Page 28 of Ends of Being

I sigh, once again rolling my eyes at him and my current situation before I quietly follow him, leaving our little playroom behind.

Chapter Twelve

Toni

I’macagedanimal.

When Dare gave the order to “secure me”, I had no idea he meant the equivalent of being locked in an ivory tower with no access to anyone or anything for an indefinite period of time, without any type of clear explanation as to why this is necessary. I’m literally climbing the walls in frustration.

Of course, Tony and Matt are of little use because they refuse to tell me anything without explicit permission from Dare. And since, as far as I can tell, there has been no communication at all from him, said permission is denied. I haven’t even had the satisfaction of pushing either of my jailers over the edge as they are basically uncrackable.

Not that I can utilize my full arsenal of tactics in my mission to defeat them since I seem to have some hard stops in the types of methods I consider appropriate. And I blame Dare for this, even if I can’t explain it or understand it myself.

I’m rather disturbed that after our little playroom closet experience, I’ve not heard from him at all. I know, I know—if he’s too busy to report to his comrades, then he likely doesn’t really have time to assuage my fragile, needy feelings. He probably doesn’t even realize I have fragile, needy feelings, but knowing this doesn’t make it any less annoying. I’m also on the brink of being sex mad, with no easy outlet for my sexual frustration.

So basically, I’m a horny, caged animal.

Don’t get me wrong, I have read enough “why choose” romances to have dabbled with the idea of possibly seducing the two men that are with me twenty-four-seven. And I believe most people can get behind that whole “forced proximity made me do it” mentality. I’ve also considered hitting on them for the sheer purpose of making them uncomfortable, in the hope they will reach out to Dare to let him know that I need to be dealt with. I’ve not shelved this idea entirely because, at some point, I’ll have to get the big-girl guns out and start calling everyone’s bluff.

I’m almost certain I could make them snap without having to touch them. If I just start taking my clothes off randomly, what are they going to do? Blatant innuendo is my forte, and I’m not afraid to use it.

And then there’s my arsenal of spicy audiobooks. Actually, that may be first on my list. “Whoops, was that not connected to my headphones? Oh, my! I’m so sorry that you had to hear Sebastian York speak of such wild indiscretions. Would you like to hear more?”

I’m pretty sure they would lose their minds rather quickly. That could also earn me a smashed device or two. So, maybe not.

It’s also difficult coming up with a game plan when you’re not certain how far the people in question would go in retaliation. I’m relatively certain Tony would have no problem trussing me up and leaving me in a closet for a few days. I actually think he would enjoy that. And Dare may not care about it as long as I was “secure” so it all seems pointless.

Having to make so many plans based on a huge steaming pile of speculation is a problem for me.

I’m in the middle of my revenge fantasies when Tony comes in, motioning for me to get a move on. I roll my eyes at him, muttering nonsense to myself as I slowly start walking toward the door, where Matt is standing, holding the pre-packed bag that they forced me to put together in case we needed to make a move swiftly.

I consider putting up a fuss, having a bit of a tantrum, and demanding answers. I stand in the doorway and look between them waiting for me in the hallway. They both put on a decent game face; however, I can see the subtle signs of stress on their features, the tension in their shoulders, and the worry in their eyes.

So, I sigh, taking my bag from Matt and moving between them as they once again lead me into the unknown.

Dare

Thwarting the potential evil deeds of a criminal organization is not going well.

My years of strategic evidence-planting, witness-tampering, and every other variation of carrot-waving appear to have been in vain, all because the information I received six months ago ended up being bullshit.

Turns out, the person I thought jackoff to be is not the person he actually was. If his true identity had led to where it was supposed to, all of this would be moot, and we would be in the clear. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be, and I’m outright perturbed that he wasn’t linked to dickwad as I initially thought.

It was my understanding that he was an heir to the main criminal organization in the city; however, I’m finding out now that he may have been an heir to what may be the largest underground criminal organization in Russia. One of those organizations most people think is just a myth. And it seems this Russian entity has hired another so-called mythical organization to track down whomever took out jackoff.

Now, I know for a fact, “The Dead” is not a myth whatsoever. They have an extensive, deeply entrenched network of “death for hire” and are not known for asking questions or sorting out facts before they come for you. I’ve done everything in my power to try to throw them off the trail, and as of yet, all of this effort seems to have failed.

But if the real threat is coming from this Russian network—well, that’s a whole new ballgame.

I’ve also queried if they would potentially consider a trade, but it doesn’t seem like they’re too inclined to consider this option at this point in the game.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not afraid to die. There’s a very small number of people whom I would miss if they died, too. My main concern is what they would do to those few people before killing them. Especially under circumstances where they feel they have to make an example of a situation. The last thing anyone in these organizations wants is to give off even the tiniest showing of weakness. All it takes is one crack in the foundation for a rival organization to infiltrate and take it down from the inside.

And I should know, considering that’s one of my specialties.

Now, here I am, sitting in a dive bar, waiting for god only knows who to show up to inform me where we stand in this whole shitshow. I honestly have no idea if my initial plan is at all salvageable, but the fact I was summoned to this meeting isn’t a bad sign, assuming the contact who turns up is who I think it will be. This means they likely came across some of the strategic crimes I had committed and are following up on what the fuck it is I think I’m doing other than doing a shit job of getting their attention.

I do have my suspicions as to the intentions behind this meeting. The little I know about The Dead organization is that they rarely have any kind of conversation about their plans. They gather information on their own, decide on their method of execution, and it gets done. No checking or following up on it; they just drop the hammer—done.

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