Chapter Five

E XHAUSTED FROM OUR warehouse raid earlier, diving into the ether to research what we discovered, and then working a long shift at the garage, I glare at the asshole in front of me. He’s testing my limits thanks to his invitation to the comatose girl on the couch behind him. “I’m taking her. So, make an excuse,” I grit out. “I need to scope the house.”

“I’ll get to it,” Sean assures.

“You were in her pool hours ago and got exactly shit . You’ve milked this already within the last two days, both of which you saw fit to put her directly in my fucking path.”

“I’m not trying to piss you off,” he swears.

“You’re failing. I swear to God, Sean. If you make this about your dick—”

“I’m not,” he snaps back, giving me an irritated jerk of his chin. “It’s not like that.” He glances back over his shoulder where Cecelia is still passed out due to taking a few hits of my blunt during our exchange in the lobby.

“It’s just...” he turns back to me, “she’s been questioning everything since minute one. She’s young, sure. But she’s not an empty head. From what I’ve gathered, she’s no more a fan of Roman than we are. I think there’s potential you can’t see because you’re too fucking pissed off to try and glimpse it.” He exhales smoke too close to my face, and I knock the lit cigarette out of his hand.

Lit ashes scatter down his arm and jeans as he bats it off. “The fuck, man! Who the fuck are you right now?”

“I’m the guy you’re currently fucking to get into her panties .”

“Yeah, seeing as how you’re becoming more unrecognizable to me by the day, and we have to handle this just so. You sure I’m the one in the way?”

He doesn’t bother hiding the doubt in his expression as he continues. “I get why you’re pissed, but the brother I know would never let someone this volatile near this situation. So, you tell me, should I trust you to handle this for all of us? Because from what I’ve witnessed, you scare the shit out of her already.”

From what I’ve gathered, she seems mature for her age. Too fucking young to know better, but brave enough to cross borders to start to learn her lessons. She all but admitted during our back and forth earlier that she’s using us, this situation, as an experiment for her own amusement to piss her father off or test herself. Probably both.

Because knowing your enemy is the most important rule in the book. Unlike Sean, I took the time to understand her typical behavior pattern. Holing up in a garage with a bunch of tatted mechanics getting stoned? Not on her resume. She even went so far as to call me “Frenchman,” which means she’s already been warned by someone who couldn’t spot my brother in a fucking two-person lineup.

Even when I full-out warned her that being here wasn’t in her best interest, she didn’t pause before leaping over the line I drew, entering the garage, and making herself at home amongst us with Sean’s encouragement.

So, while she might be asking the right questions for answers she’ll never uncover on her own, this seems more a classic case of a good girl wanting to go bad or, at least, make bad decisions.

That’s where I come in.

I don’t scare her. I intrigue her.

My blatant disgust with her invasion of my life and space only draws more curiosity, which I will use to my advantage as soon as I can swat her new bodyguard away.

Shifting my focus back to Sean, I stare past his bullshit reasoning—the image of his fingers curling around her earlier in a slight hint of possession fresh in my mind. “Do I even need to say it?”

The flick of his Zippo is the only answer I get for a few seconds until he lifts eyes full of contempt. “Yeah, Dom, maybe you better.”

“You willing to fuck us all over for her?”

“Yeah, I’m in love,” he spouts dryly.

“You’re fucking something .”

“Maybe I am. Because she’s got real heart, seems pure of soul, and has a fucking brain. We both know she’s innocent in this,” he emphasizes, “I guess keeping that in consideration makes me a real fucking monster .”

“I’m driving her. Figure it out. I’m not asking.”

He swallows the fact that I just pulled rank for the first time in our relationship and I discard any worry about what it means for us. He steps back and gives me a slight dip of his chin before stalking over to Cecelia to caress her awake. It’s then I know who’s in real danger, and it’s not Cecelia fucking Horner.

Speakers bleeding with “Bundy” to drown out the possibility of conversation, I can’t ignore Cecelia’s fear-filled screech as it morphs into high-pitched laughter while I race toward Roman’s estate. Even with my agitation prominent, I fail to fight off the threat of a smile, knowing she’s high off this. Palms on my dash, hair flying around the cabin due to the open windows, I ignore the weight of her stare while she analyzes me as she has all night. A few of the lingering gazes between us I incited earlier as I licked my blunt wrap like I lick pussy. She attempted to engage me a couple of times before and since, which I would find more irritating if I didn’t need that attention to hook her without niceties.

Unlike Sean, I am dedicated to playing my part.

But...I don’t deny or lie to myself about the attraction that hums when she leans over to punch in her father’s gate code as Tyler pulls up behind us. Despite her attempt not to touch me, her silky hair drags along my forearm as I get a good whiff of whatever she’s sprayed on beneath her uniform.

My eyes drink in her profile for the few seconds she crowds my space. Tragically beautiful.

Even if I’ve surprised myself by being able to appreciate the look of her—unlike Sean—I have a talent for ignoring it since I got my first hard-on and have learned to make good use of it.

Shrugging off the allure of the bait that currently has Sean’s balls in a vice grip, I slowly roll up the drive, scanning the surroundings and taking notes.

Though I’ve seen Roman’s fortress from every angle and memorized the fucking blueprints before they hammered the first nail in, this is my first up-close look.

