Page 44 of Run From Me

I could see new locks on the door—hell, was that a new door?

“Do not compare us to the Vipers. Where they can’t seem to get their shit together, my brothers and I have made it a business to ensure we could protect anyone we choose to. Our reach is fargreater than your little crew, and they have no idea what ripple effects will happen now.”

I snorted. “Pun intended, right?”

I liked the way his eyes crinkled just a touch when he smiled at me.

“He fucked up, and I’m going to enjoy the hunt. Not that I wasn’t looking for some reason to kill a few of them for sport anyway.”

I blew out a breath.

“You can’t. Or, at least, not for me. I… well…”

My damn heart raced inside my chest as I fought the squeeze of panic. I wasn’t supposed to talk about it. Wasn’t supposed to say anything.

“What? You can’t what?”

I shook my head.

“Nothing. Just please let it go, okay? Thanks for the security. It will be nice to actually sleep without one eye open.”

THIRTEEN

xander

“I fucking knew it.”

I slammed down a copy of the pathology report on the coffee table. Zeid looked up at me like he was bored.

“What, some rare poison?”

I flopped down on the couch.

“Yes, sweet cheeks. But like one of those designer ones that cost a shit load. Calliope had to send the labs to some crazy rare pathology place or something. I dunno. Don’t care. We know it’s the rich getting rid of the rich.”

The zap, zap, zap of the welder stopped, and Cas stood up from his corner.

“That knife? What do you think?”

I walked over to the newest piece.

“You’re a fucking genius. The brass knuckles I found on that asshole, you think we can do something like,” I held up the cleaned and polished metal that I’d spent half the morning melting and reshaping. “Right there? Can you weld it there?”

Cas nodded and flipped his welding helmet down as I walked away.

“You really giving that to the coroner? We already have what we need from her,” Zeid said.

It had been forty-eight hours, and I’d tried damn hard to stay busy. I didn’t like the lighthearted whatever it was that came when she had texted me to grab the report.

The fix? I’d sent several senior recruits to hang out at the morgue, ensuring no trouble. Ripple hadn’t tried to come back—yet. It was only a matter of time though, I was certain.

So here I was, doing whatever it was that I did. Making a gift as I tried to keep myself from going straight to her. I’d even had one of my guys grab the report for us, but who was I kidding? I’d kept busy to try and prove to myself that she was just another fling. Just some woman that felt great to bounce on my cock.

I sat back on the couch listening to Zeid drone on about something.

“Ouch, what the fuck?”

I turned to Zeid who had a shit-eating grin, and then saw the pint sized woman behind me.

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