Page 65 of Breaking the Code

The big, green, jealous beast within leaps forward. Shaking my head to rid myself o’ the claim I refuse to acknowledge, I watch the interaction between them closely, growling when I see what Zayn’s given Tavish.

Candy.

“Is that really necessary, Zayn?” I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as Tavish pops the sour, sugary confection into his mouth.

Tavish stares at me, chewing slowly as he sits his arse back in his chair gingerly. The slight wince delights me and my mouth twitches.

Zayn looks at me and puffs out his chest as he responds, “I honor my agreements. The payment is clear. Information for treats.”

Fucking bastard. I wonder how he’d feel if I messed with his subs.

Tavish munches candy as his gaze bounces between Zayn and me. The tension thick in the air and I can see my boy isnae a fan.

Just behind Zayn are his partners. Like Tavish, both o’ them are young. And while I’m nae sure o’ the exact dynamic, you can see they are submissive to Zayn. At least, from what I’ve observed while they’ve been here. The boy, West, I think, is his name, more so than the other partner, Nova. They’re feminine in appearance, but disnae identify that way if what I’ve heard is true. Both are gorgeous, but nae my type.

“Tavish?”

Zayn’s voice pulls my gaze back to him and Tavish. Tavish spins in his chair toward his monitors and responds to Zayn while glancing back over his shoulder at me.

“It’s worse than we thought,” he says.

Zayn asks, “What do you mean?” and Tavish waves at a screen before him.

“Wait. That’s us,” Nova says. The breathiness o’ her voice whispers out over us all.

Tavish does his thing and images fill the screens that surround him. My hair stands on end as if trying to find the culprit that’s set me on edge. It isnae just Nova and West. There is information and photos o’ several Society members. Most o’ whom are in this room.

Including Tavish.

I only half pay attention as Zayn asks if he’s told Everly yet.

“Not yet, just about to,” Tavish replies. Disappointment plagues me, yet I know I’ve nae right.

I grip his shoulder and ask, “Tavish, is that yer name up there?”

Why I asked, I dinnae ken. I can read it for myself clearly. Maybe it was hope. Maybe it was disbelief. His head bounces up and down in time with his throat as he gulps.

Spinning on my heel, I storm from the room as if the hounds o’ hell are chasing me. Tavish’s words echo in my mind.

It’s worse than we thought.

It’s worse than we thought.

It’s worse than we thought.

It’s worse than we thought.

They kenned what was lurking out there and they kenned it was bad. Just nae this bad.

How bad is worse than we thought?

Whatever it may be, however bad it is, disnae matter. The look on the lad’s face when he dropped his fork told me all I needed to ken. Whatever was coming for him, for all o’ them, was enough to make all the color drain from the boy.

What I dinnae ken is why the lad hadnae confided in me about what they are facing.

Why would he confide in me about things when I made it clear I wanted nothing from him but sex and kink?

Did he believe I wouldnae care? I told him before we began, I would protect him. That he was mine, just nae mine in any way other than our dynamic.

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