Page 123 of Tempting Fate

Happy as a pig in mud.

Revelling in his victory.

However, short-lived I intend to make it.

In truth, the sight of Brutus makes me sick. I want to rip his heart out and feed it to the dogs that run the perimeter of our yard. The desire to kill him is topped only by the war I’m waging with the empty space that’s taken up residence in my chest since Lily was bundled out of the compound by her suddenly doting father and deposited at some secret safe house Brutus owns in the hills. If Toker wasn’t acting as a double agent and hadn’t already provided the address to us, I’d be out of my mind with worry.

As it is, I’m still barely holding on.

Hence Slash’s warning to put my game face into play.

I groan when Honey staggers over to us on her plastic, stacked heels.

Slash chuckles. “Careful, I’ve heard she’s lookin’ to take a bite outta you.”

“Venom.” Honey twirls her fingers in my general direction. “Wanna dance?”

“Fuck no.”

Realising that she’s off her head, pupils reduced to pinpricks while the muscle in her jaw works overtime, I lean closer to scrutinise her. Since I wasn’t a choirboy back in the day, I can tell she’s had a lick of meth… or something similar.

Her open use sits wrong.

Hard drugs are banned within the compound.

Why would she be high at a club party when nothing’s been taken to a vote yet?

“You can just sit there and let me ride you. I’m happy either way.”

“Is she talkin’ to me?” I pose my question to Slash.

“’Fraid so, brother.”

Despite being an old lady, Honey hasn’t been exactly subtle about wanting me. Up until now, she’s refrained from coming on to me this blatantly. No doubt that’s because she knew Lily would kick her arse if she crossed that line. Probably also helped that I’ve avoided these kinds of parties like the plague for the past nine years.

I had my fill of easy pussy years ago, and it doesn’t hold a candle to burying myself deep inside the woman I love. Making love is on a whole different level to fucking any available warm hole because you’re too lazy to wank yourself.

Of course, thinking about Lily has me moving on my seat to hide the semi I’m sporting. Unfortunately, Honey takes my squirming as her cue to drop into my lap and wrap her arms around my neck. I’m facedown in her artificial cleavage a second later.

I guess my “breakup” put an end to Honey’s instinct for self-preservation.

“What the fuck?” I jerk to my feet, and she tumbles to the floor. “I didn’t say you could touch me.”

When I stalk off, Slash chases me down. He catches me by the arm to stop me from slamming my bedroom door shut in his face. Tense as fuck, and not completely turned off by the idea of a good punch up, I pull him inside my room and get up in his face.

“Back the fuck off.”

“Sure.”

He pushes me away from him like I smell, and I trip on a broken lamp I haven’t bothered to pick up since I trashed the bedroom. Tidying up seemed pointless without Lily around to curse me out for my messiness. I’ve slept on the floor every night since she left with her pillow pressed to my face. It’s rapidly losing her scent, yet I can’t bring myself to stop.

I miss her.

“Guess we’ll stay stuck in this no-man’s-land,” Slash drawls with more than a little snark. “Little Cherub can stay locked away, and we can keep holdin’ our dicks in our hands while every opportunity to save our club passes us by.”

“What are you tryna say?”

Slash backs away from me to lean against the opposite wall. “I’m tellin’ you that you’re fuckin’ this up—for all of us.” He sighs. “Look, I know it wasn’t supposed to be like this, but Joker and Bear were watchin’ you with Honey. So was Brutus. Think they’re testin’ you… tryin’ to see how serious you are about embracin’ the single life.”

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