Page 28 of Unholy Cross

She headed to the en suite to empty her bladder and wash up.When she went back, she noticed a set of clean clothes rested on the end-of-the-bed bench.Tags were still on them.Jeans, a t-shirt, even clean panties and a bra, although when she looked down at her chest, she decided to forgo it.Wasn’t like she needed to secure them.She’d always been a slight girl, but living five years in a cage with mostly healthy meals and no desserts seemed to have stunted her natural growth.

Lorelei dressed, grabbed her notebook and pen, and then headed out of the room to find Cross.In the short amount of time they’d been together, she had come to rely on him.Maybe one day she wouldn’t need him as much, but truthfully, he made her feel safe.That was something she desperately craved right then.

The penthouse was huge and beautiful.A wall of windows overlooked the Las Vegas Strip, giving a breathtaking bird’s-eye view.She could barely see people moving about, resembling ants scurrying around their anthill.A baby grand piano rested in the corner near a modern glass fireplace.Expensive art decorated the walls.Buttery-soft-looking leather furniture added to the tasteful decadence of the décor.She followed faint noises down a hall and discovered Cross sitting at a large dining table opposite a large, imposing man with carefully groomed silver-threaded hair.The jagged scar on his cheek looked like it had been a nasty wound.She wondered if she could fix scars.Maybe the man would allow her to try someday.The sleeves on his button-down shirt were rolled up, revealing forearms covered in tattoos.Next to him sat another man, although he seemed a lot less foreboding than the other one, with neatly groomed dark hair.

“Oh, shit,” he said.“Lowen Mailliard was found dead in the courtyard of her home.It’s being ruled a suicide.”

“Her husband is a bastard,” the older man muttered, touching the scar on his face.“If she did kill herself, I don’t blame her.I’m sure she encountered more than her fair share of beatings.”

“I met her once, the evening of her engagement party.”Regret clouded his voice.“She had kind eyes and a soft smile.Such a fucking shame.”

At that moment, Cross glanced over and their eyes met.A charge of electricity shot through her as he rose to greet her.Cupping her face, he kissed her forehead and then took her hand and led her to the chair next to his.She sat and he scooted her in before grabbing her plate to fill it with some fruit and a croissant.Last, he filled a glass with orange juice and slid it near her.The other two men sat with their mouths hanging open, dueling expressions of surprise and shock flittering over their faces.

“Are you going to introduce us?”

“No,” Cross grumbled.

Lorelei studied the older man and figured he must be Jeremiah.She remembered Cross talking to him.She waved, and puzzlement furrowed his brow.

“I’m Jeremiah,” he said, then thumbed to the man next to him.“That’s Evren.”

She bobbed her head in a friendly greeting and then picked up her croissant to nibble on it.Evren opened his mouth, clearly intending to say something, but suddenly loud, off-key singing filtered from the hallway.

“Great,” Cross muttered, shooting his stepbrothers a glower.“Did you tell him to come by?”

“Sax comes and goes as he pleases,” Jeremiah replied, waving his fork around like it was no big deal.“You know none of us can make that man do anything he doesn’t want to do.”

Curious, Lorelei watched the doorway.A tall, muscular man stepped into the dining room, throwing his arms wide as he belted out a note.He wasn’t half bad.His blond hair was shorn on the sides and the top spiked with gel.Royal blue eyes that observed everything in a second.Tattoos lined the sides of his neck.Although he looked like an angel, there was a hint of cruelty etched in the brackets around his mouth.He focused on her for a moment, calculation floated through his gaze, as if he was trying to work out how she could benefit him.Perhaps that was how he assessed the world and how it revolved around him.

“Aera!”he cried.“Big bro has come home!”

“I’m not staying, Saxon.”

Saxon pouted.“You’re the only one not living in Vegas.”

“That’s what I said,” Jeremiah said.

Cross rolled his eyes.

“And who is this lovely lady?”Saxon asked, making a beeline for her.He picked up her hand and kissed her knuckles.“Tell me your name, so I might dream of you tonight.”

“Knock it off, Sax,” Cross warned.

Saxon winked at her and jabbed a thumb toward Cross as he addressed her.“Overbearing, isn’t he?Does he speak for you, Miss...?”

“She can’t talk,” Cross said quietly.

“Can’t or won’t?”

“Can’t.She’s mute.”

All the playful humor left Saxon.He moved forward and sat in the chair next to her, angling close as he studied her.“Were you born mute?”

Lorelei shook her head.

“How?”he asked Cross, pinning him down with a frown.

Cross raised an eyebrow, asking her silently if it was okay to tell them, and she nodded.

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