I strip my shirt off once we’re inside to cool down, then rummage around in the fridge for two bottles of water. Fallon parks her hip against the kitchen island, watching me. Her eyes roam over my tattoos, my muscles, and I know by the heat in her eyes and the way she’s clenching her thighs together, she’s remembering what happened between us on the mats.
I step in close, hovering over her as she takes the bottle from my hands. “Like what you see?”
She bites her bottom lip but doesn’t answer. Instead, her eyes flick to the tattoo across my chest. “Cerberus?” she asks, running a finger over the ink.
I glance down at the three-headed doberman wearing horned skull masks, sharp spiked collars, and chains. The jaws are open, the middle one’s teeth bared in a snarl while the other two carry lanterns. I nod, watching her finger move from one head to the next. “The guardian of the gates to the Underworld.”
“To prevent the dead from leaving,” she murmurs, then looks up at me with a grin. “I love it. It fits you.” Fallon drags her hand down my abs, but stops before she reaches the band of my shorts. “What about the others? Did you guys get matching tattoos?”
I shrug. “We each got our own version of Cerberus and what it means to us.”
That little crease between her brow returns. “And what does it mean to you?”
Pushing away, I lean against the opposite counter, crossing my arms over my chest. “Retribution – that’s what the rune on my mask means. Sending the souls of the evil fucks in this world back to the pits of Hell where they came from.”
Fallon tips her head to the side. “People like Clay?”
I don’t make the conscious decision to move, but suddenly I’m crowding her against the counter, caging her with my arms and snarling in her face. “EspeciallyClay.”
To her credit, Fallon doesn’t balk from the monster in my eyes. Instead, she places her palm on my chest, right over the Cerberus tattoo and my pounding heart. “Why do you hate him so much?”
“What do you mean, why?” I bite out.
“I mean, I get Clay is involved in some shady ass shit, and he’s a fucking douche, but you three seem to despise him. Why not capture, torture, and kill him like the others then?”
My fingers dig into the marble. “He deserves more than just a few days of torture. He deserves a lifetime of it.”
“Butwhy?” she pushes gently, and I know I shouldn’t say anything, I know Matteo would want to be here for anything we tell her regarding Luna, but there’s something about Fallon that makes me want to carve open up my chest and hand her the beating organ inside, exposing every secret it keeps in its black shell.
“Because he’s the reason we lost Luna.”
Something I can’t place flickers in her eyes. “Luna? What does Clay have to do with Luna? Did you find something? Did he kill her?”
“No.” I shake my head. “We don’t know if she’s dead. We don’t know where she is or if she’s okay. Clay pretended to date her before she went missing. He was who she was out on a date with that day she disappeared. It’s a trafficking method called boyfriending. Look,” I sigh, raking a hand down my face. “Just stay the fuck away from Clay. If you ever get out of here and you’re in his miserable presence again, don’t trust a fucking thing that comes from his serpent tongue.”
“Noted. And to be honest with you, I fucking hate that guy. Something about him never sat right with me. Glad to know my instincts were spot on.”
The way she says that, as if she’s used to dealing with assholes like him, has my hackles rising. “Has he touched you before?” I’ll kill him. Skin him from head to toe if he ever laid his fucking hands on her.
“Clay?” she scoffs. “In his dreams. I just meant…” She licks her lips, then those gorgeous green eyes look away from me. “I’ve been dealing with men like him since I hit puberty.”
I go very still. “Your father. He never…?” My stomach roils.
“No,” she says sharply. “My dad wouldn’t do that. I know you guys think he’s involved with the sex trafficking shit, but he wouldn’t ever touch me like that.” She sighs, dropping her head. “My dad’s friends on the other hand, that’s another story.”
I straighten. “Name.”
She snaps her head up. “What?”
“Give me their names and I’ll cut off their hands for you, beautiful. Or their heads – I’m feeling really playful.” I give her a smile full of wicked and vengeful promises. I’m not the kind of man to get a girl candy orflowers, but I damn sure don’t mind showing affection if it involves a little blood and a lot of screaming.
She doesn’t smile back at me. Instead, her eyes hold mine, reading the truth of my words. “You really would kill them, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“Why? Why would you do that for me?”
I cradle her jaw in my hand, tilting her head back far enough to make sure she’s holding eye contact with me when I tell her, “Because we’re the only monsters that get to touch you.” She swallows against my hand, but never looks away from me, unafraid. “I told you the other day, Poison. You’re mine. Now, tell me their names or I’ll figure it out myself. We have our ways, as you know.”
