That fucking demented good side of his personality rang across his mind.No…
What the fuck?
The devil inside him dominated his thought. Without question, it was a hardyes, that if given the chance, he’d leave that weird, naïve, happy little kid bleeding out on that dirty South Dallas street.
You’d think after all the years of trouble and every damned time he tried to do something right, it fucked up, that that heavenly angel on his shoulder would have tumbled off to its death by now. Dying the same death he’d just envisioned for Cash.
But it hadn’t. The good refused to ever give up hope, no matter how much destruction it ultimately caused. This time, that winged celestial bastard got him tied the fuck up with a gag in his mouth, knowing this party had only just gotten started.
His true strength in life was pissing people off. His incessant flow of biting words made people crazy mad. The gag had taken that from him.
Why had tonight gone so wrong? What did he say to cause Cash to play all his cards?
His whole fucking plan was to tease Cash about being the kid he once knew.
You still can tease him. He’s into you.
He growled, the sound eerie from behind the gag. That goddamn voice of honesty and truth needed to shut the fuck up. Cash was so into him that he was tied up with a gag in his mouth. Fuck you.
Cash Ryan was living his last days on earth.
For fucking sure.
No. Not him. You need him.
Fortunately, before he found a way to fist fight his brain, he heard the front door open and tilted his chin that way. His glare turned menacing. His jaw clamped shut so tightly his teeth ground into the cloth of the gag.
His sister.
She didn’t look surprised to see him nor was she a stranger to these agents.
His world darkened another degree. What the fuck was she doing there? His thoughts were spinning. It couldn’t be what he was thinking. Shanna working for the feds? Was she behind all the club’s recent problems? Had Shanna turned on her family in the worst possible way?
She couldn’t come back from this.
When his old man found out his perfect girl sold him out...Shit.
Rage was back. He couldn’t take overt betrayal. His heart pounded, no rammed, against his rib cage. His fucking head hurt. His vision darkened under the violence he wanted to cause.
Motherfucker.
How the fuck was he going to keep his sister breathing once his brothers found out what she had done? Nothing was off limits for those sick freaks. Their disgusting ideas of retribution played in the backdrop of his demented mind. The way they’d teach Shanna a lesson before her death caused fury like he never experienced before to explode out of him.
He fought to free his arms and legs and banged his forehead against the hard wood of the table. The growl resonating inside him lasted longer on the release. How could he protect her?
“Why’s he gagged?” Shanna asked, her feet coming into his peripherals. He beat his head hard on the wood tabletop and bounced the chair up and down, wanting one of the legs to land on her shoe-covered foot. She needed to suffer for the position she had put him in.
A strong arm circled his neck. With an unbridled force, his head wrenched backward, the chair teetered precariously on two legs. He was dragged several feet away from the table. The dark voice in his ear sounded very much like his soul felt.
“Stop messing around. Nobody here believes you’re crazy. We’ll all be right here until you listen no matter how long it takes.”
Even under the brawny arm biting firmly into his neck and the deadly voice against his ear, he didn’t believe for a second he was in any real danger. Hints of compassion laced Cash’s threatening words. The cologne he’d once praised on his lover swirled subtly around them. The scent held the exotic promise of something more. If Cash had wanted to hurt him, he easily could have. Instead, the tight hold had tenderness.
Fuck that. The man needed to get that goddamn stirring breath off his face.
He started to tell Cash exactly that, knowing the words were coming out jumbled and mumbled at best.
“Dev, stop,” Shanna commanded. His head jerked in his sister’s direction.
