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But Hall held up her hand. “It’s okay, Ash.” And she shot him an adoring smile, even tilted her head. Ash cocked a brow and stared back. “I don’t mind.” Then, she directed her attention to Riley. “There have been a couple developments. We’re working all the angles.” She spoke slowly and her being at our dinner table had not a fucking thing to do with Asher. If he didn’t know it, he was dumb as a rock.
Although, from my vantage point, it seemed as if she was working Asher’s dick, but I didn’t comment. She had just the slightest movement of her arm that was obviously under the table, hand near his lap.
But it was Riley’s voice, the syrupy sweetness, that made my dick strain against my pants. She knew exactly what she was doing.
“I’m glad. I hope you find the bastard.” Riley. Riley. Riley. What was I going to do with her?
“I’m sure I will.”
My mother watched them from her end of the table like they were batting a tennis ball back and forth. “Detective Hall, what does your family think of your job?”
Hall shifted her gaze away from Riley to my mother whose spoon was poised, mid-bite.
“I don’t have any family.” She shook her head and Asher’s arm came around her like she needed consolation from her own volunteered statement.
“That must be hard. Knowing no one would miss you if you suddenly disappeared.” Asher’s mouth dropped open. It was the least blatant threat I could’ve made and still impressed my point.
“Roman.” Asher stood, tossing his napkin on the table. “Can I speak to you privately?”
Oh, yeah, he could. And a hell of a conversation it would be. I followed him to the study, closed the doors behind us, then turned. “The fuck do you think you’re doing bringing her here?”
“You told me to fuck her, dick-bag.”
“I believe the conversation was thatIwas going to have to fuck her.”
He shrugged, then grinned. “I took this one for the team, and…” He shook his head. “Whew.” Whatever he saw on my face wiped away his smile. “I’m keeping the enemy close.”
“You fucked her?”
“Jealous?”
He was about thirty seconds from becoming a stain on Mom’s Persian fucking rug. “No, you fucking idiot.”
“Well, I’ve never known you to be scared before. It’s not a good look.” He cocked his head to the side and stared at me. I was going to fucking kill him. One of these days, his fucking antics were going to drive me to it. It would be the easiest case against me because I would hand myself over to the mercy of the Court. And once they heard what a dumbass he was, no fucking way in hell would the jury convict.
“This doesn’t just affect the family, Ash. It’s Scorpio and Riley.” He knew better. Anything that risked the Society was off-limits. And right now, nothing was more dangerous than a detective who thought she knew what she was getting herself into.
“I fucking told you to be careful with Lars.” He shook his head, his scoff louder than his words. “But you know everything. The great Roman Hawthorne listens to no one but his own ridiculous sense of grandiosity.”
“Watch it.”
“You didn’t even want to be a part of the Scorpio Society until your little piece of ass got a lady boner for killing. Now, all the sudden you’re back in the club and sniffing her like a fucking dog in heat.” He spat the words, his anger rising and almost a visible presence in the room.
Every word was more vile than the last. I grabbed him by the front of his T-shirt and slammed him against the wall so one of my mother’s Elvis collector plates crashed to the floor. “You listen to me, you little shit. Watch how you talk about Riley, or I’ll satisfy her lady boner with your dead body. You fucking got it?”
I let him go and stormed out. He could clean up Elvis’s pink Caddie. I needed a minute to calm myself before I went back to dinner. Before I walked in and pretended all was well and I didn’t just threaten to let my woman kill my brother because he was right.
Because I should’ve listened.
I didn’t and now it was too late.
And the cop was in our house where all the family secrets were buried. Literally.
Riley
Ipulled some boxes out of the closet in the bedroom where he’d had my things stored. My dad’s gun had to be in one of them. And I had a feeling before the night was over, I was going to need it. No matter what Roman said.
I tried playing it cool with him, but that bitch had to go. And maybe I needed to distance myself from the Society. Ash was one of them. He knew what I’d done, the risk of bringing her to dinner, but he’d paraded her all around the dinner table. On purpose. Knowing I was the one she was looking for.
