Page 36 of Convict's Game

I thundered down the back stairs to the ground floor, then strode through emptying corridors. Of the people still hanging around, I paid them no attention, though I registered their surprise.

I was bare-chested, bloodied from throwing fists, but I should be with my woman. The fact that I roamed the halls was shocking. Everyone knew the compelling nature of the game. It was one of the reasons I’d had to walk out. I could’ve left the manhunt to Tyler, but every single part of me demanded that I fuck the woman I’d claimed.

Particularly when her naked body was right there in front of me.

At the entrance to the basement, a team of cleaners wheeled in a trolley. One of the skeleton crew guarded the door.

“Tyler inside?” I asked.

The guard’s eyes widened, and he gave me a single nod.

I strode into the space. It smelled of blood, sweat, and sex.

My body warmed in response. Mila running scared. Mila naked. Mila taking me. I exhaled the weight of sheer need and tracked down the team leader in one of the cages. It was empty, and he was alone.

His forehead lined in a frown. “What the fuck are you doing down here?”

“Jacobs is important to Mila. I need to know why.”

“And you didn’t trust me to find him?”

I scowled back. “Of course I did. Where is he?”

“Not here. Looks like he woke up from his nap after the fun finished and the cameras cut out. I have people checking outside.” Tyler tilted his head, carrying out a quick assessment of me in the way he did with everything. “I wish I knew what you were thinking, but this needs to be said. Arran gave us all the same rule. We don’t take part in the game. We facilitate it, and the money it earns is used to help women.”

“I didn’t take part. I intervened.”

“With your dick?”

I scowled, and he held up a hand.

“Mila wasn’t supposed to be in there, was she? She slipped through the net, and if I’d have been here earlier, or had a chance to catch up with Shade on the work we’re covering, this might not have happened. Same goes for you. But that isn’t the point. Arran will possibly forgive you if you and Mila are endgame. The fact you’re running around out here now suggests otherwise.”

His phone beeped, and he read the screen then swore. “Jacobs’s car is gone.”

Shit. The guy had been unconscious. Asshole move to wake up and disappear after missing the entirety of the game.

I couldn’t regret that part of it, though. If he’d been the one to catch Mila, for whatever reason, she would have given herself to him.

Absolute loathing closed off those thoughts. She was mine. Legitimately and fairly. The rules said I’d won. My brain said holy shit. My dick said finally.

I’d claimed her, and by every rule in the book, nothing could change that.

Well, except her.

Which meant I needed to convince her of the fact, and not only for the sake of my crew, even if Tyler was right.

Chaining her up might not have helped my case.

I turned back to Tyler. “On that point, I need your help. Come with me.”

He stowed his phone, and we left the basement, returning upstairs.

Tyler spoke as we climbed the flights. “Something else I meant to mention. The cars that were seen on the CCTV taking Mila away from Milburne Alley had fake number plates which meant we couldn’t ID them.”

I knew that. It was another frustrating avenue exhausted in the past couple of days.

“One of those fake plates was picked up on a local highway plate recognition camera just this evening. I got the notification when you asked me to come down here.”