Page 21 of Covert (Ruthless Love #2)

Chapter eighteen

Nikki

L ater that night, I yawn as I shuffle my heavy feet out into the hallway to use the restroom at the end of it.

It's probably close to five am, and I went to bed shortly after holding Beckett's hand.

I'm confident that if we have these little touching sessions nightly, he'll learn to be more comfortable.

I'm hoping that it's not just more comfortable with me, but with women in general.

I want him to know that his foster sister was not the norm, and that most women are safe.

He's a great guy who deserves a little more peace in his life.

When I pass by one of the bedrooms, though, a faint light catches my eye. I peek inside to see Axel, awake, on the computer. The rest of the room is dark, but the light from the computer caught my eye.

He has two large horizontal monitors and a third vertical one. I've seen the bags under his eyes, and now I know why.

"What are you doing?" I ask casually. I can't really tell what I'm looking at, so I rub my eyes.

My eyes finally focus, and on the third screen is a picture of a naked woman, kneeling on a cement floor, duct tape over her mouth and binding her wrists, tears streaming down her face.

There's a chat window beneath it, full of numbers, and nausea rolls through my stomach in a hot lurch. They're bidding on her.

Axel jumps and turns in his chair, looking startled. I start to back out into the hallway in horror, but his voice trails after me.

"Nikki! It - it's - it's not what it looks like." I spin on my heel, horrified at what I'd just seen. He groans, and I hear the shuffle of him standing and rushing after me .

I sprint for the bathroom and slam the door, locking it behind me. The cold tile bites into my knees as I fall to the floor and dry heave into the toilet.

Knuckles rap against the wooden door. "Nikki, please. It's not what you think," Axel's deep voice pleads through the door.

But I can't. My brain is still processing what I saw.

Could he really have been bidding on a woman?

What else could it have been? He just watches them for fun?

Maybe it was a documentary. Or a horror movie?

But he was definitely on the computer. Maybe I'm still too asleep, but I can't logically think of a reasonable explanation for what I saw.

I dry heave again as a shiver runs through my body. My fight-or-flight instincts kick in. I have to get out of here.

I can't go back out there. I can't face him knowing what I know now. I can't live here. I can't work with someone like that. I need to get out. I'll grab my bag and leave tonight.

"You're a fucking monster!" I shout back, tears streaming down my face. I can't believe I thought he was a good guy. I can't believe I had sex with him. My heart clenches in on itself painfully. I really liked Axel.

What sounds like Axel's forehead hits the door next. I'll wait for him to leave. He'll have to eventually, and then I'm gone.

"I'm not bidding, Nikki. I'm looking for someone on the dark web. I was making sure that wasn't her they were bidding on."

I sit back on my haunches and wipe my mouth with the back of my hand. That actually sounds more plausible than Axel and the boys being part of the skin trade .

I stand and walk to the door, still shaky from dry heaving and the image that is now seared to the back of my mind. I open the door just a few inches. I can slam it shut again if he makes a move.

His face is hollow, the dark bags under his eyes darker, and his usually playful expression completely gone. He looks sad, tired, and stressed. I want to hold him.

"Who is she?" I hate how small my voice is; how much hope there is in it. God, I want him to be telling the truth. I want him to be the good guy—the version of him I thought I knew. I desperately want him to prove to me that he wasn't lying.

He looks to the side, avoiding eye contact, and I bristle. I'm about to slam the door in his face and call him a liar, but he speaks up before I can. "It's not my story to tell, but it's someone really important to us. To me."

I don't like that he's keeping secrets, but then so am I.

"You promise?" It sounds so juvenile, but I want to believe him. I do believe him. The man in front of me is weary and exhausted, not someone excited about purchasing a new plaything.

I open the door fully, and he gives me a sad smile. "Yeah, I promise." There's nothing but honesty in his eyes and the sad slump of his shoulders.

I look behind him, back into his room. I want to hold him, comfort him, tell him it'll all be okay. But then, it's already not, is it? Not if he's looking for someone he cares about in a skin auction on the dark web.

I step into him and wrap my arms around his waist, resting my head on his chest. His arms wrap around me instantly, and he sighs in relief. He sags against me, and I brace myself to hold some of his weight .

"Thank you," he whispers.

"Can I stay with you tonight?" I whisper back.

"Yeah?" he starts to slip back into his fun, flirty persona, but I shake my head.

"Not like that. You shouldn't be alone when you're doing stuff like that."

I don't know what he's seen, sitting alone in his room. The horrors that this world holds. The evil that exists in the underbelly of this world.

His smile falls again, but it's more like the release of a mask. "Yeah, I'd like that."

I hold his hand and lead him back to his bedroom. I debate just sleeping in his bed, but I want to be closer to him. I sit him back on his chair, avoiding looking at the screen at all in case my dinner decides to revisit.

And I climb into his lap, wrapping myself around him like a koala. It's not sexual, it's meant to be comforting, and I think it works. He relaxes again underneath me and runs a hand down my hair.

I must have fallen asleep like that, because when I wake the next morning, I'm tucked into Axel's bed and he's nowhere to be seen.