communicating, Caiden passed him what looked like a roll of tape, and Zayde used his knife to slice off a strip, before carefully taping over his mouth. At least, I assume that was what he was doing.
“The headphones are noise-cancelling.” Weston answered my unspoken question. “It’ll stop him hearing anything Hyde decides to share with us.”
“Or stop him hearing the screams.” Cassius smirked. “Just kidding…maybe.”
Job done, Caiden and Zayde joined us, and I was taken aback by the dark look in Caiden’s eyes as his gaze found mine. “Listen, baby. We’re gonna question Joseph now. We might do or say things that you won’t like, depending how agreeable he is. I want you to remember that this is necessary. We’re almost out of time, and we need answers.”
Stepping forwards, I reached up to kiss him softly. “You don’t need to explain. I understand. Do what you have to.”
He tugged me into his arms. “I just don’t want you to look at me differently if I end up having to do something you don’t like.”
“I love you. I won’t look at you differently.” I moved my mouth to his ear. “If you wanna rough Joseph up a bit for me, I won’t mind.”
I felt him laugh into my hair. “Just when I thought I couldn’t love you any more, you have to go and say something like that.”
His words made me smile, too, and I hugged him to me more tightly.
“Cade.” At Z’s voice, Caiden released me, dropping one last kiss on my head. “Let’s do this.”
As they left us, I took a seat at the table next to Cassius, and Weston dropped into the chair next to me, adjusting the monitor and turning some dials on the little pad in front of him.
“Okay, I think that’s it.” Four images of the warehouse appeared on the screen, the cameras each showing a different view. Weston adjusted it so that only the two feeds from the cameras facing Joseph, Caiden, and Zayde were showing, and did something to zoom in on the images. Lit by a single strip of lights from the ceiling, Caiden and Zayde both appeared shadowed and menacing, towering over Joseph.
“Testing.” Zayde’s voice came out of the speakers in front of us, the sound slightly crackly but clear enough to easily make it out.
“Glad the sound quality’s good. I’m recording everything,” Weston told me, still messing around with the controls.
“I don’t get why I have to sit here instead of being out there,” Cassius muttered, tearing open a bar of chocolate he’d pulled from the desk drawer and breaking off a square.
“We discussed this. Joseph and Allan don’t need to know you’re involved. The less people, the better.” Weston glanced over at him, and he pulled a face, before breaking off another square of chocolate.
“Yeah, I want to be out there, too, Cass. I know it makes sense, but it’s frustrating sitting here not being able to do anything.” I squeezed his hand, and swiped a piece of his chocolate.
He turned to me, about to say something, but was interrupted by Zayde’s voice coming through the speakers again as he spoke to Caiden. “You want to do the honours?”
Joseph had woken up.
TWENTY-SIX
“Fuck, yeah.” I grinned at Zayde, and he returned my grin. In front of us, Hyde struggled against his restraints, his indignant shouts muffled by the hood. Stepping forward, I ripped the covering from his head, leaving him blinking at the sudden light.
He fell silent, staring between us open-mouthed, momentarily stunned. Then a dark rage came over his face.
“Untie me right now, you assholes! If this is some juvenile prank, I—”
I ended his rant with my fist to his face, and his head swung round at the impact.
“Fucker.” He spat in the direction of my feet, blood flying out of his mouth. I glanced down at the floor—was that one of his teeth? Didn’t really matter. He deserved it.
“That was for my girlfriend,” I told him.
“Jessa? Why?”
His confusion matched mine. “Jessa is not my fucking girlfriend, you dick.”
“But James told me…” He trailed off. “Doesn’t fucking matter, just untie me right now! The joke’s over.”
“It’s not a joke.” Z stepped forwards, the blade in his hand glinting. Hyde’s gaze was drawn straight towards it, and he paled, finally realising the serious shit he was in.
“We want answers. You’d better start talking, otherwise it’s going to hurt.”
“What the fuck is this all about?” His voice came out hoarse, a tremor of fear running through it. Here, bound, unable to