“Aye, sir.”
I shake my head, concerned about the time that I’ve lost. “I’ll be back.”
I go downstairs and meet Tate along the way.
“Leith call you?”
“Aye.” He’s scowling. “Maybe wasn’t the best fucking move bringing the Aitkens girl here.” I’m trotting down the steps ahead of him, to meet Leith.
“What the bloody hell is that supposed to mean? Do you know what our plan was?”
“Of course I do.”
“Then what’s your bloody problem?”
“My problem’s that now you’ve brought her here, you might as well have brought Banner Fucking Aitkens with you.”
“They’ve been here before, brother. Don’t pretend like our whereabouts aren’t known by the Aitkens.”
He blows out a breath, as we come to the bottom of the stairs.
Back in the old days, this was an actual dungeon down here. The house was built on the ruins of a castle, and my father kept the bare bones of the dungeon intact. We still have the original stones in the thick walls, the same floor. My sisters won't set foot down here, even though we have our workout room down here. My father’s caved and built them a second workout room on the third floor.
When I was younger, I thought the idea of a dungeon in the basement was actually kind of impressive. I fancied myself like a knight. But now… It's a stark, vivid reminder of who we are, and what we do. People brought down to the dungeon were tortured and killed.
“What the hell happened up there with Aisla?” Tate asks, his brow furrowed.
“She ran away from me and dropped a notebook on the ground. I suspected something wasn’t right, that something was fishy. I made her give it to me. She not only outright defied me at first, even after I got it, she tried to get it back.” I tell him what happened.
“Jaysus,” he mutters. “You look at it yet?”
“Not yet. Will do after we deal with the intruder.”
“Where’s the girl?”
I bristle. “Bryn?”
“Aye.”
“She’s back at my chalet with Clyde.”
“And Aisla?”
“She’s upstairs being kept under watch.”
We both stop talking because we hear voices ahead of us. Someone screaming, cursing.
I look to him, and he looks to me.
“How’d Leith know it was Aitkens?” he asks.
“Bloody ink, isn’t it?” I shake my head. Whoever the fuck it is, things just got seriously fucking complicated.
“I’ll go first,” Tate says. “Give you a chance to hear, in case you need to take a step back. Never know who the fuck it is.”
I shake my head. “No, I’ll go first, but thanks.”
“You sure?”
“Aye.” I’m ready to fucking make heads roll.
But I’m not prepared for what I see.
I half expect to see her brother, or one of their henchmen. But instead, it’s the same fucking bloke I beat the crap out of in her shop.
I shake my head when I enter the room.
“You didn’t have enough the first time, then, did you?” I ask, my hand clenching into a fist. I could kill him. I could fucking kill him.
“You.” He narrows his eyes and spits on the floor.
Leith stands next to him and backhands him. “You’ll show fucking respect in here. Don’t you know what we could bloody do to you?”
“Do whatever you fucking want, I won’t give you what you ask,” he says, spitting again.
He’s tied to a chair, and he’s already been bloodied up. He’s got one eye swollen shut, a bloody lip, lacerations on his cheeks and arms. His upper body’s been stripped to a T-shirt, and even that’s sweaty and bloodstained.
“How did you find us?”
He rolls his eyes. “Banner Aitkens knows where you are. I looked through his files.”
“Then he doesn’t know you came?”
“No.”
“Does he know you fucked up and came after his daughter?”
His eyes narrow at me. He doesn’t respond.
I lift him by the front of his shirt, chair and all.
“Does he fucking know?”
“He does now. That’s why I came here, why I left the Aitkens.”
What the bloody hell is he talking about?
“You left the Aitkens?”
“I didn’t bloody choose to. I got fired.”
William sits in the corner. I look over at him. “Confirm this.”
William swipes on his tablet, nodding. “Looks like it’s the case.”
“Why’d you come here?”
“I came to warn you,” he says. “And demand payment for what I know.”
Fucking douchebag. “You’re lucky Aitkens didn’t put a bullet in your skull before letting you go.” I shake my head.
“He tried,” William says with a snort, still scrolling through his intel. “Looks like this one fucking escaped.”
Our prisoner scowls at the first.
“And came here? To warn us? After I kicked yer arse?”
He blinks and looks up at me, utter loathing in his gaze.
“Do you want my intel or not?”
I look to Leith. He shakes his head from side to side. There isn’t a man in our Clan who’d rat on us. How can we trust this guy?
“What’s in it for you?”
His Russian accent’s thick.