Like I’ll let that ever happen. “And where would you be when someone with your exact face is being mutilated and sullied?”
“Watching with a bucket of popcorn.”
“Perverted fucker,” I mutter.
“Like you are so innocent.” He sniffs. “So either Nine knows you are alive or she’s just fucking with Sully because he’s the easiest target among us.”
He came to the same conclusion I did. “Yeah.”
“Did you secure the soon-to-bedonor?”
“He’s mine, Uriel. I have it here with me.” I look at Jacob’s unconscious body hanging from the rope again.
“And where is here?”
I remain silent. My brother is stillattachedto the vigilante team, trying to include me into it for some fucking reason.
“Sharing can make it more interesting,” he states.
“Like you would share anything.”
“I have been,” he declares. “My family.”
His words irritate me. I don’t do homes or families. Look at what happened to the two people who tried with me. They died. What’s the point? But what about Sully? He might think he needs them. He looks closely connected to them. Fuck, that irritates me.
“How about Sariel?” I taunt him, not wanting to continue the conversation.
Cue the murderous snarl. He never disappoints. “How about you share Sully?”
The sole thought of having one hair on his head touched by someone else turns me rotten inside. “Try me.” The icy voice comes out from the pit of my guts.
“Remember that feeling,” the fucker sneers, ending the call.
My brother’s words make me uneasy, and I quickly go check the CCTV of the pet shelter—Dare gave me access.
Yesterday Sully fell asleep talking about his volunteering job there. I didn’t get most of what he said, but his enthusiasm was cute. I’ve never in my entire fucking life found anything cute, but him. His eyes were closing, but he smiled and thanked me for listening—for such a minor thing? He’s very easy to please and damn cute.
The camera finds him in the shower room. He’s washing a dog while chatting with Ren. After hearing about the attack, he insisted on staying with Sully when I couldn’t. He thinks he is at fault for the roughing up done by Jacob. Guilt is such an easy emotion to exploit.
I’m finished here, so I can go see Sully. Still, I take a moment to look at his face on my phone screen. The bruise on his temple is covered by one of my bandages. His glasses look a little askew. Drops of water are falling from his messy hair and covering his green scrubs. His delicate features and fragile looks urge me to haul him out of there and fuck him all day long until he can’t stand. Until he can’t do anything without my help.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to make it so that whenever he opens or closes his eyes, I’m the only one he thinks about.
I follow the two burly football players into the coffee place situated on the university campus. Their size partly allows me to walk in undetected. The sun is setting, letting the world grow dim. I can hear people chatting around me and smell the scent of roasted beans coming from the coffee machines. My eyes findSully sitting at a table near the window with Ren. He has two books open in front of him and is nodding at something Ren is saying while looking down at the pages.
I order a tall Americano and find a sitting spot with the perfect view of him, but far enough so he can’t see me. I could go sit with them, but I won’t—not yet. I don’t want to be far away from my little chick, but I feel quite the enjoyment at watching him like this.
Because I know now how thick his hair feels between my fingers and how soft his delicate, pale skin is. Fuck yes, I know. His body is covered in marks I left with my hands and mouth. He can hide them with oversized sweaters, but I know. And I fucking like it so much that I have to force down my own body’s reaction to the simple memory.
I take a sip of hot coffee just as Lori sits near me.
“Watcha doing?” He has a huge drink in one hand, topped with whipped cream and sprinkles, and a chocolate croissant in the other.
I lean back against the chair and give him a death stare.
“Are you flipping the question to me?” He doesn’t get my silentfuck offmessage. “Well, I’m not a stalking psycho, so not the same thing as you, RobinBrood.”
“Why are you here?” I ask him, moving my eyes to Sully again.
