All That Bleeds by Kimberly Frost Read Free Book Online Page A

Cato Jacobi.”

    “You don’t know his name, but you’ve met him,” Merrick said, tapping the inside of his left elbow as he looked at her. Her hand drifted to the sore spot. “I picked you up from his balcony.”

    “He’s the one who kidnapped me?”

    “My guess is that he’ll have a different version of events,” Merrick said, cool as ice. Merrick nodded toward the next room and said to Orvin, “Tell them to give Cato a drink, and let him know I’ll be down in a few minutes.”

    Orvin disappeared from the doorway, and Merrick closed the door.

    She studied him. Was he on good terms with the man who’d kidnapped her? Perhaps Merrick had even arranged it, she thought, horrified. She had been playing with fire by sending him those letters.

    She exhaled forcefully and leaned back against the cushioned headboard, trying to recover her strength. “Were you involved in the plot to get me into the Varden?” she asked.

    “A plot that involved someone else biting you?” he countered, and shook his head.

    “Maybe that wasn’t part of the original plan, but someone couldn’t resist. Ventala aren’t exactly known for their restraint.”

    “If I’d wanted you kidnapped, I wouldn’t have trusted anyone else to do the job. I’d have come for you myself.”

    “How very reassuring,” she said dryly.

    “Cato Jacobi’s here to retrieve you. What does that tell you?”

    “That he’s a presumptuous, psychotic bastard?”

    The corner of Merrick’s mouth curved into a smirk. “What else?”

    “That he thinks you’ll negotiate with him. You won’t, will you?”

    He shook his head. “Think things over while I’m gone. Try to remember what happened,” he said. He strode out and closed the door behind him.

Chapter 5

    Ox stood when Merrick walked into the living room.

    “Lotta things in life are a disappointment. Not her though. She’s better in the flesh than in pictures, huh?” Ox said.

    Merrick nodded.

    They strolled into the hallway, and Merrick locked the door, punching in a nine-digit pin to set the security code. If he’d wanted to get in and hadn’t known the pin, it wouldn’t have stopped him, but it would stop most people.

    “Jacobi’s here to reclaim her. What does that say to you, Ox?”

    Ox shrugged massive shoulders. “Says he thinks he’s entitled to her.”

    “Exactly. Why would he think that?”

    “Must’ve paid someone to deliver her to his place.”

    Merrick nodded. “And who but someone from her inner circle could’ve delivered her to him?” he asked as they walked down the hall.

    “Doesn’t she know who it was?”

    Merrick punched in another code, and the elevator doors slid open. He barely glanced at the sleek steel walls or framed white orchid painting. “She can’t remember, but she doesn’t seem to suspect anyone she knows,” Merrick said.

    Ox’s pale brows rose. “Why not?”

    “Because where she’s from they don’t betray each other that way. They’re like her. Pure of blood and heart, focusedon helping mankind and on giving money away to any cause they consider worthy, which is practically anything.”

    “Sounds too good to be true. And obviously it is, since somebody sold her out.”

    “Right. So what do you think would happen if I sent her back there alone?”

    Ox shrugged. “The guy might be too scared of getting caught to betray her again, or he might not. I’d say even money.”

    “Fifty-fifty? I don’t agree,” Merrick said. “Whoever betrayed her has gotten paid, and Jacobi wants what he bought. That’s what he’s doing here. You think the kidnapper will be allowed to walk away from the deal?”

    “You got a point. The guy who took her has either gotta disappear himself or he’s gotta turn over the girl.”

    Merrick nodded.

    “So what are you going to do with her?” Ox asked.

    That’s the question,
Merrick thought. He knew what he wanted to do with her. It certainly didn’t involve sending her to the