Page 57 of Hate Me

They’d made a grave mistake.

As if Caleb interfering in my mission hadn’t been enough, somebody had fucking tranqed me! Judging by the shock I’d seen all over him, it hadn’t been his idea, nor had he known it was going to happen. His presence, though, suggested it was one of the other two, either Caspian or Bastian. Likely the former. He’d been most adamant about me not going after Jett that first time around. I couldn’t imagine him being on board with it now, especially when things were even more volatile with the whole Bane versus King thing, according to my research.

He was making the wrong decision where Jett was concerned, though.

Where it was all concerned, actually.

There wasn’t just one way to accomplish the goal of tearing those bastards down.

They needed me to do this.

Yet, here I was now chained to a fucking bed and most definitely not in the fun, erotic way.

I’d taken in my surroundings as soon as I’d woken up and I’d discovered that they’d confined me to the guest room that I’d stayed in before.

If they thought that would get to me, get inside my head, and have me melting at the memories, they had another thing coming.

Like I’d told Jer, nothing else could matter until this mission was done.

There was a blanket over me, but I’d managed to shuffle enough to push it down and see that they’d taken all the equipment I’d had stashed in the pockets of my Onyx gear, even the wig. My curls were wild and loose. I’d been sanitized and a couple of mild injuries I’d sustained were even treated and bandaged—a gauze pad taped over a graze I’d sustained to my left upper arm, a bandage wrapped around my left thigh too where a knife had penetrated a little skin, any actual serious damage having been limited by the hard leather of my pants.

I was clad in those neon-blue lounge pants and the white strappy tank that Caspian had gifted me to wear when I’d stayed here that first weekend that was so long ago now.

I’d already scanned the room and found nothing whatsoever to use in order to pick the cuffs binding me to the fucking bed.

“Argh!” I yelled, tugging at them violently in my frustration and no small amount of indignation. How dare they do this to me? As if I was still theirs. As if I still could be after everything that had happened, after everything that still needed to happen.

It wasn’t safe for them either to have me here.

What the hell were they playing at?

They were going to fuck up everything!

They were going to get hurt again! This time, even worse than before!

Why couldn’t they see that?

Me being around them just broke things.

It just broke them.

Not again!

I couldn’t let it happen again.

I couldn’t!

Rattling at the door had me stilling.

A moment later, it opened, and a figure filled the doorway.

Oh my God.

Expecting Caspian or one of his men, I was more than a little startled to see that it was actually Bastian.

He looked… amazing.

His buzz cut had grown out quite a bit, his brown locks giving off a whole sexy bedhead look. He was clad in a black muscle tee which really highlighted how buff he’d gotten. He’d been muscular and toned before, but now there was more bulk too, like he’d been working out non-stop or something. He had those designer ripped navy jeans on that I liked on him. And those amber eyes were fixed on me, those golden flecks shining forth in all their gorgeous glory.

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