Page 79 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two

I lose track of the conversation happening in the room as a time line clicks into place in my head. My father—that bastard of a man—was having an affair while my mother was struggling for her life. And now, yet again, his youngest child is in danger because of his neglect.

History is repeating itself.

Someone says something, but I barely hear, like they’re trying to speak through a thick wall. I can only process one thing, over and over again.He’s going to die. He’s going to die. He’s going to die.

Andrew is going to get Benny killed. It’s like Sammy all over again, except this time, it’s worse. Because this time, I’m equipped to do something about it, but I feel just as helpless.

“… it’s too much, Ell. We need to give him time to process.”

Andrew’s phone is pulled from my hand. I barely register Wren’s sweet, floral scent as she guides me to the kitchen table. At some point, a glass of water is placed in front of me, and I manage to swallow down a sip.

Wren stays close. She doesn’t touch me, but I can feel her presence.

“We’ll continue this another time,” I hear Elliot say. “If you breathe a word of this to Ludo, he’ll know you left your room. We’ve wiped the security tapes, but you need to keep your mouth shut.”

“I know,” Andrew grits out. “I’m not stupid.” He mutters something under his breath, and then I hear the door close.

Oliver rushes to my side. He pulls me out of my seat, grasping my shoulders.

“O,” Elliot protests, “he’s not going to want—”

“I don’t care.” Oliver wraps his arms around me, and maybe I’m too numb or maybe I’m too worried, but my skin doesn’t crawl, and I don’t have to fight the urge to push him away.

“Ludo is going to kill him,” I mumble into Oliver’s neck. “He’s going to kill them both.”

“We’re not gonna let that happen,” Oliver says firmly. His arms tighten around me, and I’m pretty sure they’re the only thing keeping me from falling apart. “We’ll get them out of there and keep them safe.”

Doubts flood my mind.I can’t lose them too.It doesn’t matter that I didn’t know about their existence until an hour ago. I can’t let them suffer the same fate as Sammy.

“What could Ludo want with them?” Fear bleeds into my voice, raw and breathless. “What’s he going to do to them?”

No one speaks.

I spin to face Elliot. “I know you have hunches. Don’t you dare hide them from me.”

“We can talk about that later,” he says.

“No. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

After another moment of painful silence, Elliot sighs. “We’ve seen that Ludo has been cozying up to judges. Aubrey confirmed it as well. Combine those with the fact that he’s promising Andrew legal custody of Benny, I’d say Ludo is trying to get control of the courts. Bribery, deals, possibly even blackmail.”

“He can get his men off with reduced sentences or a slap on the wrist,” I say as my hands curl into fists. “As for his enemies… he could potentially get them locked up for longer.”

“You think he’ll go after juries?” Oliver asks.

“He’s done worse,” I say darkly.

“Based on the information we got from the bug,” Elliot says, “it sounds like Ludo is planning on using a child as leverage against us. That has to be Benny.”

A chill sweeps over my skin. Leverage.Leverage?“But that would mean…”

“He wants something from us,” Elliot says.

Wren tilts her head to the side. “We already knew that.”

“Not like this. If Ludo thinks he needs Benny as a backup plan, then whatever he wants from us is something he doesn’t think we’ll be willing to do. He’s planning on forcing us, and…” Elliot trails off with a grimace, too uncomfortable to finish.

I do it for him, even though the weight crushing my chest makes it hard to breathe. “And he has no problem putting a twelve-year-old’s life on the line to do so.”