Page 64 of The Right Woman

“Don, please don’t make us call security. We haven’t had problems with you before.”

“Call them. Tell them to meet me up in the bondage room. Call the police while you’re at it.”

Her pale skin grows sheet white as she grabs a phone and holds it up. “You’re serious.”

As I shove Sean forward, I place my gun into his back and nod. “Deadly.”

Once we get to the second floor, I make him open the door and stand back.

“It won’t open,” he whines. So I shove a boot through it, just as I did his own.

Something heavy blocks it, though. It only cracks a few inches until I thrust my shoulder into it.

As soon as I bust through, I freeze.

Strapped to four bed rails, with a ball gag stuck in her mouth, Piper’s naked figure shakes. The terror in her eyes is almostunbearable. My legs start toward her, but the man next to her flashes a warning grin.

Dennis Harrison kneels at her head in a full suit, holding a giant blade to her throat. As I scan her body, tiny slashes of red ooze on her abdomen, thighs, and wrists.

He smirks at me, relishing the dread written all over my face. “I wouldn’t take another step forward if I were you.”

Rhodes shoves his kid in front of me, and I place my gun to his temple. “I would let her go,if I were you.The police will be here shortly.”

“Good. They need to know you broke into this room of this establishment, for which I am a paying member. Interrupted mine and my friend’s alone time.”

I huff a sarcastic laugh. “That only works if it’sconsensual.”

Dennis looks down at Piper with adoration, and I want to shoot his face off. “Believe me, it was completely consensual, wasn’t it?”

Piper bites down on her gag, which makes tears fall over her pink cheeks. She meets my eyes and nods reluctantly.

Dennis spreads his hands wide, as if this proves his point. “You see, women like thisloveto play the game. As soon as they get the dick, they start making all kinds of wild claims, but the video proves she came upstairs willingly. Ask her... None of them can be faithful.”

“Is that why you killed your wife?” I ask pointedly.

Dennis’s eyes dart to his son standing in front of me, the barrel of my gun still pressed to his head. “I did no such thing.”

Rhodes shuffles a step behind me, but maintains his distance.

“How did you do it?” I decide to keep him talking, to see how I can find a way to get him far from Piper. “Poison?”

With a slight shake of his head, he snorts a derisive breath. “My wife died. It was a tragic accident, and you’re trying to makeit, what, something more for some hero points? To prove you couldsave someone?”

Rhodes creeps closer and stands behind my shoulder. His hand lays over mine to take the gun, and I snap my eyes to his steady gaze. He nods encouragingly, and I give up the weapon. Slyly, he presses it to Sean’s back, out of the professor’s notice. With care, I keep my forehead from wrinkling, understanding I’m now free to pounce on the bed whenever I see an opportunity.

Inching a step near Piper, I keep talking. “Kind of hard to save your wife when you murdered her in cold blood. Let me guess, she was cheating on you with Piper’s father. So you decided to end her life. Make apristineimage for your son’s future candidacy.”

“Father…” Sean murmurs, and his dad considers him for a moment. “Don’t let these two miscreants confuse you. The police will be here soon, and then we can explain everything. They have a prisoner in their family. And Chief Turner will want to hear what we have to say about all of this.”

“Yes, Son. I’m aware.” Dennis presses the knife deeper against Piper’s windpipe, and I freeze.

That’stheir play. Pay off the dirty cops and get away with murder. Sucking on my tongue, I consider my next strategy.

If I’m not careful, I could lose Piper.

Chapter

Twenty-Four

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