Page 48 of Princes of Carnage

I get up and drag myself to the bathroom, taking stock of my appearance. My hair is still a mess, and there are dark circles under my eyes from the rough night of sleep.

When I take off my sleep shorts and t-shirt, I can see the slight bruises in the shape of Nico’s fingers from last night on my chest and my thighs, as well as a mark in the shape of his teeth from where he bit me.

I look wrecked in addition to tired as hell. But I don’t have the luxury of lying around all day, trying to get some energy back. So I turn the shower on, letting the cold water run before getting in, hoping the icy spray will shock me more awake.

Today is not the day to look exhausted and worn down. Or well fucked. Today, we have a meeting with both of our gangs, to start truly unifying them under one alliance. I have to look well-rested and in control, so my people will have faith in this plan. And in me.

I don’t know how the Carnage members will take it or what Nico and his people might have already told them about all of this. I do know that my crew are already uneasy about the whole thing. Emmett has made his displeasure known, and the rest of them aren’t much happier. None of them have any reason to trust Carnage or their leaders.

The fact that I’m also uneasy about it won’t help anything, so if this is going to work, I need to go in looking confident and sure of my choice. Or everything will fall apart and all of this will have been for nothing.

Once I’m clean and dry, I wrap a towel around myself and leave the bathroom, feeling more put together and centered than I did when I went into it.

As soon as I step into the hallway, though, I run into Atlas. I stiffen as we nearly collide, both of us coming up short just in time to keep our bodies from touching. I arch a brow at him, trying not to think about last night and the way he and Killian saw me, or the fact that they clearly know what Nico and I did.

Atlas has his usual scowl for me on his face, and he barely glances at me as he starts to step around me.

“Morning, vicious,” he mutters. Then he stops, looking me up and down. “You might want to do something about that.” He points to one of the bite marks on my neck. “Maybe cover it up before the meeting, unless you want everyone in both of our crews to know what you got up to last night.”

I scowl back at him, annoyed. “And you might want to mind your own fucking business,” I snap back.

His expression hardens, the amber in his eyes flashing like fire. “As long as we’re here, everything that happens under this roof is my business. Every. Fucking. Thing.”

He moves around me, knocking his shoulder into mine as he passes, then heads for the stairs at the end of the hall. I stare after him for a second, wondering why he seems to hate me even more than Nico does. Maybe more than Killian does too, although I honestly can’t guess what Killian thinks about this whole situation at all.

Shaking it off, I head to my room to throw on some clothes, then meet the Princes downstairs. It still feels fucking weird to have them in my house, and I’m on edge and bothered by it. I don’t want them in my space. But there they are, waiting for me, looking relaxed and comfortable, like they’re right where they’re supposed to be.

Nico and Atlas are in conversation, and Killian stands beside them, listening silently.

I have a sudden vivid memory of Killian standing in the doorway of Nico’s room last night, watching as Nico ate me out. He was gone when I looked back after the orgasm finally worked its way through my system, but I swear I wasn’t imagining it. He was there.

I’m half tempted to call him out for watching us like some kind of voyeur, but I really don’t want to talk about last night at all. I’d rather bury that under the rug where it belongs and pretend it never happened.

As if he can tell what I’m thinking of, Killian’s gaze suddenly darts over to land on me. Predictably, he doesn’t say anything, but there’s something in his eyes that makes my skin heat inexplicably.

As soon I step fully into the living room, Nico looks over at me too. There’s a hungry look on his face, and for a split second, I almost think he might try to kiss me. The thought of it makes me go tense. It’s one thing to fuck him in the dead of night, and I still have conflicting feelings about whether that was a good idea or not, but it’s a whole other thing for him to kiss me in broad daylight, as if we’re actually a couple or something.

I’d grab a knife from the butcher block and stab him again if he tried.

Luckily, he doesn’t. He doesn’t even come closer to me, although his gaze drops to the mark on my neck. I covered it with makeup after I got dressed, pissed at Atlas for bringing it up, but somehow Nico still seems to know it’s there.

How the hell does he know? Did he memorize every fucking place he marked me last night?

“How did you sleep?” he asks.

“Don’t start with me.”

A chuckle rumbles in his chest. “Can’t a husband ask his wife if she slept well?”

“Hard to sleep when I had to keep one eye open all night to make sure you and your ‘brothers’ didn’t try anything.” I jerk my chin at Atlas and Killian.

Nico snorts. “I think we both know who tried something last night.”

I wonder how much, if anything, he’s told the other two about how last night started. They clearly know the aftermath, but if they feel any kind of way about me showing up in their leader’s room last night with a knife, they don’t say anything about it. Maybe they don’t actually know that part.

“We need to head out,” I say, steering the conversation away from last night before one of them can ask. “We’re going to be late.”

I lead the way out of the house and start to head for my car. Nico puts a hand on my shoulder, trying to steer me toward his bike, and I jerk away from him.

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