“Laundering money,” I add, trying to keep him talking.
“It’s actually quite elegant when you think about it,” Scot replies, sounding almost proud. “These people are desperate. They’ll do anything to avoid prison. Work for nothing, ask no questions, disappear when told. And if they cause problems?” He shrugs. “Plenty more where they came from.”
“And sabotaging Hannah’s events?” Kane asks, his voice dangerous despite our situation.
Scot’s face twists with pure hatred, all pretense of civilization vanishing. His lips curl back from his teeth. “I helped Giuseppe grow that business. Me. Not some fucking Omega who showed up batting her eyelashes and playing helpless. She was just the pretty face I brought in to charm clients and look good in photos.”
“That’s complete bullshit and you know it,” I say. “You’re just a jealous, bitter prick who couldn’t handle the fact that she rejected you.”
His jaw clenches. “It’s all mine now. The business, the contracts, the reputation, everything. And soon? Hannah herself will be mine too.”
The way he says her name has me tensing as fury burns through my veins.
Kane’s laugh is cruel and mocking. “She would rather sleep in a sewer filled with rats and diseases than let you touch her. You disgust her.”
Scot’s eyes go dead cold, and I see something break behind them, whatever thin veneer of sanity he was maintaining.
“Who gives a fuck what she wants?” he snaps. “With you two and that other pet Alpha of hers out of the way, she’ll have nowhere to turn. No protection. No support system. She’ll be vulnerable and alone, and I’ll be there to pick up the pieces. To comfort and console her. She’ll learn to appreciate what I can give her.”
“Fuck you,” Kane growls.
Scot laughs like a hyena. “Shit timing, though, for you. We have a delivery we’re supposed to meet in twenty minutes, important clients, can’t reschedule. Don’t need this complication right now.”
He shoots a glare at the guards flanking him, both still aiming at us. “Take them out back, deep into the woods where the ground is soft enough to dig. Finish them there, make it clean, then bury the bodies where no one will ever find them. Take all the damn reindeer too.”
Corn Dog bleats angrily from across the room, stamping his hooves like he understands exactly what’s being said.
Then we all hear it, a loud car horn beeping repeatedly outside, insistent and annoying.
“The fuck?” Scot’s head snaps toward the door, irritation clear on his face.
“They’re early.” He points at the guards. “Both of you, tie up these assholes now. Fast.”
The guards move immediately. Zip ties bite into our wrists before we can twist away, then our ankles, rough hands forcing us onto our stomachs. Cold floorboards press into my cheek as they cinch everything brutally tight.
“Good, now come with me!” Scot turns away with the guards on his heels and closes the door behind them.
“Fuck,” Kane hisses.
“We need a plan. Fast.”
We’re both staring around frantically for anything useful, seeing that the room is a mess.
Then I feel it, a warm huff of air against my arm. I lift my head just enough to see Corn Dog standing over Kane, staring down with those unsettlingly intelligent eyes, his little reindeer nostrils flaring as he sniffs along the line of the zip tie digging into his wrist.
Kane notices too. “Hey, buddy…” His voice is low. “If youwantto chew on something, you can chew on that tie.”
Corn Dog blinks once. Twice. Then he lowers his head and very deliberately takes the plastic tie between his teeth.
“Oh, shit,” I whisper. “He’s actually doing it.”
A sharp yank. Kane jerks. “Christ, I definitely feel teeth. Easy, bud, don’t take the hand with it?—”
Corn Dog shifts, finds better purchase, then bites down with determined little crunches. Plastic strains. Groans. Then—snap.
Kane’s wrists come free.
“Holy fuck, yes,” he breathes, swinging his arms forward to rub his raw skin. Then Corn Dog trots around behind him.
