Page 43 of Raise Hell

Nine

I’ve always pridedmyself on not losing control.

No matter how bad things get, nothing has ever been enough to push me over the edge. I smile on the outside when all I feel is rage on the inside. I pretend to belong here when I’d rather be anywhere else.

I play the game even when it all seems pointless.

That was how I fought my way to the top of Havoc House. I’m always thinking five steps ahead of everyone else. They let their emotions get the best of them when I pride myself on not having any. Nothing gets under my skin.

Until Olivia Pratt came back.

No one else has been able to rouse this many different emotions in me.

Anger. Lust. Hate. Obsession.

I want to choke her into unconsciousness.

And I want to fuck her hard enough that she forgets her own name.

If I don’t find an outlet for it all soon, something terrible is going to happen. I’ll either end up screwing her into submission or murdering her with my bare hands.

Now she is here in Havoc House, the one place I should be able to avoid her.

My jaw aches from how hard my teeth are clenched, but I keep my voice even.

“What the fuck are you doing here?”

She stares up at me with wide and guileless eyes that are so blue they look like glass marbles reflecting sunlight. “Looking for a clean bathroom. The one downstairs should be marked with biohazard signs.”

Liar. “Don’t make me ask you again.”

“Or what?” She raises her eyebrows in challenge. “You planning to torture me until I tell you what you want to hear?”

“Don’t tempt me.” The thought is enough to get me hard. Torture has never been foreplay in my mind before, but I’m willing to make an exception for her. Her hands are empty, and there isn’t much she could hide in that tiny purse in her hand. “Give me that.”

Olivia pulls the bag out of my reach. “Fuck off.”

Instead of asking again, I lunge forward and wrench the purse out of her hand. She tries to fight me off, but she might as well beat on a brick wall. I hold her back with one hand while I use the other to dump the contents of her purse out on an end table. She screeches like a cat when a lipstick rolls under the table and disappears.

I’m disappointed to find there isn’t anything more interesting in her purse than a condom so old I’m probably doing her a favor when I toss it away.

Something about this chick has me shook.

“How did you get in here?” I ask, though I already know the answer. One of the pledges is manning the door. These young guys still haven’t learned that you can’t trust a girl who smiles at you for no reason.

Kid will spend the rest of his life being led around by pussy if he isn’t careful.

“Walked in the front door. Isn’t that usually how it works?”

I resist the urge to shake her until her teeth clack when I grab her arm and shove her toward the stairs. “Then you can use that same door to walk the fuck back out. Or I can send you flying out the nearest window.”

Olivia stiffens at my words, but I doubt it’s because she thinks I’ll actually make good on the threat.

She twists her arm out of my grasp, rushing toward the stairs. “Fine, you neanderthal. Just let me grab Felicia, and then I’ll be on my way.”

My hands itch with the intense desire to choke the life from her. I force myself to keep my voice low and controlled, because if I let myself get truly angry there is no telling what I’ll do.

“You brought my sister here?”

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