Deviant Games (The Controllers #8) - L.V. Lane Page 0,56
wearing Woodrow down in no time.
The boutique stationery store caught Verity’s eye. I loved retro notepads and pens myself, so I didn’t think much was out of the ordinary. A matching set in red and blue paisley caught her eye. But so did a pink and grey one, and she was mulling over this choice when she confessed that she had started writing stories.
“Verity! How long has this been happening? Why am I only finding out now?”
“I’ve made up stories for years,” she said, finally deciding on the pink and grey. “I just never wrote them down. Woodrow is very encouraging about it, actually.”
Much as I hated Woodrow and his methods in acquiring Verity, I never doubted his subsequent dedication. She’d been so mistreated as a child that I thought she deserved to be spoiled with love and support now.
“That’s fantastic news, Verity. I’m so excited to hear this. When do I get to read them?”
She blushed a pretty shade of pink. “Lilly,” her voice lowered to a conspiring whisper. “It’s a very naughty sort of book. I’m not ready to share it with anyone yet.”
I burst out laughing. Verity’s brown eyes sparkled with guilty mischief as she giggled.
“Anyone? You haven’t allowed Woodrow to read it, then?” I asked with a raised brow. The Alpha might dote upon her but he was a control-freak through-and-through. I couldn’t imagine him not reading it.
“Oh, I have,” she said seriously, her face flushing a deeper shade. “He insists on verifying everything for accuracy.”
We were both laughing as we entered Chicos, where we had booked a table for lunch.
My laughter faded, as did my mood when I almost collided with my father—whom I was still not on more than tolerable terms with.
“What are you doing here, Lilly?” His terse demand was out of character in a man who’d pleaded with me only yesterday to allow him to visit.
I blinked slowly. Verity had stilled; she was an Empath and could pick up emotional cues in ways far beyond my own. But even I sensed the desperate anxiety rolling from Victor Brach. His eyes alighted on Verity, and his lips trembled faintly.
“My daughter’s here—with Verity. Damn it, we need to abort.”
Who was he talking to?
“Oh dear,” Verity whispered.
Two little words that rang like a proclamation of doom.
Screams came from behind me, barely did I recognize them when a veil came over my world.
Ryker
As we hit the sidewalk, two blacked out ground-transports came tearing up. The military admin and training center was in the middle of the city, so it was busy, but they honed in on us with a sense of purpose.
“What the fuck?” I watched the speeding vehicles approach, hefting my kit bag higher on my shoulder.
“Welcome to my world,” Ethan muttered, a particularly savage expression on his face. “Looks like I’m about to get arrested. You might want to distance yourself from me.”
“Huh?” I gave the screeching vehicles another once over. “You think they’re here for you? Can’t be that many in there. I’m in on getting arrested, by the way. I can’t believe you’re asking me to abandon you after we hugged and declared our mutual love.”
He frowned at me like he was wondering if he’d punched me too many times. I winked to let him know I wasn’t brain damaged and was just being a dick.
“Don’t be a complete dick,” he said, shaking his head. “Someone needs to stay with Lilly, although why the fuck I might trust you is a mystery to me.”
The decision on my abandoning him was taken out of our hands when the transport door opened, and Woodrow Brock stepped out.
Woodrow Brock, who’d been a formidable special operative back in the day, and who was looking no less formidable today given he was wearing full combat gear.
They barely let me take point on the regular military stuff; no way would they let me loose on the black ops side of things. But while I wasn’t overly familiar with the former head of special operations—I knew that Ethan was.
“We have a situation with our Omegas,” Brock said ominously. “Get in.” He pinned me with a glare that said fucking with his orders would be a very bad idea. “Both of you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Ryker
DOWNTOWN CHIMERA WAS a shady place. Lucian had a fight club here, and Ethan and I had questioned one Mikal Sanders while chasing leads on Lilly’s disappearance. It had been Tsing fuckery that time.
This time it was a failed set-up to coax out more of the Theta conspirators.
We