Page 71 of Hunted Obsession

Closing the distance between us, I place my palm on the center of his back. “A million different things that you probably won’t even reply to, so what’s the point?” I murmur.

He snorts, his body jumping slightly. He doesn’t turn around to face me; he doesn’t say a single word. Instead, he stays where he is, solemnly looking out of the window, likely seeing nothing at all. He is, without a doubt, lost inside of his own head.

My breath hitches a moment later when I hear a knock at the door. Theron’s spine straightens, and without skipping a beat, he walks away from me and heads straight toward the door.

I stay where I am, dressed in leggings and a T-shirt but bra and pantyless as I watch him. He leans forward to check the peephole, then wrenches the door open. I watch as he steps to the side, and not only Vaughn but also the rest of the men walk through the door.

The living room is filled with five tall, buff, and hot men. All of them I know from the past, all of them I’ve missed tremendously. Sucking in a breath, I flick my gaze from one to the other, and I can tell by the expressions they wear that they are not in a mood to smile at all whatsoever.

Taking a step backward, I slowly disappear down the hallway to give them some privacy, but I’m nosey as hell, and I don’t go far. Pressing my back against the wall, I turn my head and strain to listen to the conversation between the men.

“I fucked up,” Theron announces. “I lost control.”

The silence is almost deafening, and I wonder if they’re all angry with him. I still have a lot of questions about how he could have killed Emmie and why exactly. I know what I heard, so I can piece enough together, but at the same time, he just shot her right there with no remorse. No nothing.

Killed.

Dead.

Just gone.

This man should have me ready to run for the hills and go into hiding. But he doesn’t. I don’t care. I want him to wrap me in his arms, kiss me, fuck me, and keep me forever. Until the day I die, he is and always has been who I choose. No matter how absolutely petrified I am by him.

THERON

My brothers stare at me,none of them speaking. I feel like an absolute piece of shit over this. I want to take it all back, but at the same time, I don’t because those boys didn’t deserve what was about to happen to them.

Hale takes a step toward me, then another. He wraps his arms around me, his fist pounding on my back before he speaks, his mouth near my ear. “You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You did the right thing.”

He takes a step back, and Grayson moves forward but doesn’t hug me. Instead, he dips his chin slightly, his eyes looking up to meet mine.

“We would have all done the same, Theron. Every single one of us. You held back a lot fucking longer than any of us could have.”

I’m still angry at myself for allowing my body to take control of my mind. I spent far too much fucking time on this to allowthat shit to happen, and I just went ahead and did it anyway. Zero control over myself. And that is something I can’t allow to ever happen again.

“Doesn’t make it right,” I mutter.

They all shake their heads a couple of times and then find a place to sit in the living room. Something else is going on, though, because they all seem on edge. Whatever it is, I have a feeling that I’m not going to like it. The vibes in the room, the seriousness they are putting off, is thick as it swirls around me.

“What are you going to tell me that I’m not going to like?” I ask, almost demanding to know the fucking answer right now.

Their gazes flick between one another, then shift back to meet my own. It’s surprisingly Boden who speaks first. He clears his throat and leans forward, placing his elbows on his thighs, his gaze connecting with mine before he lets out a heavy sigh.

“We have found nothing about Ravet. Going through the office, searching through their cell phones. We have nothing. Absolutely fucking nothing.”

“The boys?” I ask, hating that I have to ask that at all.

“They know nothing,” Grayson says. “They were exactly what Emmie claimed. No families, with nobody who really gives a shit about them in general. Sold into a system meant to use and abuse them the same way we were.”

“What did you do with them?” I demand.

It’s not an ask. I fucking demand to know where the hell these kids are. It’s obvious we can’t send them back to where they came from. They’ll just be pawns for another ring just like this one.

Boden and Grayson shift their gazes back and forth between one another. Grayson stands, then walks over to the window to look out. He’s likely seeing nothing, lost in his thoughts, in the thoughts that are much like mine since I started—memories.

“I sent them to the boarding school in Pennsylvania. They will all get an education there and be safe,” Grayson murmurs.

“There was no way they could go into a group home here or anywhere near here. I also have a contact there, and they will keep in touch with their progress, but this shit can’t happen again. I only have so much pull there.”

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