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Striding across the penthouse, I make my way to her side before glancing over the table. “What’s all of this?” I ask, picking up a list filled with names.
“These are all the dead from the explosion,” she says. “Zade put me in charge of putting together a mass funeral for all of our dead, and every day new names keep being added.”
“Shit,” I say with a slight gasp, hating myself for not asking about this. How fucking self-centered could I have been? “They’re still finding bodies?”
“No, Empire works fast. All the bodies were pulled out of the rubble that night, but many of them were left seriously injured,” she says, picking up a slip of paper and showing it to me. “These are all the people who died in the hospital after the fact.”
My gaze scans over the paper, horror blasting through my chest. There must be at least thirty names on this list. “What’s the death toll so far?”
“Eighty-three,” she murmurs, heaviness in her tone.
My eyes widen, my gaze snapping up to meet hers. “That many?”
“Yeah, it was terrible. I don’t know how much you saw, but it was like nothing I’ve ever seen. The screaming . . . I’ll never forget it.”
“I mean, I know I’m not the best at this kind of stuff, but if you need any help with this . . .”
“Thanks,” she says with a sad smile. “I appreciate that, but no. I need to do it myself. This happened during my initiation ball, and the task has been handed to me directly by the future leader of my people. It’s my burden to bear and mine alone.”
I nod, not wanting to argue. “No problem,” I say, scanning over the images in the center of the table and seeing the remains of what was once an incredible ballroom, now covered in blood and rubble. “Do they know who is responsible for this?”
“Not as far as I’m aware,” she tells me. “But there are plenty of theories going around, none of which seem to be plausible.”
Damn. “And when they do figure it out?”
“They’ll be punished to the full extent of our law,” a deep tone says across the room.
I glance back to find Sawyer striding toward us, Venom curled around his wrist, and just when I go to ask why the hell he has her, Easton comes barging through the living room, tearing cushions off the couch and looking beneath them.
“Looking for something?” Sawyer questions, glaring at Easton, clearly not happy with whatever is going down right now.
Easton’s head snaps up, and that dark, stormy gaze zones in on his precious snake. He lets out a breath of relief before crossing to Sawyer and taking Venom out of his hand. “Why the fuck do you have her?”
“I think the better question is why the fuck aren’t you keeping a better eye on your snake? I woke up to her in my fucking bed,” he says. “I thought it was Oakley’s hand trailing down to my junk. Turns out it was your goddamn snake.”
I laugh, walking across to Sawyer and pressing my hand to his bare chest, my fingers trailing down his abs. Pushing up onto my tiptoes, I press my lips to his. “Who would have known that snake was such a pervert?” I murmur as Easton puts Venom back in her enclosure. “But don’t you worry, I can pick up where she left off.”
“Suck his cock on your own time,” Zade says, making his presence known across the room. “We’re doing recon today. Go get dressed.”
“Recon for what?” I ask, stepping out of Sawyer’s arms before I get carried away.
“It’s time for a family reunion,” Zade says just as Dalton walks out of his room, dragging his hand over his face as though he only just woke up. “We’re paying a visit to my mom.”
Dalton sighs and spins on his heel, walking straight back into his room. “Ahh fuck,” he mutters. “And here I thought I was gonna shoot some hoops and spend the day buried in my girl.”
Chapter 12
OAKLEY
The drive across town and out into the countryside is silent. I sit squished between Sawyer and Dalton like the most delicious sandwich I’ve ever had, Dalton’s hand on my thigh while Sawyer’s arm is draped over my shoulder, pulling me into his side.
What should have been an almost three-hour drive is done in a little over two, and I do what I can to not shake my head at Zade’s driving. There’s no doubt about it, he’s an amazing driver and can pull off maneuvers I could only dream about, but he also has a lead foot and doesn’t understand the meaning of slowing down. Considering this is Zade DeVil, I wouldn’t expect anything else.
The countryside is beautiful, and I stare at it all in wonder. I’ve always loved being a city girl and living close to anywhere that offers UberEats, but I can see the allure that living out here would have. The safety it could offer someone like me would be mind blowing. Hell, just the thought of being able to go to sleep at night without fearing for my life is reason enough to move out of the city. I could have a whole security system out here, live up on a big hill and be able to see someone coming from miles away. But then . . . UberEats definitely wouldn’t deliver.
