Page 92 of Lock Up the Darkness

Carson: Pretty little young thing. My favorites. Pain looks good on her. Play with your new toy, but don’t break it. I want a turn.

She screwed up her face for a moment, then looked away and asked me, “How did he get this? I thought you had this town wired? He’s had something or someone get past you?”

“Carson Monroe is another level. Even for me.”

“He hasn’t revealed that he knows who I am yet, that I’m Lance’s daughter?”

“No. He’s still just referring to you as somebody on his watchlist that he wants me to keep an eye on and toy with, no explanation as to why.”

“So we have an advantage,” Jonah spoke, as Killian brushed past him and sat on Aurora’s other side and took in the message and photo on my phone. He cursed under his breath.

“A very slight one only.”

“Yeah,” Aurora agreed. “He doesn’t know that you’re aware who I am, but he still knows.”

“Precisely,” I said, smiling at her astuteness.

Killian caught my eye and glared for a moment, before folding his arms across his chest, then saying, “The point is Carson now has his own eyes on. That means the only place safe for Aurora is inside this house where everything is within our control, where we’ve ensured the staff, including Security, can’t be turned by him.”

“Anything that happens outside the confines of these walls must be a well-crafted show, going forward,” I added.

“Not just a show,” Jonah said. “A show that will keep him at bay. He wants to see Aurora used and abused, being our whore, right?”

“And he’s been getting that show. The night of the Blowout, I had all of us mark her, in case he’d brought in his own eyes.”

“That’s why you did that?” Killian said. “I thought you were just reacting in the moment.”

“It was partially pre-meditated. It had to be.”

“Jesus, Ash.”

“No, he’s right,” Aurora said, startling us all. “Until you can find the source—who or what—he’s got watching me, we need to keep up appearances to hold him at bay. If he makes a move before we’re ready, this entire mission is going to be shot to shit before we get anywhere.”

“Did you just offer to be our fuck slut?” Jonah asked, his emerald eyes lighting at the prospect.

“I offered to make it appear that way.”

“Which means we’ll have to mark that pretty little body of yours,” Jonah pushed. “And we’ll have to be seen outside this house playing with you, having you around town with us.” That light dimmed as something occurred to him and he looked at Killian. “Shit, sorry, not you, Pretty. You dragging around a fuck slut isn’t gonna mesh well with the whole golden boy image.”

“Stop saying fuck slut,” Killian ground out.

Jonah frowned. “You’re usually good with me using that phrase to describe my conquests.”

“Only in the bedroom, not outside of it.”

“We’re in the bedroom.”

“You know what I mean. You use it outside of that context and it takes on a different meaning. Something that doesn’t apply to her. Do you hear me?”

Jonah looked to me, then to Aurora who was struggling to look Killian in the eye after he’d basically indirectly declared his care and adoration for her.

The corner of Jonah’s mouth turned up as he told him. “Yeah, brother, I hear you. It’s all right. I’ve got it.”

“Good,” he grunted. “Fucking better.”

“He’s right about you not being a part of this—at least outwardly,” I told him.

“It had occurred to me,” he responded with a noticeable edge. He shifted his weight and dropped his gaze when I flashed my eyes. “Just… the two of you pool your resources and whatever to get this thing moving. Then things can finally change.”

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