“You’re not giving me much reason to.”
Kailler’s jaw tightens, but she doesn’t give me what I want to know. Instead, she averts her eyes, staring past me. In a short amount of time, Cora has won over the number two person in my crew. My gaze slides to the beauty standing in front of a large abstract painting. She’s small and far too pretty for my mental health, but inside of her lurks something powerful enough to tear my world apart. I knew this the moment she walked into my office and I forgot that the body of Poppy was draped across my desk. All I wanted to do was take her. The heat of her pussy still burns on my thigh. The bite mark on my neck is turning purple and black. I want to place a similar mark on her. I wouldn’t need a collar then. Everyone would know she belonged to me.
Beside me, Kailler clears her throat, bringing me back from the edge of the cliff I was about to throw myself into. I inhale a frustrated sigh and stalk over to Cora.
“Let’s start easy. Is Sara alive or dead?”
“Why would she be dead?” Cora jerks away from the painting to stare at me in shock. Suddenly, she slaps a hand over her mouth as if she’s said too much. At this point I don’t know if she’s pretending to give something away or whether she’s revealed something that should’ve stayed hidden.
“Have our men seen her outside the Vieth compound?” I ask without taking my eyes off Cora’s face.
“No,” Kailler answers immediately. Whatever hurt she’s harboring over my lack of trust has been put aside. “We’ve no visuals, but they have underground parking, so it’s possible she entered or exited in the back of one of the cars or vans. Three vehicles have left today and two have returned. We’ve taken photos of everyone who has exited the car.” Kailler approaches and hands me a tablet with the photos loaded. I show the screen to Cora.
“Let’s start naming names, shall we?”
Cora’s brows come together. “You’re staking out the parking garage? Mom’s not going to like that.”
The “Mom” rolls off her tongue so naturally I wonder if all the Vieth orphans call Karin some kind of maternal nickname.
“We aren’t going to rely on your mother to tell us the truth.”
“Why? Has she ever lied to you?”
My initial instinct is to say yes, but then I hesitate. Has Vieth ever been untruthful with me in the past? I can’t recall. We haven’t dealt a lot together because our business interests have been different, but the few times our paths have crossed, she’s been upfront.
“Right. I didn’t think so.” Cora crosses her arms. “I wonder why Sara bought this painting. She’s not really a modernist type of girl. She’s more country cottage.”
Cora’s right. The room is soft and comfortable with knitted throws and slouchy furniture instead of the stark minimalism that you usually see in these high-rise apartments. I pull the painting off the wall, but there’s nothing behind it. I hand it over to Kailler. “Find out when this was sold, who bought it, and who the artist is.”
She heads for the doorway to pass on the orders. While she’s doing that, I hold the tablet up. “Tell me to stop when you see someone you know.”
Cora’s lips flatten out as if she’s mentally gluing her lips shut. As I shuffle through the photos, I watch her face for signs of recognition, affection, or even distaste. In the eighth photo, she sucks in a small breath. I page through four more photos and receive no response. At the end, I turn the tablet off.
“Is Sara back at the Vieth compound?”
“I don’t really know. She wasn’t when I left, but I’m not really informed on all that’s going on.”
“Not a full soldier yet?” I arch a brow. “Am I your graduation project?”
“Maybe so.” She puts on her seductive smile, and it works way too well. Her ability to switch between vulnerability and innocence to siren is scary effective. My fingers curve around the tablet hard enough to feel the metal edges bite into my skin. I tell myself I can’t touch her, but that doesn’t stop me from leaning forward. Cora’s eyes widen, and her lips part. Her small tongue darts out to wet the full bottom flesh. A groan escapes.
“Kailler,” I shout, feeling desperate and edgy.
She comes running. “Aidon?” Her gun is out. I shut my eyes and take in a calming breath. I can do this. I count to ten and then turn the tablet on.
“Go pick this one up.”
Cora jumps forward. “Why?”
“Because you recognized her.”
“I never said a word.”
“You didn’t have to.” I nod to Kailler. “Go.”
“What are you going to do with her?” Cora cries.
“We’re bringing her in and torturing her until you give me all the answers I want. Go!” I bark at Kailler, who hasn’t moved.
“Wait!” shouts Cora. Kailler halts halfway to the door. “I thought we were book buddies.”
Kailler’s chin falls to her chest. “Sorry,” she mumbles and then slips out the door.
Book buddies?
Cora turns to me in desperation. “I didn’t think you were that type of man.”
“They don’t call my territory hell for nothing.” I grab Cora’s wrist. “Let’s go.”
Chapter 12Cora
Aidon starts to pull me from the condo by my wrist. Panic begins to rise up inside of me. What is he going to do to Roxy? I have to warn her. This is all my fault. I thought I could do this, but I’ve already failed. Mom always said I show all my emotions on my face. I never worried too much about it because there wasn’t a reason to. But now I may have killed Roxy because I couldn’t hide them.
A knot forms in my throat,
