Page 20 of Bound by Adoration

Raid cut into my thoughts by grabbing my empty hand and pulling me along the path. “Come on. We’re almost there.”

“Are we in a cave?” I asked, trying to figure out where we were in conjunction to the house we saw coming in.

“More like in the hill,” Raid said, confusing me.

“Wait. What?” I asked as we came up to a large steel door, and Raid typed in a code in a panel next to it and put his thumb on a small green screen.

“That’s fuckin’ cool,” Screech said. “Biometrics for your lair.”

A smile tipped my lips. Yeah. He would geek out over anything to do with technology. It was cute. In that dorky brother way.

“Yeah, and we’ll figure all that out later.” Raid turned a handle, and the door opened.

The words left me as we entered the large space. And I mean large, but it didn’t look like the house we drove up to.

“So, we’re not in the house? We’re where exactly?” I asked, entering the kitchen area which was expansive. Every amenity one could ask for: microwave, stove, fridge, dishwasher. Was that a wine cooler? The living room looked comfortable with a large couch, recliner chairs, and a television on the wall. There was also a large table with chairs around it against the far wall.

It was nice.

Strange, though, we weren’t in the house.

“Close the door,” Raid told Screech who did as he was told, his eyes wide as he took in the room.I’m right there with ya, buddy.“We’re behind the house. The house is a decoy.”

“You mean to tell me you built that beautiful home, and no one lives in it?” I asked, thinking that was just crazy. No one would build an elaborate house like that then not even use it. That made no sense.

“Technically, according to records, a pilot lives there. He’s gone a lot.”

“You made that up, right?” I asked.

Raid turned to me and smirked. “Fuck yeah. The brothers take turns once a month coming to stay here, turning on the lights and shit. It works.” He shrugged.

“You’re nuts! That house is beautiful. Why on earth would you not want to live in that??” I asked, having so many questions rolling around in my head.

“Glad you like it. But this here”—is arms went out to either side of him—“this is what’ll keep you safe. It’s not on any plans and it’s undetectable. As long as you stay in it, you’ll be good.”

I wasn’t sure how to feel about that. Locked up in a tomb? For how long? The rest of my life? No, that wouldn’t work, but for now, I would roll with it. The only other option was to go on the run as a backup plan if shit hit the fan.

But fuck, could I leave Raid, Screech, and Liam and feed them to the wolves? No. No, I couldn’t. If those men found out aboutmymen, they would hurt them. That I knew without a doubt.

Chastising myself for my thoughts, I began to explore.

“There’s four bedrooms and two full baths with one half bath. Kitchen, living space.” Raid nodded to the room. “There’s more, but we’ll get to that once we get settled and make sure the place is stocked good.”

“Thought your brother said he’d stock it?” Liam asked, and I was curious to know how he knew that.

“Still listenin’ into conversations you’re not welcome to be in,” Raid growled.

“And…” Liam fired back.

“Oh my God! Stop. Just stop. Set my bags down here. Liam, you help me in the kitchen to see what we have. Screech, you go to the bathrooms and make sure there are toilet paper, towels and soap. Raid…” I looked at the man and waved my hand in the air, dismissing him. “You do whatever it is you need to do.”

His brow tipped in challenge. “If that’s the case.” He took several steps toward me, his gaze hungry.

My hands went up. “Oh no you don’t, Cujo. We’ve gotta get this place turned around and get supplies if we need them. We’ll be here for a while and need food. You do not want me hangry.” Hell, I didn’t want me hangry.

I moved around the large island that doubled as a table, putting space between us. As much as I’d love for Raid to wipe away everything by ravaging me on said island, we couldn’t do anything right now. It wasn’t the time.

A cell phone went off, and both our eyes went to Liam.

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