Page 59 of Kept

I stare at him. “With me? What the fuck is wrong withyou? She’s not for us, Enzo.”

When I try to push him off, he shakes my arm, getting into my face.

“Says who?” His vehemence takes me by surprise. “You think we haven’t earned something a little good in our fucking lives, Ryder? You think we haven’tsufferedenough?”

“This isn’t about us,” I snap. “It’s about her.”

He barks a sarcastic laugh. “Like fuck it’s not. You’re letting your own demons get in the way.”

Squaring up to him, I push him. “I have no demons, Enzo. I know exactly who I am. Have you forgotten?”

He points a finger on me. “Ineverforget. Not for a single fucking second in every fucking day do I forget where I came from.”

I stare at him. “So what? We’re just going to keep her here? She hasn’t seen a single part of the world - you want to keep her here so she doesn’t have the chance to choose something else!”

His skin flushes. “She might choose us. You’re not giving that girl nearly enough fucking credit.”

I bury my palms into my eyes, pushing into the skin. “If she chooses us, then she’s crazy. You had her tied to a fucking table!”

“So?” he shoots back. “She loved every single fucking second of it, Ryder. Your mistake is thinking she’s normal. She’s not. She’s got her own fucking demons, and if you’re letting her little innocent act fool you, don’t. She just came all over my hand after I fucked her with the handle of the knife I used to shave her fucking pussy.”

“You what?”

“And she loved it,” he throws back at me. His eyes gleam. “She’s ours, and I’m taking her. Pull your head out of your ass, Ryder. She was fucking made for us, and I’m not letting her go. I don’t give a flying fuck what you and Maverick have to say about it.”

He shoves past me towards the door. “Or her, come to think of it. None of you get a fucking say in this. Pick her or don’t, but I’ve made my choice. She’s not going anywhere.”

He leaves me to stew on his words in the dungeon. Infuriated, I kick the chair with a roar, watching as it hits the wall with a loud bang.

I finally found something worth doing the right thing for, and now he’s telling me I’m wrong?

Fuck him.

23 - Maverick

Whoareyou,Zella?

The words bounce around in my brain as I scour missing person records from the approximate time of her birth. It would help if she knew the exact date, but I’m working across a two-year window, just in case.

Nothing of note so far. One or two possibilities, but nothing that genuinely feels like a lead.

After working through each file, I have four left to do some follow-up checks on, but dissatisfaction is thrumming as I stretch. I don’t think any of them will lead to Zella.

Grabbing my phone, I pull up the app we use to track our camera locations and click through to Zella’s apartment. A brief glimpse is enough to tell me it’s still untouched. No sign of Ethan Moore.

Although from what Zella told me, that’s not unusual. By the sounds of it, he used to leave her for days at a time.

Sometimes her food would run low, and she’d have to ration it.

Irritation turns to anger, and I throw my phone down. Moore will get what’s coming to him, whatever Zella thinks. I’ve seen the other side of him, thanks to Ryder and his trailing.

Asshole’s a sick bastard. That he hasn’t abused Zella physically, or fucking sexually, is both a miracle and a mystery I need to unravel.

Given his other activities… why not?

My pen taps on an empty page.

Maybe he genuinely cared for her. But his actions don’t stack up with that.

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