Page 81 of Spock’s Snare

“Why can’t you appreciate anything I do?”

I gasp for breath, my stomach clenching around a deep, nauseating ache. Tears blur my vision, but I refuse to beg. I refuse to give him that.

Steven stands over me, breathing hard as he cradles his injured hand. For a moment, I think he’s going to hit me again.

Instead, he snatches up the soda bottle and hurls it against the wall over my head. The bottle shatters, spraying foam, liquid, and glass particles across the bed and me.

“I need time to calm down,” he says, his voice shaking with anger. “This is your fault, Chloe. Remember that.”

He storms from the room and slams the door behind him.

The tray remains tilted on the mattress beside me. Chips and pieces of sandwich are scattered over the sheet. I lie motionless, reeling as pain pulses through my face and abdomen. Every breath hurts. My cheek burns, my head pounds, and nausea rolls through me in sickening waves.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: SPOCK

Hunter and Smooth pull away from the clubhouse in the club SUV with Elvis Monroe secured in the back. They’re taking him straight to The Pit, where he can wake up without worrying about anyone interrupting our next conversation.

Rush, Dice, and I return to the clubhouse. The usual noise rolls over us as soon as we enter—music playing from the speakers, glasses clinking behind the bar, and several overlapping conversations filling the common room. I scan the space until I spot Chill sitting at the bar with a bottle of beer in front of her.

She looks relaxed, but I know better. Chill is always watching, always thinking. She didn’t earn her name because she’s easygoing.

I cross the room, weaving around tables. “You find Scaro?”

Chill turns on her stool to face me. “We found him.”

“Where?”

“He was leaving his office when we caught up with him.” She lifts the beer and takes a slow drink. “Viper and Rattler persuaded him to come with us.”

Knowing those two, I doubt there was much conversation involved in that persuasion.

“You brought him to The Pit?”

Chill shakes her head as she takes another sip. “He’s in Puma’s office. Viper and Rattler are with him. Puma suggested we start with the soft approach. If he doesn’t cooperate, we can move him to The Pit. I came out here to wait for you. Did you find Monroe?”

“We did. Hunter and Smooth took him to The Pit.”

Her eyebrows rise slightly. “So we have a full house.”

“Not quite. I want Blackwood to sit in one of our cells, but he can wait until we have more information. Hawk and Wildcard will keep an eye on him.”

Chill slides off the stool and sets her nearly empty beer bottle on the bar. “Good. I think Puma wants us to start with Scaro, so we can cut him loose if he turns out to be innocent in all this.”

Dice joins us, rubbing the knuckles he used to put Monroe on the floor. “Scaro give you any trouble?”

“He objected to the invitation.”

“Loudly?”

“Not after Rattler explained the consequences of refusing.”

A faint smile touches Dice’s mouth. “Rattler can be convincing.”

I don’t share their amusement. We have both men, but Blackwood is still at Riversedge. The thought of him running around free doesn’t sit well in my gut, even if Wildcard and Hawk are watching him.

“Let’s go see what Scaro has to say,” Chill says, turning toward the hallway where the executive offices are located.

“I need to get this laptop and these documents to Spark,” Rush says. “We’ll go through them while you question Scaro. Get me before you head to The Pit. I want to be there when you question Monroe.”