Page 19 of Sadist (The Triarchy Collection #1)

THEO

I left Octavia sleeping in my bed just as the sun began to rise, loose-limbed and sprawled out in exhaustion.

She had earned her rest, taking everything I had given her and begging for more, her skin decorated with the evidence of how well she had behaved for me.

I had tested how far her boundaries went, but the deeper I had gone, the more she had responded to me, and there had been no hesitation.

Not even when I had wrapped my fingers around her throat as I strapped her savagely, squeezing until I controlled everything.

Her pleasure. Her pain. Even her god-damned breath was mine, and fuck I had savored every moment of it.

Checking the time on my screen, I sat, putting down my coffee as it steamed in the dim morning light. Tomorrow, I was going to have to report to The Triarchy and figure out how to salvage the mess I was rapidly creating.

We still held the cards. A stronger hand, in fact, with evidence that Vanguard had intended to sacrifice his only daughter to further his empire. I could ruin him, putting myself into a near untouchable position within The Triarchy in the process…and all it would take was one call to Erryn.

One call.

I picked up my phone, bringing up the most recent number and staring at it.

One call, Theo. To the woman you owe so much.

I had earned every bit of respect I had gained from the Chairs. But Erryn had given me the opportunity to be seen. Held me to the high standards I was now known for…and had trusted me. Did trust me enough to let me closer to her than anyone I had seen.

Erryn Loxley ruled the London chapter of The Triarchy with an iron grip and a stone heart.

No one dared to question her. No one but me, and I had never played by her rules.

It was that lack of control over me that both infuriated and seduced her.

Our trysts had been volatile and entirely on her terms, taking what she wanted from the encounters and leaving again.

And that had been fine. It was a mutually satisfying arrangement because going toe-to-toe with me at my worst took a rare type of person.

But Octavia had followed me into those dark little corners and danced with my demons like no one else had. Her presence lit up something deep inside me that I feared had broken long ago. She made me feel.

One call.

The number taunted me from the screen.

One fucking call, Theo. You have known this woman for two weeks. Your loyalty is to The Triarchy, and this is how you ensure the integrity of crucial information that could be its downfall if exposed.

So why couldn’t I do it?

Putting the phone down, I swiped a hand across my tired eyes and glanced across at Octavia’s sleeping form. The possessive little ember that had been steadily growing in my chest flared.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it.

***

The repetitive beep from one of my monitors woke me, and I sat up with a start, my mind taking a moment to catch up as I blinked at the sun streaming in the windows above.

I had fallen asleep reading in Octavia’s nest on the couch, the noon sun warming my skin as I had attempted to make the most of the last day of my impromptu holiday.

Padding groggily across to the monitors, I logged into the surveillance system and swore quietly when I saw the sleek black Mercedes waiting at the garage doors.

I let her in, pulling my phone out, ready to allow Erryn access through the system of doors and the elevator it took to get in, striding to my room as I did.

“Sweets,” I said, pulling back the cover Octavia had burrowed into and running a hand down her arm.

“Hmmm?” The sleepy hum was followed by a soft sigh as she stirred.

“I need you to get up,” I said urgently. “Someone is here who can’t see you.”

“What?” Octavia sat up in alarm. “Who?”

“Up,” I said, as I thought rapidly. “Quickly.”

I couldn’t put her in the cells. Erryn had no reason to go looking in them, but still.

The risk was there, and if she saw her, every atom of trust I had worked so hard to build would be gone—and Erryn did not have a forgiving bone in her body.

There was no way I could get her into the sub-basement without meeting Erryn coming up, and the living quarters were too open to hide her anywhere.

My eyes fell on the repurposed walk-in vault sunk into the wall that served as my wardrobe, and I winced.

It would easily fit four people; the heavy door was a smaller version of the one to my room, which I could close securely.

“I need you to get in there,” I said, pointing to the vault.

“What?” Octavia said again, her brows drawing together. “No. I’ll go to the cell?—”

“No, Octavia,” I said firmly, pushing my discarded T-shirt into her hands. “Put this on and get in there. Be silent until I—and I alone—open that door and let you out.”

“Theo, no—please.” She looked at me with pleading eyes.

“Unless you want the Chair of the company who ordered your abduction to know you are alive and well—get in the fucking vault, Octavia,” I snapped, urgency making my tone sharp. My phone vibrated in my pocket as Erryn requested access to the lift, and I pulled my phone out, letting her through.

“Now!” I snapped.

She was silent as she pulled the shirt over her head, not looking at me.

The phone vibrated again, and I let Erryn through the first doors, barely waiting for Octavia to step into the vault before closing it and clicking the lock into place.

I strode back out of the room, letting Erryn through the final doors as I glanced around the living area.

Octavia had nothing of hers here, yet it felt like her presence was everywhere.

I could even smell her here, on me…her sweet, sun-warmed scent clinging to my skin.

“Fuck,” I breathed, heading to the keypad and punching in the code.

I opened the door as Erryn arrived, her impeccable attire looking as out of place in the harsh lights of the undecorated concrete hallway as it always did.

