It wasn’t the girls. They were always beautiful in their own ways, always fun.
But the truth was, I didn’t feel much of anything. For anybody. It was a flaw in my genetic code, a bug that couldn’t be fixed. The closest I came to human emotion was the adrenaline I felt when we pulled a job, the pleasure I felt when we hunted, the brotherly camaraderie I shared with Vigo and Jagger.
Which was why it was confusing to want to lock Cassie up, hide the key, keep her to myself.
“It’s her decision,” I said.
Vigo laughed. “We make the rules.”
“Not this one.”
He smirked. “Getting soft already?”
“Fuck off.”
“It’s an honest question,” he said, returning his gaze to the bank. “She’ssoft.”
“Soft?”
“I mean she’s physically soft, yeah.” He grunted a little. “Her pussy’s like fucking satin.”
I turned sharply toward him. “How would you know?”
“Because I finger-fucked her the first night,” he said. “And let me tell you, she may be a virgin but she’s ready to play.”
I should have expected it. Vigo didn’t know the meaning of the wordwait.
What I didn’t expect was my annoyance at the fact that he’d started without Jagger and me.
Okay, mostly I was annoyed he’d started without me.
“Anyway,” he continued. “It’s not just that her pussy is like satin. She’ssoft. Like… inside.” He shuddered a little, like he found the thought unsettling. “Makes me want to… I don’t know, protect her and shit.”
“It’s not our job to protect her.” I didn’t know whether I was reminding Vigo or myself. “And she doesn’t need our protection anyway. She has Bram.”
“Yeah, but aren’t you curious?” Vigo asked. “Why she joined the Hunt instead of asking Bram to take care of someone for her?”
“No,” I lied.
“I’m just saying, I don’t blame you for going soft. She’s an intriguing little mouse."
“We don’t hunt to be intrigued.”
And yet, here we were.
“What do you think Bram’s going to do when he finds out we own her for the next three months?” Vigo asked.
“I think he’s going to want our balls,” I said. “Which is why we’re going to reach out to him as soon as he gets back.”
Better to get in front of the whole thing, like Vigo had said. Hunt rules were snitches get stitches, but I wasn’t sure anyone would be able to resist spreading the word that little Cassie Montgomery had been captured in the Hunt her brother had started.
And as bad as I knew it would be to break the news to Bram that we were in possession of his little sister, I knew it would be ten times worse if he heard it from someone else.
“There he is,” Vigo said.
I followed his gaze to Jagger, who was exiting the bank in a nondescript suit and sunglasses, looking like just another finance bro making a transfer.
I tapped my fingertips on the steering wheel as he walked casually toward the Explorer. I wasn’t looking forward to the confrontation with Bram, but not because I was afraid of him. I mean, everyone was a little afraid of Bram, but that wasn’t what was driving the knot in my stomach.
