Page 159 of The Alpha's Second Chance Mate

“Uh, yeah, you did,” I said. “Honestly, I thought I’d have a few more days to think about it.”

“And what is there to think about?” Kyle’s voice sounded like snakes slithering over dry leaves.

“Well, it’s a lot to figure out, and I?—”

“You need to figure out whether your precious little boy gets a bullet in the back of the head? Seems like a strange thing for a mother to think about.”

Closing my eyes, I did my best to not imagine that very thing happening. “Of course I want Ashton home alive.”

Stormy put a hand to her mouth, eyes watery, and slipped her hand into mine, offering me her support.

“Well, if that’s it, then it must be because of your cunt of a mate. Is that what’s holding you back from answering my proposition?”

“It wasn’t a proposition, it was an ultimatum,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Semantics,” Kyle scoffed. “Now, what have you decided?”

Zayde looked up at me and made a winding motion with his finger. I needed to keep him on the line longer.

“Uh, before… before I answer, how do I know you’ll actually let Ashton go?” I said, trying to stay calm and not stammer too much.

“So, you havebeen considering this,” Kyle said, making his voice into what I could only assume was his version of silky flirtation. “That’s good. I like that. I can tell you, God’s honest truth, that I don’t want to hurt the boy, but I’m a man who knows what he wants.”

Zayde gave me an urgent look. I needed to keep going.

“And what—” I swallowed the nausea that threatened to bubble up my throat “—do you want?”

He chuckled into the phone. “Oh? Do you want a little preview? Something fun to play through your dreams tonight? I’ll show you a better time than Cole ever could. I’m about to be rich beyond belief. We can fly out to Greece. I’d love to get you out on a balcony overlooking the Mediterranean, bend you over, and fuck your pretty little brains out. Once you feel what my cock can do, you’ll forget how to spell Cole’s name.”

I grimaced in disgust as an unwanted mental image of that scene played across my mind. I could see Kyle behind me, sweaty and grunting as he thrust into me. And there was me, gazing out at the ocean, tears of shame and agony streaming down my cheeks. I had to physically shake my head to clear the images, tasting bile at the back of my throat as I did. Just the thought of it made me feel like I would never get clean.

Kyle seemed ready to give me more details, but before he could elaborate, there was a muffled voice grunting in the background, and I wondered if that was Ashton struggling against his bonds.

When Kyle spoke again, the flirtation was gone. He was all business again. “Where is Cole right now, Avery?”

“I don’t know,” I lied. “Out with friends, I guess.”

“Friends?” Kyle said, and I could actually hearhim grinning.

“Maybe? I’m not sure,” I huffed. “He’s a grown man, he can go where he wants.”

“You haven’t met all my people, have you, Avery?”

“What?”

“All my people. I’ve put together a decent team that’s helping me build something special. Special people for a special mission. One of those special people is a young lady named Sydney. You see, she sent me a message saying that she’d intercepted an attempt to track my phone. She’s a fucking animal when it comes to computers.”

Zayde turned away from his computer, eyes widening in shock. When he looked at me, I could see the fear in his eyes. Stormy clutched my hand even tighter.

“I’m… I don’t…” I grasped for words. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“The thing is,” Kyle went on, “Sydney is very good at what she does. She keeps track of things. She watches my back, so to speak. I realized I needed someone with her talents. My other men are… well, let’s just say they’re not the most competent in technical matters. And, I know you and your little pack of wolves thought you were slick and assumed I wouldn’t know you were coming to town. You know what they say about people who assume, right? It makes an ass out of you and me. I know exactly where Cole is right now.”

“Oh, holy fuck,” Zayde whispered as he dug out his phone, fingers flying furiously over the screen.

My blood froze in my veins. If he knew where Cole was and what he was doing, that meant Kyle would be able to get the jump on him and Langston, Porter, the rest of the pack members. For all I knew, Cole was being held at gunpoint as we spoke.

“Your mate is gonna pay, Avery,” Kyle said, a menacing note to his voice. “For that, you can be certain. No one tries to fuck me over and gets away with it. I’ll be in touch.”

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