Chapter 26: Tyrone

26

TYRONE

I crossed the gap between us, my heart pounding with a ferocity that surprised me, my blood roaring in my ears. The need to feel her body after beating Angelo senseless became a calling I couldn't resist. I kissed her, unable to understand why I sought to claim her in this moment after the murder of a rival mafia head. Was it the sense of power and justice filling me? Fueling me to take what was mine?

Of course she had to look at me like that, a hint of pride and relief in those depths. She was proud of the atrocity I'd just carried out? Of how I'd gifted my brother the final nail in the coffin of this wretched man? She wasn't afraid of what we'd done or distraught over Angelo's death. No, I had a sneaking suspicion she was more than that. Darker than that. She wanted to pretend she was normal, but I could see the truth now. She was as dark and chaotic as we were, wicked to the core.

She'd swum through the darkness of this world, and she was not about to be broken by it .

I had no idea why I felt this way, but I succumbed to the need within me, unable to fight it. Her lips were a fiery contrast to the cold brutality that had just unfolded, and they parted for me with an eagerness that sent a jolt straight through to my core.

Cristian was there too, his face a grotesque canvas of someone else's blood. It should have terrified her, but instead, she was caught between us, her body a battleground for our desires.

Cristian's lips were on her neck, his hands deftly peeling away the layers of her clothing like a man starved. I couldn't resist any longer; I needed to claim her, to make her understand she was ours—irrevocably, undeniably ours.

I picked her up, the world around us a blur as I moved to the hood of the car. It was cold and unyielding, a stark contrast to the warmth of her skin as I pressed her against it. My lips found hers again, the kiss wild and untamed, fueled by the rush of adrenaline coursing through my veins. My hands, usually so precise, fumbled with my own clothing, eager to bridge the gap between us.

I don't know when it happened, when she became the center of my universe, but in that moment, as I entered her, nothing else mattered. The warehouse, the body cooling behind us, the empire we'd built—it all faded away. It was just the two of us, locked in this moment. I fucked her senseless there, with an intensity that bordered on madness, on the hood of that car, with the echoes of violence still hanging in the air.

"That's right, baby, you take this cock," I growled as I gripped Scarlet's hips bruisingly, driving into her ruthlessly. She gasped and clawed at my shoulders, but I didn't relent.

Her gaze skittered around, from Angelo's body, to my brothers, then back to my face. She looked torn and confused, but she didn't fight me in this moment, as if she knew how badly I needed her, to feel her body, to plunge inside her.

"You. Are. Mine." Each word was a declaration, emphasized by deep thrusts inside her, jerking her on the hood. I kissed her neck, sucking on her sweet skin to leave my mark.

"Tyrone." My name was a whisper on her lips, but it was the last push I needed. I drove into her without restraint, our hips slamming together with force as she whimpered and clung to me.

And when I finally came, my body sated and my breaths coming in ragged gasps, Cristian was there, waiting for his turn. I pulled out of Scarlet, her own chest rising and falling, her legs trembling. Cristian took my place, his hand circling her throat and pinning her back on the hood as he buried himself inside her.

He was rougher, his need a fierce fire that consumed everything in its path. He bit her, his teeth marking her flesh as he claimed her with a ferocity that was both terrifying and mesmerizing. She cried out, her back arching off the cold metal, her body surrendering to his demands.

"Draw blood, kitten," he snarled, and Scarlet obeyed as I straightened myself. I watched as her nails pierced his flesh, drawing bloody lines on his back, Cristian's wild desire becoming feral as he slammed into her with enough force to rock the car.

"Mine, always mine," he roared as Scarlet cried out, her beautiful face contorting into bliss as the pair of them shuddered with their shared climax. The air was charged with something indescribable, a lust and need that defied everything. Cristian kissed her forehead before he eased out of her, and she remained on the hood, drawing in desperate gasps of air.

Julian was the last, his touch softer but no less claiming. He took his time with her, as if he understood she needed something sweeter now, something less monstrous, a touch that was human. He worshiped her body with a tenderness that seemed out of place in our world of brutality and bloodshed.

Cristian and I watched on as Julian used his hands alongside his length to bring her to her final finish, holding her close and swallowing her cries in a tender kiss. He unloaded himself inside her, stroking her hair as he finally withdrew. Scarlet was now seated on the hood, and Julian kissed her cheek, letting her rest her chin on his shoulder as she tiredly looked at Cristian and I. She looked perfect like that, fucked into exhaustion, resting on my brother as he ran his hands down her back.

As I looked at my brothers, at the woman we shared, I knew that we would willingly walk through the flames if it meant keeping her with us.

How had such a witty, wicked little thing wrapped us around her finger? After my efforts to remain logical and keep her at arm's length, I'd sunk under the waves, allowing her to draw me in.

When it was over, I was the one to load her into the car, wrapping my jacket around her shoulders, her visible skin littered with our brandings. I called for my men to clean up the mess we'd left behind, my voice steady despite the uncertainty tilting in my mind.

Why had I wanted her so badly at that moment?

I hadn't just wanted her. I'd needed her.

As we drove home in silence, the city lights casting long shadows across our faces, I found myself sneaking glances at our little Scarlet. She was now stained with the same darkness that clung to our souls. Then again, she'd carried it long before she'd come into our home, into our beds .

I watched her, curled up against Julian in the back seat, holding Kenny close, her eyes closed and her breaths steady. I knew that I was in deep. Deeper than I'd ever been with anyone. It was a terrifying realization, one that could potentially unravel the careful control I'd always prided myself on.

But in that moment, I didn't care. All I cared about was the woman who had defiance in her eyes even as she fell to her knees before me, of the strange, twisted bond that was forming between us.

We arrived back at the apartment, and I carried her inside, surprised that she hadn't protested when I'd swept her into my arms. She'd just held onto me, her jaw tight, her gaze on her hands. Blood marred her delicate skin, blood that didn't belong to her. We'd gotten Angelo's blood on her in our desperate need to have her, and a glimmer of guilt ignited deep inside me, but I banished it away. She was a part of our cruel, filthy world, whether she liked it or not. There was no hiding it, cleansing it, shielding her from it. She'd been through the darkest pits of it herself. And yet, she still looked so gentle and soft in my arms, her brow slightly furrowed as we rode the elevator. My brothers had stepped closer, using their bodies to shield her still bare body, although my arms covered her fairly well, along with my jacket wrapped around her.

When the doors dinged, I carried her upstairs to my room and set her on the bed. She stared down at her hands still, and I noticed the flecks of blood on them.

Cristian and Julian had followed us, silent as they stood behind me.

I stood there for a moment, just watching her. Then, with a sigh, I turned to leave, my mind already racing with the tasks that lay ahead. There would be repercussions for what we'd done tonight, consequences that I would have to handle with the same cold calculation that had kept me alive this long.

"Julian, take care of her. Cristian, come with me," I said, pausing for a moment by Cristian, a few flecks of blood still on his face despite him having wiped it down in the car.

He nodded and followed after me without a word, and the unease within me only grew.

We were falling deeper and deeper into this risky pit, and I couldn't stop myself or my brothers.

Then again, I didn't really want to.