Page 118 of The Butterfly Killer

Marcus pushed Patrice’s hand off his own, severing whatever connection they had. Marcus could already feel the drift between them forming. He’d noticed it the second he woke up, his disconnect from this normal world in which his life didn’t revolve around Roman. It was even more evident as he walked away from the safety net keeping him safe from those same people he was willingly walking towards.

Patrice’s shoulders slumped. Still, he waited with eager eyes for Marcus to change his mind and come running back to him. The look upon his face swiftly changed. It was the look one gave when they were helpless to show someone who was destroying themselves.

Marcus turned a blind eye to the warning. He followed Lucas to the black car. He slid into the back seat and let Lucas close the door firmly behind him.

He stared at his hands as Lucas joined him on the other side and told the driver to go around the block.

“Who was your friend?”

A chill went down Marcus’s spine. He pinned Lucas with the harshest glare he could muster. “Leave him out of this.”

Lucas grinned like the two of them were sharing an inside joke. “Sure.”

There was a sarcastic note to it that Marcus didn’t like. If he was uneasy before, the feeling had doubled since he first saw Lucas get out of the car.

“Is he okay?” Marcus couldn’t hold the question in any longer. It was all he could think about when he first saw Lucas.

The feeling was akin to that of a wife seeing her husband’s comrade on her front doorstep. It could only mean one of a few things, none of them good.

Lucas’s smile dropped. “He is. He’s doing so well that I’ve made a deal with him. One that I’d like to extend to you.”

Marcus’s brows furrowed. “Deal?”

Lucas leaned back in the plush leather seats of the car. There was no question he held an immense amount of wealth. He was prideful. Marcus didn’t need a degree or years of training to see that. Lucas didn’t even try to hide that he liked to show off. He was a spoiled boy who grew into a greedy man who would do a lot to get his way.

“Roman works for me. He does some dirty deeds, I extend my hand to help him. Protection costs a lot.” His eyes slid to Marcus. It was a glance from the corner of his eyes, one that Marcus couldn’t miss.

Marcus stiffened. “He’s become your Miguel.”

Lucas grimaced. “My uncle was a rabid dog with no sense of tact. My father was an idiot for letting him run and piss around. It was a matter of time before Miguel’s vice ended with him dead.”

“You sound heartbroken,” Marcus mumbled.

Lucas gave a toothy grin to that. “It made my job a lot of a hell easier.”

Marcus didn’t like that smile. It was like seeing a shark grin.

The car turned around the corner. They were close to completing the block. The hospital grew nearer.

“Roman is important to you,” Lucas said, no question. “He’s important to me as well. Given our common interest, I want to extend my protection to you as well.”

Another corner turned. The hospital was in the distance. Marcus stared ahead, listening to Lucas’s words. They burned his ears.

“In exchange?” His mouth had gone dry.

“Ah, yes.” Lucas said it as if it hadn’t occurred to him to ask for something in return and that it had been Marcus’s suggestion. They both knew that nothing in his world came free. There was always a catch. “The two FBI agents. Agents Mercer and Burns. I want you to stay in touch with them.”

A sick feeling, one stronger than the other when Marcus first saw Lucas waiting for him, crept up into his chest and settled in his throat. His mouth went dry—drier than it already was. His fingers twitched as he stared Lucas right in the eyes, holding his gaze as he tried to figure out how much he could trust the man.

Obviously, he shouldn’t. But Marcus already knew his hands were tied behind his back. Lucas was powerful enough to help Roman. Marcus could only think about what might happen to the other man if he didn’t have Lucas’s protection. As much as he wanted to wish or imagine that he was strong enough to protect Roman himself, it was only a foolish dream.

“What do you want with them?” Marcus couldn’t help that he clenched his teeth. Agent Mercer and Burns had been nothing but helpful and nice to him. If it was anyone else…if it had been Blevins that Lucas wanted, Marcus wouldn’t have waited a heartbeat to bend over and give it all to Lucas.

The car pulled to the hospital. Patrice was there. He was pacing back and forth. When he saw the black car pull up again, he glared, face pinched with his hands on his hips.

Lucas noticed too. How could he not when Patrice seemed to know exactly where Lucas was sitting in the car and was trying to peel his skin off with his gaze alone?

Lucas grinned. Those sharp teeth were back and Marcus shivered with disgust. He was only slightly relieved it wasn’t Patrice the sick fuck had asked for.

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