Page 85 of Hunted Obsession

Listening to him, I nod because he’s right on point. All the people who contract for us in any capacity have working files. I know he wasn’t looking for anything bad; he’s just doing a workup on her.

“Did you call this meeting because you found something?” I ask.

Merrick clears his throat as he shifts uncomfortably in his seat, and that’s when I know he has, indeed, found something, and it must be big because he appears to be supremely uncomfortable.

“Tell me,” I demand.

Balling my fists at my side, I widen my stance, thankful I haven’t sat down yet. I wouldn’t have been able to stay seated for very long. Pressing my lips together, I wait for him to speak,wondering if I'm going to have to get into a fight with one of my best friends in the whole world.

“It took a lot of digging, but something always bothered me about her being on the dark web and how she got hooked up with that. I didn’t find out the how, but I did discover something on there that caused me to pause and dig a bit deeper.”

I inhale a deep breath and hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly. I’m not sure if I should be pissed off or not.

“If you don’t fucking tell me right goddamn now, I’m going to punch you in the face. My fucking wedding is tomorrow.”

My tone is harsh. I know it is, but I need to know whatever it is he found before I say my vows. If she’s fucked me over, then I need to know. Although I’m not sure why I care that much. I’ve owned her for over a month—and loved her for a decade. It’s not like she’s going anywhere anyway.

“Lucille isn’t just on the dark web. She put herself up for a hit or purchase.”

His words start out strong, but by the time he gets to the end of his revelation, I hear nothing but white noise. There is no way that Vaughn just said what I think he did. Shock doesn’t begin to describe how I feel at this moment. I’m finding it hard to breathe, let alone think.

Opening my mouth, I think about asking him to repeat himself but then decide not to. Snapping my lips closed, I bite the inside of my cheek to keep from saying something that I’m going to regret. I inhale through my nose, let my breath out of my mouth, then jerk my chin toward him.

“You’re certain it was her?” I ask.

Vaughn hums. “I’m certain it was her.”

I’m not sure what to say about any of that. I want to find Lucille right fucking now and have a conversation with her. A long conversation. I want to fucking know what the goddamn fuck she was thinking.

“Lucille’s in your office,” Hale mutters.

Without another word, I spin around and march out of the room, heading straight for my office. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I get there. Reaching for the door, I push it open and move into the space, slamming it behind me. Then I jerk my chin up and look down my nose at her.

Lucille is sitting on the edge of my desk, her arms behind her, gripping the edge. When the door slams, she lifts her head, and her eyes find mine.

“Theron,” she whispers.

Shaking my head once, I watch as she snaps her lips closed, no doubt feeling my energy, which is not to be fucked with right now. Standing in front of the closed door, I cross my arms over my chest and press my lips together, exhaling a deep breath before I speak.

“You want to start talking?” I ask.

She doesn’t say a word. Instead, she pushes off the desk and turns toward me but doesn’t make a move in my direction. She begins to strip out of her clothes. As pissed as I am, what I don’t do is tell her to stop.

When Lucille is completely naked, she hops back on my desk and crosses her legs. “Is this your way of telling me that you don’t want to talk to me?” I ask.

She shrugs her shoulder, then clears her throat slightly. “I’ll talk to you,” she says, but I don’t believe her.

“Want to tell me how you ended up putting yourself on the sale, kill, or trade black market?” I ask.

To her credit, Lucille doesn’t seem the least bit surprised that I know. When she slowly lifts her gaze to meet mine, I see that she isn’t just unsurprised. She has something of her own to add.

“And you know this because you bought me, right?” she asks.

Color me fucking shocked. “When did you figure it out?” I take a step closer to her, trying to keep from reaching for her,picking her up, and fucking her against the edge of the table… I still might do just that.

“About the time the transaction went through.”

My lips twitch into a smirk. “You took two million dollars from me without a fucking word,” I say.

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