Page 79 of Dollhouse

What the fuck is Eli’s problem? I understand his need for control, but Tate is nothing like Stephanie.

Stephanie was a dancer at Sinners that the three of us had a fling with a year ago. Technically it was more than a fling since it lasted several months.

In the beginning it was regular sex with no strings attached, but then things changed. We all let our guards down, and it was Eli who had his dick inside of her when we got the call that one of our shipments went missing and six of our men were killed. He was supposed to be there, but when she came over, he couldn’t turn her away.

We were all too distracted with pussy to realize what was going on right under our noses.

Stephanie was a rat, sent to us by an enemy to learn our secrets and keep us occupied. She did her job well, and she died for doing the job.

Since then, Eli has only let himself indulge in his assistant and an occasional dancer.

He blames himself for the death of our men.

He doesn’t know that Rowen and I are aware that he used to visit Sinners every Wednesday night and book a VIP room to get laid, but we knew from the moment it began.

Now he’s labeling Tate as a distraction just like Stephanie. Actually… “Holy fuck.” I groan, my shoulders slumping. “We need to use her as bait.”

“No! That’s out of the question. Don’t tell me you agree with him,” he spits. I hold my hands up in surrender.

“There’s a lot we don’t know about her, and if Eli thinks that she’s like Stephanie, there’s no stopping him or telling what he’ll do. It’ll be up to us to prove that Tate isn’t working with an enemy.”

“You can’t be fucking serious!” He laughs humorlessly. “I know her! She’d never try to infiltrate us!”

“You haven’t seen her since you were kids. You don’t know her now, and we need to protect her as much as ourselves.” I say with a sigh. “Just listen to me.” I sit down on the couch, leaning forward to rest my elbows on my knees. “I don’t think she’s a rat, but we need proof, especially to please Eli. We need to give her access to her contacts and see what happens. Tomorrow night, we’ll use her as bait. We’ll prove Eli is wrong.”

“She’s not involved. You and Eli will both see that tomorrow.” Rowen takes a seat on the couch across from me. I don’t believe she’s guilty of anything, but at this point you can never be too sure. And using her as bait will at least allow us to find the person who’s been after her, and Eli will see she’s not a distraction. It’s a solid plan that we must perfect.

“I want to keep her, brother. But I don’t know what Eli is planning.”

“Me too, man. Me too.” He lets out a long groan of frustration. “We’ll take a few steps back and clear our heads. Let’s give her back her cell phone and see who she contacts. We’ll keep tabs on her.”

“Eli has her phone, and he’s already installed a tracker and a recording system. He’ll be able to see everything she does. We’ll give it to her in the morning and see what happens.” I stand, going into the kitchen to fetch two bottles of beer from the fridge. “You have to admit, it is a little weird that she let us take her from the club so easily and only that once she tried to escape.” I return to the living room, handing Rowen one of the bottles.

“I don’t know, man. It’s Lee, she’s the girl I swore to protect.”

“No coincidences. Why would she come back here? If she really did have to escape her husband, why come here? There’s nothing but shit memories for her here.”

Before Rowen has a chance to respond, our attention snaps toward the front door to find Eli walking inside with a dreadful expression that matches ours.

“My office. We need to talk; I got another text.” He walks right past us and towards the hallway. Rowen and I both jump up and follow him.

“Tomorrow night at nine o’clock, we’re going to Confess nightclub, and we’re taking Tate with us. We’re going to use her to lure out whoever is responsible for the shooting at Bella’s. This is personal.”

“It became personal when they ambushed us.” Rowen scoffs, taking his usual seat in front of Eli’s desk.

“You were shot in that ambush and could’ve died. It was personal then, and it’s personal now with the shooting at Bella’s that claimed three innocent lives,” Eli says.

“What’s your plan, Eli?” I ask, not liking any of this, but I understand what needs to be done.

He reaches inside of his desk drawer and pulls out Tate’s iPhone that we took from Sinners the same time we took her. “We can track her through this, and she’ll never know. We do as this unknown fucker says, but we’ll keep an eye on her at all times. I want to see if she knows the person and goes willingly. If she does, then we’ll know that she was part of this. If it turns out she’s not part of it, then we’ll rescue her and have our answer, and at least we’ll be able to get the person responsible too,” Eli explains his plan.

“And which way are you hoping that this plays out?” Rowen asks with venom laced in his words.

“I guess we’ll see. Either way, someone will end up dead.”

I don’t want it to be my butterfly, but I understand what needs to be done. If she’s a part of this, sent to us as a decoy to learn our secrets and weaken us, then I’ll kill her.

For her own sake, I pray to whatever God would listen that she’s innocent.

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