6. ~Caspian~

I stepped out of Obscura and navigated my way through the hidden exit via a secret door in the sub-level that led to a parking lot a few blocks from the main building itself. It was an extra step the owners had taken for the clientele, knowing that a lot of us had certain public and professional images to maintain that didn’t mesh well with the depravities we indulged in at the elite private lifestyle club behind closed doors.

Depravitiesdidn’t even cover it for me tonight. I’d had to go to extremes.

Christ.

I checked my Rolex.

Four hours.

Four hours it had taken me to get everything out of my system, to re-center myself.

It was all this waiting.

It wasn’t sitting well with me.

It really didn’t agree with me.

And it felt like that was all it had been for the last two years.

Waiting on a lead on Caleb after I’d lost track of him. Now that wait had come to an end, but another had taken its place. Waiting on him to be ready to return, to come back where he truly belonged, to us, to me.

Waiting on a break in tracking Skylar down.

Her father had delivered a heavy-handed warning during the night of gala.

“I’ll be watching and if I don’t like what I’m seeing, I’ll take her from you all. Believe me, she won’t be found either should I need to go that route. Not even by you. When I hide someone, they disappear off the face of the earth.”

And he’d most definitely made good on that.

So far.

I’d find her.

If that wasn’t enough, there was also the waiting concerning mine and Dante’s plan against Elijah to reach fruition. We had teams of our own people within his organization now. But it was taking time for them to move up the ranks to positions that could impact him and affect change. They were getting there, moving closer to the actual belly of the beast, getting into position. To do it right without them being suspected, it had needed to be gradual. Elijah had thought that he’d had an effective and winning Trojan horse approach, but mine and Dante’s was next-level compared to that pathetic effort.

All that carefully managed work would result in a mammoth payoff. I just had to keep my focus on that, the endgame, the results.

Still, even knowing that, and especially with the factors of Caleb and Skylar, it had me feeling powerless.

It was a sensation that I hadn’t experienced since the day I’d lost my parents.

All the power I’d amassed over the years, the reach, the influence, and there were still things deemed even out of my control.

I couldn’t simply force us back together. Like I’d told Bastian, it had to be their decision of their own free will.

At least I’d had success with Bastian. I was keeping him on track, we’d grown ever closer, and he was doing really well. I could help him, I could control the outcome there to a high degree, ensuring he didn’t drown again.

I blew out a breath as I rounded the corner and reached the concealed parking lot.

Given the extremely late hour, I’d only expected to see my Maserati there.

And that would’ve surely been the case if it hadn’t been for the uninvited visitor now leaning against the hood of his vehicle, eyes on me.

Not just on me. Devouring me in my casual attire of my Balenciaga jeans and my fitted Tom Ford leather jacket, my hair loose, waves cascading about my face.

He pushed off his Ferrari as I approached.

He’d clearly come from his nightclub as he was still clad in his new go-to look where that was concerned. His extremely over-the-top look.

His Gucci bomber jacket—gold and black interspersed with python imagery—flapped around him from his wild, rapid movements, revealing his skin-tight black metallic tee beneath that clung to the packed muscle of his boxer’s physique. A golden tiger’s head belt buckle glinted, the thing so prominent that even the dim lighting of the lot was reflecting off it every which way. It was one of the more obvious insights into how highly he regarded himself, believing he held more power than he did, something I’d ensured he’d received a major wakeup call on lately. I also knew that it was a nod to his sexual prowess. More delusions of grandeur from him. Leather pants as form-fitting as his tee gave way to a pair of Chelsea boots, gold like his jacket.

“This is my downtime,” I ground out, as I stopped in front of him.

“Please. You don’t really do downtime. Although, I can see that you’re freshly satiated, which means I caught you at a good time.”

“A good time for what?”

“To grab a drink, of course.”

Hell.

Reelingin chaotic elements wasn’t my forte.

That was one of Bastian’s specialties.

Or it had been.

Unfortunately, it was something he’d had to not only learn, but master, at a very young age. All because of his manic sociopath of an older brother.

Ihad a zero-tolerance policy when it came to issues of this nature. I didn’t allow unruly behavior and actions to come close to touching me and mine. I didn’t placate or reason with either potential or certain threats.

I decimated them.

I was Ruin.

The fact that it wasn’t the case when it came to dealing with Damien Thorn didn’t sit well with me. I was having to take several pages out of Bastian’s playbook, following his Rein protocol, much to my frustration. I effectively had my hands tied behind my back because of it. Because I couldn’t simply end the bastard. Hell, I’d even stopped Bastian from attempting it himself because I knew he would regret it dearly, that despite everything Damien had done, he was still Bastian’s family, he still had an emotional hold on him.

I swirled my bourbon around my glass, trying to contain my agitation as I entertained this diplomatic track with the older problematic Thorn brother.

“Well?” I pushed. “Get to it. I have places to be.”

“Home with Seb?” he asked, far too interested.

“He’s long since asleep. I have work to do.”

“This late? That’s pushing it, even for you. You know, you should take it a little easier, you’re looking tired, King.”

“Then your perception is fucked.”

