I hurt their women.
My men were going through his vehicle. It was as I suspected. No guards. No other weapons.
“I am your enemy.” I pointed to the camera set up on Walden’s building. “You came for me because you knew my location, but this?” I motioned to him and his SUV, shaking my head again. “I am within my right to take your life. You came at me. Ishouldkill you becausethat’s what we do. You sent someone after my woman.” I ignored how Lassiter went still at those words. “You threatened her, multiple timesin one sitting. You came after me likethis. You—” I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it at all. I motioned to his SUV again. “At least have a bomb on that machine. That would be a good move against me. A last move of yours, but a move that I would respect. This—” I motioned again to him. Disgusted. “Your man will heal. Your woman can paint more masterpieces. You can build a new gallery. Walden’s woman can build a new bowling alley. I am the fox that threw a firecracker in a chicken coop. I expected your team to react, scatter a little, but not this reaction.”
He had paused, his chest heaving up and down, but he never stopped glaring at me. There was a white line around his mouth. “I will kill you—”
“Yes!” I got back in his face, some of that uncomfortable feeling began to dissipate. Thank goodness. I smiled again. “I am testing your team to see how you react, andI am not impressed. Sending my own cousin to kidnap Blake, that was a move that I respected. I was furious, but I respected it. You are the brains. You see the big picture.” I moved even closer until my chest was grazing his. “The planner. This was not a planned move. Your loved oneswillrecover from what I did to them. Come back with a better move.”
I was done with this. It was a glitch. That’s what this was.
I had hoped, but no. Both of these men, West and Walden, were not like me. They loved. They felt.
They were normal.
I’d been mistaken.
I turned and began to walk away.
“It was me or him.”
I looked back.
West was still glaring, but there was some defeat in how his shoulders slumped down. He was rubbing at his throat, where Levi had been holding him. “Ashton was going to come after you. I came so he couldn’t.”
Understanding dawned. That made more sense.
I dipped my head to him. “I respect that. Perhaps you won this one.” I still wasn’t going to kill him. Not yet. It was too soon. I wasn’t ready to move onto the next stage in our fight. So far none of the main players had been killed. There was a sense of teasing still in this stage. A kind of foreplay in the air. I liked this phase. I wanted to prolong it as long as possible.
“You are psychotic.” Tristian West’s voice was dumbfounded.
I kept going. That wasn’t anything new to me, just to him. He’d learn.
My men inspected our own vehicles for bombs because maybe I underestimated Tristian West after all. That would’ve been a gamble, but a good move.
It turns out, I had.
There were no bombs, but they found a tracking device.
Chapter Fourteen
Blake
Someone was in my room.
I woke up with a gasp becausesomeone was in my room. They shifted. I could see their silhouette, sitting in the chair that was in the corner of my room and then, Jesus Christ. I automatically relaxed because I knew that silhouette.
But wait.
I jerked upright.
“What are you doing here?” I hissed, my hands fisted in my blanket because I had half a mind to jump out and lunge for him and the other half was remembering I was only in my sleeping top and underwear. My very skimpy top. Mylacyunderwear. Underwear that was sexy and I didn’t think anyone would see because I hadn’t bought these for someone else to see, not yet anyways. These were just for me. Now I was dying a little of embarrassment because Creighton was in my room at four in the morning. And I was dying from something else, squirming in bed, but I grabbed tight to my blanket and ignored how I suddenly felt flushed.
He didn’t respond, but I knew it was him.
“Creighton?”
He still didn’t respond. I grew concerned. My voice dropped to a whisper, and I pushed my blanket aside, only focused on him. “Eight?”
