Page 21 of Butcher

Counting in my head, I gave her just enough time to pee, then I barged into the bathroom and hauled her back out into my room again. I let her go just long enough to grab the cuffs, and had my hands on her before she could react. Spinning her, I shoved her against the wall, blanketing her back with my body. “Who do you work for?”

She snapped, “I already told you I can’t tell you that.”

“Because you won’t, or because you don’t know?” She was tricky, well-trained. Unlike the last man.

“I don’t know who hired me,” she admitted.

I didn’t bother to mention that we already had Randal’s name. That was what church was about this morning. As tempting as herbody was, I needed to meet the others downstairs soon. I grabbed her by the hips, my fingers involuntarily flexing, then turned her so she was facing me. Grabbing her wrists in one hand, I made quick work of handcuffing her in front. She seemed too shell-shocked by my handling of her to try to fight.

She wasn’t a tiny woman. She was tall, and toned, and fuck did I like every inch of her. Once she wasn’t so surprised by whatever this was between us, she wasn’t going to be as easy to manipulate. I was looking forward to it, but I was grateful for her compliance now. The guys were already getting a kick out of me showing more interest in a woman than just sex, the last thing I needed was to keep them waiting while I wrestled with her. Not to mention then I’d end up following through on today’s plan with a hard cock.

I walked her over to the chair, then used the rope to tie her back up, wrapping it around her torso and legs, but leaving her hands in front so she didn’t lose blood flow. I wasn’t sure how long I’d be gone today. I didn’t want anything to happen to her while I was out.

Her eyes tracked me around the room as I got ready to go. “What are you doing?”

“Have something to take care of,” I replied, shooting her a grin.

“You’re not seriously leaving me tied up here again?”

“Yup.”

Her huff of indignation was loud in the room, but I ignored it. I walked over, put my hands on her thighs as I leaned over and shoved my face into hers. I gripped her thighs hard, a warning, and a pleasure for me. “Behave today, Isla.”

She frowned at me but didn’t respond.

Shutting the door behind me as I left the room, I crossed the hallway and knocked on another apartment. I crossed my arms over my chest, as though that could contain my irritation at having to leave her there in my room. My head lifted as Seek opened the door.

“Hey, Butcher,” she said with a smile.

I hesitated and her eyes clouded with concern. “Any chance you could do me a favor?” I asked.

“Of course,” she replied without hesitation. A slow smile spreadover her face when I paused again. “This have anything to do with the woman in your room?”

“How do you know about her?”

“Hush saw her this morning. I guess Auron and Jecht were giving her a hard time.”

My brows shot upward at that. Those damn dogs had never so much as snarled at anyone that I’d seen, not even me. But then again Isla was a stranger. A dangerous one. “Was wondering if you’d check in on her? Bring her some lunch. Shit like that.”

“Sure.”

“I’d have one of the guys do it, but Mel and the others are going to be busy watching over the perimeter while we’re gone.” We were going to split up into four groups and spread out today, so it was all hands on deck. All we had was Randal’s name. Riptide had done what he could to find every Randal in the city, but it was a big fucking list. We were hoping like hell that he was actually here. If we had to expand the search it was going to take fucking forever. So we were going to spend the next couple days tracking every man named Randal down. The last thing I could do was send my brothers out searching for him while I stayed here.

“It’s no problem,” she said with a smile.

“Bring one of the other women with you when you go in my room,” I warned her. “And the dogs. Both of them. And be careful. She’s...not exactly happy about being here.” I didn’t want to scare any of the women, so I kept the fact that Isla was an assassin to myself.

She bit the insides of her lips, holding back a grin as she nodded. “Okay, we’ll be careful,” she assured me.

“I don’t know when we’ll be back. Just...don’t untie her.”

“What if she has to use the bathroom?” she asked in surprise.

“She can hold it.” I looked her dead in the eyes. “Don’t. Untie. Her.”

“Okay. Okay, I won’t,” she promised.

“Thanks, Seek.” I knew she could handle herself. And Isla was incapacitated. There was no way she’d get out of those cuffs. At least not today. Eventually she might figure out a way to pick the lock. But not today. She was resourceful. Which was why I hated leaving thewomen in charge of her. I’d take the time to make a different plan for tomorrow.

---