“Hmm. Maybe it’s not exhaustion then. The strain of remaining unfulfilled then? Sexually speaking, of course? Without Caleb here to give you what you need?”

I gulped back more of my bourbon to tamper down the reaction in me he was trying to elicit with ridiculous transparency.

I put my glass down on the decrepit wooden table and glared at him steadily.

The entire establishment had seen better days. Although, that was part of the charm of a dive bar to its patrons. Something down to earth and constant that was immune to change and upgrades. It offered them a certain comfort, a lack of complications in a world that was fraught with a great deal.

This sort of place wasn’t where I preferred to spend my time. But this was business not personal and often when it came to those I had to deal with through King’s more illicit activities, frequenting unpalatable locales was required.

In this case, not only was Damien Thorn not somebody I wanted to be seen consorting with given his reckless and unstable reputation, but his unpredictable nature made it necessary to do so far away from the eyes of my business associates and the press so any potential fallout could be contained quietly.

“Get to the reason for this meeting, or I’m gone.”

He chugged half of his beer, then slumped back against his chair. “I want to see him.”

“Denied.”

“He’s my brother.”

“That’s merely a biological fact. It holds no other weight now. You’ve made sure of that.”

He shoved a hand through his hair. “I get that. It’s why I need to see him, to apologize for what happened.”

“An apology won’t turn back time.”

“No, but it might—”

“Might, what? Make you feel better? Ease your guilt?” I scoffed. “We both know you’re not capable of entertaining that emotion for more than a few fleeting moments every now and then.”

He clenched his fists. “That doesn’t matter, I still understand the act. It’s for Seb, not me. He needs it.”

“He doesn’t need anything from you.”

“You just don’t want that to be the case. Without Caleb and Skylar here, you need to be the only one there for him, to keep the one close relationship you have left free of any interference.”

“As usual, you’re so very far off the mark. Your desperation is showing, Damien.”

He blew out a breath. “Look, I know we have an agreement that I’m to keep my distance if I want to stay in the city, if I want to keep my nightclub too, but just once will do. Just one face-to-face interaction with him.”

“My terms are non-negotiable. If you continue to push, I can guarantee you won’t like the outcome.”

He smirked. “As much as Seb thinks he hates me right now, he’d never set you loose on me. Your hands are tied.”

I leaned forward, lowering my voice to a low growl. “There are loopholes to every constraint, Chaos.”

His throat worked and he tensed.

I went on, “I’ve held off for a long while. I’m Ruin. How long do you really think I can contain my true nature, especially if I continue to be provoked? Even somebody possessing my level of control can only be pushed so far before they snap. And it would be my absolute pleasure to deal you a deathblow.”

“Fantasize about that while you’re skull-fucking some bound Sub at Obscura, do you?”

“Sometimes.”

“Takes you over the edge, does it?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe.”

The corner of his mouth turned up. “Damn, King, don’t turn me on while I’m wearing these leathers. It’s a waste.” He gazed at me, his pupils noticeably dilated now. With his lack of control and obsessive need for instant gratification, it didn’t take much to get a rise out of him.

And every time, it calmed him down.

When he didn’t get a reaction from me, he sighed and sank back against his seat again. “Look, I’m sorry for getting so heavy-handed, I just want to try to make amends with my little brother.”

“And if he can’t forgive you this time?”

“Then I’ll accept it, I guess.”

“You won’t. You’ll get your back up and retaliate. It’s your pattern and it hasn’t changed since that first day Caleb and I saved Bastian from your wrath in his freshmen year of high school when you descended on him with your minions.”

“I’m not gonna hurt him again. I made a mistake with Skylar Bennett and that fucker, Jett, and I won’t repeat it.”

“You will.”

“King, just—”

I snatched up my glass and downed the remainder of my bourbon, before slamming it down and rising to my feet. “Move forward without Bastian in mind. It’s done. You know the price for violating my command, so heed my warning.”

He glared up at me, his eyes sparking with defiance, warring with his clear fear at the menace in mine. “Does Bastian know why you really allowed me back here? Does he know what you had me do while I was away?”

“He doesn’t need to. He’s stable now. Finally. If you do anything to jeopardize that, I will destroy you.”

“Mmm, how about you destroy me sexually, huh? Come on, you know you need it with Cal gone.”

I was in his space in the next second, fisting my hand in his hair and wrenching his head back.

His eyes glittered with undisguised need, clearly getting off on my aggression. “If I top you, Damien, it won’t be sexually. And it will be to break you. Every fucking thing about you. And then I’ll burn what’s left to ash.”

He paled, feeling my threat down to the bone.

I released him roughly.

“I don’t want to hurt him, you know? I don’t, King.”

“But you will if you’re given an in.”

With that, I turned on my heel and strode out of the bar, feeling his gaze burning into my back as I went.

I was just through the door when my phone started ringing.

I pulled it out to see Luke’s name on the call display.

“King,” I answered.

“We have a lead on Skylar Bennett.”

I stopped in my tracks. “What? How?”

“She just put herself back on the radar. Briefly, but it may be enough to work with.”

“Why did she risk exposure?”

“Jett Bane. She knows, King. She knows what really happened to him after she disappeared.”

Jesus Christ.