Chapter 26

26

Eli

A s soon as Maddie and I got home, I had Dante's IT guys keep an eye on flights coming in and out from Virginia to Vegas for Jordan. I knew it was only a matter of time before the kid came after her. So, I'm not even the least bit surprised when Bobby calls me early one morning.

"Yeah?" I ask, knowing before he even says the words.

"Jordan Robertson just boarded a plane headed to Vegas."

"Thanks, Bobby. Let me know when he lands," I tell him. "Send his photo to casino security and tell them to pick him up at the front doors as soon as he walks in. Try to give them a time frame for when to expect him."

"You got it," he agrees before ending the call.

I don't tell him not to tell Dante. Telling someone not to do something just makes them do it faster.

Here's hoping Dante is too busy house hunting with Vanessa and visiting with Cass and Cole on fall break to notice we have a new guest on the way.

It's ridiculous how excited I am to see the kid. I know that he's coming here for Maddie, but it'll still be fun to play with him a little first. Before I let her have him? Jesus, I don't know what the fuck I'll do with him.

In fact, I decide not to even tell Maddie that he's coming. He probably won't be getting in until she has to go to work for the magician's show tonight, so I'll keep him company until she's done.

Maybe I'll just keep him until morning…

That would also be enough time for me to see if I can have another surprise rounded up and brought to town for him.

While I can't wait to see Jordan again, his presence in town could really fuck me over.

Dante warned me that if I lied to him again, I was a dead man.

So, if Dante finds out I lied about the private investigator and that the real man Maddie fell for is a biker in the Savage King MC who is not only still alive but also in the city, he'll be fucking furious with me. Bullet in the head mafia king furious.

And if Dante decides to string Jordan up in the basement and beat the truth out of him before killing him, Jordan might even be compelled to run his mouth about the shit I did with Maddie to save his own skin.

Fuck it.

It looks like I'm screwed either way, and Jordan probably is too, so we may as well enjoy ourselves tonight.

After all, it could be our last one on Earth.

Jordan

I knew I couldn't just walk into the casino Maddie's father owns and ask for her, but before I can even try to come up with a plan, I'm surrounded by big ass security guards all dressed in black who escort me straight to the elevator.

"Do any of you happen to know where I can find Madison Salvato?" I ask them when we're all smushed together in the silent, stuffy elevator cabin.

Nobody responds to me. It's like they're all mute as the elevator…lowers to the basement floor?

That's where I'm shoved by one into the dark, empty concrete room. I keep walking until some of the lights above our heads flip on. And then I hear it, the sound of a gun cocking behind me. I didn't bother to bring mine since I knew I couldn't get through airport security with it.

"Are you really going to kill me before I even tell you assholes why I'm here?" I ask the guard in disbelief, dropping my backpack from my shoulder to hold my palms up. "Where's Eli? Let me talk to him."

Finally, one of the men speaks, the one pointing his gun at me. "We don't care why you're here. Our orders were to bring you down here and make sure you can't leave."

"Great." Spinning around in a slow circle, I see the hooks hanging from the ceiling and toolbox with a countertop full of all sorts of painful looking devices. "So, this is like Eli's office, huh?"

"Put the cuffs on him," the only guard who speaks directs two of the others who get right to work, snatching my wrists and slapping the cool, familiar metal over each of them.

Someone else operates the hook so that it lowers enough for the men to raise my arms over my head, snag in on the middle of the cuffs. Then, the hook is raised again until my toes almost touch the floor, but not quite.

"Are you going to cut my shirt and pants off me now or will Eli handle that?" I ask the security guards. They all freeze, eyes bulging, looking surprised at my knowledge of the torturer. "This isn't my first rodeo with Eli. I was unconscious the first time when he undressed and restrained me."

"How the hell are you still alive?" the guard with the gun asks me.

"I guess Eli has a soft spot for me. Or a hard spot, if you know what I mean," I give him an exaggerated wink.

The guard's face twists in disgust. Definitely a homophobe. Awesome.

"Just so you know, Eli eventually killed his last lover boy. So don't get too excited. Eventually, he's going to end you too."

"If you say so," I reply hoping I sound more confident than I feel.

What if I'm wrong? What if the guard is right and I was lucky to have survived Eli the first time because Maddie saved me?

Maybe it was incredibly stupid to show up here and tempt fate. Or tempt the torturer.

The asshole guards all get a text at the same time that they read on their phones before they finally leave me.

And then, the jackass makes me wait and wait a little longer before showing his face.

"You're a fucking idiot," Eli says in greeting, the sound of his dress shoes echoing around the empty space with each step. His hair is pulled back, bringing out the sharp lines of his sculpted jaw, making him even more handsome.

"It's good to see you too," I tell him. My eyes lower to his right calf covered by his suit pants. Like in Rockland, he's dressed in a black fitted suit meant to try and contain the beast underneath, the tattoos on the back of his hands, promising pain.

"How's your leg? You're walking around looking fine as hell so it must be healing."

