Page 30 of The Devil's Dilemma

Reluctantly, Freddie left with Conrad, his cries gradually receding.

Now what to do with Austin?

I rarely kept people alive once they’d visited the basement. Normally, it was a place of torture, but tonight had been different. Did it have something to do with Austin?

Being alone with him now, I couldn’t shake the intensifying sensation he was more than human. I was sure he felt something too.

His heart rate quickened, as did his breathing.

I needed to get out of here, away from his intoxicating scent that fed my arousal. The part of me I’d tried to hide away for years surfaced. The need to possess, to own and control, would and could overpower me if I allowed it.

Just a few hours earlier, I’d told Conrad how bored I was. Tonight had changed that.

The thrill I’d experienced when Austin took control of the gun. I’d seen nothing quite like the luck he had. Anyone else would have taken Joel’s head off.

I’d checked the gun, made sure I’d loaded it correctly so four bullets remained in the chamber. The odds of him shooting both blanks were unfathomable, astronomical even. I was sure I could learn more, and that was my sole reason for keeping him around.

He’d hurt my ego. First, with the amount of money he’d been able to win from the tables, and second, his failure to kill Joel.

I’d unconsciously moved closer until I stood behind him and put my hands on his shoulders.

He tensed beneath my touch, taking shallow, shuddering breaths.

“What do you really want from me?”

“I want…” What the fuck did I want? I had no explanation for keeping him around.

I slid my hands down his arms and undid the ropes securing his wrists.

It was a risk. Who knew what would happen with his luck?

“Get up.”

He rolled his shoulders and complied, standing tall.

I’d give it to him. He had balls. Bigger men than him had cowered at my commands, falling to my feet to beg for my forgiveness.

“Are you going to kill me?”

“No, but I will not release you either.”

I led him to the other door in the room and entered the key code. The door opened with a hiss, and the light came on automatically.

The all-white room was small, six feet by six feet. Enough space for a bed, a toilet, and a washbasin. It wasn’t fair for me to leave him in the other room, but I couldn’t let him anywhere else in the casino either.

Here, I could keep an eye on him because of the cameras monitoring his every movement. Right now, though, I couldn’t trust myself to be around him.

It was time for me to leave.

“You’re leaving me here?”

“Here, where there’s a bed or in the other room tied to a chair. Which would you prefer?”

“I’d prefer to go home. I have people who rely on me.”

I knew he meant his grandfather, but how dependent he was on Austin I wasn’t sure.

“That’s not going to work for me.”