Page 42 of Silk and Sirens

The dark satisfaction of having just made her shatter on my fingers flared into something sharper, meaner. I held her gaze as I reached into my trousers, pulling out the still-vibrating phone, and pressed it to my ear.

“Yeah?”

“Caden,” my father growled down the line, tense and furious. “I’ve been arrested.”

Chapter 19

Aeris

I sat with my back rigidly straight, legs tightly crossed because Caden had ruined my underwear. I hadn’t had much choice, not with Renley watching. But, in all honesty, as soon as Caden touched me, I’d forgotten he was even there.

I’d been forced to fuck and pleasure countless men on command before. Cold, mechanical encounters that left me feeling nothing but emptiness and shame. I’d never enjoyed any of it. Never once.

In fact, the only orgasms I’d ever had were the ones I gave myself.

And look at me now, I thought, trying to disguise the tremble in my legs while sitting in front of three notoriously dangerous men. All after Caden had just forced an orgasm out of me so intense it made me see stars.

Great.

My body was still buzzing with aftershocks, my mind racing to try and take advantage of the situation. This wasn’t how any of this was supposed to go. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t still make it work.

I had to make it work.

“Your father’s lucky,” I said, keeping my tone light as I stared at Caden. “I usually kill them.”

Caden revealed no emotions other than a slight darkening of his eyes. He leaned against the wall on the right, with Langdon on the left, and the leader himself, Sebastian Devereaux, in the centre behind his desk.

I hadn’t exactly been thrilled to be shoved into a car and taken to Thorns, where I hoped I could talk myself out of a somewhat painful death, but there I was.

“Look at me, not at him,” Sebastian demanded, his tone an aggressive growl. He wore his mask, the half skull a matte black that seemed to absorb the surrounding light that matched both Langdon and Caden.

“This must be serious,” I joked, pretending my heart wasn’t trying to escape my ribs.

I was met with silence, nothing but the click-snap-click of Langdon’s lighter and the continuous ticking from Caden’s watch. After a moment, Langdon pocketed his lighter, only for his hands to sign at a speed that blurred. Caden didn’t even look at him, his cold eyes entirely on me.

“You wanted an audience,” Sebastian continued, his long, dark hair swept over his shoulder. He looked powerful sitting there, his closest men flanking each side.

“I needed your attention.”

“Was that why you sold the Peckham Crowns our information?”

“Nothing was sold,” I said, feeling Caden’s eyes prickle against my skin. “I gave the information freely.”

Langdon’s hands blurred again, movements sharper and more agitated this time.

I have to do this carefully, say the right thing at the right time, or risk everything.

My sisters.

My nephews.

My freedom.

“Why?” Sebastian asked.

“Because I was told to.”

The air in the room thinned, all three men looking at each other before Sebastian eased back in his chair, his eyes narrowing on me. “Who told you to fuck with our operation?”