Queen of Quarantine (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #4) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,155

from our girl for that.

"I am not surprised you enjoyed him choking you," I said casually as the monitor lit up, asking me for a password I couldn't guess.

"And why is that?" Monroe asked, not denying it.

"Men like us are obsessed with control - or the lack of it that we have in our lives. You have spent the better part of your life hungering to reclaim the control you lost the night your family was killed by my father. You strive to dominate in a world that has kicked you so many times you've lost count. But that fight is tiring and never ending. You will never be able to reclaim what you lost. And that means you will never be fully satisfied no matter what vengeance we exact upon the man responsible for your losses. So, you will likely continue to strive for control, you will enjoy claiming it, dominating, possessing and proving your worth. But on occasion, when the weight of fighting so much and so often to possess all the things you desire gets too much, you will find yourself aching to break that cycle. There is a very real relief in relinquishing control of yourself to someone else. And using it for sexual gratification seems perfectly acceptable to me. Sometimes my need for control consumes me and Tatum gives in, she offers me her body and allows me to own it, if only for a brief time. But she is also the creature most likely and able to make me lose control too. And when she destroys me like that there is nothing that compares to it. It may be a little terrifying, but isn't that why it's so thrilling?"

Nash turned to look at me in surprise then grinned. "Maybe you should let Kyan choke you then?" he suggested. "Or better yet, let me do it."

"Unlikely," I replied, rolling my eyes and my gaze fell on a little note stuck to the file he'd dropped onto my desk.

It was nothing really. Just four words. File with Farringbridge Group. It didn't even bear any relevance, except that I recognised that handwriting. Perhaps I'd been a fool in underestimating my father. What if he wasn't involved in running this place? What if he was this place?

I turned back to the computer and my fingers flew over the keyboard as I tried one of his favourite and most complicated passwords. They were random assortments of letters and numbers, but I'd long since figured out all of the ones he used.

The first attempt failed so I tried another combination. That failed too and I took in a long breath as I typed out the third.

The monitor flashed as it was accepted and within a moment, I was staring at the home screen.

"I'm in," I breathed.

Nash dropped the file he'd been photographing and hurried over to stand beside me as I looked up at him with a dark smile.

"How?" he demanded and I only hesitated a moment before giving him the answer he craved. I trusted him to know I wasn't my father's son by now. He knew I hungered for that man's demise just as much if not more than he did. This wouldn’t affect his opinion of me.

"I just confirmed our suspicions about the man who gave me life," I said, turning back to the screen as I started typing. "Troy Memphis is the Grand Master of this place. He's the man we have been hunting. And now we have his scent, I'm certain that we'll find him."

"Then he has to be here," Monroe growled excitedly. "The members of this club aren't just helping him hide. He's presiding over it and they're down there right now having that meeting."

I followed his train of thought easily enough but then sighed as I dismissed it. "We can't assassinate him here. There is no way that we could be certain of our escape if we head into that snake pit so outnumbered. I won't risk Tatum like that. I won't risk any of you like that. The fire might kill him of course, but I seriously doubt he will be that easy to dispatch. It would be a rather anticlimactic and simple ending, wouldn’t it?"

“Nothing wrong with simple. Seems like that could be pretty damn satisfying to me. We charge in there, kill him. Then live happily ever after.”

“I don’t foresee this ending that easily at all,” I replied firmly. “It will take blood and guts and tears and even then,