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“I don’t know yet. It’s complicated. When did you hear from her last?”
“Last night. She was in a cab and leaving the club. Maybe, like midnight?”
Calmly, and carefully keeping my control, I asked. “Do you have a key to her apartment?” The answer didn’t matter, I would bust down her door if not.
Alexis confirmed that she had a key. I rushed up the stairs three at a time and opened the door. Luna was in her kennel, whining and barking.
“Oh, my God.” I followed Alexis’s eyes to the blood on the floor.
“Alexis. I will find her. Take Luna. Go home. Do not call the police. I will take care of it.”
24
Chapter 24
ANNA
I didn’t know how long I had been here. A few hours, days? I had been given water, but no food yet. There was a man that took me to the bathroom, but he didn’t stay down here. My face and hands were covered in dried blood. My hair was matted around the open wound from where I was hit. I tried to clean up the best I could, but they didn’t give me much time.
I thought I was in the basement of a house. The concrete room I was in didn’t have windows but I could see a wooden staircase leading up to another floor and a single light bulb hung in the center of the room. They only left the light on when someone else was down here. I stayed curled up in the corner and tried to keep warm but it was hard with the damp, concrete floor.
The door at the top of the staircase opened and this time it was a different man, other than the one who took me to the bathroom. The man I had seen with Wilder just before I was taken. I thought his name was Quinn, Wilder’s brother. He walked down the stairs, slowly. The man who had been guarding me followed him.
“Anna, is it?” Quinn had cold dead eyes, and his smile wasn’t birthed from happiness. It was more excitement and evil. “I’ve taken a gamble with you. I’ll admit, I didn’t have much leverage on Wilder when I came to meet with him. He is a loner, screwing a girl once, maybe twice if she’s a good fuck. But they are never around long. He’s not close to anyone besides his little friend. I was just going to kill Wilder if he didn’t cooperate, but I’m willing to bet that you are much more important to him than he is letting on. And not killing Wilder will prevent me from having to bring our father into this whole mess.”
I kept looking down. I didn’t know what to say to him. I didn’t know what he wanted from Wilder or from me. He didn’t realize that Wilder had offered to leave his family for me.
Quinn scraped a chair along the concrete floor to the center of the room. He walked over and grabbed a fistful of my hair to drag me to the chair.
“Sit,” he said as he tossed me. I slid up the chair, trying to stay as far away from him as I could. “What is Wilder planning?” He squatted down in front of the chair.
“I don’t know.” I heard the sound of the slap echoing in the small room before the sting spread across my cheek. Crying, again, I told him I hadn’t seen Wilder in weeks before that night. We had broken up and I had no idea what this was about or what he was planning.
“That’s unfortunate, Miss Anna. Because Wilder is in dangerous territory right now. He’s threatening the Kavanagh family and my position in it.”
He took a breath and walked away. He was definitely in more control of his emotions than Wilder was. His demeanor was deadly.
Quinn pulled a chair up in front of me. “Do you know much about Wilder, what it is that he actually does?” He smiled.
“He runs the Kavanagh businesses in Chicago,” I whispered.
Quinn smiled a dangerous smile. He was going to enjoy what he was about to tell me. In just this small amount of time, I knew that Quinn loved the pain he inflicted on others. “Yes, but that’s not his main talent.”
“Any idea? Any at all?” He asked, with a bit of happiness in his voice when I shook my head no.
“Wilder is the Kavanagh enforcer. Not a grunt enforcer, like the men on the streets. Wilder finds, tortures, and kills people who steal, kill, or threaten the Kavanagh family. He is the best at finding people who are hiding and extracting information from them by force.
“Last week, I sent him to Mexico. He grabbed a man as he was picking up his children from school. He killed him, but before he did, he tortured him. He found out where this man had hidden all of the cocaine he had stolen from us.”
I couldn’t look at him. This was not the Wilder I knew. I felt sick to my stomach. “Stop, please.” I whispered through the tears.“Wilder enjoys hurting people. He’s damn good at it. Is that a man you want to love?” Quinn replied as he stood up. He turned off the light and left, leaving me alone in the darkness again.
25
Chapter 25
WILDER
I couldn’t get Quinn to pick up his damn phone, no matter how many times I tried. Frustration was boiling inside me, fueling my impatience. I called Sean and had him meet me at Levi’s office.