My suspicions are confirmed as I pull up. It’s the distance from any cover to the house that makes getting it wired impossible without detection. Any attempt to do so would trigger an investigation on Roman’s part to find out who and why. Something he’s proficient in doing and doing well. Right now, he’s aware of every one of his earned opponents... save us .

We know this due to years of successful surveillance. Like us, Roman pays those who do his dirty work well enough to keep his secrets.

This house has never been a hot spot for activity until now—and we need in.

She’s the way.

Pulling through the circular drive to the foot of the stairs, I finally flit my attention her way.

“I don’t know whether to slap you or thank you,” she says, deep-blue gaze rolling over me.

“You loved it,” I counter before turning back toward the house. It’s impressive enough, but in my mind, this is the place where my enemy currently dwells...sleeping mere feet away. The closest any raven has gotten in nearly a decade.

With the Glock resting in my glove box, I could end this long game point-blank while simultaneously gaining the freedom to unleash on the monsters who’ve taken residence in my mind. But inside the house in front of me resides a monster who stole my childhood by plotting my parents’ deaths for seeing him beneath his carefully placed veil. Who covered up their murders and brushed their children away like debris with a payoff. The same sort of payoff he seems to be offering his own child for arduous and unnecessary labor.

What could Cecelia possibly fucking mean to him if he’s so willing to let her work in that factory after ignoring her for years?

Nothing. She can’t mean anything to him. She may be another victim of his ruthless fucking mind as well.

Studying the house, I swallow the fact that my parents’ expectations were probably so low that their humble ambitions had them living in a home only a fraction of this size. At this point, my brother and I could buy this mansion hundreds of times over without losing an ounce of sleep. Tobias put us in the position to make it possible. If he hadn’t taken the risks he has—and is still taking in France—where the fuck would we be?

Light years behind where we are now. And still, neither of us has a real place we call home to this day.

In the few seconds that pass with these thoughts, I can feel Cecelia’s slight hesitation to exit my car, as if she can sense what I’m feeling.

She knows.

Ignoring the second time the whisper crosses my psyche in the last twenty-four hours, I catch her eyes back on me after she exits the car and thanks Tyler. In the brief exchange, remorse again threatens, this time twice as strong as the rest of my known facts about Cecelia flit in.

Like me, she was neglected and sometimes left to fend for herself due to her mother’s indulgent taste for variety in bed and bouts with alcoholism. Like me, Cecelia was also stuck raising an adult. A commonality that has me breaking our connection as Tyler bids her a saccharine-filled goodnight.

Even he’s not immune to her.

The ink loses again.

And fuck both Sean and Tyler for it.

The ink exists because of her father.

Fuck them both for forgetting it.

I’m sure as hell not going to.

Tipping point approaching, I jerk my chin to Tyler. The second he closes his passenger door, I press the gas, fury boiling through me as I catch sight of Cecelia in the rearview, staring, still fucking staring.

“Easy, man,” Tyler says as if he’s speaking to a rabid canine. “I get that you’re pissed off.”

“You get nothing,” I snap, taking the hard right onto the main road. “What’s pathetic is you and Sean both think you have a personal stake in this, but right now, I’m paying the price because, in truth, you fucking don’t .”

“That’s not fair, man, and fuck you for saying it. You know—”

“Do yourself a favor and save your speech.”

In my peripheral, I see him tense in his seat as I start to drive like I fuck.

“Damnit, Dom, you’re not the only one in the fucking car!”

He continues as I floor the gas while he tries to reason with me.

“I know she wasn’t part of the plan, and you’ve been put in a fucked-up position, but this isn’t the way to handle it.”

He’s reaching, and he knows it. Because of Sean, I’m being forced to entertain the daughter of the man who fucking murdered my parents for knowing he was a thief. Pulling back up to the garage, I brake hard, skidding my Camaro to a stop as the gravel kicks back on the body. With a glance toward the building, what’s been festering since the moment I laid eyes on Cecelia starts to overflow. Tyler challenges me on that front as I turn to him in a state of rage. “You’re going to make me say it?”

“You’re too fucking smart for this, Dom.”

“It’s apparent you’re not,” I clip. “Get the fuck out.”

“I’m not leaving you like this. Just park, hand me the keys, and talk to me.”

“I’m not asking.”

“He didn’t know, Dom.”

“What the fuck is going on?” Sean sounds from behind Tyler, alarm in his tone, no doubt for her .

Glancing over Tyler’s shoulder, I lock eyes with the person closest to me and see red. If I don’t leave right fucking now, the damage may be irreparable between us. Sean seems to glimpse it in my expression when Tyler finally exits my car. Sean starts at a dead run, calling my name as I race out of the parking lot.

In the next minute, I go black. It’s only when I lose control of the wheel—spinning out in the middle of the road—that I come to, taking control enough to pull over. Stumbling out the driver’s door, I find myself in a freshly cropped field as my chest heaves. Staring up at the starless sky above, I pinpoint what set me off.

Sympathizing with my enemy’s daughter.

I might have demanded to take her home tonight to further our progress, but Sean brought her in. This has forced me to recognize her as something other than a target.

Seconds or minutes later, I hear the approach and repeat of his Nova and turn in time to see him exit, headlights illuminating him as he reaches back and fists off his shirt.

As he stalks toward me, expression grim, I catch the resignation in his eyes.

He fucking knew and ignored it.

“Body shots only,” he clips, just as I throw everything into my first swing.