Page 35 of Deep Within Me

“Call Maria,” Carreon ordered Ernez. The club had been closed for several hours and wouldn’t reopen until late tonight. No doubt, Maria was at home sound asleep, having no idea what her future would bring. “Tell her to get her ass back to the club if she wants to earn four times what she usually does. The boss has a special project for her.”

One she hadn’t asked for and certainly wouldn’t want once she found out what it was. Couldn’t be helped. Carreon didn’t have time to play at this. He needed his doubts answered, no matter the outcome to anyone else.

Chapter Six

Liz was back in the Jeep.

How she got there she didn’t know, couldn’t recall. In a part of her mind unaffected by fatigue, she wondered if she was dreaming.

Zeke drove. Her father sat in the back of the vehicle, his leg twisted in a way no limb should ever be. Gasping in surprise, Liz leaned over the seat to heal him.

“No!” Zeke shouted.

At the thunderous sound, Liz snatched back her hands. A volley of gunfire hit the Jeep, the strident rip of metal hurting her ears.

She slapped her hands over them. In that same instant, a wave of exhaustion hit so hard she had to fight to stay conscious.

“Tired?” her father asked. He spoke quietly, the sound seeming to come from a great distance. The same as when she’d died and gone to the other side and he’d brought her—

“Liz, are you tired?” he repeated.

Yes.Why? Her mind struggled to find an answer. It drifted close then fluttered away, leaving her with the sense that her fatigue had something to do with him.

“Don’t heal your father,” Zeke warned. “Don’t heal anyone.”

Why?

Instinctively, Liz reached for Zeke and touched a downy material instead, as soft as cashmere. With a start, she awoke and squinted at the limestone walls, glowing faintly like a nightlight, weakening the shadows. She rolled over and nearly fell off the mattress rather than running into Zeke’s big body.

Where is he?

She left the bed and stumbled into the bath, her legs wobbly from lingering fatigue and disuse.

The room was empty.

Liz tried to bring back her disturbing dream, suddenly realizing she’d had one. Something to do with Zeke and…a leg? Biting her lower lip, she thought hard, but the images refused to return.

She circled the bath, searching for a hidden door that led to a hallway Zeke might have gone down…or perhaps another room he was in. Similar to the one where he’d put her last night when the battle broke out. He’d had no reason to believe she’d find a way to escape.

She had and returned to Carreon’s stronghold, determined to take him down so he couldn’t harm Zeke or her father ever again. She’d hoped Carreon’s absence would make his lieutenants scatter in panic, no different from frightened vermin. Instead, Carreon had murdered her. Exactly as Zeke’s visions had warned.

As far as Liz could determine, there weren’t any hidden entrances in here that led to a concealed area. She glanced at the bedroom’s double doors. Had one of Zeke’s people come here while she’d slept and awakened him to more trouble? Not Carreon’s men having returned. If they had, she would have heard gunfire. Zeke would have taken her to a safe place, another secret room that he would have made certain she couldn’t escape. No, this trouble would have to do with his clan. Had they decided he had to leave after all, along with her and her father?

Hurriedly, Liz went to her clothes then curled her upper lip at the thought of putting them on again. Blood and dirt stiffened parts of the fabric. After a brief search, she found Zeke’s tees in a nightstand drawer. The one she pulled on hung halfway down her thighs and smelled of fabric softener rather than him. His jeans were far too large for her to wear. She settled for a pair of stretchy boxers rather than briefs, that she knotted at herwaist so they’d stay up. The edge of the navy fabric skimmed her knees.

At the limestone wall, she mimicked Zeke’s earlier movements, which turned the surface into a mirror.

Ugh.Liz made a face at how shitty and ridiculous she looked, but at least she was covered.

Now all she had to do was leave the room. She paused at the double doors and hoped to God that they’d open. On the day Zeke and Jacob had argued about sharing her, Zeke had locked Liz inside Jacob’s bedroom, telling his brother not to come anywhere near her. Jacob had countered that it was his fucking space. He had a right to go inside. That argument hadn’t swayed Zeke.

She tried the knob, astounded that it turned, but didn’t take more than one step into the hall.

Jacob was leaning against the wood paneling, his arms crossed over a pile of clothes that he held to his chest.

He actually blushed at her presence. Liz’s face warmed as she recalled the intimacies they’d shared. The taste of his mouth, balls, and cock. His strength as he pounded his rigid shaft into her. His satisfied huffs when he climaxed then held her close, not allowing her to escape…to return to Zeke.

At last, Jacob met her gaze.