Page 21 of King of Ruin

Note to self, as attached to my house as I am, get tired enough and you can adjust to a new place.

He leads me to the bed and helps me sit. “Feel free to lay down, sweetheart. I will be right back.”

And then he’s gone. I do as he says. I lay back, my head settling on the pillow, and I close my eyes. Is that stupid? Maybe. But if these men want to hurt me, there isn’t much I’m doing to stop it regardless.

I won’t see it coming.

“Oh Maddie,” I whisper to the room. “What have you done?”

CHAPTER SEVEN

Roman

I turn on the sink,running some water to mask our voices. “Keep your voices down. She’s visioned impaired but her hearing seems to be excellent.”

Mason raises his brows. “What secrets do we need to keep from her?”

I frown, disliking the words I’m about to say. But I’m searching for the advantages here. And I owe Mason solutions after all he’s done for me. “As far as I can tell, she hasn’t realized we’re the Kincaids.”

“Fuck,” Leo rumbles.

But Mason only lifts his brows. “What does she think you and Luke were doing?”

“Pissing on her wall.”

Mason scrubs a hand over his jaw as he considers my words. “And did you knock on her door after you were shot?”

“No, she came out when she heard me. She takes in wounded creatures…”

“Fuck,” Leo repeats.

“It’s an interesting opportunity,” Mason scowls as Leo.

“The woman helped our brother,” Leo spits, stepping up to Mason. “I can see the look in your eyes and I don’t like it. Don’t tell me you’re going to screw her over.”

“I’m going to find our cousin,” Mason rumbles back, his shoulders pulling straighter.

“Don’t start, either of you.” I give both of them a push on the shoulder. Oil and water these two.

Mason recovers first. “Her tip was a good one. Hearing the trunk.”

That makes me focus. Did Mason discover something that will help us locate Luke? “You find anything?”

“Yeah…” Mason winces. “Blood.”

“Fuck.” It’s what I was afraid of.

“Any chance Luke had a weapon on him?” Leo asks.

I shake my head. “No. We just went there to look at the size of the property that had been flagged by the inspector. Try to figure out why Maddie is so resistant to sell. We didn’t think anyone…”

Leo lets out a frustrated rumble. He’s right. It was stupid and reckless.

Mason glares at me. I get it. I’m supposed to know better. Do better. Mason would never make a mistake like that. “So Luke was loaded into the trunk of the Vendetti’s car with no weapon, after being shot.”

“That’s about the gist of it.”

“Was he wearing a vest like you?” Mason is going through all the details now.

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