Page 119 of Shadows in Bloom

Saint gave it some thought, then shrugged and waved toward Nikita. “That one, obviously. He’s got pretty hair. This one,” he eyed Oran blankly, “is boring.”

Oran had their father’s natural dark brown hair.

Nikita had always thought it was a nicer color than his own, so hearing otherwise was weirdly uplifting.

“Why? Who are they?” Saint asked.

“They’re brothers,” Ledger said, and Saint made a sound as if suddenly all of the pieces made sense.

“I get it now. Brothers have always been your soft spot. What’d this one do?” He pointed to Oran. “Don’t tell me he’s the one who fucked up Sherbert's face like that?”

Nikita blinked. “Me?”

“Don’t give him a nickname,” Ledger snapped. “Mind your own boyfriend.”

“I was,” Saint said. “What do you think I was doing before you called me here?”

“You two are…” Oran either couldn’t finish his sentence because it was too impossible for him to fathom, or because he literally couldn’t with Ledger’s foot still pressing against his windpipe. Either way, his gaze swept over to Nikita and held, hardening some before Ledger noticed and shook him with applied pressure.

“Dating,” Ledger said. “He and I are dating, which means he’s mine. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors about what happens to people who fuck with my things.” He didn’t give Oran the chance to reply. “Break his fingers.”

It was unclear to Nikita who he was talking to, but Saint stood with a flourish and clicked his tongue.

“Not your bitch,” he told Ledger, “But all right.”

They were serious…

“Wait!” Nikita was at Ledger’s side in a heartbeat, latching onto his arm, tugging him away until he was no longer standing over his brother.

As soon as he was free, Oran scuttled away, moving until his back hit the coffee table and it jostled.

Madden pulled a blaster out of his pocket and leaned forward, pressing the barrel of the gun to the back of Oran’s skull. “I don’t recall anyone telling you it was okay for you to move. Just for that, I’ll be adding an extra five thousand coin to your debt.”

“But—”

“Keep talking,” he said, “I’ll add another thousand for every word.”

“Believe it or not,” Ledger told Nikita, “Madden runs a fair illegal business.”

“I hate liars,” Madden replied matter-of-factly. “If you don’t have the funds to bet, don’t fucking do it. It’s not that hard of a concept.”

“It’s especially disgusting when you drag your family into it,” Ledger added. “Those debts are yours, so you’ll be dealing with them from now on. As for the rest, if I find out you’ve so much as breathed in the same room as Niki, I’ll find you and take more than two fingers. He hasn’t told me everything, yet, but I’m sure there’s a hell of a lot more you owe than that. This is me going easy on you for his sake. Don’t misunderstand.”

Nikita was positive if the threat of being shot in the head wasn’t there, Oran would be staring at him with a look of pure hatred right about now. As it were, he couldn’t seem to tear his gaze off of Ledger, pleading silently with his eyes not to be hurt.

He’d feel bad, but Nikita couldn’t help but wonder if he’d ever gotten that same look in his eye before. How many times had he begged Oran to stop kicking him? Or hitting him? Maybe this wasn’t the type of revenge he’d imagined himself getting, but why should he feel bad for the person who’d beaten him so far down, Nikita had been willing to die just to escape?

Ledger’s hand found his then, lacing their fingers together in a way that somehow managed to shock Nikita despite everything else still going on.

“Do you want to stay and watch, or would you rather leave now?” Ledger asked him softly.

Even if he didn’t feel bad for him, Nikita still couldn’t muster up the courage to ask what was about to happen. Instead, he retreated a step toward the exit, his hand still clutched tightly in the other man’s hold.

The corner of Ledger’s mouth tipped up, a flash of something satisfied appearing in his gaze before he repeated over his shoulder to Saint, “Break his fingers.”

Nikita turned and followed the Devil out of the bar, the screams of his brother echoing behind him until they made it outside, and the sounds faded away.

CHAPTER 7

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