Chapter 17

SEVENTEEN

AELLA

I can't believe he fucking left me here. I'm strapped down to the bench, body tingling and rattling with anger. I hadn't expected him to return so soon from checking on Miles. I thought at least he'd make coffee or grab some food, but he'd been eager to get back to me.

I ignore the giddy ripple in my stomach at the thought.

I've spent my life being unobservant to everything around me. I was doing anything and everything to make the men in my life happy. That's not how I wanted to be anymore. So, I eyed him sneakily each time Braxton was on his computer to figure out his passcode. It hadn't been hard to suss out when he never changed it.

Once I was in, I found a litany of things I hadn't wanted to see. That's what they say about snooping, don't they? Don't go looking if you can't handle what you find .

They might use me as bait. If my dad would take the bite on their hook, that is.

They're investigating him because of their mom's disappearance. From what I saw, they have good rights.

Their mom worked for Montague Inc. in the early 2000s. If I did my math correctly, they'd have been young, nearing their teenage years. She disappeared on a shift, never to be seen or heard from again.

The police investigated briefly, but because of the Montague name, the investigation was dead in the water. It was brushed under the proverbial rug. It's that way with anything Dad touches. If there ever is a scandal that reaches my ears, soon after, it's gone—as if it never was.

I want to think my dad has nothing to do with their mother's disappearance, but I don't know him. I never wanted to. My mom died, and he turned colder than he was before her death. It was like she was the only light inside him.

The sounds of footfalls overhead alert me that Cobras are awake and likely getting ready for the day. All while I'm strapped to a fucking table and left for when Braxton gets home and decides what to do with me.

I'd expected he'd be mad when and if he found out I got into his files, but I hadn't expected how cold he turned. How calculating his eyes had become. How terrifying.

I open my mouth to shout for help but think better when I realize it might not be Miles.

The way he'd slammed the gun in front of me in veiled meaning has me trembling still. Something lurks under his surface, and I don't know if he controls it fully.

"You awake, princess?" Miles's voice calls down the steps, and a tear slips my cheek. I don't know if I should answer.

I also don't know if his punishment will be even worse when he finds out I betrayed them and sneaked into Braxton's computer.

Not only had I found what I was looking for. I found a lot more than that. They run this entire fucking city. Likely, they do so because they plan to take what portions belong to my father under their grasp soon.

And they were using me to do so.

I feel so stupid. Sure, I'd been using them on some level, too. I knew they wanted me for something but thought it was petty revenge. One that could be overlooked because they were falling for me.

But it was me who was falling. For a fucking ruse.

"Princess?" Miles says again. This time, it's closer. He's coming down, I realize. I shift on the bench. My knees and elbows are burning.

The red lights above flick on, and Miles's steps halt.

He's looking me over, indeed. But I can't see him. I can't even turn to watch his face take me in.

"What in the hell did you do?" he asks me, coming to my right side.

I bite my lip as tears trickle down my face like rain in summer.

"Aw, now, it can't be that bad, can it?" A slight smirk lifts the corner of his lips, and his eyes have a rueful look .

He thinks Braxton is playing with me and that he's tied me up for some sick, sexual reason.

"It can," I mutter through my broken sobs.

His eyes then turn, just as his brother's had. "What did you do?"

"Braxton caught me breaking into his computer, but it's not what it seems…"

The look on his face and how he backed toward the wall in disbelief cuts my words off. "What else could it be, then? You break into someone's files, especially those of the Cobras. You've got an angle. I'll give you five fucking seconds to explain, princess, and only because of the way you kiss me. It can't be fake. It just can't."

He doesn't kiss.

It's a reminder that I'm a weak spot for him because he's kissed me. I wonder how far I can exploit it if he lets me free of this gadget.

"Whitney called me bait last night at the party. She said you two were only using me. While I knew it had something to do with my father, I wanted to know more. I wanted to know why," I yell quickly.

He nods along, taking in my words. All the while, his eyes have a battle within them—one where he hasn't chosen a side yet.

"And…did you find what you were looking for?" he asks.

I nod, swallowing. "I did. While I hope he didn't do it, I can't give you any answers because I don't know him. I don't know him at all," I admit.

He bites his lip, fists clenching at his sides. "We wanted to use you as a bargaining chip, princess. Now you've forced our hand. I know by the look on your face you found not only what you were looking for. You saw too much."

Oh, dear God. They're going to kill me.

The realization hits me like a ton of bricks, and more sobs choke out of my throat.

