Page 464 of Hate Mates

Carl’s gaze burns into the side of my head as the guys disappear inside the house.

“I want to see Mike and Stuart as soon as possible.”

As Carl leaves the room, I press a button on the keyboard and zoom in before leaning forward, and laying my hands flat on the desk, watching closely as a black and white image appears on the screen. She’s sitting in the far corner of the bed, her knees drawn into her chest and her forehead rests on her knees. She still has the blindfold on. She’s a pretty little thing. I’ve replayedthe footage from the club over and over again, just to see those big brown eyes staring back at me.

The door knocks again and in walks Carl, followed by Mike and Stuart as I turn around.

“So?”

“She put up a fight, but nothing I couldn’t handle.” Mike replies.

I nod, “And Gabriel?”

“He let her go. He didn’t say a word, no attempt to stop us.”

“Even he’s not that stupid.” I add as my gaze flicks back to the monitor, I kind of feel bad keeping her prisoner like this, and the way I obtained her. I mean, I think if I’d have had a chance to talk to her, I could’ve persuaded her to leave his sorry ass anyway. But no, if this is the way it has to be, then so be it. I just need to figure out how I’m going to get her to stay with me, without her feeling like she’s being held against her will. Gabriel also needs to know that I’m not letting her go either.

I unlockthe door and enter the sparse bedroom. There’s a bed and a closet, and it’s carpeted. It’s not a dirty basement; that’s for sure. Her head is lifted, she’s on high alert. “Who’s there?” I sit in the chair at the side of the bed and watch her for a moment. “Hello?”

She struggles against her restraints as I reach over and lift the material that’s covering her eyes. If I remember rightly, they are way too seductive to hide. As she lifts her head, her eyes find mine. It’s not long before recognition hits her and they widen.

“You again?” There’s something in her tone, but I can’t quite put my finger on it.

“Hello Aria.” My tongue rolls around her name as it falls from my lips. She scrambles back into the corner and pulls her knees up, wrapping her arms tightly around them.

“What the hell am I doing here? I don’t understand.” Her gaze flicks from me to the rest of the room before refocusing on me, but they’ve turned harder. Fight has taken over. “Where’s Gabriel?”

“Gabriel?”I question like I have no idea who he is.

“What’s going on?” A growl falls from her lips as she tries to break her restraints, yanking her hands apart but the cable ties won’t budge. I don’t like cable ties usually, they’re too harsh, especially on delicate skin like hers. But this is what Mike does. I can’t watch anymore, liked a caged animal I slowly move forward and take her hands tightly.

“Stop,” I say as softly as I can muster. My thumbs run across the inside of her wrists, “you’re going to hurt yourself.”

She snatches her hands back and drops them into her lap, she shuffles away from me to the edge of the bed, “Why do you care?” she spits.

I sigh, “Aria, I know you think I’m the enemy right now, but you’ll soon see that I’m not.”

“Really? I doubt that.”

I stand from the chair and walk around to the front of her, shifting the hair from her face so I can see her beautiful features in their entirety. “Really.”

She forces her face from my fingers, “Where is Gabriel, and why am I here?” A tear rolls down her cheek and I catch it with my thumb.

“Why don’t you get some sleep, we can talk later.”

“Screw you.” The corner of my mouth tips up and she snaps her head away. I turn from the tragic, but most stunning girl I’d ever seen, and make my way to the door. “You can’t keep me here like this.” She cries, “I have a job, I have friends! Gabe will come looking for me, you know.”

“Now Aria, you know that’s not true.” I keep my face neutral as I walk toward the door. Hopefully, she’ll be easier to talkto later. The sooner she forgets about Gabriel, the better. That piece of fucking shit isn’t going to be around much longer anyway. Not if I have my way.

Not after doing this to her.

For making me do this to her.

With one last glance at my beauty, I turn my back on her before moving back toward the door.“Please let me go.” My steps falter slightly at her weak sounding voice, like all the fight has left her body and she can’t carry on. “I haven’t done anything wrong.” My eyes close momentarily, but I know I need to leave the room. Grasping the handle tightly, I pull it open and leave.

Carl closes the door and locks it after me. I hear her frustrated screams from the other side, it’s almost enough to make me want to take the key from Carl and go back in, but I breathe in deeply, and quickly walk away.

Once back in my office,I stare at the monitor and watch her cry, her fingers swipe roughly at her face before she lies on the bed, curling her knees into her body. She rolls onto her side and hugs her knees, making herself as small as she can. I push out of my chair and stand. The chair rolls away as I slam my hands on the desk in anger.

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