Page 122 of Their Ruthless Sadist

My heart slammed into my ribs the second Brax’s name was out of Zeke’s mouth. Not once in the entire time we’d known Zeke had he ever called either of us by name. I’d picked up on that a long time ago. He had no issues referring to the people close to him by name, but everyone else wasn’t allowed that privilege.

A noise from upstairs caught my attention, and I realized it was Tank. He was whining, a pleading sound that I’d never heard before.

Zeke’s eyes widened, and I swore that was fear I saw on his face.

The next thing I knew, Zeke was racing up the stairs while Brax and I ran after him.

Tank was standing by the front door. Another whine followed by a low woof. Then another. Within seconds, Tank was growling and barking ferociously.

When the doorbell rang, I damn near came out of my skin. With all the lights off and the dog going crazy, it scared the shit out of me.

“Tank, heel,” Zeke commanded.

Tank’s ass hit the floor, but he remained where he was, continuing to growl, his eyes forward, tail straight. The dog looked as fierce as his owner.

I prayed there weren’t some unsuspecting trick-or-treaters on the other side of that door. If there was, they were going to get a surprise. Then again, I wasn’t sure which was worse. The growling dog or the growling man.

Zeke jerked the front door open, and you would never fucking guess who was darkening Zeke’s front door.

The very man who obviously was looking for me to kick his ass. After all, why else would he be here?

CHAPTER 31

Zeke

Son of a fucking bitch.

“What the fuck do you want, Matt?” I snapped when my eyes registered who was standing on my front porch.

Matt smiled. “Trick or treat?”

I glared back at him, not amused by his childish antics. I wasn’t in the mood for his shit. In fact, I wasn’t in the mood for him, period. I could’ve spent the rest of my life happy never seeing him again.

He must’ve realized I wasn’t in the joking mood because he followed with, “Can we talk?”

“No. I have nothing to say to you.”

“But I have a lot to say to you, Zeke.” His tone softened, his amusement gone. “Please. Let me come in.”

Knowing I would never get him to leave otherwise, I took a step back and motioned him inside. “You’ve got three minutes. Then your ass needs to be gone.”

Matt moved past me, his eyes instantly going to the pretty boy and the cowboy, who were still there, completely ignoring every command I’d made tonight.

“Would you mind giving us some privacy?” Matt asked them in that haughty tone that irritated me.

“No,” Brax snapped. The man had shocked me with his backbone tonight. He wasn’t backing down from me, and he clearly wasn’t backing down from Matt.

“No, they can’t,” I stated firmly. “Whatever you have to say, they can hear it.”

Matt’s wary gaze turned toward me, and I flipped on the living room light.

His eyes scanned the room as though he was looking to see what was different from the last time he was here. He wouldn’t find anything because I’d left it exactly the way it had been. Since he’d rarely been to my house, I had never associated it with him.

Matt turned back to me, his gaze darting to them briefly before finally coming to rest on me again. “Is this thing with them serious?”

“They’re of no concern to you. Now tell me what you came here to tell me.”

He was silent for a moment, his eyes never leaving my face. Like all those years ago, I saw the man behind that front, the man I thought had given a shit about me. But he was the same man who had walked out on me, taking my heart and smashing it into pieces on his way out the door.