Page 50 of His Last Will

TWENTY-TWO

ARI

“Okay, what the hell happened?” Ashton’s words jolt me back to the present, sitting on his lab table as he goes through a DNA kit. Aiden had tried to push me earlier when we were leaving the arena, but I had clammed up. Eventually, he just let me be. He even carried me from the locker room to the car and into Ashton’s office without complaining. Leaning into his hold, I tried to keep calm and tell my mind that we were safe and we weren’t going to be kidnapped by a middle-aged dick with a hood.

Ashton had been ready for us when we came in, though I’m not sure how ready because there was currently a naked man tied up in the corner, blindfolded and wearing a cock cage. Bosco had spotted him when we walked in and immediately climbed on top of the guy to get a better feel.

Aiden sighs, and runs his hands through his hair, clearly frustrated with my lack of response. “Ari, we need to know what happened so that we can get to the bottom of this.” My stomach recoils just thinking about the man, his hands around my neck, the pungent smoky smell of him, his dire need for a breath mint. I shiver on the table.

“Someone tried to attack me behind the arena. He had a black hood in his hand, at least the hand that wasn’t around my neck, and he was going to blind me. So, kidnapper, if I am guessing correctly. I don’t know who did it. I’ve never seen the man before. He looked like your average grunt man. Dirty brown hair with enough grease in it that I’m surprised when he smokes it doesn’t catch fire.” Ashton finishes up and takes the samples over to the rapid sequencer.

“Anything else? Scars or marks? Something we could use to identify him with,” Aiden prompts as he starts scrubbing my hands clean.

“Not that I could see. It was kind of dark where we were standing. But he was a bulky man, maybe mid-forties, receding hairline. I’m not sure if the cameras at the school caught anything, but you could check those.”

Ashton walks over to his computer and prompts the screen to show four different camera angles. Grumbling under his breath, he works for a few minutes before saying, “We have some grainy shots of the guy, but the corner you were in has pretty good coverage. He didn’t attempt to hide his face from you, so I am going to assume he had a general idea where his face could be captured. I’ll send this over to Shade and see if we can get anything from them.” A swish sound fills the room as the files are sent. “We probably won’t have anything concrete until morning, so feel free to rest, but make sure Gage knows to tighten security and stay vigilant. We don’t know how deep this goes yet.”

I turn to Aiden, feeling vulnerable, when he says, “The pocketknife was a good move.”

Leaning my head against his chest, his arms come around me when I reply, “Yeah, had it in my shoe. I was worried I wouldn’t be able to get to it, but I used the wall as leverage and snuck my hand down.”

Aiden’s arms rub my back, and I embrace his touch. Revel in the newfound feeling of safety and comfort after it was stripped away from me earlier. Ashton continues to work around us but doesn’t intrude. I let the surrounding world fall away, and it’s just myself and Aiden and his hold on me. So softly that I barely catch the question, Aiden asks, “What do you want to do now, little venom?”

I’m too worked up to fall asleep still, but I need to be somewhere that I feel safe. And frankly, even though the Araneae mansion is a secure fortress, the last thing I feel there is safety, much less comfort. That place is filled with unmet expectations and too many eyes watching your every move.

Without lifting my head, I ask, “What were you going to do after the game if it ended sans kidnapping attempt?”

Aiden snorts before responding, “You, probably.”

I can’t help the grin that takes over my face.

Egotistical dick.

“But really?”

He hums to himself before answering, “I was serious about that. I would’ve made you come on my face a couple of times because the butt of that stick was too much of a tease. And then I would have fucked you to sleep and probably slipped off to my morgue. I’m a little late getting Ashton some data.”

Damn, that sounds perfect right now. “Okay, let’s do that.”

“You want me to fuck you to sleep and then leave you to go torture some people?” He looks a little shocked but clearly willing if that is what I want.

“Nah, we can skip the sex…for now. But I’ll keep you company in the morgue.”

“I do love an audience,” he says as he looks down at me. “And will there be any audience participation tonight?”

Sliding off the table, I’m pressed up against him. I can feel the hard bulge in his pants from just thinking about me possibly wielding a weapon. With a pat to his cock, I tease, “You’ll have to wait and see, psycho.” Turning to leave, I nod to Bosco, who has planted himself on the man’s groin. “Is he coming with us?”

Aiden looks over. “Nah, let him have his fun.” The guy on the floor whimpers a little at Aiden’s response but doesn’t squirm. Probably smart, wouldn’t want Bosco to slip and end up any lower. “Let us know when the results come in or if you find anything else,” Aiden calls to Ashton on the way out.

Ash grumbles something in response, but we’re already out the door and heading toward the morgue.

“Okay, little venom, time to play a game of Clue.”

Wait. What?

This man, Trevor, was strung up, hands bound in rope hanging from the ceiling. Arms stretched tight, his toes just barely grazing the tile floor, he was placed strategically above the drain. Aiden told me about the possible leak within the research department and how he was in charge of figuring out who was responsible.

On the table next to the man were the literal weapons of Clue: rope, dagger, wrench, pistol, lead pipe, and an actual golden candlestick. Most of the rope had gone to tying the man up, but Aiden said it was fine because if these jackasses really wanted to get away with their crimes, they would have used the rope as a bonus weapon, hence why Colonel Mustard always got fucking caught in the goddamn library with his cock out—his words, not mine. The torture edition of Clue was a little more explicit and a lot more naked than the real thing. But I had yet to see a man in this room on the other side of Aiden with clothes on.