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Dario chuckles. “Not like she had a choice now, did she?”
“No, I don’t suppose she did. Are you announcing the union?”
I nod. “Yes.” In our world, the announcement gets made, letting everyone know the date of the wedding and where and when it’ll take place.
“Then you’ll have to tell Ade and Jade,” he says, and I grit my teeth. Fuck. My sister isn’t stupid. She’ll know that something isn’t right, especially when nothing has been said about Teagan before. “So, what is it we need from here?”
“Teagan’s stuff,” Dario answers. “The woman has nothing. She also claims she has nothing.”
I walk into the clubhouse. It’s completely empty, and there’s broken glass and shell casings everywhere. The Gallagher’s sure caused a fucking scene when they came. The entire city is talking about it. Of course, no one knows what happened for sure, but everyone knows that the Gallagher’s were looking for the people who took one of their own. There’s a heavy smell of urine, mold, and musk. The stench is awful. It’s a wonder anyone could fucking live like this.
I make a beeline for Bear’s office, and the further I get into the clubhouse, the dirtier the place gets. The floor is sticky, and I’m not sure if it’s from the dried blood that’s present or if there’s something else on it. But Christ, this clubhouse needs to be burned to ashes.
The office is a mess. How the fuck the man ever found anything is beyond me. Looking around, I see there are pictures of him and the patched members of the Dirty Demons, but not a single one of Teagan, his daughter.
I rummage through the drawers and important documents to see if there’s anything of use, but there’s not. It’s just permits and premises. I do, however, stumble across his bank details. I’ll ensure that Lorenzo does his shit and transfers everything into Teagan’s name.
“Elio,” Rocco calls out from upstairs, and I take the stairs two at a time to get to him. “You seen this shit?” he asks in disgust. “How the fuck were they living like this?”
It looks like the club hadn’t been cleaned in months. Hell, years. There’s dried blood coating the kitchen floor, and there’s yellow stains on the wall that look like dried piss. Christ, these fuckers were animals.
“Did you find Teagan’s room?” I ask, wondering how the woman managed to survive this shit.
He shakes his head. “No.”
I sigh, wanting to get the fuck out of here as quickly possible. Every room I enter is filthy. There are cobwebs on the walls and dust coating the furniture. The only parts that look lived in are the beds. Every room is the same.
Until I come to the furthest room from the kitchen. Opening the door, I can already tell it belonged to Teagan. It’s the only room that’s clean, not to mention, there’s a stuffed animal on the bed. I reach for it. It’s been looked after. It obviously means something to her. I open the wardrobe, only to find it empty. Not a fucking thing. Where the hell are these woman’s clothes?
Nothing makes damn sense. How the hell has this woman survived?
I have so many questions and no answers. There’s only one person who can give me what I need. I need to talk to Teagan.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I say to Roc once I’m out of Teagan’s room.
“You may want to see this,” Dario says as we make our way downstairs. He’s standing by a door. “I’ve found where they were holding Chloe.” Thirteen days those fucking animals had her. No one knows what happened to her—the Gallagher’s are keeping quiet, but they have said she wasn’t sexually assaulted.
Dario leads the way down toward the basement, his torch shining to show us the way. Again, this basement stinks. There’s a smell of piss, shit, and sweat, not to mention the smell of burnt ashes. Dario leads us through another door and shines the light. There are two poles cemented into the floor, rope on the ground beside them. No doubt that’s where Chloe was tied up. Blood pools around the poles, and I shake my head. Fucking animals. Christ, what the fuck did they do to her? There’s a fireplace beside me, but that’s it. No windows, nothing.
“Let’s go,” Rocco says, his voice tight. He’s the first to leave, Dario right behind him. I look into the darkness. Those Demon fuckers knew exactly what they were doing. There are no lights down here, not a single fucking one. Chloe would have been shrouded in darkness the entire time. Unless the fire was on, she wouldn’t have been able to see.
My gut is screaming. There’s something about this place that is calling to me, but I can’t fucking decipher what it is.
I make my way out of the clubhouse. Both Rocco and Dario are pissed as hell. “How the hell did Teagan survive?” Dario questions. He’s showing a little too much concern for her, and it’s pissing me off. “Hell, how did Chloe?”
I shake my head. “I don’t know, but I’m determined to find out.”
“Dario, you’re coming with me,” Rocco tells him as he throws him the keys to his car. “We’ve got suppliers to see.”
He wants to expand into Missouri due to the legalization of cannabis. Rocco wants to start his own farms. It’s a great way to get more money, keeps the costs low for production and takes out the middleman. It’s setting it up that is going to be the hardest part, which is why he’s going to see some suppliers.
“Be careful, bro,” Rocco says once Dario moves toward his car. “You uncover Teagan’s past, you may not end up liking what it’ll do.”
“Why are you speaking in riddles?” I question him, I fucking hate when he’s cryptic.
“Look, you find out about the girl’s past, if she has one, and it could change how you feel. You’re hell bent on revenge, Elio, but that may change if you start digging for answers.”
“Leave Teagan to me,” I growl.
