Chapter 27
CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
AIDEN
Anthony’s guards throw me in the coat closet with very little tact.
They’d better start counting their days because they will be in my morgue before the month is up.
I shake them off as Anthony closes the door and turn to glare at him, my arms crossed in front of me.
What the fuck is this ambush? It’s costing me precious time.
I don’t want Ari to be alone for an extended period, even if Gage was just going around the corner to pick up the car.
“Do you need something, Anthony?” I ground out, glancing down at my watch to indicate I’m in a hurry and don’t have time to deal with his shit.
Anthony doesn’t say anything as he takes his gun from his holster and uses his handkerchief to start polishing it.
It would be seductive as hell if it wasn’t fucking Anthony goddamn Araneae on the other side of it.
I wonder if I could get Ari to do it. That’s a thought for later, for fuck’s sake.
I’m not going to get a hard-on in front of my stepfather.
“I’m going to remind you here that trying to intimidate the Reaper for The Order with a gun is about as stupid as trying to whip your old-ass dick out to have a size contest.”
“Shut the fuck up before I shoot your dick off.” He doesn’t drop the gun, but he does stop polishing it and is now just sort of fingering the trigger before he starts again. “You went to the bank.”
I don’t confirm or deny it because we both know that he already has an answer to this.
“Well, are you going to tell me, you ungrateful shit?”
Anthony has gone through all this trouble to lock us in a closet with no witnesses, to ask about the lockbox. “Why do you care?” I demand, knowing there has to be a reason.
He snaps, his fuse shorter than his own chode, as he lunges forward and grabs my neck, pushing me against the wall. Anthony brings the gun just under my chin. “Tell me what the fuck was in the lockbox.” His tone is deadly and terrifying to most, though not to me.
“No.” He cocks the trigger.
“Do not play with me.”
I let out an impatient huff, which doesn’t please him.
“Anthony, we both know you can’t kill the heir to the Araneae line, which is why Brodie was safe from your wrath all these years.
” Before he can blink, I grab the chamber of the gun and swing his arm around his back, pushing him against the wall.
I cover the laugh bubbling in me because I doubt Anthony has ever been in a position that puts him at a disadvantage.
With some added pressure, I dig the gun into his back so that if he pulls the trigger, he shoots himself.
Hopefully, he breaks his wrist while he’s at it.
With an icy calmness, I whisper in his ear, “Anthony. I don’t know why you want to know so bad, but you better believe I am going to find out.” I shove him a little harder into the wall before stepping back. “And if you ever threaten me again, I will end you.”
As I turn to walk away, I hear Anthony say, “Son of a bitch” under his breath, and then a sharp pain sears my shoulder. Glancing over my shoulder, I see the handle of a small blade sticking out of it. Anthony’s voice turns to acid, “I can and will end you whenever I fucking please. Remember that.”
Removing the knife from my back, I turn and throw it into his shoulder. He grunts in pain. “Back atcha, Pops.” If eyes could kill, I would probably be dead by now, but thankfully the dick hasn’t mastered that skill yet. He reaches into his pocket and throws my phone at me.
I quirk my eyebrow at him, “Are you fucking serious right now?”
But he doesn’t respond, just grunts as he pulls the knife from his shoulder.
I would have to deal with him later.
Walking out of the hotel, I’m greeted with an empty lot. Ari is nowhere to be seen, and it appears Tony has fucked off. “Ari?” I call out, but no response comes.
Gage should have been here by now. Maybe he picked Ari up, then drove around back. Jogging to the side of the building, I scan the lot for the town car and find it parked at an angle in the lot, not in a spot, but like the car stopped mid-turn and wouldn’t go any further.
My stomach drops. Something isn’t right.
I hurry over to the driver’s side and rip the door open.
Gage’s head is lying on the steering wheel, blood dripping down his skull.
As gently as I can, I lean him back against the leather chair.
“Gage. Gage, wake up.” Nothing. No response.
My heartbeat picks up, and I scream Ari’s name across the lot.
Maybe she went looking for Gage and saw that he was incapacitated and hid somewhere.
Taking out my phone, I call her number while I scream her name in the lot.
Voicemail.
A grumbling noise comes from the car, and I lean in to hear what Gage is saying. “…she’s…not here.”
I suck in air and try to be patient because the man is bleeding from his head, for fuck’s sake. “Gage, where is she?”
“Hit…me…took.”
“Took what? Did they take her?”
“Yes.”
And my world ignites. Fire consumes me, so raw and potent that it could take out half the country.
“Who? Who took her?”
Gage is barely conscious but manages to say, “Don’t know...” And then he passes out.
“FUCK!”
I lift Gage up and throw him over the center console. Not much worse can happen than what already has. Rubber burns against the asphalt as I peel out of the parking lot and connect my Bluetooth.
My first emergency contact is Shade, and I hit call before we can even run the first red light. Shade picks up on the second ring, and I am barking orders before they even say hello, “Ari’s been taken. Find her.”
“On it.”
“Find her or I kill you.” I end the call and dial Ashton’s number.
He picks up after several rings. The sound of the party can still be heard going on around him.
“Ari’s been taken from the parking lot outside the venue.
I’ve got Shade on it, but I need you to get your ass out of that clown show and work some magic.
Meet me at the warehouse.” I can hear him leaving before I hang up.
“Don’t worry, little venom. Your reaper is coming for you.”
And people better be prepared to die.