Page 90 of Fractured Vows

“So either he’s taken her somewhere else around here, or—” Bryant starts.

“Or they could have taken her fucking anywhere,” I snap. It’s obvious the Hayes brothers haven’t taken over their father’s business yet, because unlike Storm, they make plans as the last one fails. When it comes to Frost Industries, Storm has an unlimited number of plans at any one time, because when you’re in the Mafia business, plan A almost never works.

Rayne rests a comforting hand on my shoulder but doesn’t say anything. I think he knows there aren’t words to settle me right now.

That’s the thing about men who have found their hearts in the body of another, when that heart is in danger, there’s nothing we won’t stop at to keep them safe.

The shrill ring of a phone drags our attention off one another, and Kai’s answering before we realize it belongs to him. “Yeah?”

I hold my breath as his face remains neutral, and I can only assume whatever is happening on the other end of the phone is inconsequential to Isla. But when he hangs up, he turns to us. “We know where they took her. It’s a cabin at the back of the property, it has a separate entrance.”

A relieved breath whooshes from my chest. Even if I have no idea if she’s safe, at least we have something to go off because another minute sitting here staring at these assholes almost definitely would have ended with me killing one of them for putting my wife in this situation at all.

Storm’s on the phone to Everett, but I don’t hear a word he says as I make my way back to the SUV with a lump in my throat that won’t be dislodged until she’s back in my arms where she belongs.

CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

ISLA

“They’re safe,” Spade tells me, his dark eyes holding mine and refusing to free me. Whatever the fuck moves through my veins has rendered me immobile, which means I’m at his mercy. He could do anything to me right now and I would be powerless to stop him. For right now, I’m just glad there’s a desk that separates us and that his men have remained on the outskirts of the room.

I let out a breath, the knowledge that my dad and Bree are at the very least alive allowing me an inkling of relief.

“And they’ll remain that way so long as you follow my every order.” He smiles wickedly, but it doesn’t touch his eyes. A man like him doesn’t know how to be happy, or at least not in the way the rest of the world does. Happiness to him is winning. It’s besting his opponent even when that means others are hurt.

“What do you want?” I whisper.

“Isn’t that obvious, Isla?” He raises a brow before he pushes himself up from the obscene leather chair perched behind his desk.

I hold my breath as he rounds the solid oak and when he crouches in front of me, I swear my lungs forget how to work. It’salmost as if the pure evil that approaches me is enough to suck the air right from my lungs, making it impossible to draw in a breath.

His fingers wrap around my chin, forcing my eyes up to meet the abyss of gaze. “I want you.”

“Why?” I choke out the word, surprised I can even force a thought to the front of my mind, let alone speak.

He chuckles, his eyes darting up to meet those of the men behind us. “Get out.”

Dread wraps its way around my heart because there’s nothing worse than being alone with the devil. Especially when you’re without the ability to fight against him.

I listen as footsteps retreat and the door closes quietly behind them, but I force myself to remain still, to hold his gaze while we wait. I need to understand why he’s so interested in having me. Why he would go to such lengths to obtain a twenty-year-old girl, let alone one who is married and lives in another city? He’s not an unattractive man, although his lack of humanity detracts from his objectively handsome features.

His thumb brushes over my lips while his eyes track the movement, but even if I could move, I wouldn’t. I refuse to look weak to this man, I refuse to allow him to see me cower. If I’m going to die, I’m sure as hell not going to do it lying down and accepting it. I’ll kick and scream until my lungs give out if that’s what it takes.

“You’re much prettier than your aunt was,” he muses. “Of course she was a beautiful woman, and I had a lot of fun with her, but you’re something else.”

I glare up at him. “Is that meant to be a compliment?”

He laughs, the sound making him sound almost normal, but the monster is there, lurking right beneath the surface. “Depends how you look at it I suppose. I mean it as a compliment, however, I suspect you won’t accept it as one.”

“You’d suspect correctly.”

“Your aunt was spirited. Far too much so to be stuck in a marriage with a man who did not love her or allow her any of his time. Even when he was in Boston, he wasn’t really here. But I was. Your aunt used me to escape her loveless marriage even though she refused to leave him. I told her to leave many times, but she refused, saying it felt like she was failing to admit defeat.” He shakes his head as if the memory still frustrates him.

“But you killed her,” I snap. “You can’t have cared for her too deeply.”

He nods slowly, his gaze flashing with something akin to regret, but I’m not naive enough to think a man like Spade would ever regret a kill. “I did. She became a liability, and men like me cannot afford to have someone in their lives who are unpredictable.”

I stare at him for long seconds because the words coming out of his mouth are at odds with every action he’s made. He brutally slaughtered my aunt. It wasn’t a clean death. She was found mutilated in a shallow grave on the outskirts of the city. Those are not the actions of someone who cares.

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