Wicked Sexy (Wicked Games #2)(96)

“My humble abode. It took a great deal of time and money to complete, as I’m sure you can imagine.” He chuckles. “Installing all the equipment was the least of the challenges. You have no idea how difficult the tribal council can be to negotiate with.”

“Tribal council?” I repeat, distracted by the wall of video screens. Each one depicts a different view. Dams. Reservoirs. Power plants. Electrical stations. Airports. Docks. Government complexes. Military bases. Manufacturing facilities. Bus depots.

Panic begins to churn in my stomach.

“Yes. These caves are on native Athabascan lands. I had to pay them an ungodly sum to buy the land and their cooperation.”

My body turns as cold as my blood. “Alaska.”

“Exactly. We’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Although thanks to the nearby hot springs, it doesn’t feel like Alaska. I enjoy going barefoot because the rock is so warm underfoot. It’s pleasant, don’t you agree?”

I don’t answer. It’s not required, he’s just making small talk. S?ren leisurely lowers himself to one of the captain’s chairs, presses a button on the desk, and all the screens go dark except one. On it is an aerial view of Outlier Studios.

I glance at him. S?ren crosses his legs, lowers his lashes, and sends me the most angelic of smiles.

It all comes together with the speed of two fingers snapping.

I say, “Miranda.”

“Bingo.”

“So you knew all along. Even the press conference was fake?”

He lifts a shoulder, and I close my eyes. That f*cking ice-queen bitch.

S?ren asks, “Just out of curiosity, how did you guess?”

I open my eyes and stare at him, all that glittering perfection hiding such ugliness beneath. “She never asked how I knew you. When we were introduced and I said I’d known you before, I thought it was strange that she never asked when or how. Also, she quoted Machiavelli. The only other person I’ve ever known to quote him was you.”

S?ren’s smile is cool and composed. “Well, no matter. That loop has been closed.”

He turns to the desk and punches a series of keys. The screens blink to life. News anchors giving reports, video from helicopters, headlines shouting “Breaking Story!”

S?ren scans all the images, finds what he wants, and presses another button.

All the screens merge to show one enormous image of a fiery crash on a Los Angeles freeway. Three black SUVs are turned on their sides and engulfed in flames. Several more cars are scattered around the SUVs, spun around facing the wrong direction or flipped on their roofs. Traffic is stopped for miles on either side of the highway in both directions.

S?ren presses another button and the somber voice of a reporter fills the room.

“Three vehicles carrying police officers and the CEO of Outlier Pictures, Miranda Lawson, have been involved in a severe crash on the I-10. As you can see, the vehicles are engulfed in flames. No one has gotten out of them. Emergency crews are on their way—if you would pull out, camera four, there you go—we can see a line of fire trucks and ambulances on the shoulder, inching their way through traffic.”

The picture turns to two reporters behind a desk in the news studio, a small inset of the live video stream in an upper corner of the screen. When they continue to discuss the accident, S?ren mutes the audio.

Without a hint of regret, he says, “Unfortunately, Miranda outlived her usefulness.”

He killed Miranda. He used her to get to me, and then he killed her off like she was nothing more than an annoying insect.

Then I think, The woman in the Bank of America video. The woman who opened the account in my name… Oh my God, was that Miranda? How far back did their relationship go?

“Look at all the gears turning!” S?ren says, amused. “What’s really going to bake your brain later on is how much I know about your new friend Connor Hughes.” His voice hardens. “And how he feels about you. Dear sister.”

The sound of Connor’s name on S?ren’s lips jerks me out of my shock and sends a blast of pure rage throughout my body. “If you hurt him—”

“No more threats,” he interrupts. “Here’s the bottom line, Tabitha. I own you now. You’re mine. I’ve waited a long time to get this family back together, and nothing will separate us again. Including you. The two of us are going to start our new lives together here, and you’re going to forget about your old friends. If you try to escape, I’ll kill them all. If you try to hurt me, I’ll kill them all. Basically, if you do anything that displeases me, I’ll kill them all.”

He lets that sink in. Then, his tone dropping an octave, he says, “But if you’re good, I’ll give you the world. That’s all I’ve ever really wanted.”

The silence that follows is awful. I stew in it, my mind going the speed of light.

I say, “I have questions.”

S?ren looks intrigued. “Go on.”

“Dismiss the guards first.”

When his look sours, I say, “I’ll never be comfortable while there are men with guns pointed at my back. You’ve told me the consequences if I misbehave, and I believe you. If you want us to be a family, you can start by treating me like family. Dismiss the guards.”

His expression is unreadable. For a moment, he stares at me, one finger tapping a staccato rhythm on the arm of his chair. Then he makes a dismissive motion with his hand, and his guards leave. I wait until the dull thudding of their boots has faded from the stairs to speak again.