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“You’re admirably good at remaining calm.” Bree smiled. “I get that trait from my dad.” James snorted. “Your father, God rest his soul, didn’t remain calm. He acted calm and claimed to forgive the people who pissed him off. Then he did shit like shoot your asshole-ex in the ankle from his balcony.”
The animal was a cranky, sullen creature, but he turned into a damn flirt whenever she was nearby.
In that sense, wolverines got along best with people pleasers. But, as her late father had often grumbled, Bree had not been put on this Earth to please.
“Even if I had hurt you, which is highly unlikely, it doesn’t mean I tried to kill you.” Alex shrugged. “Whatever you say, Skindiana Jones.”
Her nostrils flared. “Was there something you wanted, shithead?” “The vein in your head to pop.”
“What’ve you been up to while I was gone, Em?” “Driving my brother slowly insane.” “It’s good to have goals.”
“Ah, don’t get stressed, baby.” Dominic curled an arm around his mate and pulled her close. “On another subject, does my tongue taste funny to you?” Mila groaned. “Seriously, will you always be so weird?” “Most likely,” said Dominic. “Hey, don’t get all frowny. How about we play a game later to cheer you up? We haven’t tried ‘The Tiger and the Tiger Tamer’ yet. All you need to do is open your mouth wide, and I’ll feed you the meat. I promise it’ll be fun.” Mila planted her palm in her mate’s face and shoved him back.
“I love it there. You up for it? I feel a night of getting supremely shitfaced coming on.” “Is that such a good idea? Last time we got that shitfaced I woke up with pierced nipples.”
“Moira, while I love to hear your whiny little opinions, you should know that the level of fuck I’m giving couldn’t possibly be any lower.”
“I would ask you not to give up on him yet. But if you feel that, in giving him time, you will be wasting your own, I understand. He has had chance to make right choice, and he has not.” Valentina sighed. “It is sad for a mother to realize she raised an idiot.”
“Maybe I have plans to play with the toys in my room and you’re being something of a silicone-cockblocker.”
“Have you no ethics at all?” “I have some. They sleep a lot.”
It is weak. You know I despise weakness.” James nodded. “We do, yes. So it confuses me that you want to go visit Skeletor and her man-slave.” Valentina’s eyes blazed. “James Devereaux, you will cease calling my mother that! And my father is no slave!” “A puppet, then,” said James.
“They are happy.” “They are dysfunctional.” “And yet happy. That is good, no?” “When she does weird stuff like knock him out with chloroform occasionally because she thinks he breathes too loud, no.”
“You need to tell the chef to put profiteroles back on the dessert menu,” she said. “Didn’t you once throw one of those at Moira’s head?” “Me waste a profiterole? No.” She drank the last of her coffee. “That was Elle.” “I should’ve guessed,” he mumbled.
“Well, aren’t you just a breath of fresh judgmental air?”
“You don’t go with the flow. You dictate how the flow will go.”
“Okay, we need to make it clear right now how you should act when you feel like dishing out orders to me. Step one: Hesitate before you decide to throw your metaphorical dick around. Step two: Hesitate again, reminding yourself just how useless it would be to exert authority over me. Step three: repeat the first two steps at least once. If all else fails, go play Russian Roulette with a fully loaded pistol, because it’ll save me the trouble of shooting you in the face.”
Did I tell you I’ve seen actual proof that Damian is the Antichrist?” Bree blinked. “Huh?” “He has ‘666’ just behind his ear. It was well-hidden, but I found it.” “Found it, or scrawled it on his skin with a sharpie while he was sleeping?” “Does it really matter?”
I’m sort of partial to you. Sometimes. Depending on my mood. And whether you’re naked.”
“Tell me I heard wrong and you didn’t just get confronted by Moira,” he growled. Bree twisted her mouth. “If it makes you feel better about it, I broke her nose.” It didn’t make him feel better.
“Compassion? What is compassion? I not know this word. Sounds like weakness.”
Dimitri sighed. “Why not choose female wolverine, Aleksandr? Why must you make your mother’s shameful mistake and pick dumb cat? Our Valentina could have had anyone. Anyone. Yet, she chose that.” James groaned. “Will you just let it go already?” Isaak cocked his head. “I heard a squeak, Valentina. Quite high-pitched. You must have vermin again. Where is rat poison? I will get it.”
“Perhaps we can help you, Breasha,” said Dimitri. “We will search woods near your house. If Paxton is there or has been there, we will find evidence of it. And if we find him, we will catch him.” James sliced into his steak. “Kill him, you mean.” Dimitri lifted his shoulders. “Is that not same?” “No, not even close,” replied James. “You don’t free your captives. You eat them.” “I freed you,” said Dimitri. “No, I escaped. Then I blew up your cabin.” Dimitri’s sigh was nostalgic. “It was very fine cabin. I miss it sometimes.”
“Don’t do something girly like cry,” he ordered. “I mean it.” Her lips twitched. He’d said it like the force of his formidable will alone could stop tears from falling. She buried her face in the crook of his neck. “You mean it, huh?” “Yes. I don’t want snot on my tee.” God, he was just about the only person who could make her want to smile when she was down in the dumps. “And here I was thinking you were worrying about my itty, bitty feelings.” “The potential of snot stains worries me more. But your feelings come a close second to my tee.”
“Wow.” She lifted her head and met his gaze. “You know something? I think you like me just a little.” “I like you almost as much as I like beef jerky. So close …”
“If we’re ever on a malfunctioning airplane, I’ll totally help you put on your oxygen mask and life jacket before I put on my own.” Alex felt his mouth twitch. “Now that’s devotion right there.”
I’m gonna need you to move, because I really do need to go grab a snack.” She rolled her eyes. “Of course you do. And it’ll no doubt be beef jerky, your favorite thing in the whole wide world. I’m just flattered that I come second.” “I’d give up beef jerky for you. For like a day. Or maybe just half a day. Probably.”
James sighed. “Bree is a pallas cat.” Isaak scowled at him. “She has soul of wolverine, like our Milena. You are just jealous that you are waste of skin, bone, and fur.” “I can honestly say I’ve never wished I was anything at all like you,” said James. “Because psychopaths like what they are. Manson was perfect example.” “You’re comparing me to Charles Manson?” “He was manipulative. Persuasive. Tricked women with ease. The correlations are there. When our sister finally finds strength to break free of you, she will return to Russia, and we will point at you and laugh. Then we will eat you.
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“Hmm, I like it when you talk Russian. Even though you mostly just curse in that language.” Putting his mouth to her ear, he whispered something else in Russian. It gave her the chills in the best way. “What did that mean?” she asked. “You’re the person I want to spend the rest of my life trapping under the covers while I fart.” Bree stared at him. “If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”
“Well, if we’re ever stranded in an ocean and a shark comes along, I’ll totally distract it so you can get away. But if it’s a dolphin, you’re on your own—those suckers are just twisted.” “With heartfelt declarations like that, how could I ever doubt that you love me?” “I know, right?” She tilted her head. “Do you think you could ever love me more than you do beef jerky?” He sighed. “And we’re back to asking stupid questions.” “I just want to know.” “Look, me and jerky … we go way back; we have the kind of history that means there’s no way of me breaking free of it.
