Page 92 of Psyop Kings

“Is the girl okay?” I ask Gareth as he hauls me to the elevators. “Where did they take her? Is she still alive?”

Guilt has me gagging and tears filling my eyes. I should have left the cabinet and tried to stop it. I could have saved her.

“We’ll talk in a minute,” Gareth growls. “Hush and come on.”

My mind continues to reel so much that it’s not until I’m being pulled into a guest room that’s not the one I share with Caius, where I finally begin to acknowledge my surroundings.

This room has no windows.

“Where are we?” I ask, trying and failing to jerk my arm from Gareth’s grip.

“Calm down,” he gripes. “We’re in my room. You need to lie low until we make sure you weren’t seen.”

My hair is damp from sweat and I can’t shake the nausea in my gut. I want to know what happened to the girl. Did they take her somewhere else for more evil plans or was she dropped off with Ava? Not knowing is killing me.

“I should have stopped them,” I murmur, shuddering. “I should have—”

“No,” Gareth says with mild irritation, finally dropping his hold on me. “You shouldn’t have. You’re lucky Solomon didn’tsee you. Caius is pissed.” He smirks at me. “Perhaps you’re not as beloved as I once thought.”

I hug my arms to me and remain near the closed door. I’m not eager to get too comfortable in this place. I just want to go back to the safety of my room.

“What was up with you and Ava?”

Gareth’s eyebrow rises and his stare bores into me. “She’s the one who gave me my family. Why?”

I shrug, unable to look him in the eye. “Just looked like there was history between you two.”

He chuckles. “I lost my virginity to her. We go way back.”

I’m disgusted I was right about her. Gareth seems proud to have slept with that wicked witch. I suppose any teenage boy getting laid by a sexy older woman would be something to brag about.

“Caius doesn’t like her.”

“How do you figure?” Gareth asks, genuinely confused by my statement. “They talk all the time.”

“She’s a predator,” I say to him slowly as if he’s dumb.

Gareth scowls as he approaches me. My ass bumps against the door in my effort to retreat. “We’re all predators, Ro. Every damn one of us.”

“Not Caius,” I spit back, though I don’t really know that. “What’s your intention with Kaitlyn?”

His entire body freezes and malevolent hatred contorts his usually handsome features. “The fuck you say?”

I’m totally out of my element and trapped with this evil bear of a man. I should keep my mouth shut, but I can’t help but provoke him.

“You said you were a predator,” I hiss, tears threatening. “I can only imagine what you plan to do with her.”

A vein bulges in his neck. “I would never—”

“Maybe you’ve convinced yourself you wouldn’t this time.” My voice wobbles as tears track down my cheeks. “What happened with Emma? Did you lose control? Did you mess up and need to hide your horrible mistake? What—”

Pain explodes through my head as he backhands me across my cheek. I stumble, landing hard on my side, the corner of a table jabbing into me. The breath is knocked from my lungs almost immediately.

I cower as I watch the beast of a man prowl toward me, shoulders squared and looking for a fight. Before he can get his meaty paws on me again, someone pounds on the door to his room. We both freeze.

“Gareth,” Caius says, voice sharp like a thousand razor blades. “Did you do it?”

Gareth yanks me to my feet, and I yelp. He puts a finger over his lips, indicating for me not to breathe a word of what just happened.

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