Clay didn’t take his eyes off Kuznetsov. It took Scout a full three seconds to realize Kuznetsov clutched a bloody hand with missing fingers against his chest. A gun had been shot from his hold.
Scout couldn’t tear his gaze away from Clay. He had done it. Clay had used Scout’s method, and he was still drunk as fuck. That didn’t stop him from looking sexy as hell. Goddamn, Scout had never wanted anyone more.
Beau strolled into the room with Henry watching his back. As one of the world’s most dangerous crime lords, Beau looked the part. Salt and pepper hair, cut in a way that screamed money, joined a flawless and expensive suit. Deadly-looking eyes skimmed the room. He released a tired-sounding sigh that sounded loud as hell in the otherwise silent living room.
Being the bastard he was, Kuznetsov didn’t give them the gift of hearing him scream. His jaw flexed, though. He wanted to show his pain.
Beau took a turn around the room under the guise of looking over the dead bodies scattered in nearly a perfect circle. Scout was the eagle eyes, though. He saw the way Beau reassured himself none of them were hurt.
Beau spoke as he walked. “I thought we had an unspoken truce of sorts, Kuznetsov. Your country continues to receive myservices, as long as my boys are left in peace.” He stopped three feet from the commander. If Kuznetsov wasn’t shaking inside, Scout was on his behalf. Beau was truly a terrifying man. “A small part of me wants to send you home to face the wrath of losing my supply.” A smile so evil that Scout literally stepped back stretched Beau’s lips. There could be no doubt they stared at the man who had taken the weapons trade by force before he even turned eighteen. Here was the man everyone feared. “But I won’t risk you somehow weaseling out of your punishment. You look like someone who weasels.”
Kuznetsov spat at Beau’s feet. “Fuck you.”
The spit missed, but Henry didn’t. He punched Kuznetsov in the kidney hard enough to take the commander to his knees. That one got a small cry. Scout wanted so many more. He needed to hear every pleading word and pained scream. They were owed that much.
“No, commander. Fuck you.” Beau sounded colder than ice. He glanced toward the doorway, where more guards waited for orders. “Pick him up. You know where to take him. My boys deserve some retribution.” He turned a malicious look Kuznetsov’s way. “My boys are owed their pound of flesh, and they’ll have it.”
Heavy emotions poured through Scout. The time had come for vengeance, and he didn’t know how to feel.
The moment Kuznetsov was on his way, chained, and out the door, Clay headed his way. “Holy shit, Scout. You okay? Hedidn’t get a chance to do anything to you, right?” He inspected Scout’s neck like a worried mother.
Scout set his hand on Clay’s chest, trying to physically calm him. “I’m okay. You were right on time. Thank you for that. You were badass, which I’m learning is your natural state.”
A bright smile lit Clay’s face. “What are friends for?”
Scout shook his head. “We were never just friends.” He closed the gap between them and claimed the kiss he had feared he would never have again. It didn’t last as long as he wanted, but they weren’t alone. That thought had him glancing over Clay’s shoulder. His brothers stood stoic, waiting for Scout to join them in closing a chapter of their lives. He met Clay’s gaze. “I have to go with them.”
“I know.” There was no judgment in his eyes. Clay understood.
“When it’s over, I’ll come to you.”
A sweet smile touched Clay’s lips. “There’s no rush. I’m not going anywhere.”
A weight lifted from Scout’s chest. Clouds parted in his mind, showing him everything he had missed. Clay had been waiting for Scout to see it was them. They were a they. Clay hadn’t been entertaining the idea of choosing anyone else. They were real, and Scout had been too blind to see it.
Clay had expected the wait for Scout to come to him would be absolute hell, but—oddly—it wasn’t. Not only was he half-dead after being pulled from his drunken sleep, but the adrenaline caught him. Clay went home, showered, brushed his teeth, and then died. He had gone dead to the world for fifteen hours with no interruptions. While he had been a little bummed Scout wasn’t in bed with him when his eyes opened, he was okay. Clay understood the emotional turmoil Scout and his family were enduring under the circumstances. Any discussion Scout and Clay needed to have would still be there when Scout finished closing the book on his past.
Clay ate alone in the dining room. After sleeping the day away, he had missed all major meals. Thankfully, there were leftovers in the fridge. All the kitchen staff had finished for the night. All Clay had was food and silence.
“You’re avoiding me.”
Fabrice’s voice nearly made Clay jump out of his skin. Clay had been too lost in thought to notice his appearance.
He cleared his throat. “Why would you think that?”
A sad smile touched Fabrice’s lips as he pulled out a chair at the table and sat. “Because I deserve it and you never miss breakfast two days in a row, much less lunch and dinner.”
Clay wouldn’t deny him deserving it, but the rest wasn’t what Fabrice thought. “I spent the day with Zeus yesterday. Today, I slept the whole day.”
Fabrice’s light blue stare moved over Clay’s face, as if weighing Clay’s honesty. “I guess being the talk of the household probably is exhausting.”
Clay’s eyebrows rose. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He hadn’t meant the question to sound so accusatory. They just weren’t in a good place, and Fabrice’s mixed accent made it hard for Clay to decipher his tone.
A tiny smile popped to Fabrice’s lips. “Apparently, you really have been training these last few months. Word is you’re a real badass now.”
Great. Everyone was talking about him. “I’ve always been a badass.”
Fabrice’s grin grew. He chuckled. “I thought that one would get a rise out of you. Seriously, though. It sounds as though you saved the day last night. Beau hasn’t stopped bragging and saying he knew he had been right to hinge his plans on you. Apparently, even plastered, you’re easily one of the best out there.”
