Total pages in book: 96
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91809 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 459(@200wpm)___ 367(@250wpm)___ 306(@300wpm)
“When will they be back?”
She shrugged. “Tomorrow or the next day. Depends on if they decide to catch a show or visit friends. I’ll tell Grandmother you want to talk to her, but I can’t guarantee anything. If she refuses, don’t think you can come for me and say I didn’t hold up my end.”
“As long as the refusal comes from her. I don’t trust you not to lie.”
“Like I trust you either.” Saylor slid off the bed. “Get out. The phone stays with me.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. There was no risk in leaving the phone with her since I called Wilder from the car and he walked me through how to give him remote access. He knew everything about the members that Saylor and I now did. If she didn’t keep up her end to bring the bastards to justice, we’d do it for her.
Victor was waiting for me at his parents’ house as promised. Together we took a long, twisty route back to Wilder’s hideout. I walked through the door and fell into Rafael’s arms. Victor filled them in for me.
“Leave you alone for one day and you get chased by an angry mob.” Rafael’s touch was soothing on my temples. “I hate that we’re stuck in this fucking place when you need us. Meanwhile, Wilder’s brother has struck again.”
My head shot up. “What? How?”
Rafael led us into the living room. Wilder was hunched over the coffee table, furiously typing on his laptop. “He’s locked me out of everything,” he hissed. “I can’t access the Royals’ HapApp messages. I can’t get into the school database. I can’t even send an email to a Royal. They’re all coming back undelivered. Wolf is protecting Everleigh and all her allies from my cyberattacks.”
I bent over his shoulder, glancing at strings of code I did not understand. “Does that matter now that we have Everleigh’s cellphone? She’s about to lose all of her allies.”
“They switch their loyalty from Everleigh back to Saylor, but in neither situation are they loyal to us,” Lucien said. “Wolf trapped us in this place. Now, he’s taking away our eyes. We’re planning moves, but he and Everleigh are too. He’s making sure we don’t see them.”
I shivered. “If only he’d been this thorough about securing the site. All the protections he added to stop the horrific bullying and worse have come far too late.”
“But he did do it,” Wilder said. “I thought it was a clever manipulation to make you think there was a shred of decency in him before you turned over the laptop. Turns out, there is that shred. The past dares and truths are horrific, but the recent ones have no mention of murder, rape, bullying, etcetera.”
I nodded. I did notice that. Wolfgang held up his end and blocked those dares from going live on the site. This did not make him a good person. A serial killer can abhor rape. A sex trafficker could draw the line at children. Just because Wolf had limits did not make him a good person.
That night, I snuggled between Rafael and Cato—the sweat cooling on our bodies. The sex had been softer lately, the only way I could describe it. As though they sensed the anger and frustration in me and chose to tease it out with gentle fingers and lingering kisses.
This tenderness was a wonder I did not know Cato was capable of. Don’t get me wrong, Cato never pushed me past my limits. He took me to the edge. Danced on the line. Reimagined my body’s possibilities. Took what he wanted without hesitation. There were things I didn’t know I liked until Cato told me I liked them.
His barking, snarling domination was hot in every way, and then there were his stroking fingers, featherlight on my skin. His barely there kisses under my ear. His slow, mind-scrambling tasting of my pussy. None of these were things I was prepared for, and that night, it undid me in every way.
I couldn’t sleep after the Dumont brothers were done with me. I just drifted between wakefulness and peace for hours until sunlight peered through the blinds.
Buzzing drew my attention to the nightstand. I reached over Rafael and grabbed my phone.
Hell Beast: My grandmother has agreed to speak with you, but not at the manor. You’re to meet her at La Perla’s in three hours. If you’re a minute late, she’ll leave and you lose your only chance.
My fingers were a blur typing back.
Me: I’ll be there. Is William coming too?
Hell Beast: No. You’ve probably guessed by now, but she doesn’t want you anywhere near him. He has a soft spot for you, and Grandmother won’t have you take advantage of it.
My brows shot up. William had a soft spot for me? Did she assume that because he didn’t cut me out of the will? That was my only guess because ignoring me my whole life didn’t seem soft.