Page 122 of Vicious Sentiments

“He’s just freaking out about Marney. Once he sees she’s alive, we’ll be good.” Julian makes to untie him. “Besides, we can’t really keep him tied up in here forever. Give me the key to the cuffs.”

“No. We’ll figure something out but we don’t have any leverage right now. If we let him go he’s going to go straight to the police.”

“Yes, the fuck I am.” Dillon rattles his wrists again.

“You’re not helping your case,” Julian hisses at him and sighs.

“You see the dilemma,” Cape says.

“Damn it, Dillon. Why are you being like this? You need to be there for your sister,” Julian says.

“Go fuck yourself.”

Julian clenches and unclenches his fist, seemingly being wavered byCape. But he can’t agree to leave him tied up. Dillon’s sister could die in the hospital, he deserves to be there, even if he is out of his mind. And he looks really uncomfortable. This probably isn’t going to go over well but I don’t feel like I have a choice.

“You do have leverage,” I say.

Chapter Sixty-One

Dillon has a black eye now but at least he’s not tied up. Julian dropped him off at the hospital with Margo while I watched Cape demolish the punching bag in the workout room.

I told them what I saw and heard the night that Dillon put the holes in Margo’s wall. That he was in his underwear, and Margo told him he was inappropriate. I also told them how he acted, begging on the floor, and what Marney said about her thinking Dillon has a crush on Margo. It didnotgo over well.

Cape punched Dillon and I don’t know if he would have stopped if I hadn’t grabbed his arm. Dillon didn’t admit to it but he sure shut up about bringing down the roof when Julian told him exactly what would happen to Margo if Dillon opened his big mouth. That there was no way to bring down him and Cape without taking Margo with them.

I’m curled up on the couch, staring at the piano while Cape paces the house. I’m sure he would probably feel better if he could go for a ride on his motorcycle but I know he doesn’t want to leave me alone with everything going on.

At this point, I don’t know what’s eating him the most. The news about Dillon, Marney’s status, or the thing that he hasn’t brought up but I know he’s thinking. That again, what he did resulted in aretaliation that got someone he loves hurt. I don’t even want to know how he would be if Marney had died. I don’t want to know howIwould be if she died. I’m hoping with everything in me that she will be okay because I can’t lose my new sister right when I just got her.

I keep thinking about the blood. How much of it was hers? Too much? There was no way to tell with two other men being shot. And Margo, my god. I don’t know what I would have done if I had been in the house, but she shot both of them like a badass and saved Marney from whatever fate they were taking her to. I hate to say that Marney having her brain swelling is better, but anything would be better than being sold off to be raped.

My eyes flick to Cape who has paused by the fireplace. It’s lit as it’s finally getting a little chilly, and he’s staring into the flames. The golden light licks across his face accentuating the sharp lines of his jaw and his full lips. Every muscle in his arms is tense and the flames create delectable shadows.

I feel myself warm even more than the fire. Is it possible that he is even more enticing when upset? I know that history tells me the last thing I should be is attracted to a man when he’s not in a good mood, but Cape has a rage Iwantto feel. Since I’m not worried about him hurting me, all that is left is arousal.

I sit up and make my way to him, resting a hand on his forearm. His skin is scorching, and I can’t tell if it’s from being so close to the fire or if he’s just that worked up. Either way, I melt at the contact and slip under his arm to look up at him.

It takes a second for his piercing gaze to register me and then he relaxes his jaw. He roughly wraps his arm around me and pulls me against him. Within a second my body is hot and I find myself tilting my head back, hoping he will kiss me with whatever fierceness that is coursing through his veins.

“You’re not safe with me,” he says instead.

I’ve been more safe with him than I have ever been in my life, and his tone, so vehement, cracks something inside of me.

“Then I don’t want to be safe.”

His stare ignites and he tightens his grip on me. “You still want to die?”

“No!” I pull at his hold on me but it’s useless.

I’m annoyed that he would jump to me wanting to die again. I’m past that. Especially with Marney in the hospital. I’ve gained a perspective that I didn’t think possible. I used to think that death was a way out but if I don’t want that for Marney, how can I want it for myself?

“The people I love die.” He shakes me. “Madison and now Marney.”

“Marney’s not dead,” I rattle.

“Not yet,” he says between his teeth. “I don’t think things through like Julian. I’m reckless. I’m an omen. You need to run.”

“I’m not running.” I shake my head in disbelief that he doesn’t get it. “Whatever you do, whatever happens because of what you do, it won’t be your hands that hurt me. And I’m not running away from that, from you, from the first man who has shown me that I don’t need to be afraid.”

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