Page 19 of Devious Lies

I am close now.

So close, I hear that motherfucker call Maria a puta, a whore, and I push my sleeves up.

I’m already going to knock his teeth out for that.

But when he slaps his hand drunkenly across the bar, knocking over the full glass of water and hitting her with it, I lose all semblance of control.

I feel our guys surround us as my fist makes contact with that piece of shit’s jaw.

Angel is there, too.

I can hear him calling me off, but I don’t fucking listen to him.

I don’t know what Maria is to me. I have no claim. No reason to behave this way.

I don’t give a fuck.

I’ve come a long way from that street rat I used to be. But deep down, at my core, I am still who I am.

Luc Batiste.

The last in my family to survive this fucking city.

Lawyer.

Criminal.

Man.

I’ve done bad things in my lifetime. Some under the guise of doing good.

Others, well, others just because I fucking can.

Who we are, what we are, the Vipers?

Well, that’s all I know.

But watching Nico and Anna, I feel like maybe I can be more.

Maybe I can have more.

She might have come here looking for the king. But she’s gonna leave here with me.

It all starts with claiming. And as I spill the blood of this unfortunate fuck across the Den’s floor, that’s what I’m doing.

I am well aware of the consequences of my actions. But I don’t stop.

I can’t.

And with every punch I land across this fuck’s miserable face I feel anticipation rise in my bones.

The crowd’s been pushed back. The music is still thumping. And my heart is pounding inside my chest.

My opponent, though he isn’t much of one, goes limp, and I drop his sorry ass on the cold floor.

Then I spit on the ground beside his head.

My gaze meets Maria’s wide-eyed one, and I address her directly for the first time since I stomped over there.

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