Page 177 of Tangled in Knots

Paula’s eyes go wide before they slowly fade of life, and I feel nothing but the overwhelming feeling of hatred and disgust.

“Now tell me the rest, Adira,” Aisling snarls.

I explain what happened, how I found my sheets, and the way Paula tried to kidnap me in broad daylight.

“The gel is really strong,” she admits. “It used to clog my sinuses all the time, I simply got acclimated to being scent blind. I’m glad you caught her scent, who knows how much worse this could have gotten. Thank you for protecting these girls, Adira. We accepted someone we shouldn’t have, and?—”

“Paula conned you,” I interrupt her. “You didn’t fail anyone, and I won’t hear those words cross your lips. Don’t even think it. Emilia really has it out for this place.”

“I’m sure she’d leak that I allowed this to happen,” Aisling sighs, pulling out her phone. “If I call the guys, they’ll lose their minds.”

“So Cian?” I ask knowingly, sending Damon a soothing message down our bond. I can feel his worry, because I was so mad, I’m vibrating with it.

I’m fine. I’ll call you in a few minutes.

“Cian will send Evan,” Aisling groans. “I’ll text them both.”

“I love that murder is a text,” I tease her, glancing at the dead girl on the ground. “How does Emilia get people to do this?”

“You tell me,” Aisling says, texting one handed due to the blood on her other hand. “I haven’t heard her podcasts, but all the propaganda on the walls of ROWS headquarters, and the way they speak there gives me an idea.”

Remembering how eloquently and fervently Emilia speaks on the podcasts, I sigh.

“Yeah, she has a way of getting people to see her side of things. I’m glad it was me and not someone else. This could have been worse,” I mutter.

“Evan is coming,” Aisling announces, tucking her phone away. “I’m so sorry. She may have been the person getting into people’s rooms, maybe to collect personal information. I’ll have Evan take the gun too. I don’t want that in here.”

“I want to kill her again for bringing one in here," I say. “Are you going to change your intake process?”

“We have to,”Aisling says. “This can’t happen again.”

“I want to start these podcasts as soon as possible,” I tell Duncan while on the phone with him. “The fact that Emilia brainwashed someone into thinking it was acceptable to lie to everyone here with the end goal of kidnapping someone for her is too much.”

It’s been a couple of hours since everything happened, and I’m now showered, clean, and in pajamas.

“Aye,”Duncan grunts. I told him all about what happened, and apparently Evan is disposing of her body at a local pig farm. He was pissed off that this happened. I’m sore, but I have clean sheets so I’ll live. “Classes are over for the weekend, you’re done with exams, yeah?”

“I am. I don’t know what to do with myself. I have too much time on my hands and my body hurts,” I admit. “I’mat the shelter because I need a space that feels like mine. I’m traumatized that Paula masturbated in my sheets. I was going to nap when I smelled her, Duncan.”

“Fucking gross. Yeah, no. The guys know you’re safe, and we have to attend to a small issue,” he says.

“Is Rock still blowing up your phone?” I ask. “Does he want to see me or something?”

The very idea makes me gaze down at the now clean knife. I don’t want to see him, but I also need to ensure I don’t blow our ruse that the Kelly brothers are using me as they said they would.

I hate this system so much, and wish I could simply blow up the entire thing the way Kane blows up buildings. Unfortunately, auction houses are a dime a dozen, a new one will pop up as soon as another is closed down.

“Yeah, Short Stuff. He wants to do it tonight, I can’t keep him away anymore,”Duncan laments.

“What are you going to tell him about my face and arm?” I ask.

“I’ll say you needed an attitude adjustment,”he says distastefully.“I can’t even say that without my stomach twisting. I can’t imagine hurting you, Adira. I’m in the city right now, I’ll pick you up in an hour, okay?”

“Yeah,” I mutter. “I’ll await my jailer.”

“Adira,”Duncan complains, but I hang up, depressed.

My phone buzzes again, and I almost send it to voicemail when I see it’s Kane.

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