Insatiable (Steel Brothers Saga #12) - Helen Hardt Page 0,9
its way.”
“Thank God,” Dave said. “I’m starved.”
“How you eat the way you do and stay looking like a scarecrow is beyond me,” Dominic said.
Dave did indeed resemble the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz, right down to his straw-colored hair.
“All right,” I said. “Someone paid you to take us. Who?”
“I’m not at liberty to say,” Dominic said.
“Of course you’re not,” I said. “That would make this whole thing too easy. Whatever they’re paying you, I can pay more. I’m Marjorie Steel, remember?”
“Not in this for the money,” Alex said.
“Well, maybe a little,” Dave offered.
“What my sister means is that we don’t need the money. We’re very well off.”
“Why aren’t you sitting on a beach in the Caribbean, then?” I said. “Kidnapping has its drawbacks. Number one, it’s against the freaking law.”
“We have talents others don’t have.”
“You kicked my ass as a trainer, so there’s that. I suppose you’re pretty good at kidnapping. Did I get all your talents?”
Alex stalked toward me. “Dom, I swear—”
“Let it go, Alex. She just doesn’t understand yet.”
“Yeah? Then make me understand. Why are you doing this? By whose orders were Colin, my mother, and I taken against our will?”
Dominic sighed, his dark eyes taking on a kindness I hadn’t seen before. “Your father’s.”
Chapter Seven
Bryce
“You two need to leave,” Booker said. “I don’t know anything else.”
“You know how to get in touch with the Spider.”
“I already told you. He’s not answering me either. I only have the one contact avenue, and it seems to be blocked.”
“Blocked my ass,” I said through clenched teeth.
“I’m sorry about your mom and your sister,” he said to Joe, effectively ignoring me. “But I can’t help you.”
Joe nodded. “Let’s go, Bryce.”
“I don’t believe him,” I said.
“Doesn’t really matter,” Joe said. “He’s not going to tell us anything. He’s made that clear.”
My father might have been a psycho, but I’d learned a lot from him, not the least of which was how to draw my weapon from a hidden holster in a flash.
Like lightning, I was on Cade Booker. “Start talking,” I said in a low voice.
“Bryce…” Joe began.
“You may trust this guy, but I sure as hell don’t. You know something, Booker—something you’re not telling us. I’m not leaving this office until you’ve come clean.”
“Bryce,” Joe said again, “don’t ruin your life here. He’ll have you arrested.”
“No, he won’t,” I said. “Because I can make his lifestyle world news. Right, Booker?”
“You bastard,” Booker said to Joe.
“Damn, Bryce,” Joe said.
“Sorry, Joe. I believe in being trustworthy, and you of all people can vouch for that. But Marjorie’s life is at stake here, and I’ll do anything I have to in order to make sure she gets home safely. If that means telling the world that Cade Booker likes to dabble in bondage, so be it.”
“There’s nothing more I can tell you.” Booker held his hands in front of him. “I’d help if I could. Joe, you know me.”
“He’s not lying to you, Bryce,” Joe said.
“I don’t believe him. If he has the Spider’s information, then he knows who the guy is. And I want to know. Now.”
The phone on Booker’s desk buzzed.
“Don’t fucking move,” I said.
“If I don’t answer, my secretary will get suspicious.”
“Bullshit. If you don’t answer, she’ll think you’re in the middle of an important meeting, which you are.”
The phone buzzed twice more, and then sure enough, it stopped.
“Ready to talk?” I asked.
“Kill me if you want to,” Booker said. “I’ll go down fighting. I’ve been fighting my whole life.”
Yeah, this guy was so not what he purported to be.
“I’m sorry for breaking your confidence about the club,” Joe said quietly. “You can tell the whole world I used to be a member there if you want to. I don’t give a shit if people know what kind of sex I like. But I’m beginning to think Bryce is right.” He moved to the side of Booker and then quickly drew Rosie out of his ankle holster. Then he looked around the office. “What kind of work do you do here, Cade, that you have to have your office swept for bugs daily?”
Booker opened his mouth but said nothing.
“I know you’re armed,” Joe went on, “but you can’t take us both out at once. You try anything, you’ll end up dead. So tell us what we want to know. Who the fuck is the Spider?”
“I told you. Go ahead and kill me. I’ve been dead for thirty years anyway.”
“I thought you were a friend, Cade, and I trusted you—but when