Page 114 of Disorder (Elite of Elmwood 2)

Was that a door I heard shutting?

I shouldn’t investigate. I should go back, follow Mads into the kitchen, do a round of shots, and pretend I heard nothing. But… I couldn’t do it. A wicked sense of dread overrode all those glorious feelings of being in love.

Perhaps it was just Brock or Grayson checking out the house. That had to be it. I’d feel stupid when I spotted one of them. Climbing up the stairs, I tiptoed down the corridor away from the party until I was staring at Brock’s bedroom door. It was closed.

My heart jumped in my chest as a soft glow of light flashed from under the doorway. Someone had flipped on a light inside the room. I reached for the door handle, my pulse hammering, and turned the knob. With a gentle push, the door swung open.

I peered inside, a healthy dose of trepidation dancing within me.

Nothing.

Just the warmth of the table lamp situated at the corner of the large rich, mahogany desk.

What the fuck?

How the hell had the light just turned on? I was so sure the room had been absolutely dark when I first approached. It didn’t make sense.

Laughter and music flowed from down the hall as I took a step into the room. And then another step as my eyes panned the shadowy corners.

Squeak.

The hinges on the doorframe echoed through the room, and I whirled around, watching as the door closed, followed by the click of the lock. Carter stepped out from where he’d been hiding behind the door like a ghostly predator.

Horror and dread grew in my stomach, both competing for top position, but really, neither emotion would win.

He leaned against the door, part of his face shrouded in darkness, adding an eeriness to his features. His lips curled up in a sneer. “I knew you were still fucking him.”

My heart jumped into my fucking throat, fear surging to the surface. “What are doing here?”

Carter chuckled, and the sound sent chills down my arms. “You and I have unfinished business, sis. You didn’t actually think I’d forgotten about our deal?”

I gritted my teeth. “You could have just called or texted.AndI’m not your fucking sister.”

He wore a black hoodie, and his fingers fumbled with something in the front pocket. “Oh, right. Your mom is a kidnapping psychopath.”

“Takes one to know one,” I snapped back, praying it wasn’t another knife he was concealing.

He chuckled again, sounding like a desperate man coming unhinged. “What? You think that being the Edwardses’ lost daughter makes you all high and mighty? You’re still worthless.”

My nerves were stretched thin as I tried to come up with a plan to get the hell out of this room. “I don’t give a shit what you think of me.”

“You never did.”

“Brock will be here any minute.” Yeah, this was the best plan I could come up with on the spur of the moment. Eventually, when I didn’t show up in the kitchen, they’d come looking for me. And if Brock found me with Carter, he would kill him. Actually kill the bastard. “It’s pretty stupid of you to come here alone.” Carter liked to hear himself talk, so I’d stall until then.

A fight was just what Carter would love; anything to put the heat on the Elite. “Who said I’m alone?”

I was going to call his bluff. Maybe there was a chance I could bulldoze my way to the door, shove him out of the way just long enough to flip the lock and open the door. “Get out of the way.” I attempted to walk toward him in hopes the asshole would move. He only shifted, blocking me further and yet somehow bringing us close.

Too fucking close.

I retreated a step, my insides churning.

“Let’s make this quick and painless. I want his passcode and the thumb drive, sis. Now. Since you’ve interrupted my plans to get in and out unseen, you’re going to get it for me.”

The fact that he mentioned pain had my panic going through the roof. “I don’t know where it is.”

“Well, I suggest you start looking, because your life depends on it.” He pulled his right hand out of the hoodie pocket. A sliver of moonlight from the window glinted off steel.

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