Page 10 of Hunted Vengeance

What.

The.

Fuck.

“I need further clarification,” I demand. “Now.”

Thankfully, Vaughn doesn’t make me wait a moment longer. He leans forward, his gaze connecting with my own before he speaks.

“I saw the listing with the photo. I wasn’t sure that it was really her until the picture. The terms were simple. He wanted someone to buy her and marry her. He made sure to mention that she was not a virgin but also that she hadn’t been sold or pimped in any way. He said that his goal was to strengthen his family empire and that he would only sell to someone in politics.”

“You’re shitting me?” I growl as the door opens.

Turning my head, I look over my shoulder to Theron and Grayson, who walk through the door. Both their eyes catch mine, and they stop in their tracks, and then their gazes swing toward Vaughn.

“I take it you told him?” Theron asks.

“We were here alone,” Vaughn says with a shrug as his explanation.

Theron chuckles, shaking his head, then continues to move toward his chair. Grayson does the same, and thankfully, they don’t say anything else as we all wait for Hale and Boden. They arrive a few moments later. Theron starts this meeting, and clearly, this shit is about me, at least, the bulk part of it is.

“Merrick has already been informed of the situation on the dark web,” Theron begins.

I snort. “That and I was served annulment paperwork a few days ago,” I announce.

Instead of looking at the men around me, I ignore them and stare at Theron. He dips his chin in a single nod, then clears his throat before he leans forward. His fingertips spread out on the table, and I watch as he presses down, then releases them and leans back again.

“What do you want to do, Merrick?” he asks.

My initial reaction is to wage a fucking war for my wife. But as I calm myself down and attempt to regain my control, I know that would be stupid. It would be detrimental not only to my best friends but to our business as well.

“What I want to do and what we need to do are two different things.”

Theron snorts, but it’s Vaughn who speaks next. When he does, I’m surprised by his words because he usually doesn’t want to ruffle feathers. I know now that he’s not as laid-back as I thought all these years. He just gets his anger out by killing pieces of shit while being paid for the job. Honest to fuck, I admire him for it.

“She’s your wife, Merrick,” Vaughn states. “We will protect her at all costs.”

Shaking my head a couple of times, I lift my gaze and flick it between the five men sitting around me. These are my brothers. They would do anything for me, even if it meant that it would jeopardize everything. I would never ask them for any of that, though.

“It shouldn’t matter,” I murmur. “She left.”

Hale is the one who speaks next. His gaze catches mine, and he stares straight at me. He doesn’t say anything immediately. He stares at me before he clears his throat. He leans forward, placing his elbows on the table.

“She might have left, but I don’t think it was by her choice, was it?” he asks.

He knows, as well as the rest of the men at this table know, it wasn’t my choice. It wasn’t hers either. It was Bellucci’s. That motherfucker thinks he can control the fucking world.

“Doesn’t matter. I let her walk out the door just as easily as he took her,” I say.

Those words hit me. Because they are the truth. I let her leave. I could see it in her eyes. She didn’t want to go with her father. But she didn’t ask to stay—and I didn’t tell her that I wanted her to, either.

That’s on me.

Whatever happens to her is on me.

And I’m going to be the one who makes it right because I’m the one who fucked her in her father’s home.

I’m the one who agreed to the marriage.

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