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“I can’t see a thing in front of me,” I complain as he piles up more boxes on top of the first one.
“Stop complaining and call for Seth. I’m sure he’s back from shopping by now.”
Muttering under my breath, I walk toward the door, and holler for Seth to open the door.
“Stop shouting!” Seth’s voice comes through the closed door. “You’ll wake up the entire neighborhood!”
“Hurry the fuck up!” I shout without lowering my voice.
The sound of his stomping feet comes closer. Wrenching the door open, he glares at me. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”
Before I can say anything, Oliver walks past me. “Will you step aside?” he mutters, carrying a taller stack of boxes. “We’re trying to get this stuff inside.”
I slip through the open door and hurry after Oliver.
A loud huff escapes me as I put my load on the floor of the living room.
Straightening up, I gaze at the stuff that Seth has brought back.
Giant rolls of wallpaper and curtains in shades of deep wine and maroon stand in one corner. Several shopping bags are piled up beside them, telling me Seth hasn’t missed out a single thing on his list.
“Hey, where’s Rory?” I ask, searching for her sweet face.
“She has already gone to bed,” says Seth as he takes a seat on the couch. “What took you guys so long? I brought dinner for everyone but I’m the only one who ate it.”
The table before him is littered with pizza boxes and empty beer cans.
“We ate dinner at Rory’s house,” I say, cracking a grin. “The mayor wasn’t home, so we got to chat with Heather and eat some good lemon meringue pies.”
“Who’s Heather?”
“She’s their housekeeper,” Oliver says, sinking into the couch beside me.
“She’s watched Rory grow up and had a lot to tell us,” I say, thinking about the stuff she told us about Rory’s ex.
“Does Heather have any idea what happened to Rory?” Seth asks, looking grim.
“Nope,” Oliver mutters. “Rory told her that she was recovering from an eating disorder after she broke up with her boyfriend. That’s the excuse she gave for showing up at home after missing for several weeks.”
“Her boyfriend?” Seth’s mouth twists into a frown.
“Jake Hudson,” I say, grinding my teeth together. “Do you remember the smug bastard who was with her at that party last year?”
“Not really,” says Seth with a thunderous expression on his face. “What about him, though?”
“He’s a charmer and according to Heather, he took Rory away to live with him,” Oliver says, looking equally angry. “He separated her from her friends and family, going as far as to not even let her stay in touch with her dad. Heather thinks he manipulated her into thinking no one mattered in her life as much as him.”
Seth is silent for a while but I can see the cogs working in his head. “That’s the reason the mayor didn’t realize his only daughter went missing for weeks,” he says slowly, glancing between me and Oliver. “It was common for Rory to avoid him and not stay in touch.”
“That’s what we thought too,” Oliver says.
“Who the hell is this guy?” Seth hisses through clenched teeth.
“Heather said he worked for Senator Dumas’s secretary,” I say, recounting the information the sweet old lady gave us when we told her we’re Rory’s mates. “Lately, though, he’s left that post and entered the political arena. He’s going to stand against Rory’s dad in an upcoming election.”
At first, she’d been reluctant to talk to us but the moment she realized we’re serious about Rory as our mate, she became a chattering hen. She didn’t hold back on cursing the man she thinks is responsible for the sudden change in Rory’s appearance and personality.
“I don’t know any of these people,” Seth grates out. “Also, how can we be sure he’s the one responsible for selling Rory to the Black Widow?”
