Page 84 of Tethered Souls

“Ah. Ah of course he is.”

“So what were they both doing naked?” I ask, curious as all hel.

Her spine straightens though, and she lifts her chin. “I can’t talk business. Sorry.”

“But it was business?”

“That required them both to be naked?” Dayne chimes in.

She nods, and fuck it, I believe her. There’s no guilt in her eyes, no sign of gloating from a woman who knows she can steal another’s man. Also, there’s the whole fact that she’s able to string sentences together. Ain’t no way she would be able to if she’d had both Varius’ and Khalid’s dicks inside her. I have seen the bulge in Khalid’s pants. He might be bigger than his brother. And gods, do I feel sorry for any woman who catchesthatthing’s eye.

“Well, thanks for saving me,” I say.

“I couldn’t have done it without Dayne. You died for a few seconds there before he brought you back.”

I shiver, remembering the pitch black of Purgatory. I felt like I walked that barren plane for days. Screaming into the abyss, unable to tell if I was the right way up or not, no ground beneath my feet, no sky above. Just utter darkness, and the feeling that I was being hunted.

I rub a hand over my shaved head to calm my nerves. “Well, anyone know what we’re supposed to do now? Have they just left us here or…”

“Maddox is having a talk with Vinny, which means the house is probably locked down tight.” She strolls to the open door, then pokes her head out. “Six ‘waitresses’ are outside, as is your dad.” She asks them, “Is she allowed to leave?”

“If she wants,” Stefaan says.

Louise leans back in. “I wouldn’t recommend it though. Varius doesn’t like having to find things he wants.”

“Yeah, well, he shouldn’t have just left then, huh?” I head for the door, wanting to give Varius a reason to punish me tonight. The fucking bonehead won’t come to me otherwise, and no one should hurt that much alone. He might think himself tough and capable of taking on the world, making it bend the knee to him, but I see him for the boy he is. The one who can’t trust anybody so doesn’t let anyone in. The one who needs comfort before he breaks but doesn’t know how to ask for it.

Entering the hall, I look at Stefaan. “How’d Myers slip away?”

His jaw tics, and I fucking love how much it pisses him off to submit to me. “He went into the bathroom and had a recording of him taking a shit that he played to fool Sharee.”

I glance at the assassin standing closest to me, my eyes widening. Despite wanting to hate the guy, I can’t help but be impressed. “He saw you?”

“No, but he was smart enough to know someone was watching.”

“Fucking paranoia clearly runs in the family,” I mutter.

“He snuck out the window, and you know the rest.”

I glance back at Stefaan. “Where are Aaron and Teak?” My two brothers.

“I sent them home.”

“Why?”

“To guard Lou.”

I blink, surprised he’d bother. Even if Myers did plan on going after her to get to me to get to Varius – something utterly pointless given I doubt he’d care if Myers had me, Lou is over eight hours away. Why would he remove two damn good assassins from tonight’s detail given how much he was trying to impress Varius? If he actually cared about his kids, I would understand, but as it is, I’m fucking baffled.

My head hurting too much to think about anything, I rub my temples. “I’m going for a walk,” I say.

His eyes narrow, but he doesn’t glare at me like he would have done just a few hours ago. Nor does he tell me what to do. He simply shrugs off his jacket, hands it to me, and then steps to the side. Dumbly, I put it on to hide the opening in my dress.

More weirded out than I was when I fought Myers with my own face, I walk quickly in front of him. Dayne comes up beside me. “Are you sure this is wise?” he asks in the language we made up together years ago.

“Going for a walk after nearly dying? Louise healed me, so –”

“Pissing Varius off when he’s already pissed off.”