Page 41 of Fractured Heart

“We leave in the morning. Find ten guys to remain behind so our guests don’t get lonely. I want them all worked every hour on the hour while we are gone.” Karl’s eyes widen, bringing a smile to my face. “Do you need a reminder about looking at me?” He quickly darts his gaze away earning a chuckle from me, how the mighty have fallen.

“I’ll hand pick them myself, Doxy. Are they allowed to embrace their darker desires?”

“The darker the better, they have free reign so long as they don’t kill them,” I say firmly. I refuse to allow them to die after only two weeks, they will suffer for as long as I say.

“Yes, Doxy.”

Trevante

Being here in Knox’s house is not how I pictured spending the past two weeks. Oh, we are not guests. Xander and I have been strapped to chairs in the basement and treated as if we are traitors. We haven’t been tortured but Knox has come down here and knocked us around a few times but never utter a word. Xander says he is just working out his frustrations with us because we have both fallen for her. If the bastard would ungag me, then I would give him a piece of my fucking mind!

“You’re here.” I snap my head to see a woman standing in the corner of the room shrouded in the shadows. She steps forward and I immediately know who she is. Lakeland Bronson. Her brown hair is loose and flows around her shoulders, her green eyes are locked onto Xander who stares straight back at her with a guilt-ridden look which has me frowning. She moves with purpose as she comes toward us, stopping in the middle of him and I. She looks between Xander and me and purses her lips for a second before reaching out and yanking the cloths from our mouths.

I suck in a long pull of air. “Thanks,” I rasp out.

“What he said,” Xander mutters bitterly, turning away from Lakeland who doesn’t seem bothered by his reaction.

She purses her lips and turns back to me, offering a kind smile which I return. “You’re the one who called?”

“Yes,” I answer.

“Why?” Her question stumps me.

“Because I knew you would come,” Xander answers for me, still not looking our way.

“What made you think that?” she counters. He slowly turns his head and lifts his gaze to hers.

“You said you would know if she was dead, you would have felt it. I knew you would send him because it was the only lead you have had since she went missing.” Lakeland’s eyes fill with sadness but I also see hope lurking in the depths of them.

“Xander, is she really…” She clamps her mouth closed, unable to finish her sentence.

“Yeah. She’s alive, Lake.” A whimper escapes her before a smile graces her beautiful face.

“I knew it. I told him for years that I would have felt it if she was gone. I knew my soul didn’t shatter for a reason because she is still alive.” She moves briskly toward the wall and grabs a box cutter. I tense in anticipation and begin to worry that she may share a crazy streak like Doxy until she begins cutting away the duct tape and freeing us from our confines.

“He’s going to be pissed, Lake,” Xander warns. Lakeland’s features harden as she stares up at my friend.

“I’ll deal with my husband how I see fit, now you take him and clean up. I won't have you meeting your nephews looking like you crawled out of a donkey’s ass.” I choke on my own spit. “I have clothes and everything else laid out in the guest room for him, you know where your room is.” Xander recoils.

“I still have a room?” he mumbles.

Her eyes soften as she reaches out and grabs his hand giving it a squeeze. “You and I may have a fucked-up past, Xander, but that is where it will stay because my best friend loves you and I will not allow anything to come between her and me when she comes home. I’ve had years to process and come to terms with that night, I’m at peace with it.” Xander eyes her with a look of awe.

“What about Knox?” She scrunches her face at his question.

“He’s uh, working on it.” Xander’s face falls so she quickly rushes to add. “Give him time, Xan, he needs you as much as I need Wave. If he really hated you he would never have named his son after you.” With those parting words, she leaves us standing here in Knox’s torture basement, slightly battered and slightly bruised but nothing serious. At least Xander’s eye is open now and he is starting to heal.

“Let’s go, Knox will be back soon.”

“How do you know he isn’t here?” I ask as I follow after him.

“There is no way in hell he would have let Lake come down here if he was home, she is playing him at his own game and winning.”

“What game?” I ask confused and exasperated.

“The game where he comes home to find us washed, clothed, fed and sitting on the mat in his office playing with his sons. Knox wouldn’t dare raise his voice while his boys are around because his mother and Lake would beat the brakes off his ass.”

These people are fucking weird!

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