"I'd never say a word," I tell him, shaking my head frantically.

He runs his hand through his hair. His shirtless muscles are rippling, making the massive Cobra tattoo on his stomach come to life.

"I can't trust you now, princess. Do you realize that? I was stupid to trust you in the first fucking place." In the last part, he mutters more to himself. "Whitney will pay for what she's caused. That, I can promise you."

I shift on the bench. "Please, I don't think she meant it the way I took it. Leave her be, please. I've caused enough bullshit."

He eyes me. "You're taking up for her now?"

I nod. I don't know why I am, but I liked her. She was looking out for me, in a way, and giving me the spark I needed to wake up and ask questions.

"What did you intend to do with all this information you gathered?" His eyes are calculating, just as his brothers were before he left me here.

"I didn't know what I would do if I'm honest. I know what I want to do now that I know it."

He eyes me sternly, waiting for me to go on.

"I'll go undercover in my dad's company. I'll find out who he is for you and me. Find out where your mother went or where she is. "

"She's not alive. If she were, she'd have found her way to us."

It stings a little, knowing that neither of my parents was ever that way towards me. I grew up in privilege, sure, but I didn't grow up with love.

It's likely why I'd misunderstood their tender touches as something more.

I'm a foolish girl.

I try not to wallow in self-pity but can't help it.

I'm sad and a little heartbroken that the evil men who stole from me are just that.

I still feel like I've seen a side of them they didn't mean to show me. The other side of that coin could be that it's all fake, though—all a ploy to get me to give them information I never had.

My head is a jumbled mess.

"That's the stupidest idea I've ever heard. I don't trust you. You'll tell your father what we're up to. Do you think me a fucking fool?" he shouts, and I wince.

His anger gives the air a vibration that sets my teeth on edge.

"I'm sorry I broke into the files, but I had to know what was happening. If I'd have asked, neither of you would've told me," I admit to him.

He looks me over. Bathed in the red bulbs of the room, he looks like a man deranged. "What will you do afterward, hm? Once this is all over?"

I hang my head, thinking of being without either of them. "I don't know. We'll have to figure that out when we get there."

"We?" he asks softly, anger leaving his tone swiftly .

" We ," I say, voice breaking under the weight of emotion when I look up at him.

He comes in front of me, his crotch lined up with my face before he drops into a crouch before me. "Princess, neither one of us can stand betrayal," he tells me.

His tone is hard, even though he's not yelling. It's a hardness I can't wiggle away from or ignore.

"I'm sorry," I whisper.

The air between us turns static, and I can barely breathe, just as it was in the dressing room when he'd taken my mouth by storm.

"I know. And I know you're being honest, too. I can feel it," he admits.

I breathe out a sigh of relief. For some fucking reason, his believing in me is more important than being set free.

"Still doesn't mean you didn't fuck up and go against both of us," he says.

I nod. "I know."

He looks at my lips longingly. "Do you know why I don't kiss, princess?"

I lick my lips. "No. Will you tell me?"

Whitney said no one knows why he doesn't, but it's a thing amongst the club. One that had put a target on my back once his lips touched mine in front of everyone.

"Because she was my last kiss. Mom. She always kissed us on the lips, not grossly, though in the loving way that a mother kisses her children and sends them off for the day. She would give us each a peck and tell us to behave and have the best day. Then, we'd go off to school until we saw her again at the bus stop afterward. I never knew there was a reality where one of her kisses would be the last one day."

Fresh tears track down my cheeks, and he registers them. He watches them fall, almost curiously, as if he's shed none before. As if he doesn't understand the reasoning behind them.

"I'm so sorry, Miles. To lose a love like that while you were so young, I can't imagine."

He nods absently. "She kissed me and sent me to school like any other day. It was the last time her lips would ever touch mine. I couldn't stand the thought of someone else erasing her kiss. Until you."

I swallow, body thrumming under his admittance.

"I know you're questioning this insane situation between us, and while I kept you as a bargaining chip, Aella, you're so much fucking more. You know that. But if you're going to do this and be a part of it with us, you won't be leaving again. Once you're a Cobra, death is the only way out of the quiver."

His words weigh heavy on my heart, but I know what I want. I always go with my gut.

I nod.

He smirks as he stands, and my eyes track him. "Well then, only one thing left to do."

He leaves, and I'm left in awe of the moment we've just had. Until I realized he, too, left me strapped to the fucking bench and didn't let me loose.

I growl and hang my head.