I should have expected her to turn up today.

She never announced her intentions, knowing that if I weren’t on a job, I would be here.

And she handled everything related to my work schedule.

Erryn’s icy grey gaze leveled on me as she stepped through the door, unbuttoning her long coat so it hung open to reveal the crisp white shirt and black dress pants she was wearing beneath, a stark contrast to my gym pants and singlet.

“You look tired,” was all she said in greeting.

“Late night getting myself up to date,” I said, gesturing for her to enter.

She hummed quietly, her eyes narrowing as she swept her gaze down me, and then around the room as she took everything in, her eyes lingering on the mess of blankets on the couch.

“Gin?” I asked, and she inclined her head slightly before walking toward my office. I poured her drink and then a whiskey for myself, handing it to her and leaning against the edge of my desk as she reclined in the office chair.

“You are recovered?” she asked. Her eyes dropped to my thigh. “You’re not favoring that leg at least.”

“You replayed the footage then?” I asked, running my hand over the spot where Zichen had stabbed me.

Octavia had done an incredible job stitching it.

The stitches were so small and uniform that it looked like it had been done by a surgeon, and aside from a lot of bruising around it, the wound was healing cleanly.

“More than once to reassure myself you had not bled out in here,” she retorted, her face stiffening. “Have you entered an override code into your file yet?”

I shook my head, taking a sip of my whiskey to give myself a moment to formulate a response.

“After Zichen’s stunt and the number of agents who have gone dark, I’m not comfortable having that information accessible in a system that is riddled with flaws at the moment,” I said carefully.

Erryn’s brow rose.

“You are well aware that it is a separate system that only the Chairs have access to.”

I gave her a long look.

She let out an exasperated sigh. “Then put it in my personal phone, Theodora.”

“I can’t just put it in your phone, Erryn,” I said, mirroring her mannerisms. “It’s all coded to my prints. I can do it, but it will take me a day or so.”

She nodded in satisfaction, and I couldn’t help but bristle over her confidence that I would do exactly as she was demanding, and of course, she noticed my change in demeanor, the edge of her lips kicking up in the hint of a smile. Nothing turned her on more than gaining the upper hand.

“Tell me how bad it is,” I said, nursing my drink.

The tip of her ears went red. Or at least, the one I could see with her pale hair tucked behind it. It was the only tell she had. Where my temper was volatile and wild, Erryn’s was a cold fire that silently destroyed.

“We currently have access to everything in The Triarchy database. We can access it. See it. We cannot move, delete, copy, or anything else until we agree to the terms Vanguard has put in place,” she said after a long moment.

I knew how much it was hurting her to admit that. The mistake she had made would be tearing her up.

“And what are his terms?” I asked. “How much is he asking?”

Cool grey eyes raised to mine, and I could see the fury simmering quietly in their icy depths.

“Not money. William fucking Vanguard wants my Chair.”

I hissed through my teeth, slowly swirling the golden liquid in my glass.

“He would steer this corporation into hell,” Erryn said.

“Vanguard Technology has given him the knowledge of which ears he needs to be whispering in. A Triarchy Chair would effectively place him at the helm of an army. Everything we have fought so hard to rid the world of, he wants to control.” She slammed her glass down.

“He would have a finger in every black-market operation, manipulating it to strengthen his own empire.” She shook her head, laughing ruefully.

“I would kill him myself at the funeral, but the slippery fuck has safeguarded against that too.”

“The funeral?” I asked, blinking. “Octavia’s?”

“I thought you were up all night researching,” she said, sounding unamused.

“His PR company is having a field day with it. And communication was received the day after the bombing that should William Vanguard die for any reason, automations were in place to release all Triarchy files to the NCA.” She shook her head.

“Either way, I lose my Chair, whether it’s to Vanguard or to a criminal investigation.

” She shook her head. “Every file we have is encoded with two-step security measures. There is no way he should ever have been able to do what he has done. Even our best hackers can’t get around his software, and it was meant to be an added security measure—” she cut off, her mouth twisting to the side. “I misjudged, Theo.”

She never called me Theo. Nor admitted to any lapses in judgment, and she looked so small and uncertain in that moment that I didn’t know what to do. I raised my glass to her.

“Drink up, I guess.”

She let out a breathy laugh and tilted her glass at me.

“Even the devil has a weakness,” I said. “I just need to find his. And I will, Erryn. I just need time to work out which angle to approach from.”

She hummed, seeming to pull herself out of her moment of vulnerability, and I could almost see when it changed to self-disgust. She got up, draining her glass.

“Your vehicle will be delivered at eight tomorrow. At least attempt to keep this one longer than six months. You are a valuable asset—but not three vehicles in one year valuable.”

“Ouch,” I said, walking her to the door. She turned as she reached it, studying me for a long moment. “You would tell me if you were not up to returning.”

It wasn’t a question, it was a statement. As if reassuring herself that there was still that level of trust between us.

“I’m fine, Erryn,” I said, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “You could have just called, you know?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, I needed to have eyes on you,” she said, waving her hand at me in dismissal before turning on her heel and leaving.