Page 74 of Ruthless Desires, Vol. Two (Ruthless Desires Series Extended Editions #2)

Elliot

My hand travels up and down Wren’s arm as I watch her chest rise and fall. Getting the message in our group chat that Thomas attacked her was the last thing I expected. It scared the shit out of me. Even now, I have to fight the urge to hunt him down and kill him—not just because he hurt her, but so he never has the chance to again.

But it’s not my call to make, and I don’t think Wren wants to kill her stepfather. Never see him again? Of course. But I don’t think she’ll agree that he deserves to die.

A closed book sits in my lap. I’m not sure how much Wren remembers of the last couple chapters I read. After her breathing evened out, I kept reading, not sure if she was fully asleep yet. I only stopped fifteen minutes ago.

Leaning down carefully, I plant a soft kiss on her forehead. She moans and rolls over to face me, her hand coming to rest on my thigh.

If I still had doubts about Wren, the last couple days would’ve erased them completely. She and Finn worked nonstop to come up with a way to get us out of Ludo’s grasp. If it wasn’t for her, we’d still be locked up—or dead.

Not that I still do have doubts about her. I haven’t for a long while. Even in the beginning, my issues were with our lifestyle, not her. I didn’t want to see her get hurt. Even though we failed to protect her, I couldn’t imagine life without Wren.

I’m not sure how we’re going to break it to her what Ludo did to Oliver. Or to me, I suppose. Every time I close my eyes, I see the woman I killed—the one who reminded me of Wren. The second I was able to, I looked her up. She seemed perfectly ordinary, unlike her husband, who used to work for Holloway.

If I had to guess, I’d say Ludo wanted her dead as payback. It looks like her husband betrayed him, and Holloway always gets creative with his punishments. She didn’t seem involved in her husband’s business, and they seemed to love each other a lot. God, I’m just glad they never had kids.

I should’ve found another way.

But deep down, I know there’s no way I could’ve. At that point, I didn’t know I could trust Axel, and we had no way out. But I can’t get around the fact that she’s dead because of me. I know I didn’t have much of a choice, but I don’t think she’ll ever stop haunting me.

And Wren… I know she’ll think it’s her fault. She already does. She’s wrong, but how can we convince her of that? Once guilt takes root, it’s almost impossible to expel it completely.

“It wasn’t your fault, love,”

I whisper.

I stay for another fifteen minutes before slowly moving her hand to the mattress. If I could lie down and sleep with her, I would, but I want to check on the boys. We need to figure out what to do for dinner, anyway.

Before I leave, I give Wren one last look. I’m familiar enough with how to take care of someone with a concussion thanks to a backflip gone wrong years ago—not that I think Wren has one. She’s not showing most symptoms, but we’ll still wake her up in a couple hours to see how she’s doing.

Downstairs, Andrew and Benny are in the kitchen eating what appears to be some type of soup. There’s fresh bread on the counter that’s cut into thick slices.

“Hey,”

Andrew says.

“Meredith dropped by. She said that’s for you.”

He nods to a long, thin box sitting on the island.

“Thanks.”

Tucking it under my arm, I gesture to the two bowls on the table.

“I was gonna ask if you guys are hungry, but…”

“Meredith brought dinner,”

Benny says, his mouth full of food.

“Said to call her if we need anything.”

The thought tugs on my heartstrings. Of course she did. Meredith has always been so supportive, so respectful. I know she wants to help and be there for us, but she also wants to give us space if that’s what we need.

As for the package, I’m glad she got it to me so quickly. I could’ve ordered one, but I was hoping that asking Meredith to pick one up for me would be faster.

She didn’t even bat an eye at my request. I didn’t tell her why I need it, but I think she put the pieces together. Not only is Meredith one of the strongest people I know, but she’s also one of the smartest.

“What is it?”

Benny asks, his eyes on the package.

Rolling his eyes, Andrew knocks his brother in the shoulder.

“Had to stop him from opening it.”

Benny just grins, watching me expectantly.

“A secret,”

I say.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“Awww, come on! All everyone is doing is keeping secrets.”

“Rhett will explain things to you soon,”

I tell him.

“He just needs a little time.”

Benny flops into his chair dramatically.

“I wish time would go by faster.”

“I used to say that all the time. My mom always told me the opposite is true when you grow up.”

To this day, I’m not sure how she can be so correct but so wrong at the same time.

“My mom says that, too.”

Benny’s face falls, like he’s just remembering that she exists.

“I feel bad making her worry about us.”

“Have you thought about what we talked about?”

Andrew asks.

“I told you! I don’t want to see Dad anymore. He scares me.”

“And I told you, what if Dad wasn’t in the picture?”

Throwing his hands up in the air, Benny glares at Andrew.

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

Andrew and I exchange a quick glance that, thankfully, Benny doesn’t seem to notice. Rhett mentioned the conversation he had with Andrew earlier. He didn’t admit anything, but the implication is clear—to Andrew, anyway.

“Are they getting divorced?”

Benny asks hopefully.

“Maybe,”

Andrew replies.

“If they did, and Mom could get sole custody of you, would you be okay with that?”

“Yeah,”

Benny says. Then he adds softly, “I miss her. I don’t want her to be sad that I’m gone.”

“Maybe we can work something out.”

I give him a reassuring smile.

Just then, Rhett walks in, his hand clasped in Oliver’s. Both of them look more relaxed than when I ran into them upstairs.

“What’s in there?”

Oliver asks.

My jaw tightens as he eyes the package. When he reaches for it, I shy away.

“Ell! Come on, you never keep secrets. What are you doing?”

“Making things right,”

I say, grateful when Rhett holds Oliver back.

“I’ll be up in time to wake Wren.”

The hurt on Oliver’s face only makes my chest squeeze tighter, but it’s better this way. He wasn’t supposed to know this package even exists.

“I love you, O,”

I tell him.

“Just… trust me.”

He crosses his arms, but he nods. “Fine.”

“Your mom brought soup. Eat. I’ll get some when I come back up.”

I don’t open the package until I’m downstairs, just outside the door to Ludo’s cell. The boys would only ask more questions, and it would be cruel to pull it out in front of Oliver.

Taking a deep breath, I open the box. It’s a more modern design than the one Ludo has, but I don’t think that matters. It should get the job done perfectly.

I’m just barely able to hear laughter from upstairs. Once I’m inside Ludo’s cell, that’ll change. We soundproofed it a while back so that Holloway’s cries for help wouldn’t bug us. It’s extra helpful now that we don’t want Benny to know what we’re doing to Ludo.

After I type the passcode into the keypad, I insert the key to unlock the door. Just before I open it, my grip on the cattle prod tightens.

I can’t take back my mistakes, but I can do my best to make up for them. This is the first step of many.