15. Layla

Chapter fifteen

Layla

I didn’t leave the pool until my muscles screamed at me in protest. I might be sore for a few days from overdoing it. I strolled naked to where Tyler had left my bikini and tied it back on. Wrapping a towel around myself, I left the pool room to head upstairs for a shower. My stomach rumbled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten yet today. Pizza sounded amazing; hopefully, the guys were up for having pizza for dinner.

I was lost in my thoughts of a pepperoni, bacon, and pineapple pizza with extra cheese when someone rushed around the corner and grabbed me. They immediately began dragging me backward down the hall, and it wasn’t until we were at the interrogation door that I realized it was Karl, my new bodyguard.

“Open the fucking door,” Karl growled.

I struggled against his bruising hold. “Not gonna fucking happen,” I replied. I twisted in his hold and scratched my nails down his face. I tried to whistle for Dash and Dire, but Karl quickly wrapped his hands around my throat before I could.

“Anton sends his fucking regards,” he sneered.

Son of a fucking bitch. I kicked and swung at the man, but he easily deflected my blows. I felt myself losing consciousness. This was bad. Really bad. Just as I was sure I was toast, someone came up behind him and stabbed a knife through the side of his neck. Karl released me as he gurgled his last breaths, and I fell to my knees on the floor, gasping for breath.

“Layla! Are you ok?” I looked at the person who saved my life and was surprised to see Jason’s worried eyes. “Come on, the house is under attack! We have to get you to your panic room before they get down here.”

He helped me to my feet, and once I felt steady, I opened the interrogation room and grabbed a gun. “I’m not hiding away in the panic room,” I told Jason. “I’m defending my home and my family.” I stormed out of the room, ready to spill some blood.

“You can’t!” Jason said, following me. “Colton sent me down here to get you to safety. He said to do as you’re told.”

“I do whatever the fuck I want,” I growled.

“I’m really sorry about this, Layla,” Jason said as we passed the room. He grabbed me from behind, slapped my hand on the security pad to unlock the door, and shoved me inside. As soon as the door closed behind us, the sound of a gunshot echoed around the room as he shot the control panel. “So I heard you have an opening in your gang bang.”

Fucking hell, can’t a girl catch a break?

“The house isn’t under attack, is it?” I asked as I picked myself off the floor and faced Jason.

“Nope. That was a lie,” Jason admitted as he pointed his gun at me. “I’ll take that pistol off your hands.”

I tossed it at his feet. “Take it. I won’t need it to kill you.”

“Big talk from a woman who was getting choked out two minutes ago,” Jason chuckled, “but that was probably just a little foreplay for you, wasn’t it?”

“And Karl?” I asked, ignoring his question.

“I’ll admit, when I first saw him coming downstairs, I thought he was going to fuck up all of my plans. As it turned out, he made it even easier for me to get you in here.”

“You were the one watching me and Tyler,” I said.

“That was me,” Jason agreed. “I’ll be honest, Layla. If I knew you were so freaky, I wouldn’t have let Colt chase me off all those years ago.”

“What’s the plan here, Jason?” I asked. “They will get that door open, and when they do, you’re dead. Provided that I haven’t already killed you.”

“I know you have a secret tunnel out of here, and you’re going to show me where it is. After we have a little fun, of course,” Jason replied, his eyes hungrily traveling over my nearly naked body.

I smirked and grabbed a butcher knife from the kitchenette beside me.

“No, I’m not.”