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"7th Circle was where we met, Hayden. I couldn't just let it die. If you hate it or you don't want—"
The thick leather strap of my gun holster hid the puckered scar on my shoulder, and a wide bracelet covered the one at my wrist. To the unsuspecting observer, I was totally unharmed.
Cass and Zed were inside, as expected, and Lucas didn't need me to tell him before he closed the door in Alexi's face. Whatever was going on, it was a family matter. Alexi wasn't family.
"Start talking, Saint." He didn't even flinch when he met my gaze, cool as a goddamn cucumber. Fuck, I loved his grumpy ass, but sometimes I could happily smother him with a pillow.
"Uh..." Kodiak Jones, CEO of KJ-Fit gyms, paled and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. "I'm just... gonna... go."
No wonder there was such a frenzied crowd out there. Archer D'Ath versus his mentor? Fight fans would be foaming at the mouth to place bets.
"Those motherfuckers!" I raged. "How fucking dare they? No, fuck this. You're not fighting, Cass. You can't because I'm going to kill all fucking three of them."
"Dare, you can't kill them," Zed attempted to reason. "They're as close to friends as we have, and right now we're sorely lacking in those."
"They broke my rules." He tipped his chin back, meeting my gaze steadily. "And I'm dealing with that as a key member of the Timberwolves management. Or was that job title all bullshit?"
"You’d better hand that little shit his ass on a platter, Saint," I told him in a hard whisper, "or your punishment won't be anywhere near as enjoyable as you think it'll be." Cass gave a low groan, his fingers flexing on my ass. "I love it when you threaten me, Angel."
"Oh, you're in so much trouble, Steele." She chuckled. "So much trouble." She was right about that. I didn't give a shit what scores got settled in the octagon between Cass and Archer; they'd disobeyed me. That couldn't be ignored.
Technically, I had no issue with her being friends with MK, who was actually a good influence. But right now I was pissed as hell at MK's husband, so by extension...
"Ford, right?" He dipped his head, folding his arms over his chest. "Yes, sir," he confirmed. From what I knew of Rex's boys, he must be almost twenty. It'd been a whole scandal when Rex's secret family was uncovered, but he'd done right by them and provided for their mother, even while he was incarcerated.
I was quietly really proud she hadn't told her friend that Cass was still alive. I'd assumed she would, but it showed a good deal of maturity that she'd recognized the need for secrecy.
"Oh, after Cass wins, huh? What makes you so confident? Arch is like... the best for a reason." Lucas and I both laughed in response to that. Seph had missed Cass's fight against Johnny Rock.
Cass strode into the cage looking like Death himself come down from the heavens... or up from hell.
What kind of woman, what kind of human, could walk away from her own son that easily?
"Zayden," she snapped. "I'd hoped to speak with you privately." "I'd hoped you might have died in your sleep," he drawled back. "I guess we're both disappointed."
I shifted my attention to Archer. We were friends... sort of. We'd done three seasons of his grandfather's camp together.
"Who's the target?" he grumbled, still pressing an ice pack to his cheek. I gave him a brittle smile in return. "A mutual friend. It would seem the Rainybanks dockmaster has reneged on our arrangement. He's working for Chase and bringing live cargo through the port." The silence that followed my announcement was deafening. Then Archer threw his ice pack at the wall in frustration, his eyes flashing with fury. "I'm coming too," he snarled.
Bc mk
Cass was at my back, but bodies were dropping from their hiding places before we even reached them. The combination of Zed, Lucas, and Steele hiding out in elevated positions with sniper rifles was unbeatable. We were untouchable.
I locked eyes with Cass for a long moment, my own breathing rough. Not in the same way as my perverted nemesis on the phone—I wasn't getting off on the violence. I was just riding the adrenaline high.
"That's it, Angel," he purred as I bucked my hips, silently begging for more. "Fuck yeah, that's beautiful. Come on my face."
Fuck. We were messed up. I wouldn't change us for the damn world.
His face was slick and his eyes feverish, and I'd never been more in love with him. He wasn't turned off by my compartmentalization; he simply recognized it for what it was. A mask. And Cass never wanted to see anything but the real me.
Licking my lips to wet them, I sat up and locked eyes with Zed, who was standing in the doorway of Wayne's shitty office. "I came down to check what was taking so long," he commented, arching a brow. "Stayed for the show."
"Dare, this seems—" "Like a fucking great idea," Cass cut him off. "Quit complaining, and let her suck your dick, Zeddy Bear."
Unless one of us suddenly developed psychic powers, we weren’t going to predict Chase’s next move. We could only continue on with our own plans and hope the scales continued to tip in our favor.
“Remind me why I have businesses to run again?” Lucas beamed back at me. “Because you’re running a goddamn empire, Hayden, and slaying it, too. You would never be happy playing bored housewife, and you know it.”
