Page 53 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

“Not a chance,” I spit out.

“Fucking piece of shit,” Elliot mutters, bending down and searching through the man’s pockets. He pulls out a set of car keys. “I’ll grab his car and bring it around back.”

“Sounds good.”

“Wait,” the man blurts. “What are you going to do to me?”

“What do you think we’re gonna do?” I taunt. “Let you go?”

His eyes are wide and pleading, and he even clasps his hands together. “Don’t kill me. I work for Ludo. He sent me to test you guys. Trust me, you passed! Just please don’t kill me.”

Elliot rolls his eyes. “You really think we’re gonna believe that?”

We most definitelydobelieve him. Hell, we practically predicted this would happen. But we can’t let on that we know that.

“Please!” the man begs. “Just call him and ask.”

When Elliot chuckles, I brace myself. The only time he laughs like that is when he’s dealing with someone who’s severely gotten on his nerves. I’ve heard it countless times at Hayes family gatherings.

“Oh,” Elliot says through a tight grin, “I’ll do you one better than that.”

***

Getting the guy tied up, gagged, and into the trunk of his SUV isn’t hard. Neither is leading him around Ludo’s condo and up onto the patio. No, what’s hard is seeing Wren sitting on the bench by the empty fire pit holding Aubrey, with Rhett pacing behind them. All I want to do is go to them, but I can’t. Not yet.

When Ludo sees us, alarm flashes over his features, quickly followed by intrigue. He’s sitting in an Adirondack chair, a drink in one hand and a tablet in the other. Once we’re close enough, we shove the man toward Ludo, and he falls at his feet.

Slowly, Ludo sets his tablet down on the arm of his chair. Before even acknowledging the man before him, he takes a long sip of his drink. “Elliot. Oliver.” He takes his sunglasses off and hangs them on his shirt. Finally, he looks down. “Samuel.”

Samuel grunts.

Motherfucker. He really was testing us.

Ludo huffs out an amused breath before addressing us. “I was expecting you to take a lot longer to notice him. You three really are as good as everyone says.”

Elliot’s face hardens. “We’rebetterthan everyone says.”

Ludo smiles, and it’s that dark, sinister smile that I hate. “Good.” Pulling out a knife, he cuts through Samuel’s gag and restraints. “How’d they do?”

“Just fine, sir.”

“I want a full written report by dinner.”

“Yes, sir.”

Samuel drags himself to his feet. He turns to us and holds out his hand. “I’ll be needing my car keys back.”

Elliot tosses them to him, and we watch him go. I wonder how many other men Ludo has down here that we don’t know about.

“Let mego,Wren.”

As Samuel rounds the house, my attention is drawn back to the girls. I watch as Aubrey stands, even as Wren desperately tries to hold her back.

When I first looked over, I thought maybe Aubrey was crying. Now I realize I couldn’t be more wrong. She’s glaring at Ludo, so angry she’s shaking.

“You,”Aubrey seethes. Her fists are clenched tightly as she marches right up to Ludo. “You orchestrated this whole thing, and you purposefully kept it from me!”

Ludo leans back in his chair, following her movements with a disinterested, lazy stare. “And?”