Page 12 of Fractured Heart

“Nothing. I want Karl gone and that is it.”

“With him gone that means you become the leader of the family?—”

“It doesn’t work like that for the Irish.” He frowns so I push on. “Whoever kills the leader claims that spot.” His brows leap to his hairline.

“If she kills him…” He lets his sentence trail off and I nod.

“If Doxy kills my father then she becomes the new leader of the Irish that she plans to rename the Da Luca Crime Family and I am going to help her.”

“Why?” he pushes.

“Because I’ve never had any desire to sit on a throne and run things, I like being able to come and go. If she wants it, I’ll help her take it from him and gladly kneel before her.” His eyes narrow.

“You son of a bitch, you think helping my girl will get you in her pants, don’t you?” I scoff and shake my head.

“Was her offer yesterday not sign enough that I don’t want her to throw herself at me. I want something more.”

He grinds his teeth and forces the words out. “What do you want?”

“I want inside her heart and mind.”

Xander

Sharing a fucking tent with this cocksucker isn’t my idea of a good time!

I lull my head to the side and glare at the bastard, he’s fast asleep and snores like a bitch. Unable to sleep, I growl in frustration and shove the flap of the tent open as I escape that suffocation chamber. I suck in a calming breath and crack my neck side to side, stretching but freeze when I see a shadow cutting through the tree line. I grit my teeth and race after the bastard snagging a knife from the table as I pass by. When I break the tree line, I come to a halt at the sight of Wave at the creeks edge illuminated by the moon shadow boxing. A smirk tugs at the corner of my lips as I watch her do a right uppercut with a roundhouse combo—that’s her brother's signature move.

I sheath the knife in the waistband of my shorts and cross my arms over my chest leaning against a tree as I watch her train. Pride swells inside me when I see her use one of Tay’s combos but when she uses mine, pain fills my chest. She knows all our moves but they didn’t save her, they didn’t stop those cunts from hurting her. Guilt and disgust for myself surges inside me. For years we lived our lives unharmed while she spent years being abused, tortured, treated like shit and thought we had given up on her. None of us ever let her go. I know Lake still refuses to believe her soulmate is gone, she tells Knox all the time she would have felt it if Wave was really gone and maybe there is some truth to that because here she stands before me.

She looks like a warrior queen in her black sports bra and tiny spandex shorts. I didn’t take the time to notice before but her body has changed. She’s still slim—more toned now—but she has curves. Tired of standing on the sidelines and watching from afar, I make my presence known. She doesn’t stop or even acknowledge my presence as I approach. She doesn’t miss a beat with her strikes or even her kicks. Without waiting for her permission I move behind her and grip her hips, she tries to pull free but I tighten my hold.

“Let me go before I hurt you, Grayson,” she growls.

“Your stance is off, you’re losing balance because your feet are too close together.”

“Fuck you.”

“Right now?” I whisper as my cock twitches in my pants. I will it to remain flaccid, knowing sex is the last thing she would want or need, but the feeling of her pressed against me has my cock ignoring my order and growing hard.

“You want to fuck me?” her reply stuns me for a moment and she uses that to her advantage as she turns in my hold molding herself to my front as I peer down at her. Those eyes, those beautiful eyes used to look at me with love and wonder but now they… look at me with nothing in them. It sucks the air from my lungs, staring at her now is like the soul has been sucked right out of her body. She glides her fingers up my chest sending a shiver down my spine as memories of the past flood my mind.

“This isn’t a good idea,” I force out through clenched teeth.

“Says who?” she whispers as she rests her hands on top of my shoulders. “Do you have a girlfriend now or something?” The lack of jealousy in her tone pisses me off.

“No.”

“Are you sleeping with someone?” I shake my head. I know everyone thinks I was fucking River but I wasn’t. Her and I developed some sort of… bond and she just got me. She was fucking Taylan the whole time, even though we all know she was into me and not him. I hated hurting her because I cared about her but I could never bring myself to touch her, it felt like too much of a betrayal to the woman standing in front of me.

“The last person I slept with was… Waverly Bronson.” If my revelation surprises her she doesn’t show it. She searches my gaze trying to detect a lie but she won’t find one. Yes, I have had women blow me but I’ve never fucked any of them because I didn’t want to tarnish the memory of what her and I shared. I’m a cunt but I still have a heart, it just belongs to her.

“Let’s rectify that.” In a move so bold and unexpected she shifts and grips my cock through my shorts. There's a chill in the wind but right now I feel none of it as heat floods my body and I war within myself to put a stop to this or give in. A moan slips free when she begins to stroke me.

“Are you sure?” I force out and groan.

“I told you,” she says as she continues to stroke me. A tremble works its way through me when she cups my balls with her other hand. “Sex is a transaction, you have a cock that can fill my hole and I want it.” Her words have me ready to shove her hands away until she releases me and steps back. I eye her skeptically for a moment until she grips her sports bra and peels it over her head exposing her tits. I groan internally at the sight of them. I’ve jerked off to memories of them many nights over the years. “Touch me.”

Like a moth to a flame I do as she says and step forward on autopilot my hands raise and cup her tits, my thumbs flick over her pebbled nipples but she doesn’t make a sound. She pushes her shorts down her legs and steps out of my hold once again, the sight of her bare pussy has my mouth watering. She turns away from me and lowers to her hands and knees, my eyes widened. She was never this bold or sure before. She peers back at me over her shoulder and quirks a brow.

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