Page 54 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two
“And?! I was terrified! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Didn’t want to give it away, obviously.”
“Seriously? Would it kill you to think about someone other than yourself every once in a while?”
“Unless it’s beneficial to me, darling, I see no reason to.”
“You repulse me.Repulseme, Holloway.” Aubrey turns on her heel and storms inside, slamming the door behind her.
“Aubrey,” Wren calls, following after her.
With an eye roll, Ludo settles back into his chair. He directs his attention toward us, seemingly having forgotten about Aubrey and Wren already. “You three did well today. I’ll get my report from Samuel, but I’d love to hear the sequence of events from you as well.”
As Elliot walks Ludo through our afternoon, Rhett wanders over to us slowly. He’s taking controlled, even breaths, and his mask of tolerance is slipping. We need to get him out of here before he loses it.
“Well done,” Ludo says once Elliot is done explaining. “And clever planning.”
“Thank you,” I reply as I grab Rhett’s hand. “I’m glad you’re happy with the results of the test. I for one am fairly tired, and I’m in the mood for a nap. Same time tomorrow?”
Ludo nods. “Same time tomorrow.”
“I’ll stay with Wren,” Elliot says. “Make sure she gets back okay.”
“Got it. See you.” I flash them one last smile before dragging Rhett off the patio and around the condo.
Once we’re on the path back to the resort, Rhett slows us down. “You don’t seem tired at all.”
“I’m not. Just needed to get you out of there. You looked ready to burst.”
“That’s about how I felt,” he says darkly. “All I could think about was strangling him. I told Aubrey and Wren it was a test after you called and confirmed. Ludo didn’t care at all—not that he scared the girls, not that he divided our attention, nothing. He’s a fucking dick.”
“Quiet,” I say as I glance around. It looks like we’re alone, but who actually knows. “Wait to say stuff like that until we’re in the penthouse.”
He grunts. “Whatever.”
I pick up our pace again. If Rhett is getting sloppy, that means he’s too pissed to care. The last thing we need is for him to give away our true feelings toward Ludo just because he’s in a bad mood.
With a sigh, I glance back toward the condo. Hopefully Elliot and Wren are having better luck controlling themselves.
Chapter eleven
Elliot
I’d much prefer to leave with Oliver and Rhett, but there’s no way in hell I’m letting Wren stay here by herself. So I pour myself a drink from the bar and then lower myself into the chair next to Ludo. It’s too goddamn hot out here, but the view is nice.
“You four are quite loyal to each other,” Ludo says.
“We are.”
“Maybe to a fault sometimes.”
“I suppose that’s how it could look to an outsider.”
Ludo hums thoughtfully. “Care to explain?”
“No, not particularly. But in that same vein, I do have something else I’d like to explain to you.”
Ludo tilts his head toward me, one eyebrow raised in curiosity. “Go on.”
