Page 12 of Cannon
I let Nick control me—emotionally and physically—for so long, I couldn’t get myself out from under his thumb. He’d almost succeeded in breaking me. Then, just when I think maybe I’ve found something good, albeit unique, with Kingston, Cannon, and Archer… It turns out to be a disaster. It’s always like this with me. I look every bit the intelligent, competent woman on the outside, but on the inside, I can’t seem to get my shit together. My emotions are all over the damn place. I clench my jaw in irritation. Every thought in my head stresses me out. I hate being like this.
And obviously, I can’t trust my own body to do what’s right because even though I know something that should have me running from them, it’s got a mind of its own. My physical response to these men remains undeniable. What the hell iswrongwith me?
I wet my lip, then clamp it between my teeth, looking around Cannon’s bathroom, which is much different from my beautiful white marble one but gorgeous all the same. Very manly. The shower is on the accent wall, tiled from top to bottom with what look like old wood planks which extend into the walk-in shower, making me fairly certain the entire wall must actually be made from ceramic tiles. The glossy granite countertop sparkles with flecks of color that match the dark bronze fixtures, and the cabinetry is the same blue gray as the paint in his room. It’s all so very Cannon, I’d be surprised to find out it wasn’t redecorated over the summer just for him. Of one thing I’m sure—this brotherhood has the means to do whatever the fuck it wants. The money to take care of anything. Big or small. And I’m beginning to wonder what sorts of other things they might have taken care of.
I heave out a breath. I have to do this, need to know as much as I can about these dudes. If Cannon is on some sort of medication, I want to know what and whether it has to do with his nonverbal way of life.
My fingers itch to open his medicine cabinet. Total breach of privacy. Even more so than when I looked in his underwear drawer. I walk over to it, but then hesitate, my chest rising and falling fast.
Out of nowhere, I laugh out loud. These dicks played a video for the entire brotherhood of me playing with my vag. Tit for tat, buddy. I’m going in. Whipping the cabinet open, I’m not surprised to see various bottles of vitamins, but the sheer quantity of prescription bottles has me frowning. I pick one up and begin to scan the label.Kep—
Footsteps. My heart leaps into my throat, lodging there.Shit.They’re coming from somewhere on the first floor of the house.Shit, shit, shit.Are they back? Or… I guess it could be any of the guys on the main floor moving around. I can’t take any chances.
I carefully replace the bottle of meds in the cabinet, making a mental note to have another look some other time, and then I dart from Cannon’s room. Not to my room.No.Kingston’s. Because I’m way too anxious about getting that phone into my hands. It’s gotta happen now.
I groan internally as I tear into his room.Why didn’t I do this first? Racing to the bed where I’d tucked the phone for safe keeping, I try not to panic when the sound of each distinct footfall on the stairs greets my ears. They are an exact match to the thudding of my heart. Someone is coming.
SIX
CANNON
These guys.I don’t think we’re going to get anywhere with them. They’re tight-lipped about things we need to know and mouthy idiots about everything else. I can confirm this isn’t going to work in their favor tonight. I smirk as we usher them in a single-file line toward the staircase that leads down to the dirty, disgusting basement. If they didn’t want this to happen, maybe they should have understood their place and answered our questions. Or not hurt Elliot in the first place.
True to his word, Archer brought an entire bag of crazy shit with him tonight. Not only do we have them blindfolded, but we’ve also got them cuffed with their hands behind their backs. And that’s just the beginning. Now they’re going to pay for their smart-mouthed responses to our questioning this evening.
“Down the stairs you go, assholes!” Kingston bellows and pushes the toe of his shoe into the back of Alec’s knee, making it buckle, causing him to nearly fall down.
“Fucker,” Alec gasps.
“Sorry. What was that, brother?” Kingston shoots me a look that reads,Oh my god, is this guy fucking stupid or what?Then he reaches out, quick as a snake, and flicks Alec’s ear. Hard.
Alec yelps, flinching away from the perceived danger, then exhales hard and grits out, “Nothing. Never mind.”
I shake my head, silently laughing. I’d have full-on kicked Alec and slapped him upside the head, so he’s lucky it was Kingston dealing with his sorry ass and not me.
Meanwhile, at the front of the line, Bridger hesitates, feeling around in front of him for the top step with the toe of his shoe. “Wait. You mean we’re going down—”
“Yep.” Archer grins, shooting me a wink. “Youarethe basement dwellers of Hawthorne Hall, so we thought it was only fitting to take you to the depths of this fucking rotten house, too. Now fuckin’move.”
I grip the back of his neck in my hand and squeeze before I shove him in the right direction. I’ll enjoy seeing these douchebags put in their place.
Because of the blindfold we tied tightly over his eyes, I’m unsure if Bridger’s scared or if he’s gearing up to be a belligerent asshole, but he’s trying hard to stop the trembling of his body. I glance down and behind him to see his hands are clenched tightly into fists, then allow my gaze to trail up his arm, over the raw, bleeding skin from where I tackled him to the asphalt.I hope it fucking hurts.
One at a time, they stumble and wobble their way down the flight of stairs into the dark, dank basement. Kingston and Archer follow them, and I bring up the rear, pulling the cord to turn on the single bulb that swings ominously from the ceiling at the bottom of the stairs, throwing weird shadows all over this dismal excuse for a basement.
These guys can’t see anything butfuckthis place. It’s straight out of my worst nightmare. The smell is awful, like something died. It’s musty and full of cobwebs. Freaky evidence of the family who lived here long ago is everywhere, from an old mannequin to loads of boxes of books and other assorted memorabilia to a creepy-looking old trunk. I don’t want to know what’s inside.
For the benefit of our blindfolded buddies, Archer mumbles, “Ah, spiders,” then shoots us a laughing wink as these morons visibly begin to twitch at the thought.
“It smells like decay and shit down here,” Stuart groans. “This isn’t right. It’s fucking torture.”
Kingston’s response is immediate as he hisses next to Stuart’s ear. “Yes, brother. And this is what happens when you don’t follow instructions from the senior members of the brotherhood you’re supposedly part of. It’s like the oath you took and the vows you made mean nothing to you.”
Stuart exhales harshly through his nostrils. “It’s all because of that fuckin’ girl.”
“She’s got you by the dicks,” Alec huffs, a rude smirk on his face below his blindfold.
I throw out my arms, incensed, ready to teach them a lesson, but Archer and Kingston hold out their hands to warn me not to begin yet.
