Page 55 of His Captive Pet

“Addison, I’m not doing this now. You either sit down and let us all talk, or you can stand in the fucking corner with your ass lighting up the room. You choose.” Trevor’s voice practically shook the room. Aubree fisted her hands in her lap. She knew that tone. Blake had the same tone, and nothing pleasant came afterward.

“Oh, for Christ’s sake, Trevor. Fine.” Addison, the blonde, spun away from him and stalked off to the couch, but not before he got a good crack at her ass. She yelped but didn’t look back at him, instead Aubree saw her raise her chin and fist her own hands. A smart girl not to continue their argument, but no pushover, either.

Devin nodded at Kara and she moved to the couch as well, sitting down next to Addison.

“Trevor, did you get a chance to look into the name I gave you?” Blake asked, pushing through the tension sitting in the room.

“Yeah. He’s as clean as they come. I’m surprised you would even doubt him.” Trevor sat on the arm of the couch next to Addison, leaning his elbow against the couch behind her.

“Just looking at all the angles.”

“He’s good. A solid cop. But he’s going up against Pecadores who have dirty officers in their ranks. He’s not going to win the war.”

“I’m just trying to minimize the casualties of this particular battle.” Blake ran his hand down Aubree’s head, tugging the ends of her hair before releasing her.

“We could probably just ride it out. Right? I mean, how long can Jorge really look for me? I’m sure he has bigger problems.”

“Oh, I’m sure he does. But you see, you infiltrated his fights. He’s figured out by now you saved those dogs. Dogs he thought were dead. It’s not just that he thinks you had anything to do with the raid. But you stole from him, and he’s not going to let that go,” Devin said.

“Stole from him? He doesn’t care about the dogs.” Anyone who cared at all about those animals couldn’t have starved them, beat them, fought them the way Jorge did.

“He cares about making money off of them. Every one of them you rescued had to be replaced, trained. That takes money and time. We need to figure out a way to get him off your ass.”

“Can’t we just pay him for the dogs?” Kara asked. “I mean if it’s money, let’s just pay him, and he can leave her alone.”

“I won’t let him keep fighting those dogs,” Aubree piped in. Aside from the fact everyone in the room was there to decide her future, they were ultimately deciding whether or not to allow those fights to continue.

“You can’t stop him, sweetheart.”

“So, just because I can’t stop him, I shouldn’t try? I shouldn’t try to save at least one dog?” She pushed off the chair and walked to the other side of the room. She could feel everyone watching her, feel the tension build again, but she wouldn’t just sit by and let other people dictate what happened.

“That’s not what anyone’s saying. We’ll find another way to shut it down, but going back before we have a real plan will just get you hurt,” Blake said. He wasn’t moving toward her. The distance she put between them in the room remained and suddenly felt too large.

“How? What other way? Getting the dogs out is the only way. I bet the raid didn’t even stop them. I bet they just started up somewhere else.”

“And getting you back into the fights is impossible. They know you, they’ll never let you back in,” Trevor added.

“But they don’t know us,” Kara spoke up. “I mean, that might solve both problems.”

Devin’s eyes narrowed to the point Aubree thought he might have closed them altogether.

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t just suggest you go back to Chicago. For the second time today. Because you know that can’t and won’t happen.” Until then, Aubree had thought Blake held the award for most deceptively calm voice. It seemed he held a firm tie with Devin.

“Enough time has passed, Devin.” Addison spoke up.

“There isn’t enough time. You are never going back to Chicago and neither is my wife. Do you both understand?”

Aubree watched the two women being stared down by the towering Devin with not a drop of fear in their expressions.

“Addison. I think we need to go. You said you needed to stop at the store on the way home.” Trevor had moved to the entranceway and was crooking his finger at Addison.

“Is that what’s going to happen here, Blake? Are you going to lock me away here like these two did to the girls?”

“No, we’ll find a way to get back home.” His gaze warned her to drop the subject.

His assurance didn’t come with a guarantee, however, and too much stood at stake to take anything less. But it wasn’t time to argue with him; she would pick up the topic later.

“How? You think Los Pecadores are going to let up because you say so? Devin had to trade my freedom in order to keep me safe. Trevor had to do the same thing for Addison. She’s right. If she doesn’t go back to fight this battle, she’ll be stuck here, too.” Kara walked past Devin and out of the room, her husband’s glare heating up the room in her wake.

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