Page 83 of Hunted Vengeance

The biker across from me stands and walks over to the woman, embracing her with a kiss on the cheek. Before he even has to demand it happen—a table and three chairs are whisked over.

Vaughn, Grayson, and the woman sit down while Prez makes his way back to his seat. I listen to Merrick explain the situation, and Vaughn dips his chin in what I assume is understanding before he speaks.

“I don’t have the availability to edit that system. Otherwise, I would have done it a long time ago. Are you telling me that you have someone who can hack that site?” he asks.

Prez clears his throat, then lifts his hand and points to the woman. “I can hack it,” she whispers.

If a pin dropped right now, I’m pretty sure we could hear it and every bounce it made on the concrete flooring. Merrick lets out a whistle, but it’s Grayson who stands abruptly, sending his pub chair flying behind him.

“Nadine?” Vaughn asks.

Grayson storms out of the room, but the rest of us stay seated where we are. All our attention is focused on Nadine. She presses her lips together, rolling them a few times. Then she flicks her gaze to her lap before she lifts it to meet Merrick’s.

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. “I changed all my information on my application in order to get a job at Securus. I needed to be on the inside.”

“Why?” Merrick demands.

She shifts her gaze to Prez, who jerks his chin toward her as if to give her the permission she needs to continue. She shifts her attention back to Merrick before she speaks again.

“I was hiding from my ex-husband. If I were here with my brother, he would have found me in an instant. I had to erase everything about myself and plant seeds in other places. It was the only way I could live an almost-free life.”

My brows snap together as I look around. “But you’re here now.”

She dips her chin. “I have to help. I can’t see something happen to Merrick when I know I can stop it.”

Merrick stands beside me, placing his hands on the table, his gaze connected to Prez’s. “Get the contract. I’ll sign whatever needs to be signed.” Then he swings his attention to Nadine. “And we’ll also be doing free surveillance on your apartment.”

She opens her mouth, likely to protest. But doesn’t need to because Grayson’s voice booms through the room, interrupting whatever she is about to say. “She’ll be moving into the safe house tonight.”

My gaze swings to her brother’s, this big badass biker, and I wait for him to tell Grayson to fuck all the way off, but he doesn’t. Instead, he jerks his chin up and smiles. Holy shit, I can’t help but wonder if this was all planned.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

MERRICK

“Next time,just give me a phone call,” I say, jerking my chin toward Prez. I still don’t know his name, and I probably never will.

Our contract is signed. I’m set to come in and evaluate his construction company and set up his complete surveillance system, state of the fucking art, for free. I already told him that I didn’t want to know what they did in the dark hours of the night. He only laughed and said it wouldn’t bleed over to me.

Whatever the fuck that means.

“You’ll be hearing from me,” Prez announces as I open the driver’s door.

Sinking down into the seat, I start the engine and back up, turning the vehicle around as I follow behind Vaugh, Grayson, and Nadine, who lead the way out of here. I don’t know where I am exactly, although I could easily just plug the office into my GPS, but I’m not in the headspace to think about that right now or give much of a fuck about it.

Instead, my focus is on getting the fuck out of here. Once we pass the gates and turn onto the highway, I let out a sigh of relief. I cannot believe that this shit happened. Gripping the steering wheel, I feel the anxiety inside of my body ratchet up about a million percent of what it was just seconds ago.

“Merrick,” Colette’s soft voice calls out.

I don’t even know if she’s okay. I haven’t spoken to her at all. Maybe it’s the only way I can think to compartmentalize how much I’ve let her down yet again. Swear to fuck. I’m not sure I can be the man she needs me to be at this point.

When I feel her cool fingers curl around my wrist, I shift my gaze from the windshield to hers for just a moment. I can see the pleading in her eyes as she watches me. Clearly, she wants me to say something.

I’m not sure what I can say.

She was fucking kidnapped, and I was standing right there. Fucking taken right from my side. Taken in my own goddamn car. It all worked out, but that doesn’t mean a damn thing. It could have had a much different ending.

A sinister one.

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