Page 198 of Wicked Minds
“Ruthless.”
“Lydia,” I hiss, putting the phone on loudspeaker. It takes every fucking bit of my restraint to keep my voice somewhat civil. “We had a deal.”
She sighs, not sounding the least bit chastened.
“I know. I’m sorry. I got a better offer that I just couldn’t turn down. I’m sure you understand. It’s just business.”
Just business.We’ll see if she still thinks that when she’s suffocating to death at my hands.
“I don’t understand. I told you the highest bid amount.” I can feel Logan hanging on to every word as he glares at the phone with the same murderous intentions flitting through my mind.
“He approached me separately. Must have seen your ad or something. When I got your bid tonight, I reached out to him, and he offered more.”
My teeth grind as I try to process all of that. Who the fuck is thishe?And how the hell did he find out about Aurora ‘cause it sure as fuck wasn’t from the fake ad that no one other than us ever laid eyes on.
“How much did he offer?” I ask instead. “Perhaps my buyer would be willing to pay more.”
“It was exorbitantly more than your highest bid,” she states dryly.
Fuck.Of course, it was because we fucking lowballed her, not realizing there was another buyer in the mix and assuming as long as it was a decent sum, she’d take it.
I look at Dax, unsure what to do. It’ll seem suspicious if our highest bidder suddenly agrees to pay so much more, but fuck, I’m desperate. I don’t give a shit if it drains all of our accounts. Grayson, Logan, and I agreed we’d pay whatever it took to make this happen. Didn’t give a shit if it bled us dry.
“At least let me ask him,” I say, trying not to sound desperate.
“No need. The transaction has been made.”
The what?!
“You’ve handed the package over?”God, if my voice isn’t strangled as I spit those words out.
“It’s all done. I’m sorry for wasting your time. You can pick up your payment at any time—monetary or otherwise…”
I wrack my brain for something I can ask. Something that would give me a clue. Anything… but no matter what I ask, it will only put her on high alert.
Hands shaking with fury and failure, I hang up the phone, dropping it before I drive my fists into the dashboard, over and over. Plastic cracks beneath me, and I’m aware of Logan shouting somewhere nearby, but all I can think about is how we let her down. Letthemdown. Riley will never forgive us. We were this close to saving her daughter, and now…
Now, we have no idea where Aurora is or who has her.
EPILOGUE
GRAYSON
Knock. Knock.
I groan as I wrench my glued eyelids apart. My eyes feel gritty as I blink into the early morning light through the living room window.Fuck,I couldn’t have been asleep for more than a couple of hours.
It was a rough fucking night.
The worst of my entire life.
Sitting upright, I glance over at Riley, where she finally passed out from exhaustion between Royce and Logan. Even now, her face is swollen and blotchy from her tears.God, that noise.If heartbreak had a sound, it was Riley last night when Logan and Royce came home without Aurora.
I’ve never seen a person break like that. Shatter so thoroughly. So completely that no traces of the broken pieces remain.
She cried so hard that she made herself sick, and there wasn’t a goddamn thing any of us could do except hold her while she crumbled.
I don’t know what we’re going to do now.
