Page 125 of Nest Of Lies

In minutes, Valen, Ianto, Ranger, and Mills are spread out around me. A few moments after that, Lia comes out.

She sees Anderson and Bailey and smiles, it’s a tense, uncertain smile, but when Anderson spreads his arms and calls her Lili, she pushes past us. I watch, grinding my molars as she throws herself into their arms.

And I can’t bring myself to stop this shit show because above everything Lia deserves a family, and he might be the only one she’s got.

I shudder with the urge to keep from killing these arrogant pricks and wait.

“Are you happy?” He has the audacity to ask.

She nods her head. “I am. So happy.”

“I’m sorry, I think. Fuck. I believe I was misled about your situation. I’m man enough to say I was wrong.” Anderson is looking at me when he speaks, one president to another.

“What do you mean?” Lia asks and steps back warily. Ranger pulls her into his arms, and she turns into his embrace, relaxing.

“Your mother came to me a few months ago. She said that they,” Anderson’s eyes flicker across my pack, “were using synthetic drugs to keep you here. Blackmail, extortion. That she tried to get you out but wasn’t able to, and she needed my help.”

Lia gasps and pulls back. “They would never do that to me.”

“I realised that after Bailey let you and your friend go. He explained to me what he’d seen and how careful he was with you. The doctors told me you had no drugs in your system and no signs of abuse. Bailey said you were going into heat?”

“Yes, she did. She’s a switch.”

Andy looks at Bailey for a second, and I wonder what that means.

Lia glances back at Ranger, and that tiny smile is everything. Lia is ours. She might love Anderson and long for a relationship with Bailey, but she’s ours first and always.

“Wait,” I say and step closer. “Did China contact you recently?”

“Yes, a few weeks ago, she got desperate and said you were planning on turning her into your whore,” Anderson says.

I seethe.

I glance at Lia, and then back at Anderson.

“I’m done fucking around with this bitch.” I storm away from them, heading straight for the Raines’ mansion.

“What are you going to do?” Lia shouts and grabs my arm. I whirl on her, grabbing her shoulders and giving her a small shake.

“Lia, she needs to be stopped, the next time she might kill you,” I say to her.

She glances past me, but that’s all I need to spring past her. I jog up the steps of the Raines mansion, but when I go to knock on the door, I find it open.

I push it open, and then pull my gun out and walk slowly into the mansion.

I can hear a strange sound coming from deeper inside, but I don’t know what it is.

“Lia, stay behind me.”

She glances at me and nods.

Ianto and Valen fan out, moving from room to room, giving me nods when we find it clear.

Out of the corner of my eye, I find Anderson and Bailey advancing through the mansion with me.

The huge dining room doors that I broke are fixed. I reach out, glance at the others, and when I get nods, I squeeze the handle down and push the door open.

My mouth parts. I walk inside, shocked. The walls are black with scrawling charcoal. The carpets are filthy. There is a pile of trash and the stench of human feces.

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