Page 50 of Savage Captor (Deadly Devotion #1)

The knocks sound again; my jaw clenches. This better be very good. It’s close to 3 a.m. now.

I swing open the front door, ready to punch whoever the hell thought it was a good idea to interrupt my night, only to draw up short.

It’s Cain. He’s ditched the suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his button-up.

His facial expression tells me that he’s here for shop talk, and I know I can’t refuse him.

He’s already my boss, but he’s about to become the leader of the Nighthawks—and I’m going to help him.

“Can this wait until morning?” I ask. “I’m making progress with my chosen.” I hope that the latter will make Cain fuck off, since he constantly stresses the importance of me training Scarlett to be the perfect woman.

“No,” he says. “Plans have shifted, and you need to be read in. Is she asleep?”

“Soundly, no thanks to your knocking. First time she’s slept without sedatives since I claimed her.”

Cain nods, and something that could be approval flashes across his face. “So you are making progress in your training. It’s about time. Let’s go into your office—this shouldn’t take long.”

I examine Cain for several moments, taking in the pleasure glimmering in his eyes. He truly believes that claiming women, having chosen ones, is the right path forward for the Nighthawks. He’s seen Scarlett at her worst—last night, when I took her virginity like a monster because he mandated it.

I know I still chose to go through with it, and even though I’m damn well aware that I should feel guilty for fucking Scarlett, I don’t.

I feel guilty that I didn’t even bother to ask whether she’d had sex before—her first time should’ve been better than that.

I don’t feel good that the choices for her future are either death or permanently being trapped here.

But I won’t even bother to try to feel guilty about claiming Scarlett; I’m too far past that point.

Without realizing it, she’s become my salvation. Fixating on her has saved me from the sea of grief that’s been drowning me since I lost Sam. Even though I’m very well aware that I’m the nightmare in her life, she’s become the angel in mine, despite the way we butt heads.

I’m keeping her . I think I might’ve chosen to keep her even if it wasn’t my only option to keep her alive.

I let Cain inside and lead him to my soundproof office. As ever, I pull up the live video feed in the bedroom to ensure that Scarlett continues sleeping soundly .

I’ll be back for you soon, baby .

“I’m moving up the timetable for the regime change,” Cain says.

I peel my eyes away from Scarlett on the computer monitor. “How much is it moving up?”

“It’ll happen in three days,” Cain replies. “Max has rallied half the Nighthawks; you rally the rest. I know who we’ll need to eliminate already, and I’ll get you that list in the morning.”

“Three days is quite a steep climb from the anticipated weeks,” I say slowly. “Are you sure you’re ready?”

“I’ve been ready for quite some time. Do your job and we won’t have any issues.” Cain scoffs faintly. “Are you forgetting that I make information my business and my trade? That I think years ahead with each decision I make? Don’t insult me by asking me if I’m ready .”

My eyes narrow. Cain does seem to know everything, and his plans are beyond extensive and careful. He seemed to know an awful lot about Scarlett that he kept to himself—perhaps he still does.

As I gaze at Cain, I’m struck with the unnerving realization that this was all started, perhaps even orchestrated , by him.

I’ve been too focused on Scarlett, work, and mutiny to truly give much thought to Cain’s role in everything, but now… now I’m starting to truly think.

At every step in the process, he’s known more than he’s divulged.

He was planning mutiny long before he let me in on it.

He suspected, perhaps even knew that Scarlett was innocent—and allowed me to continue torturing her for a crime she didn’t commit.

Then, when Boyce wanted me to kill her, he presented an alternative option in front of our boss; turning her into my toy.

Behind Boyce’s back, he spoke about the claiming ritual and some bullshit trials like he’d put a lot of thought into it .

Amidst my own turmoil over the last weeks, amidst my fixation, I think I’ve been missing one critical fact here; that Cain may have planned all of this, beginning to end.

What truly sucks is that, even if I’m right, I have no power to chastise Cain or force him to change. The mutiny’s underway. Lines have been drawn, and I’ve put myself on his side of the field without due diligence.

At the end of the day, I’m not the one who’s really paying for my decisions; Scarlett is.

And while I might not feel the guilt I should over claiming and keeping her—I’m too obsessed to let her go—I don’t like that she’s stuck in this position.

She has no real choices, voice, or opinions, at least none that are given true value.

That’ll only change once she’s undergone whatever sick trials Cain puts her through.

