Page 79 of Dismantle & Prevail
“What about the other issue at hand?” he asks, a pensive look on his face.
My disappearance. The masked man that still haunts my nightmares.
Winding my arm around Taylor’s waist, I pull her tightly to my side. “Nothing is more important than finding him. We may never get a chance like this again.”
Boone nods, glances at the photo once more, and a devious smile spreads across his face. “His blood will spill and he will regret the day he messed with a Clark.”
His words are like venom and ice mixed into one, sending a chill up mine and Taylor’s spine.
As he walks out the room, Taylor rises to her tiptoes and whispers, “Why is he so damn creepy sometimes?”
A chuckle escapes me, and I hug her to my chest. “He may be creepy, but vengeance is a dish best served with revenge.”
Her eyes light up, a smile matching Boone’s splaying across her beautiful face. “It truly is.”
Chapter Thirty
Taylor
“Boone!Yousaidthatif I left you alone for twenty-four hours, you would allow me back in The Heart.”
Tucker practically melts on the table in front of Boone, Ari, and me with an exasperated look on his face.
Boone’s eyes roll so hard and his head tilts back against the top of the booth, letting out a sigh. “Tuck. You texted me five minutes after the challenge started. You failed before it even started.”
Tucker sits up so quickly he almost falls out of the booth and whips his head towards Boone, utter disbelief splaying over his face. “That did not count. I was telling you a task was completed. And the rules never said that I couldn’t text you. I just had to physically leave you alone for twenty-four hours.”
Boone drags a tattooed hand down his face and his response is drowned out when Ari wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me until I’m practically sitting on his lap.
Ari’s head falls to my shoulder, and he nuzzles into my neck. Immediately, my stomach sinks and my hand moves to cup the side of his face.
Tilting my head so only he can hear me, I whisper, “What’s wrong?”
Did something happen? Is he not telling me about a new development? We’ve been working on little to no sleep for days since we came up with the plan to catch Clay. So far, we’ve come up empty-handed.
I know everyone is exhausted and I hate to think he is back to his old ways of trying to keep me in the dark for the sake of my safety.
He shakes his head against my shoulder, and I don’t believe him for a second. I try to move away from him so I can search his eyes for a hint of what could be racing through his mind, but he wraps his arm tighter around me.
“Stop moving, Hellhound. Why can’t a guy just relax in the presence of his girl without there being something wrong?”
Butterflies fill my stomach at his words. He is never shy about his feelings, but for some reason, hearing him say those words in front of a crowd of people makes me feel…happier than I ever have been.
This man is slowly, but surely, breaking down every single wall around my concrete-protected heart, and now he just obliterated it with his very public proclamation.
Words fail me and as if he can read my mind, Ari lifts his head, his dark chocolate eyes staring straight into my soul.
He searches my face and I wait for him to fill the silence of our little bubble, but he doesn’t. Instead, a devious little smirk spreads across his face and I narrow my eyes, knowing he is up to something.
Before I can ask, Ari abruptly stands, taking me with him. He brings us to the center of the concrete floor and only when he allows my feet to touch the ground do I look up at him. “What are you doing, Ace?”
He moves my hands to wrap around his neck and buries his face in my neck. His tattooed arms wrapping around my back. “Dance with me, my precious Butterfly.”
My fingers play in the hair hanging loose at his neck and because I can’t help myself, I pull the strands free. His long hair falls down from the bun and Ari makes no point in fixing it.
Chris Stapleton’s “Tennessee Whiskey” filters through the common room. The place is full of people, but I can’t seem to notice or care. Because at this moment, it is just Ari and I.
It’s just the man who unexpectedly stole my heart the day he showed me what lies beyond the dark depths of his beautiful soul. The prospects, partners, and other members of the club are nothing but blurry figures, and I can’t help the unexpected and unusual emotion climbing in my throat.
