Page 9 of Specter
Benji stood and turned his back.
Duke quickly grabbed his leg and slipped on the bare minimum of clothing. Once he was dressed, Benji quietly slipped into bed with Noah while Duke sneaked from the room. Tommy smiled when he caught sight of Duke. He waved for Duke to follow him to the hidden elevator. Duke assumed Tommy kept avoiding the stairs because of his leg. He wondered if everyone under this roof knew everything about everything.
As they rode the elevator down, Duke felt moved to fill the silence. “So you can’t speak. That must be maddening.”
Tommy made a dismissive motion. Then he tilted his head back and showed Duke the deep scars on his throat. Duke felt strangely better.
“Is everyone here like us?” He winced at his question. Duke tried to explain. “I mean, is this like some sort of place for…” Duke couldn’t figure out how to finish his question. He didn’t want to say they were victims or downtrodden. Duke didn’t want to offend anyone, even though he counted himself among them.
Tommy touched his arm and smiled. “It is,” he said in a harsh whisper that sounded like it hurt. Tommy touched his throat and winced.
Duke felt guilty for making him try to talk. He decided to be quiet. The door opened and Tommy stepped out. Duke followed on his heels. He tried not to gawk. The small part of the house he had seen last night had been lost to seeing Noah. Now, without Noah as a distraction, Duke couldn’t stop trying to look in every direction. The place was amazing. He wondered how many other secret passageways it had.
Finally, Tommy came to a closed door. He knocked and then stepped inside without waiting for anyone to give him permission. A man probably fifteen or so years older than Duke sat behind a large desk. The walls were covered in various art pieces. He glanced up as they came through the door. His gaze was intelligent and soul-piercing. Duke didn’t know how else to explain how it felt to be under the man’s open inspection.
“Thanks, Tommy. If you want to turn in, you can. We’re good.”
Tommy smiled and waved before leaving them alone.
Duke went back to staring at the quintessential sugar daddy behind the desk. “You must be Silas.”
Silas dipped his chin. “And you’re Duke Wayne. It’s good to finally meet you.” He motioned toward a chair across from him. “Please, have a seat.”
Duke wanted to get back to Noah, but he sat. He owed too much to Silas to say no.
Silas didn’t pounce the moment Duke was seated. Instead, his gaze moved over Duke’s half-dressed state before landing on the hickey on Duke’s chest. “I’m assuming your reunion with Noah went well.”
Duke wasn’t embarrassed. “Thankfully. I’ve had investigators looking for him since he went missing. You have no idea how grateful I am he was here, safe and sound with you. Thank you for that, and for contacting me.”
Silas didn’t as much as smile. “He’s only been here for two months.”
Duke’s eyebrows snapped together. It was out of his control. “Where was he before that?”
“Living on the streets,” Silas said without a hint of care for Duke’s feelings.
A lump jumped into Duke’s throat. He tried speaking around it, but his voice came out gravelly. “I didn’t know.”
“Nor is it your fault.” Silas’ matter-of-fact tone soothed Duke a hair, but he still felt sick at the idea of Noah sleeping on the street.
“Anything could’ve happened to him,” Duke said, more for himself than Silas.
Silas’ eyebrows rose. “Anything had already happened to him before he left your ranch.”
Even though there hadn’t been an ounce of accusation in Silas’ tone, Duke still felt attacked. “If I had known, I never would’ve let him get hurt.”
A hint of sympathy touched Silas’ features. “It started long before you noticed him. There was nothing you could’ve done to negate the damage. Now, however, is a different story. What’s your plan?”
Confusion had Duke shaking his head. “What do you mean?”
Silas didn’t lose his patience. “Do you intend to take Noah back to the same ranch where he lived a nightmare?”
When Silas put it like that, Duke felt like a monster. “For now, I don’t see that I have a choice. I have a ranch to run, and Noah belongs with me. Unless I sell the place, I can’t walk away. Everything I have is tied up in that ranch.”
Silas leaned back in his chair and eyed Duke. “You could stay here until the place sells.” Silas paused for a beat before adding, “then you’re welcome to continue living here… if you’d like.”
Duke released a slow breath while he eyed Silas. He couldn’t get a read on the guy. “Why would you invite a complete stranger to live under your roof? You don’t know anything about me. I could be a serial killer.”
“I know everything about you.”
