Mal stiffened, but Olivia gripped his arm. “Yes, please,” Olivia managed.
Ellen’s brows rose. “Some things are best left alone.”
“Best for who?” Olivia asked.
Ellen’s eyes narrowed. “You think knowing his business will provide a weakness? Something you can exploit?” She shook her head, looking at each one of them. “You know nothing.”
“We don’t want your opinion.” Mal’s voice was hard. “Just information.”
Ellen’s smile was glacial. “Why should I give it to you?”
“Because you want Cyrus dead.” Hollis spoke then. “Maybe more than we do.”
Ellen’s hands fisted. “You cannot beat him.”
Olivia understood her then. Ellen was terrified. “You’re safe here,” she said.
Ellen’s smile was snide. “You know nothing,” she repeated softly. “Your brother. He deals in exotic import, yes?”
Olivia nodded.
“Like his father before him?” Her brow rose. “Jefferson Chase. A shrewd businessman. He promised what he could deliver. Nothing like his son.”
Olivia swallowed. Her father?
“Cyrus gives men what they want. Unnatural things—those no one speaks of publicly. And then he traps them and bends them to his will.” Her eyes were hard. “Your father, your brother, help supply Cyrus with a high-demand product.”
“Dolls?” Mal’s dismissive snort was jarring.
“A sort of doll. Girls. Untouched, innocent, and naive.” Ellen’s voice was thick.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Anders stood.
“No,” Ellen responded.
Dante shook his head. “What the hell does he need—”
“Business.” Ellen faced the fire, holding her hands out. “Only the truly rare. It keeps the profit up and risk down. Faraway, fo
rgotten countries are best. Or here, if a customer is willing to pay.” She looked at Finn. “Brown’s daughter, Tess. She was a special request.”
Olivia’s wolf growled, wanting to tear Cyrus into little pieces. And Chase? Her brother? She was shivering, flinching away from Mal’s touch. “How does this happen?”
Ellen looked at her. “Cyrus meets with Mr. Chase. And Byron—Cyrus goes nowhere without him. No notes, no emails, no phone calls, no trace. He gives Chase his order and delivery date.”
“Big guy?” Finn asked, exchanging a look with Mal.
“Big and angry.” Ellen nodded. “The last shipment was wrong, missing one. A virgin. You are—were—a virgin so Cyrus wanted you.”
How the hell would they know that? She didn’t run around in an “I’m a virgin” T-shirt. Unless? “Chase told them?” Because they had no secrets between them—at least, she had no secrets from him. He was her brother, the one person she’d trusted completely. Her stomach dropped. She wasn’t going to cry. She wasn’t going to fall apart. Or scream. She let Mal pull her against him then, clinging to him.
Ellen nodded. “To save his own life.”
“All right, enough.” Finn was shaking. “Mal. You and Olivia can go.”
“No, we will not go.” Olivia pushed out of Mal’s hold. “You can’t tell me this and expect me to walk away. My family is responsible.” She pressed a hand to her chest. Everything she’d thought she knew was a lie. “My brother—we have to stop this from happening. We have to. I was lucky—Mal was there.” She looked at Ellen, trying to wrap her mind around it. “After, when it’s over, the girls go back to Cyrus?” Poor Tess. She’d been through so much.
Ellen nodded. “To him. Some he keeps. Some he gives to the pack. He finds uses for them.”