Acting like he hadn’t been plotting his bloody and violent revenge ever since.
Lyra set her fork down and slowly glanced over at him. “On some planets, biting someone on the juncture of their shoulder and neck is a statement. If we ask Aodhan—”
“Your brother knows,” Zane reiterated. “Mine doesn’t have to.”
Aodhan Solace probably wouldn’t care. They were only brothers because his parents had adopted Zane, they’d never been very close aside from pleasantries. There’d been one moment two years ago when Aodhan had tried in his own twisted sort of way to get closer to him, but somehow Zane didn’t think going on a murder spree with the older man would bond them for life.
No, instead, he’d helped out one time, had gotten caught by Lyra, and had ended up tied even more tightly to her side. That was when Samuel had started openly spying on him as well, tracking his movements so he could show up at school or the bar to all but drag Zane back to the Little Palace whenever Lyra called for him.
Zane didn’t blame Aodhan for how things had turned out.
HeblamedKazimir.
But he’d already enacted petty revenge for that by messing with Kazimir’s boyfriend Nate Narek. As far as Zane was concerned, they were even.
Still.
Didn’t mean he was any less pissed whenever he thought about it.
“You seem upset,” Lyra pointed out, reaching for her wine glass. “There’s no need to be worried. I took care of that little problem for Aodhan that same day you rushed back here to see him. He’s been more careful.”
It wouldn’t last.
“He’d be forced to find a different means of dealing with his problems if you would stop helping him out,” Zane said.
“Is that really what you want?” She eyed him over the rim of her glass. She and Kelevra had similar features, the same hazel eyes and dark brown hair, though hers was more wavy than curly. What she lacked was the same intensity, that same emptiness.
So why had she always had the uncanny ability to rattle Zane more than her brother?
“Do you want me to pull my resources?” she continued when he didn’t immediately respond. “I’m not sure how long he’d last without my organization there to help sweep his atrocities under the rug.”
Organization was a nice way of putting it.
Somehow, Zane didn’t think organ trafficking, no matter which way it was spun, was all that nice. But what did he know? And, more importantly, how much did he actually care?
Hint.
Not much.
It didn’t even matter to him that Aodhan claimed he only killed people who deserved it, not really.
Lyra Diar might not have ever shown socio or psychopathic tendencies.
The same could not be said about Zane.
“I appreciate all of the help you’ve given,” he tentatively began, carefully navigating this new landmine she’d thrown. “The entire Solace family does, you know that.”
“I would never abandon my brother,” she shrugged, “but maybe you—”
“No,” he stopped her. “No, you’re right. Of course. I owe a lot to the Solaces and my brother. Forgive me.”
Forgive me.
Forgive me.
Forgive me.
He was like a broken record.
