Page 223 of Wicked Brutal

Someone near the stairs audibly says, “Oh, fuck.”

Victor takes a step toward me. “This is not something your father can talk you out of if you cross the wrong line with me.”

There it is. I stop smiling. Not because I’m scared. Because that wasn’t about me anymore. That was a threat with Dad’s name attached to it.

“You don’t know my father very well.”

“I know Walter better than you think.”

“Then you should know threatening his kid is a pretty fucking stupid hobby.”

“I’m not threatening you.”

“Sounded like it.”

“I’m explaining reality.” Victor’s mouth flattens. “Your father won’t always be able to protect you.”

“And yet you keep bringing him up.”

His eyes harden. And then he goes somewhere he shouldn’t. “Perhaps Cassandra handles the rest.”

Everything in me stops. The boys know. Immediately. Kaid turns his head. X straightens. Danny’s grief disappears beneath something sharp. Iz looks at me. Victor smiles faintly.

He found it. Fucker.

“What about my mom?”

“Cassandra has always had the same unfortunate habit the rest of your family seems to share.”

My voice drops. “What habit?”

“Inserting herself into matters that do not concern her.”

The smile is gone from my face now. “She’s a journalist.”

“She’s a nuisance.”

One step. That’s all I take. One. Kaid’s fingers close around the back of my blazer. X says my name under his breath. Victor sees it. And smiles. Bad fucking move.

“She has made a career of sticking her nose into the lives of men more important than she is and calling it public interest.” Something dark opens inside my chest. Not hot. Cold. Perfectly fucking cold. I look at Victor’s throat. Then his nose. Then the distance between us. One hit. Maybe two. How fast security gets here. How much video already exists. Whether Arthur can—"

“Jesus Christ.” Iz. Loud. Annoyed. Purposeful. He steps forward until he’s almost between us. Not quite. Enough that Victor has to look at him. “Can we speed this up?”

Victor’s eyes shift. I know what Iz is doing. He knows I know. Neither of us says it. He just put himself in front of the thing I was about to do because he can read the exact temperature of me from three feet away, and he decided he’d rather take the bullet than let me throw the punch.

Victor looks him over. “Walsh.”

Iz smiles. “Aw. You saved me for last.”

“You seem disappointed.”

“Deeply. Everybody else got a personalized character assassination.” Danny’s mouth twitches. Iz gestures at himself. “I dressed up and everything.”

Victor’s attention stays on him. Good. Away from my mom. Away from me. Arthur’s son just deliberately stepped in front of a loaded gun because he knows exactly how close I am to doing something we can’t undo. I breathe once. Then again.

“You haven’t personally managed the same level of catastrophe as your friends.”

“Yet.” Kaid snorts.