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His eyes went wide. “You did what?” Little brother was displeased.
“I had the chief call her off. That bitch was about to take the whole damned operation down.” I fake-chuckled now. “Didn’t want you to get your dick sliced off in the mayhem.”
“The fuck are you talking about?”
“She’s playing you to get close to the Society. You can’t honestly tell me you believe she’s fucking you because she fell for your charms.” Other women had, but Hall wasn’t the typical chick Ash dated. She had an air of superiority about her, a look in her eyes that said she was better than anyone and everyone else and would never lower herself to want to fuck a criminal.
“Fuck you, Roman. The whole world doesn’t revolve around you and what you fucking think.” His tone iced over. “None of this shit would’ve started if you hadn’t let your piece of the month kill Lars.” He said this like he hadn’t been part of it. Like he hadn’t been there to clean up the fucking mess. Like he hadn’t put the bastard in the basement. Did Hall fuck all sense out of him, too?
He cocked his head, daring me to answer. And God help me, but I walked around the desk and yanked his T-shirt up, checking for a wire.
“What the fuck, Roman?” He shook his head and jerked the shirt down. “You think I’m wired? That I would do that to you?”
“You’re fucking a cop, Ash. And you come in here talking about the things that we don’t fucking talk about.”First rule of fight club…
“You’re getting paranoid, dick.” But I’d ripped his shirt, and he stripped out of it, went to my inner-office closet and pulled out a black Armani button-down. “And I’m keeping this.” He buttoned the shirt and tucked it in before he looked at me again. “You know, I’m almost sorry I have to end things with Katt. I’ve never seen you so ruffled.” He shook his head. “Maybe I’ll keep putting it to her. I like watching you squirm.”
“You’re her puppet, her dancing fool on a string.” He needed to realize it. I was only too happy to help with that. But his eyes flashed, and his lips tightened to a stern line of anger.
“You’re paranoid as hell and it’s making you look bad.” His voice was barbed, angry. “I never would’ve started fucking her at all if you hadn’t said it.”
We could argue the point all day and get nowhere. “Well, you’re done now.”
“I like the sounds she makes when I’m fucking her, and the way she wears her gun…” He shook his head, smiling. Then the smile faded into a scowl. “And who the fuck are you to tell me to stop?”
Jesus. It was like he’d fallen in love. He needed to get his head out of her pussy. “I’m the fucking guy who won’t think twice about putting a bullet between her pretty blue eyes.” I grinned but it was for show. “I’m the fucking guy who isn’t going to let anyone build a case against me personally or the club. I’m also the fucking guy who isn’t going to let the chick you’re putting it to come between the family or go after the Society.”
“But by all means, let’s bow to the chick you’re putting it to while you hold her up on her pedestal.” The tone of his anger was like a razor against my skin, slicing, dicing. And he was dangerously close to becoming a little splotch of blood where my brother used to be.
“Don’t fucking talk about Riley that way.” I stood again, walked around the desk and sat on the edge, arms crossed to keep from killing my younger brother. “This isn’t about her. This is about keeping the Society safe, the family.” I pointed a finger at him. “Put your cock back in your pants and let’s try to stay out of prison.”
Ash chuckled like I wasn’t about to wring his neck. “Oh, simmer down, Roman. We’ll see.” He turned to the door. “I’m going to go book the guy you’ll be fighting next week.” He whistled as he walked out.
Asher was the reason, at twenty-five, that I had heartburn. My little brother might’ve been more diabolical than I’d ever given him credit for. He might’ve actually been trying to kill me. Slowly.
Roman
“Tell me about him again.” I stared at Asher who’d watched this guy fight like this guy was some fucking kind of fighting deity, like every person waiting to see him fight should bow to his greatness.
I didn’t care. It was driving my odds through the roof. There was money to be made tonight and my people were going to make it.
“He’s weaker on the right side.” This big brute was a lefty, but he was lethal with either hand, so weaker meant shit. “Watch the knee. Ivarrson put his last two opponents in the hospital with a knee to the face.”
I wasn’t either of those opponents. I was the guy who was going to show Ivarrson that all his earlier fights were nothing more than a build-up to this moment, to the time he stepped into the ring with someone who knew how to fight, knew how to take a punch, and how to give one. I was going to humiliate Bjorn Ivarrson and send him right back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of.
“More.” I’d heard it all. Read the prospect reports, watched the fight films. He had three strong moves, none of which scared me, none of which were the one that would take me down.
“He’s going to go for the sweep early.”
Ivarrson liked to fight from the mat. We hadn’t come up with much on a background, but if I had to guess, he had a shelf full of wrestling trophies in some trailer park up north.
Quickest way to lose a fight, was to lose focus, and I couldn’t even get focused until I knew where Riley was. She’d already missed our pre-fight dinner. “Is she here yet?”
Ash looked out the door to the hallway, closed it, then shook his head. “No.”
Riley had a spot at the edge of the ring, but at the end of the hallway. In my most recent fights, as I stepped into the ring, she dragged her hand over my skin. After the fight, when we were alone in the locker room, the sex was fueled by power—mine over her and hers over me. Intense. Alive. Hot. There was nothing quite like Riley after a fight. This was our night.
But right now, her absence was the reason I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t stop imagining the worst. Couldn’t stop thinking she should be here.
