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“Funny that you call me ‘boss’ when it seems I’ve lost all control of my operation,” Vance mutters, his smile never breaking. “My own men going on little adventures without my say-so…my brother planning a coup—and yes, I know about that, Gunnar.”
“You aren’t my brother,” I snap.
“Only brothers would fight like we do.” Vance goes to sit down again, leaving the whiskey he just poured discarded on the drink cart. “Yes…we’re brothers, whether either of us likes it or not. And now we have to decide our next move.”
I can’t think of what to say, and Rook seems thoroughly peeved. To my surprise, it’s Oberon who speaks up.
Here to get the job done, even if the rest of us are like a deer in the headlights.
“We know where she is, and she and Luka both are in trouble,” Oberon says quietly. “You can help?”
Vance stays silent for longer than I would like; Rook sighs and gets up, heading over to slam back the whiskey.
Then he finally responds.
“I can have boats on standby to go up the coast right away,” Vance says. “Helicopters, soldiers…you name it.”
I narrow my eyes at him. “Why?”
He locks his gaze on mine. “Do you really want to know?”
His words from the other night echo back to me—she’s a whore, she never loved you.
“All this for a whore?” I ask.
Oberon’s jaw tenses, twitches.
“All this because we’re clearly worse off now than we were when she was here,” Vance says. “Not only that, but I know eros is dangerous; I’m as interested in getting it off the streets as you are.”
“There’s a ‘but’ coming…” Rook warns from the corner, where he’s pouring another generous glass of whiskey.
“But I want your agreement,“ Vance says. “That you lay off my operation. And that when we get her back…you get the hell out of town.”
“Don’t worry,” I mutter. “I plan on taking her far, far away from here—whether she likes it or not. Now are we done here?”
Vance leans back in his chair, his gaze unreadable as he studies me. “We’re done,” he says finally. “But remember, Gunnar…we share the same blood. Don’t make me regret this decision.”
I stand up abruptly, the chair scraping against the floor loudly in the tense silence that follows. Rook finishes his whiskey in one swift motion, his eyes locked on Vance. Oberon watches the exchange impassively, his face a mask of composure.
As we leave Vance’s office and make our way back down the hall, tension hangs thick in the air between us. Rook breaks the silence first, his voice low and dangerous.
“Do you trust him?” he asks me.
I don’t answer immediately, my mind still reeling from the unexpected turn of events. But then, finally, I meet Rook’s gaze and nod once.
“I trust that he wants Aisling off the streets as much as we do,” I reply quietly. “But beyond that…fuck no.”
Chapter twenty-one
Luka
Feels so good.
She feels so fucking good on my cock, this omega writhing, screaming. Tastes good, too, blood like ambrosia. I bite again and again, and I like it when she screams and tries to crawl away.
This is how it was once upon a time, how it’s supposed to be.
Hips thrust, teeth sink in, body moves and moves and jerks…
