Page 71 of Crossfire

I guided him through the living room, around the corner, down the hallway, and into the back bedroom.

The dim glow of a night-light softly illuminated Ivy lying on the bed with her hands bound behind her back, duct tape over her mouth, and her ankles tied together so she couldn’t kick me any more than she already had.

The girl loved to kick.

“Jesus, Grayson, what the fuck?” Hunter snapped.

Ivy’s eyes widened as she stared up at two men hovering over her.

Funny, how quickly she could go from looking like a seasoned predator capable of cutting my balls off to a wide-eyed, innocent prey.

“No questions,” I reminded him, grateful he’dheeded my warning by altering his voice.

“Pretty convenient to make me promise thatbeforeyou showed me this.” Hunter motioned toward her.

The air in the room felt unnaturally cool, a chill that seeped into my bones, mirroring the icy knot of tension between us.

“We don’t have much time,” I stressed, running a hand through my hair. “We have to hurry.”

“Please tell me you’re not some kind of serial rapist or something?” Hunter’s voice was laced with anger.

I tried to murder him with my glare. “You know me better than that,” I scoffed.

“You have a girl tied up on a bed. It’s a reasonable question, given the circumstances.”

“If I was a rapist, you think I would call you at three in the morning to do, what, join me?” I snapped back, my patience wearing thin.

My brother’s jaw clenched. I could imagine the millions of questions in his head and how much he was probably regretting coming here right now. But what choice did he have? After everything I had done for him, he owed me. Big time.

“Grayson, I always suspected you were into some dark shit,” Hunter spat, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “But nothing like this.”

I rolled my eyes. Did he seriously think I was a sexual predator? How insulting.

His voice dropped to a dangerous growl as he said, “At least tell me you’re not involved in human trafficking or something.”

“It’s nothing like that,” I snapped back. “This is the last time I’ll say it. No more questions. I need your help, so will you give it to me or not?”

Hunter looked at Ivy for several long seconds, then swept his focus back to me.

“What the hell do you want me to do?” His tone was a mixture of apprehension and irritation.

Finally.

“I need you to watch her. Make sure she doesn’t escape.”

“What?” Hunter clenched his teeth.

“I have to go meet someone and find out what is going on, but I can’t leave her alone, or she’ll escape.”

“You want me to hold her hostage.” Annoyance, anger, and shock all wove through his words.

“I need you to take us to my place. I can’t risk anyone showing up here while she’sconfined. And I need you to stay there with her, make sure she doesn’t escape, until I get back from my meeting.”

Hunter’s lips thinned as he shook his head angrily. “I swear to hell, Grayson, if you?—”

“We need to hurry.”

Hunter stared at me, and then he put his hands on his hips and looked down at Ivy’s seemingly innocent face as she stared up at him with this expression of fear, mixed with hope.

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