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Garrick grinned. “You don’twantto deny me, though.”
“Let’s deal with your family, and then we can decide who’s fucking who tonight.” Bastian pushed past him, his cock aching with need.
Ash, Peter, and Jackson stood in the middle of the room; watchful eyes settled on Ariella as Bastian approached.
“You found something?” Peter asked as soon as Garrick moved around his desk.
“I’m going to open the flash drive, and you can look through it, but it stays here.” Garrick stuck the drive into the port. “Ursa has put in an order for girls from Ares. The girls will be delivered, and Ariella is supposed to take possession before they get sent on to Ursa.” Garrick kept his focus on his computer as he explained the rest of the disgusting transaction Ursa had gotten Ariella mixed up in.
“So, you know where Ares will be?” Peter stepped away from the smaller group and approached the desk. “You know exactly?”
“Not yet,” Bastian answered. “Ursa will notify Ariella of the exact location and time the day before.”
“And what if Ariella doesn’t take possession? What happens?” Jackson asked.
“She’ll inform the Tiryns that I - and by extension, my father- has gotten involved in this trade and started a war back home.” Ariella pulled her shoulders back as she explained. “They won’t care that I didn’t know what I was here to pick up or that my father had nothing to do with it. They’ll only care that I was involved, and my father didn’t stop me.”
“The Tiryns family has been itching for a way to get their claws on Henry’s liquor distribution, and this would be a good way,” Bastian explained.
“What does Ursa have to gain from a war between them then?” Ash asked. “How does she play in?”
“I think she’ll use me to get my father to hand over what she thinks was rightfully hers.” Ariella steadied her chin.
“Here.” Garrick got up from his desk, allowing Peter to sit and comb through the files. “Nothing on there will help you find him, but you can look.”
“Can I ask, why do you want Ares so badly?” Ariella questioned. “I know he’s a monster, but there are a lot of monsters out there.”
Bastian slipped his hand around hers, gently squeezing. It had been his job to shield her from the monsters in the dark, and instead, here he was, fighting them beside her.
“He helped organize an auction that would have sold my wife to the highest bidder.” Peter’s jaw tensed. “I was able to get to her in time but was shot before I could get to Ares. He’s the only one who got away that night.” Peter rubbed the skin below his false eye. Bastian had heard about Peter losing his eye, but he hadn’t known it was during that horrible night.
“He tried to…” Ariella’s voice trailed off. “I’m sorry.” She raised her chin. “I didn’t know who he was when I agreed to make the exchange for my aunt. I thought I was paying for perfume samples.” She lowered her eyes and shook her head. “I was so stupid.”
“Did your aunt tell you who he was? What was she having you pay him for?” Ashland asked.
“No.”
“Then why would you think otherwise? I understand Ursa has a successful fragrance business. It makes sense that you would come to that conclusion.” Ash’s eyes swept up to Bastian’s for a fraction of a second, and there it was. The beast had a human quality, after all. Empathy.
“Garrick, come here.” Peter waved him back to the computer. “Look, what’s this?” He tapped on the screen.
Garrick leaned closer to the computer, squinting.
A second later, his jaw clenched tight. “Jackson, come look.”
Jackson rounded the desk and inspected the screen.
“Fuck.” He wiped his hand over his face.
“What is it?” Bastian took a step forward but held fast to Ariella.
“It’s an old invoice.” Peter clicked again. “It had been deleted. This is an old flash drive. It seems Ares, or whoever did this before him, has been using the same drive for a long time.”
Garrick turned his head to look at his brother, who looked ill.
“This prick, or whoever was using Notes to transport girls.” Garrick finally said. “Did you know?”
Jackson shook his head. “No. How would I know?”
