Page 21 of Seduction

“Where do you think they went?” I look at Torren as he rubs my feet, trying to make me relax.

These cramps are already kicking my ass, so we’ve just been laying on the couch watching tv while we wait.

Ollie went down to the basement to go over some of the things the guys found on the bodies of Dimitri’s men. You know, before they disposed of them in Deadly Seven fashion. And Mathias went out for a walk, apparently.

I thought we weren’t supposed to go anywhere alone, but he seems to defy the rules more than anyone.

“With Creed, it could be anything. I am surprised he roped Barren into whatever this scheme of his is, though.” He chuckles.

I want to laugh and find things funny, but the afterglow of my time with Ollie has worn off and I’m still painfully aware of the fact that my dad isn’t here.

I’m also heart-breakingly aware of Luke’s absence because of Agent Daniels, and I hate him for it right now.I’ve barely seen him this past week, and it sucks.

I just need the people I love the most close to me right now.

My phone starts vibrating on the table. When I see it’s an unknown number, I look to Torren and he stiffens, but nods.

“Answer it. If it’s Dimitri, Ollie will trace it.” His fingers are flying across his own screen, and I can only assume he’s messaging my little nerd boy.

“Hello?” I hear the fear in my own voice, and I want to kick myself.

“Scratch! Thank fuck you picked up.” Lukas sighs in relief, and I feel both Torren and I relaxing with him.

“Luke! I miss you.” I sniff, trying to hold off the tears, and Torren reaches over to pull me up and into his side.

“I miss you too, baby. I fucking hate being away from you. Especially right now.” He blows out a breath. “Something isn’t right with what Matt, Creed, and Barren found at the cabin, and it’s been nagging at me.”

“What do you mean?” I question him, sharing a look with Tor.

He curses softly. “Some of the men were moved. They weren’t where I know I killed the bastards that night.”

I suck in a sharp breath.

“You think Daniels has something to do with that? Is that why you’re on a burner cell?” Torren questions.

“It’s definitely one working theory, and yes, that’s the reason for the burner… but there’s something else.” He pauses on the other end of the line.

I wait for him to continue, snuggling closer into Torren for some form of comfort, and his arms wrap around me tightly as he kisses my head to calm me.

“What else?” I ask him, my voice soft and sad. “When are you coming home?”

“As soon as I can, baby. Six more hours or so, but I need Ollie to run some things for me between now and then.” I sit up straighter, letting Tor drop his arms to the small of my back.

“What do you need? Is it my dad?”

“It’s about your dad, yeah. I need him to go over the work cameras for the past several weeks. See if he can identify anyone who delivered the letters.”

I release a breath. “That’s only if they were delivering them to him at work.”

He sighs.“I know, Scratch, but it’s a start.” I nod my head. “I love you,” he whispers.

“I love you too, Luke.”

Just then, the door bursts open, and Creed comes walking in with arms full of shopping bags, Barren tagging along loaded up just the same.

“What the fuck was that?!” Lukas curses through the phone, and I wince.

“Uh, Creed and Barron went shopping at,” I squint my eyes at the bags and choke, “a drug store. I have to let you go. Can we FaceTime later?”

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