Page 8 of Striker

“I don’t like this,” Breaker says from next to me, snapping my attention over to him. He can’t seem to sit still. He’s been pacing behind us as we watch the screens, a feral, agitated energy pouring from him like waves of smoke, so thick it’s setting my teeth on edge.

“They belong to Rune,” Reaper says from behind me. He places his hands on the back of my chair as he watches Cora on the screen.

The statement carries a layer of contempt. His level of hatred toward Delilah concerns me, and I want to remind him she’s not Rune but keep the words tucked behind my teeth.

Rune brought this upon himself.

And her.

But when we decided that we’d take Delilah, I don’t think any of us were prepared to feel this… uncomfortable.

“No,” Viper says slowly, gaze darting between me and Breaker. “Delilahis his blood. Cora is…” He cuts off, gaze returning to the screen.

What is Cora to Rune Gavin? On the outside, she’s his adopted daughter. She’s the child of his murdered friends and business partners. She’s something else too that none of us have yet to voice. Or maybe it’s that we don’t want to.

We’ve been watching the two for a long time. We know the girl’s routines. They differ little from one another, except for Cora meeting with Rune either at his office or his mansion several times a week, but most nights she’s out with various men, while Delilah stays home alone.

Since her divorce from that slimy little fucker, Delilah’s become a recluse, rarely leaving her home. We didn’t want to risk cameras or listening devices being discovered. Our source told us Rune is a paranoid motherfucker, constantly having his men scan for devices, so we had to settle on old-fashioned surveillance.

Maybe this is the cause of that gross, oily feeling in the pit of my stomach. The reason Breaker is so upset. We’ve watched them for too long.

We give thempet namesfor fucks sake.

The speakers amplifying the sound from the monitor zoomed in on Cora cracks and we all turn to look the screen at the same time. My eyes land on her slight frame. Her body tenses, her legs bending. A dark stain pools on the wood floor under her hip.

I close my eyes, lowering my head. This doesn’t feel like it was supposed to. This bitter taste isn’t anything like the revenge we had planned.

“God damn it,” Breaker hisses.

Viper’s fist hits the desk holding all our masks and gloves and the equipment for the cameras, and we all jerk back, shocked. His blue-green eyes land on Reaper at my back. “This has to stop.”

My gaze moves back to the screen. To the fiery woman we made feel secure enough to allow us to pleasure her, is now curled into a ball, laying in a puddle of her own piss after we betrayed her and stole her from the only life she’s ever known.

I’d think she’d be doing something. Screaming. Crying. Not this blank, empty body lying on the floor, not even fighting her restraints. She isn’t moving. Not trying to inch away from the puddle of urine. She’s…

She’sresigned. Already admiting her defeat.

My hands grip the armrest of my chair as rage rushes through me, coloring the world red for an instant. I breathe in deeply and out through my mouth, tamping down the darkness that’s constantly threatening to break free.

There’s only one way to achieve that level of defeat in a person. Someone has brutalized her before, far worse than this, and the suspicions we’ve all had may have just been confirmed.

“Reaper.” The name slips past Viper’s lips as a plea.

“We can’t fucking do this to her,” Breaker snaps. “I’m untying her.”

“Breaker,” Reaper barks out his name as an order, his mouth twisting in anger. His dark eyes flash dangerously. “If you go into that room, you are violating a direct order.”

Breaker’s brows furrow. “So fucking what, Reap? This isn’t the school.”

“We haveorders,” Reaper says, his tone lowering on the last word. “Orders we cannot ignore.”

“Orders, you broke the second you tookher,” Viper says.

Breaker steps forward, his chest inches from Reaper, both men’s jaw popping with tension. They are almost the same height, but Reaper bests us all. In size. In strength. Endurance. In every way that matters.

“It has to be done,” Reaper reminds him, eyes like pools of black ice. A slick smile slides up the corner of his mouth. “You of all people know how brutal a breaking can be.”

Breaker’s eyes fall.

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