Page 31 of Back In the Shadows

I smirked. “If he’s here to stay, that will have to change.” I glanced at Alaric. “Son, I’ve got work to do. Someone took your mom, and I’ve got a mess to make.” I hugged him before I handed him to Dope. “Take him to Cami. There’s a nanny cam in one of the stuffed bears in the living room. Ella turns it on when Lulu is at the house with the kids by herself. Be discreet but flip the switch on the camera so we can keep an eye on Cami. I clearly scared the shit out of her, but something isn’t sitting right with me, and I don’t want her taking off with my kids.”

The guys grew quiet, but Dope took Alaric and left the room.

“She overheard that Sebastian is also you, and that we’ve been covering up for him.” Ryan shifted his weight. “She promised she wouldn’t turn us all into the FBI or cops, so we could focus on bringing Ella back.”

“Ah. That would be a big problem. One that I couldn’t allow.” They understood what I was implying.

Ryan’s hands flew up in front of him. “Hey, she’s off limits. You do not get to hurt her or even scare her. She’s Ella’s best friend. That has to count for something.”

“And you’re in love with her,” I snapped. “Should have thought about that before you brought her into our fucked-up world.”

Kip cleared his throat. “Yeah, well, Ella is missing and that’s most likely on you, so we can point fingers another time. Besides, we’re all choosing to be here, so man up and let’s get down to business.”

As much as I wanted to punch him in the nose, Kip was right. If anyone could help me bring her home, it was these guys.

Dope returned and closed the door behind them. “The camera is on.”

I removed my phone from my back pocket and pulled up the app. Cami was on the floor with Verity and Alaric, playing with them.

“Who did you piss off recently? Or maybe a better question is, who hates you enough to take what you love the most?”

My eyes narrowed as I sifted through a very long list, then I recalled the letter left for me in Portland.

“Someone knows who I am, and they’re fucking with me.”

Kip moved to the couch and sank down on it. “Care to explain?”

“The last time I was in Oregon at the warehouse … when I walked into the building there was an envelope on the floor with my name on it.”

“Just to clarify, was it addressed to Death or Sebastian?”

I whirled around and stalked toward Dope. “What the fuck does that mean?”

Ryan stepped between Dope and me, playing interference. “Hey, we’ll deal with that later. This is about Ella. You’ve gotta stay focused, Death.”

I hated to admit it, but he was right.

“Sebastian is a part of you, Death. You’re going to have to wrap your head around that idea. We’re going to need both of you to find Ella. A part of you knows this or you wouldn’t have stuck around after Ella gave you the DNA results for the twins.” Kip’s voice was calm, soothing.

“Later,” I barked. I stepped back and gained some space between Dope and myself. “It was addressed to Death. As I said, someone knows who I am.” I walked over to the window and looked out across the property; the tree line heavy with fog. “When I opened the envelope, there was a letter inside. I pulled it out and there were messy words scrawled on the paper.” I turned to look at the men. “It said, ‘I’m watching,’ but no signature.”

The color drained from Kip and Dope’s faces.

“Fucking hell,” Kip said. “Was there anything else?”

“No, that was it.”

Dope shoved both hands through his red hair. “Why in the hell didn’t you mention that to us? Do you realize what this means?”

“Of course, I understand what it means, but that was about seven months ago, and I haven’t had any additional contact. I had other pressing matters going on that took up a lot more time and …energy. It slipped my mind.” The possibilities spun out in my head as I recalled a conversation with Ella about my parent’s murderer. “Ella.” I nearly choked on her name. She was gone. Someone had taken her from me. Stolen her from her ownhome. “Ella has been looking into who murdered my parents. I think she stumbled onto some information that’s put her in danger.”

“Fuck!” Dope slapped his palm over his face. “Again, you didn’t think to share this with us so we could protect her?”

“I literally just found out. She had newspaper articles and an entire manila envelope full of details hidden under the floor. I was so pissed she’d crossed that line after I told her to leave it the fuck alone.” Images of my little lamb tied to the bed as I fucked her with my knife pulled my attention away from them. The sight of her tear-stained cheeks, choking on my cock, sent a rush of twisted gratification through me. Despite the conversation happening around me, all I could think about was bringing her back to safety so I could claim her again. To erase the trauma of those dark days and replace it with unbridled pleasure. She would beg and scream and moan my name as I showed her what true submission meant. My little lamb would serve me, making up for causing me worry and fear. And in return, I would ravish her, pleasuring her like never before for putting her in danger.

“Where’s that information?” Ryan asked while he walked toward the door.

“In her bedroom. Come with me.”

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