Page 98 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two
“You’d better get up to the penthouse quickly. I’ve got two men here you’re going to want to question. You’re gonna need a way to get them out of here discreetly.”
Ludo swears before hanging up.
“Anything?” I ask Rhett.
“So far, so good,” he replies. “I don’t see anyone else who looks suspicious.”
“They have access to the security camera footage,” one of the men groans to the other. “That’s how they knew we were coming.”
My heart stutters at that realization. If Rhett hadn’t hacked in and been keeping an eye on things, the past couple of minutes could’ve gone way worse.
“Rhett,” I whisper.
“Don’t let your mind go there.” He drops a kiss to my forehead. “Go check on the girls. Oliver and I have this handled.”
In the bedroom, I knock on the bathroom door. “Hey, it’s Elliot. It’s safe now.”
Slowly, Aubrey unlocks and opens the door. Wren is clutching one of the candles the resort provided, and she’s in position to throw it at my head. When she sees I’m alone, she sets it down, and the glass jar clangs against the counter.
“Oh thank god.” Without a moment’s hesitation, Wren throws herself into my arms. I’m taken by surprise and stumble back with a grunt. “You’re okay?” She pulls away and looks me over frantically.
“What? Love, of course I—”
Oh. Right.
I forget that Wren hasn’t seen us in action much. She has no idea how smoothly we handled the situation out there. In fact, all shehasseen is us failing to protect her when Jordan took her.
Reassuringly, I circle my arms around her waist and press my lips to her temple. “We’re all fine. Could’ve taken them down in our sleep. Now come on, there’s no sense in you two hiding in here anymore.”
“Is there blood?” Aubrey asks weakly as she follows Wren into the bedroom. “I don’t do well with blood.”
“There is. If you’d prefer, you guys can stay in here. Just a heads up, Ludo is on his way.”
They stay in the bedroom—understandably. Wren looks curious, but I don’t think she wants to leave Aubrey alone.
We’ve left the two guys on the floor where they fell. No sense tracking blood anywhere else. I crouch down in front of them, ignoring the way they’re squirming in pain.
Our job is to keep Aubrey safe, and we’ve effectively done that. Any information Ludo needs, he can pull from these men without us. But if we have an opportunity to learn more about Ludo and his enemies, we can’t pass it up.
“The way I see it,” I say, “you have two options. One, cooperate and tell us what you want with Ludo and Aubrey. Or two, keep your mouths shut until Ludo tortures you to within an inch of your life. He’s not known for his kindness.”
“We’re aware,” one of them snaps.
“At least tell us who you’re working for. Maybe that’ll placate him.”
“We’ll take our chances.”
With a chuckle, I stand. “Sure.”
When Oliver searched them, he found their wallets, too. I go through them, snapping pictures of their IDs. No doubt, they’re fake, but they could lead us somewhere helpful.
“I hear Ludo lets his victims sit in pain for hours. Days, even.” I drop their wallets back to the floor with their weapons. “And you two tried to come after his fiancée. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s crueler with you.”
“I said we’ll take our chances,” the same man growls.
“Suit yourself.”
It’s not long before my phone vibrates, so I pull it out of my pocket.
