Page 97 of Savage

I can’t help the small snort. “Maybe you can get a throw pillow in black. Or a gray blanket for the couch,” I tease him. “A purple candle. It’s a slippery slope, though. Next thing you know, you’ll have a pink live-laugh-love sign on the wall.”

Hunter shudders. “Those are an abomination. Holly put them all over Jacob’s house.” He stops to look at the living room, then shakes his head. “Let’s finish up here so we can shower and turn in for the night.”

I nod, helping him straighten up the dining room in companionable silence. It feels… good, and tiny butterflies rise in my stomach as I think about bathing with him and cuddling close in bed.

Things are looking up.

CHAPTER 25

Hunter

There’s a distinctly different vibe between a strip club like Ntimacy and one like Club Ruby’s. At Ntimacy, I always watch where I step, and it almost always feels like my shoes are sticking to the floor. The women there are sadder, more desperate, and always look emaciated or drugged up. The alcohol they serve might as well be piss, and even the music they dance to feels lower class.

Club Ruby’s caters to a wealthier crowd, with cocktails and fine wine, special effects on the stage, and dancers who glow under the attention.

I used to enjoy watching the performances, but I’m bored enough that I’m just browsing my phone, now.

Chase and Drake are watching the stage with rapt attention, though, each of them ready to toss the women a few hundred dollars. It’s not until the dancer on stage finishes and there’s a lull between performances that Chase elbows me.

“Seriously? What’s so interesting on your phone?” Chase asks. “Got pics of your girl?”

I do have the video feed, which I check occasionally to see what Stef is up to. She’s being a good girl and following my orders, and watching her usually settles some of the annoyance and anger in me.

It won’t help today. “The blackmailer got in touch again,” I say, not bothering to lower my voice. Nobody else is going to be able to hear us with the music going.

Drake grimaces. “Well, we figured he would. Has the fucker gotten to the point yet, or is he still sending you that cryptic bullshit?”

I pass my phone to Drake. He reads the message I have open, and his eyebrows rise.

Transfer $50k in bitcoin to this wallet. if u don’t, the whole world will know what kind of fun u get up to and what kind of girl Stef is.

“This guy’s an idiot,” Drake says.

Chase leans closer and laughs. “Bitcoin? Seriously? The funds are going to be worth less by the time the transfer even goes through.” He opens his briefcase and pulls his tablet out. “That’ll help us get closer to the identity though. Bitcoin has basically no privacy. Your techies can track it, right, Drake?”

Drake nods without hesitation. “Yeah. It’s a fucking security nightmare. I’ll get this info to the tech guys; I’d say we’ll know who’s behind these emails in a few days.”

I didn’t realize I was stressed about the emails, but my muscles loosen, and I feel like I can breathe again. “Thanks. Can I email back and tell whoever it is to fuck off?”

“Probably not recommended, but… you’re going to do it anyway, aren’t you?” Chase asks. He taps on his tablet and opens up a text file. “By the way, I did the digging you asked on Stef. She didn’t lie about her name. Isabela Diaz, age 23. Her parents are immigrants, but she was born here. Never left the state, grew up in New Bristol. It looks like she never finished high school though. She dropped out in her final year, and we weren’t able to figure out why she left home.”

I almost snap at Chase, until I realize that I did ask him to find out more about Stef right after her suicide attempt. I didn’t want any other surprises about her.

“Thanks.” I have to grit out the words. “You don’t need to investigate her further.”

She’s mine. Nobody else needs to know this much about her.

Chase seems to realize my change in mood. He closes the file and smirks at me. “What? Is there something Drake and I should know about your girl?”

“Hunter’s in looooove,” Drake says like we’re teenagers all over again. “And this time, he can’t scare the girl away by being a fucking controlling asshole.”

“I can’t scare her away because I own her,” I hiss at them. “She’s not leaving.”

“I don’t think you have a legally binding contract,” Chase points out, full of amusement. “Last I checked, owning a human is against the law.” His eyes turn darker. “Fucking shame though. When I think about what I’d do to… well, never mind.”

Drake nods in agreement. “I’ve actually started thinking about what I’d do to someone who couldn’t say no.” He laughs. “You’re a bad influence, Hunter.”

There’s a reason the three of us are friends. I know for a fact that the two of them have kinks that are as unethical as my own.

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