Which will only happen if Scarlett truly submits to me, body and soul, and grows to care for me.

No, more than that, she needs to fall in love with me to survive whatever shit Cain intends to force her through.

I have a sinking suspicion that every member of the Nighthawks will soon find themselves in a twisted web of Cain’s creation.

“I’m going to ask you a question,” I say slowly. I’m almost certain I know the answer, and worse, I know I can’t do anything about it. Unfortunately, that’s also why I think Cain will tell the truth.

Cain motions for me to proceed with a hand.

“Did you know that Scarlett was innocent when we took her?” I think back to the day I called her father. The day I nearly killed her. Cain verified that Scarlett didn’t have contact with her father and wasn’t being funded by Luther very quickly—too quickly.

“No, though I strongly suspected. I found out her second day here when I had my guy dig into her rather than trusting Boyce’s word.”

Shock and anger intermix within me, sparking a war so intense I’m not sure which will come out.

I was aware that Cain suspected—he even admitted as much.

But I wasn’t aware that he knew. He knew , and he kept torturing Scarlett, kept letting me torture her.

He allowed me to believe that she was a demon, that she committed the most heinous crime against me.

“Are you fucking kidding me?” I rise from my office chair. “You knew and you didn’t tell me?”

It takes me less than a heartbeat to cut around the desk, and then, I haul my fist back and punch Cain in the face with all the force I can muster.

His head snaps back with the hit and he releases a low grunt.

Without giving him time to recover, I drive my fist into his stomach.

He let my woman suffer at my hands . Scarlett still calls me Monster, and I can’t deny it, but Cain’s the real monster here.

“ Enough ,” he snaps, swiftly standing. He blocks my next hit, catching my fist in a steel grip.

“Before you keep beating me up, remember that I outrank you now, and I’ll outrank you by leagues in two days.

I’ll also be giving you the second-highest position in the Nighthawks.

I let you take those first punches to get it out of your system, but no more. ”

“ Why? ” I roar. “Why would you do that to her? To me ?”

“Because you needed her,” Cain hisses. “Because you were drowning in grief and liquor, and you needed something else to focus on. Because I could tell you wanted her the moment you saw her, and I knew she’d pull you out of your shit.”

“ We tortured her!” I shout. “I was going to kill her—"

“I wouldn’t have let you do that.” Cain looks like he’s withholding an eye roll.

“I saw you connecting with her even though you didn’t want to.

I knew what she was becoming to you, what she could become.

I was planning on reading you in the day you decided to call her dad, so calm the fuck down.

Things worked out precisely as I intended.

You’re the beta for Claiming, she’s pulled you out of your grief over Sam, and soon, Boyce will be nothing but a memory to the Nighthawks. You’re welcome.”

“You want me to thank you?” Cain truly is a goddamn sociopath if he doesn’t see the wrongness of what he did.

He sentenced me to a lifetime of guilt over hurting an innocent girl, and sentenced Scarlett to a lifetime tied to the man who tortured her.

Naturally, Cain thinks he did me a favor, but really, he’s just made me into a cruel bastard that my twin would either hate or pity.

“This isn’t something I’m going to get over,” I warn him.

I can’t hurt him, I can’t undermine him or turn away from him, but I can drop any semblance of friendship between us.

“You’ve lost my respect as a friend. I’ll still take down Boyce with you and act as your second, but this shit is unforgivable. ”

“You’ll live,” Cain says flatly. “Back to the matter at hand. In two days, I’ll lock down the compound.

Eric will send in his crew to guard the gates—he’ll be giving some of his more promising associates over to us.

I’ve seen their work; they’ll do well in the Nighthawks.

Together, we will kill Boyce, and the few supporters he has.

The show of force will make anyone uncomfortable with my leadership fall in line.

You and Max will be overseeing the newbie’s training, along with the many changes and upgrades to the compound that I’ll sanction. Am I understood?”

“Yes,” I bite out. What other choice do I have? “You’re fucking understood.”

“Good. Do try to get over your petty anger soon; you’ll eventually see that I did what was best for you.”

“Fuck. Off.”

Cain stands, adjusting his cuffs. “Keep in mind how much latitude I’m giving you and don’t take advantage of it. Enjoy your time with your chosen.” He stalks out of the office, leaving the door open. A few minutes later, I hear the front door open and shut.

Motherfucker .