Page 60 of Psyop Kings

I’m unsure what that means, but I nod in agreement. Gareth snags a couple of glasses of wine and leads me over to a sitting area, away from the people milling around. I sit down on the love seat, set my clutch down, then take the offered glass.

“I’m listening,” I encourage before sipping the white wine. “Explain.”

He sits next to me—too close for someone whose brother I’m supposedly dating—and his knee brushes mine. “Solomon likes pretty things. Especially if he thinks they’re broken. Likes to fix them in his own special way.”

My skin crawls thinking about the man with the beady eyes assessing whether or not I was something he could fix. “So you led me right to him? Why?”

Gareth flinches at my harsh words. “That’s the thing. He’s the top investor of CUP. At these dinners, he always wants to be…servedand it has to be of value.”

The room tilts slightly. A wave of dizziness washes over me. I’m again reminded this is more than just a game to escape. They’ve drawn me into their wicked world where they’re not the only monsters here.

“Was Meganservedto him?” I demand, voice slightly quavering.

“No,” he rushes out. “She’s still alive.”

She’s still alive.

As opposed to other women who are served to this man?

Iciness creeps through my veins, numbing me completely. “You were going to just give me up to him?”

“Ro.” Gareth downs his entire glass of wine in two gulps before setting the empty glass on the table in front of us. “Listen. I wasn’t giving you to him. I was offering him the choicest…” He trails off and I don’t know that I want him to even finish that statement. “Anyway, that’s you. But I also dropped your name so he’d know you were off-limits.”

The Langston name comes to the rescue again.

“What was Caius’s part in that?”

Gareth laughs. “You’re his girlfriend. He clearly wanted to make that known.”

Their strange world of treating human beings like cattle to be traded or sold makes me sick to my stomach. To force the bile down, I, too, chug down my wine.

“If you’re my friend, help me find Megan and then give me a car to get out of here. These people are clearly dangerous. I just want to go home.”

Gareth scowls and looks away. “You’re not ever going to give that up, huh?”

“My freedom? Nope.”

“You love Caius, remember?”

I burst out laughing. “You people really think I’m someone you can easily brainwash. It’s not working. I know who I am.”

Gareth stiffens, gaze darting back to mine. “Careful.”

“Or what? Is creepy Solomon going to kidnap me and trap me in his lair? Honestly, I could use a change of scenery.”

“Ro,” Gareth clips out, hand gripping my thigh. “There are ears everywhere around here. Be mindful of your words. I can’t help you if you get yourself dragged off by the likes of Solomon.”

Somehow, I feel like he’s right. Solomon would be worse. There was something unhinged behind his sharp gaze.

“I just want to go home,” I whisper. “Please.”

Gareth’s expression pinches and I can tell he’s internally warring over something. Rather than let him talk himself out of it, I press on.

“I know you don’t want to hurt me,” I say softly, covering his hand with mine. “This will end badly for me because I’ll never succumb to these mind games.”

He’s silent, clearly still thinking it over.

“Just tell me where Megan’s at and get me a set of keys,” I urge. “I can hide them in my clutch. No one will ever know it was you.”

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