out for alerts for her being missing and nothing was out there yet.

I paused in stroking my beard. “Doesn’t that stand out to you?”

He frowned. “I guess.”

“Because if none of the Feds are looking for her, that could imply that they think she wouldn’t be around to find. As in… they would expect her to be missing. Or dead.”

He huffed an incredulous laugh. “You think she’s telling the truth that a second shot was aimed at her?”

“I don’t know yet. But the idea that someone could have a hit ordered on you at the same time a hit would be taken out on her is too much of a puzzle for me to leave it alone.”

“You sure you’re not just looking for a woman to keep around and fuck?”

“That thought has crossed my mind,” I admitted with a shit-eating grin.

He rolled his eyes. “A Fed?” He shook his head.

“Give me some time to see what I can get out of her. If she has any intel about Gregori, it’ll be worth it. I’ll bring her out of the holding cell and let her be my… guest. I don’t think binding or locking her up will get me anywhere. I’ll keep her close. Observing her and learning her tells will get me further than coercion.”

“You think she’s that tough?” he asked dubiously.

“I think she’s been trained to tolerate some tough situations.”

“She’s a fucking rookie,” he argued.

“All right.” I held my hands up. “But I think there could be something to learn from her. With how aware she is of me so far, I think this will be the best way to pick at her mind.”

He nodded.

I knew there was something to learn about Wren Green. There was a lot I wanted to learn about the sexy redhead locked in my basement.

I was desperate to know what she tasted like. How loud she could be when I slammed my dick into her. If she would get herself off while she sucked me past her plump lips. What kind of a glorious sight her breasts would make as she bounced on me.

“Viktor.”

I blinked and faced my brother. I wouldn’t admit that I’d zoned out. If he’d asked me something important, he could ask me again.

“Is this about getting answers from her or just getting a good fuck?”

Can’t it be both?

“With Gregori applying more pressure on the Feds and cops, not to mention all the legal bullshit we’re facing…” He scowled and shook his head.

“And the fact that someone wanted to kill you,” I added to the laundry list of issues we were facing.