Page 61 of Hunted Vengeance

We own a condo in the same building as Vaughn’s place. He has secret access to that safe house, and it is completely and totally monitored. I should have put Colette there the moment her father started making noise about taking her back home and ending the arrangement. It was really fucking stupid of me not to.

But at the same time, I can’t help but wonder if all of this was meant to happen so we could enact our vengeance on Ravet. Destiny. Fate. Kismet. It seems to me that it is a recurring theme between me and Colette.

“Okay,” Theron says. “But we still haven’t gotten anywhere with Ravet other than the fact that we saw him, and we know it’s him.”

Shaking my head, I close my eyes slowly, then reopen them, my gaze connecting to his. I hold it for a moment, then clear my throat before I speak. I try to keep the emotion out of my voice, but I’m pretty sure I completely fail.

“I’m going to come back here and take care of Ravet.”

Theron opens his mouth, likely to protest my announcement, but I shake my head once, not wanting to hear that shit. Grayson steps forward. “I’ll come with you. My office work is caught up, and I can divvy out the few jobs I have to the other guys. It isn’t much.”

“I’ll take on whatever you need me to,” Boden mutters.

“I can’t ask you—” I start to say, but it’s Grayson’s turn to hold up his hand, effectively shutting me up.

“You’re not asking me,” he states. “I’m offering. And Ravet is a piece of shit who hurt all of us. This isn’t a one-man job. This is for every single fucking one of us to come together on. The other guys are going to run Securus because we will be around working when Ravet is gone, and we can’t negate our livelihood. But you will not do this alone.”

“No,” Colette calls out from behind me.

Every single one of us shifts our attention to her. She timidly looks down at the floor, then slowly lifts her gaze to meet mine. I watch as she shrinks back slightly, likely because she has all our attention. I’m not sure she’s ready for it, but she’s got it, so she either continues or walks away.

Being Colette, she continues, but in her own soft way.

“I am going to stay. I am going to be the bait. He will never come out of wherever he hides without a reason.”

I open my mouth to tell her exactly what I fucking think of her being bait. Which is to say, not fucking ever while I’m alive, but Theron speaks before I can get a single word out.

“She’s right,” he mutters. “I hate that she is, but she’s right.”

Wordlessly, I spin on my heels and walk out of the hotel suite. I have to. I cannot listen to this shit because, at the end of the day, rationally, I know they’re both right.

I just don’t want to hear it. I don’t want to be part of the planning process. I want nothing to fucking do with it right now. I promised Colette that she would never be in danger again just twenty minutes earlier, and I'm already ready to break that fucking vow to her.

COLETTE

Merrick leaves the suite,but I don’t go after him. Every fiber of my being begs me to do that, but I don’t, and I can’t. This is far too important. This man needs to be taken down. Pushing off the doorjamb, I make my way farther into the room until I’m close enough to have a quiet conversation with them all.

“Merrick said that he did something to him. You don’t have to tell me what, but I have a feeling he was going to try to use me to do it to more boys,” I say.

The idea of doing anything for Malcolm or that demon woman who was in my father’s office makes me physically ill. I want to throw up, scream, tear at my skin, and pull my hair out. I cannot contain the emotions I feel about it.

But beyond all the disgusting things it makes me feel, what is the worst is that it makes me sad.

So incredibly sad.

“He did hurt all of us,” Theron murmurs. “Badly.”

Nodding, I suck in a deep breath, letting my exhale out slowly before I continue. “I figured as much. I want Malcolm stopped. And that woman. The men in that meeting at my father’s didn’t say much, but that woman… She is evil personified. I could see it in her eyes.”

“I know who you’re talking about,” Vaughn announces as he scrolls on his phone. A moment later, he jumps up from his chair and walks closer to the group. “We can take care of her, but go and get Merrick. We need to talk,” he grunts.

I don’t know what that means, but there is a seriousness in his tone that makes the air in the room crackle. I suck in a breath and hold it as my gaze flicks around the room from man to man. Theron is the one who breaks away from the room and heads toward the door to get Merrick.

I don’t know what to do, what to say right now. But these men are all looking around, and the grave expressions on their faces make me not only believe but convince me that this is definitely big. Much bigger than I could probably ever imagine.

Staying silent, I start to back away, thinking that if I can find my way to a wall, maybe I can just melt into the wallpaper, and everyone will forget about me. I want to help, but I don’t know what’s going on, and I’m worried.

My stomach twists and turns.

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