23. Derek
Derek
“I swear to god, this better be good, Derek.” Madison stormed into the room, arms crossed over her chest and a look of disdain on her face. “What the fuck are you doing here?” She looked over to the corner of the room where Eli had sat down while we waited for her to arrive.
Clearly, she wasn’t a fan of either of us today. I didn’t know she knew Eli, but it shouldn't have surprised me, given his history with Alexis.
“Nice to see you too, Mads. How’s the new boy toy?” Eli chuckled with a smirk, leaning back in his chair.
“That’s none of your business. How’s your precious Monika?” She hissed right before Eli shot up from his chair, wrapping his hand around her throat with a sneer. Dean moved to interfere, but Madison shot him a pointed glare, clearly signaling she could handle the situation herself .
“You keep her name out of that cock whoring mouth of yours.” He gave another hard squeeze before releasing her throat, shoving her out of arm’s reach, and returning to his chair.
I raised a brow at the two of them, standing from my seat behind the desk and resting my palms on top. Madison rubbed and cleared her throat before facing me, ignoring that Eli was still in the room. Dean stepped up behind her, and she held out a hand to stop him.
“I’m fine. Why am I here?” She rasped, still catching her breath.
“You are here because you are close to Adrian Valtores. Does the name ring a bell?” I started, sliding the background check across the desk with his profile visible to her.
“ Was … I was close to him years ago before we ended things. What of it?” She gave me a questioning glance before crossing her arms once again.
“We need to know more about him. His habits, tendencies, personal contacts?” I continued. Madison scoffed and rolled her eyes.
“You want to know more about him?” She scoffed.
“Adrian was a piece of shit who broke my heart into a million pieces and left me. He was nothing more than some prissy, uptight asshole who thought he owned the world. What do you want with him? He doesn’t even live here; he left Minnesota when we broke up.
” Madison had an incredulous look, and it told me that Dean didn’t share the whole story regarding Adrian with her.
“Dean, do you want to update her?” I offered, gesturing my hand .
“I’d rather not…” He shrank into himself, shoving his hands into his pockets and stepping back.
“Update me on what? Adrian? Is he here?” Her eyes flew wide as she looked around the room, expecting to see him pop out at any moment and surprise her. Dean sighed and rested a hand on her shoulder to calm her down.
“No, darling. He’s not. Derek and I found out that he is the leader of a group called Anathema, and they have been working in a hideout under Minneapolis.” He explained softly to her.
Darling? I raised a brow at Dean, hearing what he had called Madison, and now all the pieces had begun falling into place. I knew he was sleeping with her; it was either him or Marcus. Both of them had been acting strange lately.
“He what? Are we talking about the same Adrian?” Madison laughed, “ Adrian isn’t capable of killing a fucking fly, let alone handling dirty jobs for money.”
“So you know about Anathema?” I tilted my head. How did she know who they were?
“Of course, I know who they are. They were Charlotte's biggest pain in the ass. They were always taking her clients when she wasn’t looking. But I didn’t know they had established themselves here and that Adrian was leading them.
When did this all happen?” Madison looked between Dean and me for answers.
“They moved to Minneapolis about three years ago, maybe three and a half.” Eli inserted himself into our discussion.
“Three—but that was around the time we ended things. How did I not know this?” She gasped .
“Maybe he took over their leadership as soon as you two broke up.” Eli shrugged.
“Okay, regardless of the timeline… What do you need with him?” She pinched the bridge of her nose with a sigh before returning her bright green eyes to mine. I stood straight, stepping around my desk and resting against it.
“We need to figure out what he is planning; apparently, it’s something devastating, but we have no information about what it could be. And if it is as bad as it seems, we need to stop him from going through with it—whatever it is.” I knew we were running out of time.
Anathema acted fast on plans, and if there was even a rumor that they were planning something, you could bet your ass they were close to achieving that goal by now.
Eli stood with a dark chuckle that caught my attention.
“What’s so fucking funny, Eli? Care to share?” I snapped, sick of his shit already.
“I know you’ve been following—stalking—Alexis for a while. Have you not caught on to what she’s been doing as of late? Not a very observant boyfriend, are you?” I wanted to punch the smug grin off his fucking face. What was he talking about? What did Alexis have to do with Anathema?
“I haven’t been stalking her.” I ground out, clenching my teeth; my eyes darted from Dean back to Eli. “Enlighten me. What has she been up to?” I asked, trying my hardest to remain calm .
Dean stepped towards me, knowing I was on the verge of snapping. Eli and I never saw eye to eye, and I was still beyond pissed off at catching him with Alexis.
