Page 78

HE’S CUTE

“Why the fuck are we going down an alley where it looks like people are regularly murdered?” Kenji asked, carefully traversing across some sketchy-looking debris.

“I suggest you don’t touch anything.” I pointed out some low-hanging fabric that covered the entrance to my safe house. The corners were coated in something brown that splintered out across the once-white cloth. The rigid edges acted more like cardboard than fabric. There was a fifty-fifty chance that the substance was blood. The distinct smell of urine wafted from puddles lining the worn brick walls.

“This place is disgusting, Scar. Tell us why the fuck we’re here and where we’re going,” Caleb bit out, his agitation growing with each word.

I whirled around to face him. His thick brows popped up in surprise. Their dark color always made his eyes pop, but they stood out even more today since he wore a mossy-colored T-shirt and jeans. I’d never seen them all so casual. Well, other than Kenji, but he had a style all his own. The other two I’d only seen in suits or sweats. Both dangerous to my libido.

It turned out that everything they wore made me want to climb them like trees.

“Then go.” I folded my arms across my chest, planting my feet just outside some suspicious goo. “I literally didn’t invite you. You all just lorded over me when I told you I was coming.”

Warm flesh pressed against mine, sending chills down my spine. I had to tilt my head back to continue to glare at the Irishman.

“You think we’re going to just leave you alone with Ryan?”

The other two boxed me in, staring down at me with sneers on their faces, but I got the impression that the irritation wasn’t solely directed at me. Was I being childish by not pointing out that Ryan was a chick? Yeah, I was. But I didn’t give a fuck. Men, honestly, caused so many problems in the world with their inflated egos and pissing contests. Served them right to dig themselves into a hole. And I was happy to hand them the shovel.

“Fine.”

* * *

A buzzing went off on my computers, alerting me of someone approaching. I used to have the sensors way down at the end of the alley, but the damn thing would go off all the time. Now I only had one, and it was right outside the door.

A few years ago was when I’d acquired this place. There’d been a member of a local MC that would prey on women and men in this neighborhood. The Reapers, as a whole, were a bunch of pieces of shit. Ryan was constantly busy keeping them at bay. Her vigilante justice started long before we met, but her reputation in Tucson as La Brujita de Los Muertos began the night she and I killed that asshole. She gained a nickname on the streets, and I garnered a reputation for not being fucked with. No one bothered my section of this alley. And there sure as hell were no more attacks unless I was holding the blade.

That night we’d been scoping out a good place for me to set up a safe house when a bloodcurdling yell rang out. It reminded me of the yells I’d make when Dominick beat me before I learned it was better to stay quiet. He got bored faster.

The memory of that night was fragmented. Only flashes of my hands coated in sticky warm blood as his life seeped into the broken pavement remained. Ryan crouched over his limp figure, hissing through her teeth.

“Dile hola a diablo para mi.”

“Say hello to the Devil for me,” I whispered, coming back to the present as I watched my friend step to the doorway and peek up at where she knew my camera would be. Interesting. She’d brought someone with her. A man, if his height and bulk were anything to go by. She must’ve trusted him if she brought him here. Last I knew, she hadn’t even told Sergio about our friendship.

“They’re here,” I called out, pressing the button to let them into the inner chamber to be scanned. Niko’s posture stiffened in the chair, his muscles bunched, ready to pounce. Kenji had taken up residence on my couch the moment we’d walked into the door. All three were relieved to find that the interior wasn’t anything like the exterior.

“What is it doing?” Caleb asked, watching the feed, the heat of his body seeping through the cotton cami I wore. New York might be humid, but Arizona’s heat was a bitch.

I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to resist the urge to reach down and interlock our fingers as I watched Ryan run her hands down the mystery man’s arm after he grabbed her and shoved her behind him for protection, which was laughable really.

Hot breath hit the shell of my ear, startling me because I hadn’t realized I’d zoned out. “You’d hate it if I did that,” Caleb stated, his tongue trailing along the sensitive skin before he buried his face in my neck. His trim facial hair sent shivers of pleasure rolling down my spine.

I steeled myself against the reaction, beating back the desire to melt back into his hard body. “What? Protect me?” The moment the question was out, I wished I could shove it back in. Why would I care if he protected me? Fingers roughly gripped my jaw, yanking my head to face him. He leveled a gaze in my direction, the look dripping with honesty. Whatever he was about to tell me, he believed.

“Exactly, little one. You don’t want a white knight. You want someone whose soul is as twisted as your own.” The thrum of my pulse spiked at the statement. He tipped his head toward the monitor, where Ryan and her man mirrored our position. Or maybe we mirrored theirs. Caleb cut the distance between our bodies in half. My breasts brushed the top ridges of his abs at the new proximity. “You don’t want my protection. You want my loyalty. Our loyalty.”

The world slowed to a standstill. His words seeped into my psyche and itched at a scratch I’d had since childhood. Because he was right.

“And do I have that? Your loyalty?” I asked, my heart stopping altogether as I waited for his response. Our time together had been short and rife with chaos. Yet it felt oddly perfect, because there was a pull between Caleb and me that was impossible to ignore. Two sides of the same coin. I trusted him because I felt I knew him intimately already. But did he feel the same way?

He opened his mouth to answer, but he never had the chance because the smooth metal door slid open—the scan was completed.

I broke the hold, rushing over to the opening. Thankfully, Caleb hadn’t followed me over. Maybe he was afraid I’d insist he answer the interrupted question. My gut churned at the thought that he might not feel loyalty to me. Even with a farce of a marriage, it still stung. I held back a chuckle. I couldn’t say I was only faithful to him, seeing as how I was fucking his brothers too. But I knew for sure that wasn’t a problem for him. Shifting my line of thinking, I made sure to shut down the emotion on my face. Something I was doing less and less since being around the three men.

Whoever the guy was, he didn’t look happy to be here. Knowing Ryan, she probably hadn’t told him where she was taking him. Maybe the stiffness in his shoulders was because of that? But there was something in his posture that sent a tingle of apprehension running through me. My attention shifted to my friend, cocking my head as I made sure she wasn’t here under duress.

“He’s cute,” I stated matter-of-factly, rolling my eyes at the growl Caleb let out from behind me. No doubt the other two would’ve made similar sounds of protest. Thankfully they were situated farther away from the door. I could already imagine the death glares this dude was about to get.