"What are you doing here, Jordan?" he asks when he comes to a stop about five feet away, eyeing me up and down, ignoring my compliment and question.

"I came to see Maddie. And you. Obviously."

Eli's eyes narrow. "Is this some trick where you try and get me on your side by pretending you give a shit about me?"

"I missed you both," I tell him truthfully. "Didn't you miss me?"

"I missed fucking with your dick and your mouth."

"So, you missed me."

"Not any of the parts that you want me to care about."

"I'll take what I can get for now," I reply. "Are you going to take my dick out or what? The anticipation is killing me. My balls are getting so blue they may just fall off."

"Oh, yeah?" Eli asks, coming a few steps closer. "You've been thinking about my mouth? My dick?"

"More than I should."

"I've thought about yours too," Eli finally admits. "Now that you're here, I could cut out your tongue and slice off your dick to keep them close."

"You know your threats don't scare me, right?" When he doesn't respond to that, I ask him seriously, "I don't think you're the big, bad monster you pretend to be. You just have…some violent kinks."

Eli chuckles at that, and I swear the man even has a little color warming his cheeks as he slips off his suit jacket. He hangs it over a nearby chair, then loosens his tie while still laughing. "Some violent kinks? You're so full of shit."

"I saw some of your MMA fights."

He lifts a single eyebrow. "How did you do that?"

"I looked you up online."

"You don't even know my last name."

"I didn't need it. I did an internet search for Eli in Vegas and boom, tons of videos of you kicking people's ass in the cage. You are easy to recognize, you know, with the long hair. I like how you had those narrow braids all through it for fights. Was that so the other guys couldn't try to pull it?"

"You actually watched the videos of my old fights?" he asks with a grin, sounding stunned.

"Yeah, I did. I guess you left an impression on me. I'm hooked. Literally." I swing my arms, making the metal on my wrist rattle the hook.

"Funny," he says, now with a sudden contradicting frown. "I know you're here for Maddie."

"Yeah. I am. Can't I be here for you too?"

"No. You're just saying that because you're in my custody at the moment. You're at my mercy."

"I happen to like being at your mercy, as you very well know."

"Shut the fuck up!" he shouts, his face reddening in anger because he thinks I'm lying. It sounds like he's afraid to let himself believe me for fear I'll hurt him or make a fool of him. And with the outburst he wants to scare me into submission, into breaking what he believes is just an act.

"You don't believe me?"

"You said I was an evil bastard, a psycho murdering bastard, and the world would be a better place without me! You wanted to kill me, remember?"

"You are those things. But I couldn't ever kill you. I still want you despite those things."

"No, you don't."

"Fine. Unzip my pants, Eli. See for yourself how much I want you."

He walks up to me, and his hands roughly rip at my belt, then undo my jeans, letting them fall to my ankles. He can see the evidence of my arousal tenting my boxer briefs, but he still jerks them down as well, freeing my cock.

"Tada!" I say to try and lighten the moment.

Eli's long fingers wrap around my shaft and squeeze it hard, making me groan.

"Once we start this again, I may not stop until you're dead. I may not remember to feed you or water you like I did before. I'll just use you up until there's nothing left but your rotting corpse."

"I think you're…full of shit," I tell him through my panting breaths as he strokes me in his fist. "If I'm dead, you would miss our stupid ass conversations, and your other uses for my mouth."

"Maybe I'll keep you down here forever, and never tell Maddie you came for her."

Speaking actual words instead of grunts and groans becomes harder and harder. "That-that would be pretty selfish of you…since you know damn well…there's a chance that the three of us…could get naked together."

"You're delusional," he says as he jerks me faster.

"Obviously," I mutter. "Have you been fucking her since you got back?"

"No."

"Why not?" I ask curiously, mostly relieved. That's why I'm able to take a guess. "Maddie turned you down?"

"Yes," he grumbles, letting me know exactly how he feels about her rejection. "She apparently doesn't want anyone if she can't have you."

"Oh, yeah?" I ask, feeling like I'm soaring thanks to that good news and the building pleasure.

"So, I'm giving her time to grieve. I think she'll come around, eventually."

"Time to grieve? Over me?" I ask as he tugs on my dick like he's angry at me. Feels fucking fantastic to me. "Oh, grieve because…you're going to kill me?"

"Yes."

"Liar."

Eli studies me thoughtfully while his fist keeps stroking me. "You know what? I think I may press my luck tonight with Maddie. And I think she'll be very receptive to my advances. She always did prefer that I take what I want without her permission. Like on the dinner table, or when she passes out and I fuck her. She wakes up moaning so damn loud before coming on my cock."

"You're just saying that to make me jealous, to rub it in my face that you can be with her while I can't yet. Not until you decide to let me down."

"Maybe. Maybe not," he replies. "If you listen closely, maybe you'll hear her screams all the way down here."

And then, he releases my shaft, holds up his palm, and licks my precum from it before walking away.

"Asshole tease!" I yell when he flips off all the lights, leaving me in the dark, and disappears onto the elevator.