Page 54 of Serpentine

I force her into the straps that bind her to the table on all fours. Using two small padlocks, I secure her there and survey my work.

“So pretty, yet so lethal,” I say absently as she sobs into the leather of the bench.

“Please, don’t leave me like this,” she cries.

I turn on my heels and grab my clothes and boots, taking the gun with me.

“You know,” I turn back, “I had your name all wrong. I thought you to be Bambi, the innocent and unprotected. The beauty of innocence. But you’re the horror of that story, aren’t you? Man himself is selfish and vile. Destructive, even at your expense. I’ve never been more wrong about someone before.”

I leave her with my words as punishment as I storm up the stairs and slam the door behind me.

I’ve never felt betrayal on this level, and it’s overstimulating me. But I’ll fixate on the task Miles gave me and worry about coming down later.

I’ll even have a snack already prepared.

SEVENTEEN

AELLA

Ican’t believe he fucking left me here. I’m strapped down to the bench, body tingling and rattling with anger. I hadn’t expected him to return so soon from checking on Miles. I thought at least he’d make coffee or grab some food, but he’d been eager to get back to me.

I ignore the giddy ripple in my stomach at the thought.

I’ve spent my life being unobservant to everything around me. I was doing anything and everything to make the men in my life happy. That’s not how I wanted to be anymore. So, I eyed him sneakily each time Braxton was on his computer to figure out his passcode. It hadn’t been hard to suss out when he never changed it.

Once I was in, I found a litany of things I hadn’t wanted to see. That’s what they say about snooping, don’t they? Don’t go looking if you can’t handle what you find.

They might use me as bait. If my dad would take the bite on their hook, that is.

They’re investigating him because of their mom’s disappearance. From what I saw, they have good rights.

Their mom worked for Montague Inc. in the early 2000s. If I did my math correctly, they’d have been young, nearing their teenage years. She disappeared on a shift, never to be seen or heard from again.

The police investigated briefly, but because of the Montague name, the investigation was dead in the water. It was brushed under the proverbial rug. It’s that way with anything Dad touches. If there ever is a scandal that reaches my ears, soon after, it’s gone—as if it never was.

I want to think my dad has nothing to do with their mother’s disappearance, but I don’t know him. I never wanted to. My mom died, and he turned colder than he was before her death. It was like she was the only light inside him.

The sounds of footfalls overhead alert me that Cobras are awake and likely getting ready for the day. All while I’m strapped to a fucking table and left for when Braxton gets home and decides what to do with me.

I’d expected he’d be mad when and if he found out I got into his files, but I hadn’t expected how cold he turned. How calculating his eyes had become. How terrifying.

I open my mouth to shout for help but think better when I realize it might not be Miles.

The way he’d slammed the gun in front of me in veiled meaning has me trembling still. Something lurks under his surface, and I don’t know if he controls it fully.

“You awake, princess?” Miles’s voice calls down the steps, and a tear slips my cheek. I don’t know if I should answer.

I also don’t know if his punishment will be even worse when he finds out I betrayed them and sneaked into Braxton’s computer.

Not only had I found what I was looking for. I found a lot more than that. They run this entire fucking city. Likely, they do so because they plan to take what portions belong to my father under their grasp soon.

And they were using me to do so.

I feel so stupid. Sure, I’d been using them on some level, too. I knew they wanted me for something but thought it was petty revenge. One that could be overlooked because they were falling for me.

But it was me who was falling. For a fucking ruse.

“Princess?” Miles says again. This time, it’s closer. He’s coming down, I realize. I shift on the bench. My knees and elbows are burning.