“She’s been working for them. Completing her tasks to become a full member of Anathema.” And if that wasn’t the straw that broke the camel’s back.
I launched myself at him, gripping his shirt in my fist and slamming him against the wall.
“What the fuck are you talking about, Eli?” My words were coated in venom. “What the fuck did you do?”
“It was all her; she asked me about them but had already received the invitation for initiation, and she accepted it.” Eli rushed out.
“Fuck.” I growled, dropping him and grabbing my phone off the desk. The sun had already started setting. We waited for several hours before Madison finally decided to show up. I made a beeline for the door to leave.
“Derek, where are you going?” Dean shouted into the hall.
“To get the truth from Lex,” I yelled over my shoulder before exiting the floor and descending the stairwell.
I needed to know if Eli's claims were valid and if she had really sold her soul to someone worse than the devil: Adrian Valtores.
I ran up to Alexis’s apartment, panicking, my breathing becoming erratic as I banged on the door, waiting for an answer that never came.
“Alexis!” I shouted; no answer. This was the last location that she was pinged at with the tracking app I had installed on her phone. She had to be here. There was nowhere else.
Fuck. I cursed, running my hands through my hair and tugging the strands before deciding to hell with it . I stepped back and kicked open her apartment door, busting the lock from the frame, wood particles flying across the floor.
“Lex,” I called out, looking through the dark, quiet room. She wasn’t here. I searched her entire apartment before stopping in her bedroom doorway. Something caught my attention in the kitchen, and I approached the island counter.
A vase of roses, an opened red envelope, and a card were sitting on the counter. My heart sank as I approached and picked up the card, my hands trembling as I turned it over to read what was written on the back.
I ran a hand up and down my face as I got to the end of the note and the name of the person it was from. Adrian Valtores.
“God-fucking-damnit!” I yelled, ripping the card in half before slamming my fists on the counter.
Eli was telling the truth; Alexis had been working with Anathema. I didn't know how long she had been working for them, but long enough to have met with Adrian and been in contact with him. The strain of how tight my fists were balled began turning my knuckles white .
I was fuming—at the situation, myself, and her. Alexis had put herself in a dangerous position, and I needed to do something about it, but I had not a single fucking clue as to what.
I collapsed to the floor, leaning against the island and kicking a chair out of my way. It spun on its leg before crashing to the floor. I stared out into the dark room before hanging my head in defeat.
What the fuck was I going to do?
I picked up my phone and called Dean. I needed someone to talk to, but even more so, I needed him here with Eli so we could figure out our best course of action. Alexis was the number one priority, as far as I was concerned. Fuck the assignment. I needed her home and safe in my arms.
“Derek. How’d it go?” He answered.
“She’s not here. They took her.” I rasped, trying to collect myself and keep my emotions in check. I was so fucked. My hands and body were shaking.
“What do you mean they—hold on…”
He was most likely still with Madison and Eli, leaving the room to continue our conversation privately. God only knows what Madison will do the second she learns about Alexis.
“What do you mean they took her?” There was shock and concern in his voice.
“Exactly what I fucking said. They took her. Get over here with Eli and Madison. We need to figure out what we are going to do to get her back before it’s too late.
” I swear to fucking god, if Adrian lays a single hand on her, I will kill him.
I’ll kill any and all of those fuckers, if she was harmed in any way .
“Be there in fifteen…” Dean clipped before hanging up the phone.
How could I let something like this happen? How could I have missed this part of her life?
Scrolling through my phone while I waited for Dean to show up with Eli and Madison, I pulled up the only other contact in my phone who could help us—me, Atlas.
Me: I need your help. How soon can you get into the city?
It only took a few seconds for him to reply.
AJ: What’s this about?
Me: Alexis, she’s disappeared. I’m guessing you should bring Chyler with you, too.
AJ: What did you do, Derek?
Of course, he would think I did something wrong here, and if loving her was wrong, then yes, I was entirely at fault for all of this.
Me: I didn’t do anything! Can you get here or not?
There was a brief pause from him. A couple of minutes passed before his reply came through.
AJ: Where is here?
Me: Alexis’ apartment. Dean and Madison are on their way here with Eli.
AJ: Chyler and I will be there as soon as we can. Hang tight.
I sighed, dropping my phone on the floor. AJ and Chyler were still up in Duluth, and depending on where they were, it would take them at least two hours to get here. In the meantime, we would need to get as much information as possible from Eli regarding the hideout.
Now wasn’t the time for him to keep secrets from us for leverage; Alexis’ life was at stake.
Why Lex? Why…