Page 42 of Hunted Obsession

Why doesn’t that surprise me?

It should, but it doesn’t.

Those two are freaking weirdos.

Sucking in a breath, I turn away from them and press my back against the wall. I shift my gaze from left to right because I don’t know which direction they went, and I don’t think I should be on the search for them, but I’ve never been one to just do what’s expected of me.

I take the direction that speaks to me and move. Thankfully, my gut is right, and when I reach the end of the dark hall, I see a small door to the left. If I weren’t looking for anything, I wouldn’t see it. The door is that small and painted the same color as the hallway.

Reaching for the handle, I suck in a breath and hold it for a moment before I twist and gently tug it open. I’m surprised, but then again, maybe not so much that there’s a narrow staircase just a few steps past the doorway.

Slowly, I make my way onto the stairs, closing the door behind me. I don’t know what I’m going to find as I move down the staircase. I’m afraid of what I’m going to come across, but at the same time, I must know.

It’s a burning sensation deep inside of me. Nobody ever said that I was smart, but I am too curious for my own damn good. So I continue to move down the staircase and stop at the bottom.

There is another door.

Reaching out, I place my hand against it and push it open. This one doesn’t have a handle. It’s a swinging door. Bending slightly, I peek my head through, looking from left to right for any sign of anything fishy.

But there is nothing—eerily nothing.

Where did they go?

It’s also quiet down here. You can’t even hear the bass of the music from above. It’s just… nothing. Pressing my lips together, I roll them a few times, and then my entire body freezes when I hear something.

Chapter Nineteen

THERON

Victor moves through the club,making his way to the hallway, then turns and continues. I watch as he walks toward the end, and I think he’s gone to a dead end, which makes me feel completely uneasy. But when he turns sharply, opens a door, and then vanishes, I find myself intrigued.

Asher lifts his hand, motioning for me to follow behind him. I can’t help but wonder why Charlie didn’t join us on this trip, but I don’t say anything. Instead, I quietly follow both of these assholes and hope that my communications with Hale stay connected as we walk down the staircase and make our way to a basement.

I looked at the plans for this building when I drew up the contract for the surveillance estimate and confirmation. Nothing ever mentioned a basement. Which means this is where they’re conducting theirbusiness.

Nobody even knows this fucking place exists. Which is the perfect way to run an illegal human trafficking ring, or whateverit is these assholes are doing. There is another door, and Victor opens that one and waltzes through there as well.

Asher follows, and in turn, so do I. This whole thing is currently against my better judgment, but I’m not going to fight it. There’s no sense in it. So I follow behind and hope that I make it out of all of this alive.

At this point, I’m not sure if I will.

When I walk through the door, Victor and Asher are standing in the middle of an empty room. Glancing around quickly, I realize that we’re alone. Just the three of us. I don’t know what is happening here, but I also don’t ask.

“Asher says you can be trusted,” Victor says, finally speaking for the first time this evening.

I don’t know why Asher thinks I can be trusted. I clearly cannot. And when it comes to what I am fairly certain they are doing, I will never be trusted. Not when it comes to that shit.

But I don’t tell Victor any of that because I want to keep my fucking head tonight. Instead, I jerk my chin toward him slightly. He smiles, and his lips curve up slowly. I recognize that evil smile. I don’t remember when or how, but I do, and that is downright terrifying.

“The things that happen here, they should never be repeated. You will be recorded as insurance.”

Interesting. “Recorded?” I turn my attention to Asher. He winces, then nods once.

Recorded, but it wasn’t my company who put the equipment here because Merrick would have said something. He would have made this part of the building very clear before we did anything.

“We have a different system down here. A little more simplistic and old school than what we have upstairs,” he says.

That is the only explanation I receive. I also don’t ask any details, mostly because I don’t give a fuck. If it were up to me, allof this would have already been burned to the ground. But since I can’t pop off and do whatever the fuck I want, I decide to just… smile.

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