Chapter 14 Convict No regrets bothered me. Mila would've run if I hadn't stopped her, and we had a lot to talk about. The main one being that I'd been inside her. I'd seen stars. Then Mila's face. Possibly the same thing. I thundered down the back stairs to the ground floor, then strode through emptying corridors. Of the people still hanging around, I paid them no attention, though I registered their surprise. I was bare-chested, bloodied from throwing fists, but I should be with my woman. The fact that I roamed the halls was shocking. Everyone knew the compelling nature of the game. It was one of the reasons I'd had to walk out. I could've left the manhunt to Tyler, but every single part of me demanded that I fuck the woman I'd claimed. Particularly when her naked body was right there in front of me. At the entrance to the basement, a team of cleaners wheeled in a trolley. One of the skeleton crew guarded the door. "Tyler inside?" I asked. The guard's eyes widened, and he gave me a single nod. I strode into the space. It smelled of blood, sweat, and sex. My body warmed in response. Mila running scared. Mila naked. Mila taking me. I exhaled the weight of sheer need and tracked down the team leader in one of the cages. It was empty, and he was alone. His forehead lined in a frown. "What the fuck are you doing down here?" "Jacobs is important to Mila. I need to know why." "And you didn't trust me to find him?" I scowled back. "Of course I did. Where is he?" "Not here. Looks like he woke up from his nap after the fun finished and the cameras cut out. I have people checking outside." Tyler tilted his head, carrying out a quick assessment of me in the way he did with everything. "I wish I knew what you were thinking, but this needs to be said. Arran gave us all the same rule. We don't take part in the game. We facilitate it, and the money it earns is used to help women." "I didn't take part. I intervened." "With your dick?" I scowled, and he held up a hand. "Mila wasn't supposed to be in there, was she? She slipped through the net, and if I'd have been here earlier, or had a chance to catch up with Shade on the work we're covering, this might not have happened. Same goes for you. But that isn't the point. Arran will possibly forgive you if you and Mila are endgame. The fact you're running around out here now suggests otherwise." His phone beeped, and he read the screen then swore. "Jacobs's car is gone." Shit. The guy had been unconscious. Asshole move to wake up and disappear after missing the entirety of the game. I couldn't regret that part of it, though. If he'd been the one to catch Mila, for whatever reason, she would have given herself to him. Absolute loathing closed off those thoughts. She was mine. Legitimately and fairly. The rules said I'd won. My brain said holy shit. My dick said finally. I'd claimed her, and by every rule in the book, nothing could change that. Well, except her. Which meant I needed to convince her of the fact, and not only for the sake of my crew, even if Tyler was right. Chaining her up might not have helped my case. I turned back to Tyler. "On that point, I need your help. Come with me." He stowed his phone, and we left the basement, returning upstairs. Tyler spoke as we climbed the flights. "Something else I meant to mention. The cars that were seen on the CCTV taking Mila away from Milburne Alley had fake number plates which meant we couldn't ID them." I knew that. It was another frustrating avenue exhausted in the past couple of days. "One of those fake plates was picked up on a local highway plate recognition camera just this evening. I got the notification when you asked me to come down here." "Where?" "Leaving an industrial estate in the north of Deadwater. I can get a team out there. Do you know who they captured?" "Not yet. But Mila wants whoever it is back." "Then we take him alive?" I left Tyler's question hanging and pushed through the doors for the fifth floor. At my bedroom, I asked him to hold back, then let myself in. Mila scowled at me from the bed. "Unlock me." I exhaled and knelt to unchain her. She'd reinstated my shirt so her naked body was covered again, but I couldn't help my gaze travelling up her bare legs. When the handcuffs fell away from the bedframe, she jumped up and made to circle me. I blocked the door. "What is it with you and disappearing? I have information for you." She tugged the shirt onto her now-free arm and rolled up the grey shirtsleeve, the shirt's hem coming to mid-thigh. "Lucky me that you're ready to share it without me being tied up." I lowered my gaze at her, my body reacting yet again. "Don't tempt me." Mila's eyes flared with unmistakable lust. But she gave up the fight and gestured for me to proceed. "Rhys Jacobs has left the basement. He must've come to when the game finished, and his car is already gone from outside." Mila deflated. "Then that's it. I've failed." "Maybe not." I filled her in on what Tyler had told me. "We can send a team out on a search and rescue, but we need to know what you know. That means trusting me. I know that apparently goes against everything you believe, but I promise you if I can help, I will. My whole crew will." Her gaze searched mine. "Why?" I let every piece of my almost overwhelming need flood into my gaze. "You're mine. Whether you like it or not. I'm not above bargaining to keep you. Now, can I bring Tyler to the door to hear what you have to tell us?" Mila's cheeks flooded pink. I reacted to her, but the same applied in reverse. She wanted me. She liked some part of the fact I'd caught her. It made me all the more certain I wasn't going to let her go. She searched my gaze for a moment then apparently made a decision, returning to the bed to wrap herself in a blanket. "Chain me up again and I'll do the same to you." I arched an eyebrow. "That a promise?" An eyeroll gave me permission to proceed. At the door, I beckoned Tyler in. "Mila's going to identify the man captured by Salter and his goons. He's our target." Tyler nodded, keeping his gaze mostly elsewhere in the room. I appreciated the respect. Mila swallowed and watched me. "Can I borrow your phone?" From a shelf, I found my spare, the one she'd used in the holding cell. She brought up a browser and searched then located a picture, handing it back. Onscreen was a shot of a man about my age and fucking huge. "His name is Kane." I passed the phone to Tyler. He examined the photo. "Who does he work for?" "I don't know. Not a gang, though." Sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ ƒind ηøᴠel.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Can he handle himself?" "In a fight? I'm pretty certain he can. I don't know him that well, but it was my fault he got jumped." In her fists, she mangled the blanket. "I was supposed to get Jacobs then call them, then they'd swap him out for Kane. By now, they must know I failed. You have to help him." I hated the fear that laced her tone. "What is he to you?" Mila went quiet. I swapped a glance with Tyler. The team leader sent the picture from my phone to his. "We'll head out. You two stay safe in here, and I'll report back when I have news." Mila's eyes shuttered closed. "Thank you." "You're skeleton crew now. Convict, take care of your lass, aye? Remember what I said. Breaking the rules is worth it for the right reasons." He left us, and I centred myself for what I needed to do next, and the woman I had to tame.