Filed To Story: Craving The Wrong Brother Book PDF Free by Elysian Sparrow
For your information, I still have a broken ann that hurts when I hit things. And I don’t know these men.
“Oh, please,” I snap “How is it a coincidence that the same night you randomly show up at my apartment is the same night I get kidmasnuff Comme Finn. If this isn’t one of your messed up plots, then what is?”
“Why would I want to kidnap you, Serena?”
*I don’t know, Finn. Why do you do all the crazy things you do?”
“Could you both shut your mouths?” a new voice growls.
It came from the front seat. Accent thick. European, maybe Eastern. He doesn’t need to raise his voice for the threat to do its job. There’s something about a threat with an accent that makes it hit harder.
Even Finn shuts up.
The rest of the ride goes quiet. Just the hum of the engine and the scrape of tires against asphalt.
Eventually, the car slows and stops.
Doors open. Cold air hits my skin, crawling up my bare legs. Hands grab me. I’m pulled out, guided by the pressure on my shoulders, my knees wobbling as I adjust to standing.
“Move,” someone says behind me.
I do. Bare feet crunching gravel, then transitioning to tile or wood-I can’t tell which. We’re inside. The air shifts. Warmer, but stale. There’s a smell, too. Like mold and old curtains. Dust and a hint of bleach.
We move again. Then… stairs. The pressure on my back increases as they nudge me forward. Down.
With each step, the air grows heavier. Thicker. Damp.
Basement.
I count the steps as I descend. Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen. My foot hits the cement at the bottom.
Then I’m turned and sat in a chair. My hands are then secured to the chair, my ankles tied too.
A beat of silence.
Then the hood comes off.
The light is harsh, yellowed, buzzing overhead. I blink against it, my eyes watering as they adjust.
The room is small. Cinder block walls. No windows. A single bulb swinging slightly above us. There are four hostages, all arranged in a semicircle facing the far side of the room.
One is Finn, who’s grumbling beside me as they remove his hood.
The second is me, of course.
The other two-
A man I recognize and a woman with striking bone structure and dark curls, sitting like she’s two seconds from biting through her restraints.
And then… him.
The man sitting in front of us. wea
He’s in all black. Dark shades. A cane resting in his gloved hands. His presence takes up the whole room.
I don’t know why, but every hair on my arm lifts.
And I don’t scare easily.
“You’re Sloane’s sister, aren’t you?” the man I recognized says, tilting his head toward me.
I hesitate. Then nod once. “Yeah. What’s happening right now? Why are we here?”
The woman next to him rolls her eyes. “That’s a dumb question. You’re tied to a chair. What do you think is happening? I can’t even believe this shit. This is the second time I’ve been tied to a chair this week.”
“People, people,” the man in the shades interrupts, voice as smooth as it is quiet, “let’s try to speak with our calm voices. I’m sensitive to sound.”
It’s the first time he’s spoken, but already I want to move further back in my chair.
“What the hell is this, Mateo?” the other man says. Yes, I remember his name now. Hunter. “Why are we here? And why do you have us tied up like this?
Mateo lifts his head. “That’s because you’re all collateral damage,” he says. “And if things go as planned… some or all of you might be leaving this place in a body bag.”
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HUNTER
I had expected Mateo to retaliate after I turned down his request to turn against Knox-but not this quickly, and definitely not with a swarm of armed men breaking into my house at night.
How they managed to get past the two security guards Knox hired for me is still a mystery. No struggle I could hear. When they dragged me out, I caught a glimpse of the guards-slumped in the hallway. No blood on the floor. No holes in their clothes. Just stillness. I hope they were just asleep.
Now, I’m tied to a chair in my damn pajamas. My ankles are bound to the chair, legs, wrists tight behind me, the rope biting through my skin each time I move.
And I’m not the only one dressed for comfort.
Soraya’s beside me in a silk robe. Serena’s at the other end of our semicircle with the hem of her top riding up her thighs. Finn sits just before Serena, the only one in an actual outfit. Jeans and a T-shirt. Only one of his arms is tied. His broken one is left untouched, mercifully.
What I can’t wrap my head around is the random-ass group of people Mateo dragged into this basement-and that comment he made about us leaving in body bags.
“You mean you’re going to kill us?” I ask, keeping my voice steady.
Mateo turns his head slightly. “That’s one way to put it.”
“It’s a yes or no question.”
“I don’t have a straightforward answer for you, Hunter.”
“If this is about Knox,” I say, “why isn’t he here?”
“Because I don’t want him here.”
“Oh, so you take everyone else but the one person you actually have a problem with? That’s logical. Some of us have actual lives. Things to do. We don’t have time for your little revenge soap opera.”
Mateo doesn’t respond. His eye, hidden behind those glasses, seems to scan deeper than just the surface. He takes his time, moving from one person to the next like he’s reading a damn menu. Soraya looks pissed. Serena, weirdly enough, looks calm. Too calm. And Finn… Finn looks like he still hasn’t caught up to the fact that we’ve been kidnapped. If Mateo’s plan really hinges on using us as leverage to get to Knox, then bringing Finn was a dumb move. Guy’ll be the first to die if Knox has to choose who to save.
“Why didn’t you just take Hunter and me hostage at your house if this was your plan all along?” Soraya says. “Why lie about helping me get my kid back? Why deceive Hunter with a job? Why go through all the theatrics when you could’ve just kidnapped us from the start?”
“The time wasn’t right,” Mateo says. And then he snaps his fingers once.
One of the masked men nods and heads up the basement stairs.
“And now it is?” I ask.
Mateo sighs, fingers drumming lightly on his cane. “You all and your questions. Leame to this city with only one thing on my mind-revenge on Knox. That was it. I did my research. Dug deep.”
He shifts in his chair, then nods toward Finn.
That man with the broken arm? That’s his brother. They have the worst relationship, of course Practically strangers, but osminkers, he twine’s (on Serena’s apartment on the exact night she gets taken. If that’s not fate, I don’t know what to call it
His eyes turn to me next.
“You’re his closest friend. Weird dynamic, if you ask me, but that’s your business. That’s why you’re here.”
Then he points at Soraya.
“You. You’re the woman he married. The one he kept safe for years. Finding out about you wasn’t easy, by the way. But I did. I know who you are, I wasn’t lying when I said I had information about your family. Your father’s dead. Your child’s safe. And you better relish that news, because chances are you won’t see that child again.”
His gaze finally settles on Serena.
“And you… you might be the most important part of all this. You’re Knox’s girlfriend’s sister. He might be able to stand by and watch everyone else burn, but Sloane? She won’t let anything happen to you. If I have her attention, then I have his.”
Finn breaks in. “Back up a little bit. First of all, who the hell are you?”
Mateo smiles. “My name’s Mateo. And your brother ruined my life.”
“Knox?” Serena says, frowning.