Page 44 of Hunted Temptation
And I’m sure there is some fucked-up shit involved in that, but I decide to not analyze it. What I’m going to do is ignore it all and just feel—at least for now. The time to analyze shit will come later.
“Lock the door behind me, and I’ll see you when I’m done. Stay in here.”
Closing the office door, I stand by and listen for her to flip the lock into place. She does. And only when I know she’s securely locked away do I make my way over to the conference room.
As I stand in front of the closed door, I can hear men’s voices on the other side, but I can’t make out what any of them are saying. I listen for a moment, waiting to hear any of the women’s voices, but there is nothing. Just the men. Just my brothers.
I reach out for the handle and tug it down to gently open the door. The moment I step into the room, the talking ceases. Their attention shifts to me, and I realize that there are no women here. Leaving Elodie in the office was a good choice.
“Just the guys today?” I ask.
Theron smirks before he jerks his chin. “Figured it would be better just us. The girls can meet her later. But we need the information, all of it. Now.”
I clear my throat before sinking down in my chair. I can feel their eyes focused on me, their attention on me and only me. I’m not sure if that should make me feel uncomfortable or not, but I don’t think I care.
“Someone searched for Elodie.”
“Searched?” Merrick asks.
“I set up an alert online to see if anyone was looking for her. Someone searched for her, but there is nothing to find,” I announce.
The silence that follows my words is deafening. Then Grayson makes a noise in the back of his throat, and I watch as he places his palms flat on the table before he pushes himself up to standing. His eyes search mine before he speaks, his words coming out slowly, taking his time with each one as if he’s afraid to fuck up in some way.
“There has been someone asking questions,” he murmurs.
My breath hitches, but I don’t say anything in response to his words. I know he has more information for me, so I wait. Everyminute feels like absolute torture. I need to know who is out here looking for Elodie.
For my woman.
Grayson continues, thankfully putting me out of my misery without wasting much time. “He’s a private detective. He wasn’t hard to find. I’m not sure he’s very good at his job. I mean, maybe he is when it comes to regular jobs, but we spotted him instantly. Especially when he started poking around here, it took me about five minutes to find out his identity.”
“Who hired him?” I demand.
Silence. I watch as he shifts his attention down to the table, then slowly lifts it to meet mine. “The comptroller’s brother,” he announces.
“Not the wife?” I ask, surprised by that information.
That’s when Grayson’s eyes lift to meet mine and his lips twitch into a smirk. “She’s already got the house up for sale, packed it up, and moved out.”
“Seems she didn’t waste a minute,” Boden mutters.
Hale snorts. “Probably more than happy to get the fuck out and away from whatever sick-and-twisted shit that guy had her doing.”
No kidding. Nofuckingkidding.
“So what do we do with this guy?” I ask.
I know what I want to do with him. I want to end him. Anyone who is a threat to Elodie needs to fucking go. And if I’m being honest, this asshole is also a threat to me. I don’t think he’ll be able to connect any dots, and even if he does, there won’t be any evidence, but I also don’t need him poking around my business, my life, and my woman.
“We run his ass out of town,” Theron grunts, his gaze flicking to meet mine.
I arch a brow, and my lips twitch into a smirk. “And take care of his brother.”
Boden chuckles, but it’s Theron who speaks. Our unofficial leader. The man who always seems to keep a calm head when the rest of us are in the middle of battling a storm.
“And take care of his brother, because if he’s anything like us, he will never quit looking for the man who killed the piece of shit. And if he’s upset the fucker is dead, then my guess is he’s a piece of shit, too.”
Merrick snorts. “I would say you’re probably right on that, but if you want, we can get a dossier on him.”
