“And why is that, Jacob?”
“She’s his favorite! Marco’s not going to let her go easily. He’ll come for her, and punish whoever kept her from him!”
Lena snorted behind me. I turned to see her eyes roll before a brief, disbelieving laugh slipped past her lips.
“Lena seems to think that’s a lie.” I chuckled while studying her.
I looked back at Jacob. “Our intel says she’s his least favorite, and she agrees. I don’t think lyingin your situationis a smart idea…”
My hand started moving again, back and forth, applying a bit more pressure.
“Fuck! Stop! I’m not lying! I’m not!” My hand stalled as the words spilled out of him now, completely unfiltered. “Marco might have the rest of his crew fooled, calling her his 'least favorite,' but I know it’s just a tactic. He does it to divert theirinterest.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Two years ago, I did a job for Marco. A big one. The kind of favor that would’ve bought me a night with any wife.Hell, it did.He said I could pick whichever omega I wanted.” A wet cough cut him off before he lifted his head, his eyes meeting Lena’s. Her face twisted with disgust. “I picked her. I told Marco I wanted a night with the feral, mute omega in his basement.”
“Why would you pick her?”
He shrugged weakly. “What can I say? I like them to fight back a little. Gets me going.”
Knox growled low.
“Continue,” I said, my voice edged with impatience.
“He nearly killed me for even asking. Beat the shit out of me, and ended up picking the ugliest omega he had. Real brutal-looking girl. Cunt was good, but I had to bag her face.”
He licked his cracked lips, eyes darting now, panic threading his voice. “Marco tells everyone she's nothing, too ruined to be enjoyed and too feral to be worth touching. Lena, the Least everyone calls her…”
His breath hitched, eyes locking on the omega in front of him. “But she’s beautiful. Too beautiful.”
Lena went still behind me.
“That’s why he keeps her starved and filthy. Keeps her locked away in his basement.” His voice cracked. “He doesn’t want anyone looking at her. Because if they do, they'll know he's been hoarding her all to himself.”
Knox’s growl deepened, vibrating the air.
“She’s his favorite,” Jacob whispered. “He just hides it.Makes the rest of us believe she’s trash so no one covets her. So no one tries to take her.” His eyes dropped to the saw still resting against his skin. “Marco doesn’t share what he values. He cages it.”
Lena shook her head in complete disbelief. She wasn’t buying any of it.
“I don’t know, Jacob. Make me believe it,” I said as my hand glided forward.
“How? Fuck.Okay!” He swallowed hard. “Why else would he keep her so long? Five years! Ask yourself that. His omegas come and go. Bought. Traded. Trafficked. Few last as long as she has. Why not trade her like the rest if she was his least favorite? Let someone else deal with her particular brand of fucking crazy.”
He kept talking, desperation bleeding into every word, scrambling to make us believe him.
“For fuck’s sake! He keeps her locked in the basement of his mansion. Just so he’s always around to taunt her when she goes into heat. It's messed up. Everyone can hear her screaming and begging all the way from upstairs.”
Knox stepped forward. “Begging for what? What do you mean by that?”
Jacob’s gaze flicked between the two of us. He swallowed. His mouth snapped shut. Whatever he had just said, he knew better than to keep talking.
“What. Do. You. Mean,” Knox asked again, each word clipped tight as his patience frayed.
“My brother doesn’t do well waiting,” I said casually. “I suggest you answer him. Quickly.”
Movement flashed in my peripheral vision, too fast to stop. In half a second, Lena reached for a screwdriver balanced onthe edge of a nearby tray. In one swift motion, her arm swung forward, driving the tool into his eye.