Goddamn, did he know how hot that was? Rolled-up shirtsleeves with strongly muscled forearms are to women what great cleavage is to men. Or, they were to me.
I just knew this call was going to carry more bad news. "It'll be fine," Zed assured me as I stared down at my phone, not answering it. "Whatever it is, we knew this was coming. Lucas and Cass are safe. So is Seph." And that was really all I could ask for. Everyone else... fair game. I couldn't save the whole world, after all.
"Hey, Dare, you probably wanna see the body, huh?" I blinked at my little sister a couple of times. "Excuse me?" "Did you say body?" Zed added, his hand still on his gun. Seph's brows shot up high. "Oh. You're not here about the dead guy? Wow. This is awkward now."
"Hannah's a secret badass. Where did she learn that?" Cass huffed in irritation. "She used to date that little prick Johnny Rock. Sounds like he liked to test out his punches on her, so she must have learned a thing or two to eventually fight back." That made me feel sick… and at the same time, so fucking glad she'd learned to fight because it'd saved her life today.
"Rough day, huh?" I offered a tired smile in return. "Could have been worse. A lot worse. I'd happily sacrifice my bars if the trade-off is keeping Hannah and Nadia alive."
"Don't act like I need an excuse to kiss you, Red." "Quit it, both of you," Zed snapped, shooting us a glare. "We're trying to watch a movie here." Lucas snickered. "Zed's crabby because now he has to watch a Jason Statham flick while he's hard."
Love
“Shit’s sake, Red,” Cass growled, bucking his hips and sliding his hand lower on my belly. “You were warned.” His fingers dipped under the waistband of my sweatpants, delving straight into my panties without a moment's hesitation and making me squeak.
Fuck the damn movie, I was getting back on the horse. Maybe all three horses, if the night treated me right.
“Are you gonna come for us, Angel?” Cass rumbled. “Do you want me to make you fall to pieces here in my lap?”
“Dare, is this—“ “Yes!” I snapped, arching my hips. “Quit fucking asking for permission. If I didn’t want it, I would’ve kicked you all in the balls and left.”
Oh yeah, I was definitely ready to get back on all the horses in my stable.
I was concerned enough that I’d slipped a fiberglass knife into a strap on my thigh and was pretty confident the guys had all done something similar.
My heart was beating so hard it hurt my still healing ribs, but I refused to show my fear. He’d had enough of that for ten lifetimes; I wouldn’t give even an inch more.
“The ring was a nice touch,” Cass rumbled, tugging his bow tie undone and snagging my attention. Cassiel Saint was sex in leather most days, but in a tuxedo? Holy mother of orgasms. That was something special.
“Fucking hell, Zed,” I whispered. “It’s gorgeous.” Cass reached between us to grab my hand and took a closer look at the ring. It was rose gold and set with one large, blood-red diamond in the center and two inky black diamonds to either side. Dozens of smaller black and red diamonds decorated the setting, which looked almost like a little bloodied crown around my finger. I knew they were diamonds, not any other stone, because I knew Zed. He didn’t half-ass anything, and red diamonds were his favorite stone. Mine too.
“You take that ring off, Dare, and we’ve got problems.” His tone was low and dead serious, and his eyes held mine with an intense warning. My brows hitched. “I’m not marrying you, Zed.” Instead of hurt, his face flashed with something far more dangerous. Determination.
Fuck’s sake. The last thing on my agenda for the night was a blow-up argument about the pointless nature of a marriage certificate or how it was totally impractical given we were now a polyamorous heterosexual foursome. At least... I think that’s what we were defined as. Maybe just reverse harem.
I spun around to face him and bit my lip when I locked my eyes on the fresh Timberwolf tattoo on the side of his neck. It marked him so clearly as mine; I loved it more than any of his other ink—even the Darling logo on the top of his ass cheek.
“Do I have to?” I asked, feeling somewhat childish. Screw them for putting me in a corner, though, I’d been caught off guard. Lucas’s brow tightened. “No. I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.” Cass glowered at him. “I will.”
“Red,” Cass snapped. “Don’t you think—“ “No!” I shouted back, whirling around to give him the full force of my anger. “No, Cass, you’re the one not thinking. Where the hell is all this coming from? Marriage? Kids? Who the hell do you think we are? We just had the deputy mayor poisoned in front of hundreds of witnesses to seek revenge on my psychotic, abusive, obsessed ex. I’m the head of one of the biggest, bloodiest gangs on the western coast. You think I want to leave my offspring orphaned when mommy gets killed by some up-and-coming gangster one day? You wanna create pawns for our enemies
...more
He knew. He and Chase had tried to kill me when I was just ten years old. That was the kind of life the children of gang leaders led. Dangerous. Deadly. That was no fucking life for a kid. I wouldn’t ever wish my childhood on someone else.
