Page 11 of Ruthless Beasts

God, did he realize this girl was making him ramble like a fucking idiot?

He got the water and stopped in front of her, offering her the glass. She took it, still looking confused and unsure. “Thank you.”

“Yeah. No problem.”

Then he just… stood there. Not backing away, not giving her an inch of space while she brought the glass to her lips, tilted her head and drank every drop. It was mesmerizing how her throat worked. The slow pull and bob as she consumed her water. It took more will than I’d admit to pull my gaze away, back to my task at hand.

I added some cream to my rue to make the gravy while Mercer spoke again. “Are you feeling better?”

She didn’t answer him, only stepped around him to where he was cutting fruit. Standing right next to the knife, with shaky hands, she asked, “Can I have one?”

“You don’t have to ask,” he repeated himself. Fuck, did he not see the weapon so causally laying two inches from her fingers?

Without a word, I reached over, placing my palm on the knife before she could, and pulled it away. Our eyes met and held, before I wrapped my fingers around the weapon and placed it on the other side of my body.

She picked up an orange slice. “I would not stab you. I couldn’t stab everyone on the property to escape.”

“Hm,” I grunted. I see she had thought that through, at least. Smart girl. Now I knew she was indeed thinking of escaping. She just hadn’t thought of the best way to accomplish that yet.

Mercer cleared his throat. “Breakfast is almost done. If you want to take a seat, we’ll have food on the table in no time.”

We would?

Grabbing plates and silverware, he disappeared through the swinging door that led to the dining room to show her where tosit. No doubt he was out there pulling out chairs and helping her sit. Had he forgotten she didn’t belong to him? To us?

She didn’t choose to be here. She didn’t pick us. If she had, her wide eyes wouldn’t look so fearful of the tiniest moves, and she wouldn’t appear slightly green with nausea at our mere presence. A minute passed before he reappeared at my side, looking more chipper than he had earlier.

“You realize she’s married, don’t you?”

He reared back like I slapped him. “What are you trying to imply?”

“Nothing.” I shrugged. He knew exactly what I was hinting at.

“I’m just being nice since no one else in this house seems to be able to. This is her home, whether she likes it or not, and I don’t want her to feel like a prisoner.”

“She is,” I pointed out.

“She won’t be forever.” He picked up the plate of fruit. “He’ll give her freedom.”

“First, he needs to give her the time of day,” I said under my breath as I scooped the homemade sausage gravy into a bowl.

Mercer shot me a glare as he stepped away from the counter, but he didn’t dispute that fact. We both knew it was going to take a hell of a lot of pushing to get Adam to do any sort of communicating with her. Hell, most days it took a hell of a lot of shoving to get him to do anything. But that was about to change. He was in the game again. He had struck against the heads of local organized crimes. He had ruffled feathers and stirred the pot, and there was no way they would lie silent for long.

He'd prepared for this moment. He’d gained men. He’d secured plans. He’d even formed alliances. But would it be enough? Or was he ultimately out to finish what Accardo started… with his life extinguished and his heart no longer beating? He would argue his heart had stopped beating long ago,but even I knew that was a lie. If it had, he wouldn’t have hung on so long for us, would have ended it before now.

I grabbed the plate of biscuits and the bowl of gravy just as Mercer reentered. “Grab the bacon and potatoes, will ya?”

“On it.” He saluted me as he passed, and I waited for him to get the rest of the food, making sure he grabbed it all, before I ventured into the dining room.

When I stepped through the door, the coldness slammed into me as I faced Adam, his eyes locked on the girl, the silence so thick and heavy, so fucking suffocating, I couldn’t move. I froze, Mercer nearly dropping the food as he slammed into my back. Still, I didn’t enter, waiting for the signal to let me know that the room would not combust.

“I see you’re up.” Adam finally broke the stare off. His words were cold, lacking any feeling. But how could that be, when even I, who feels absolutely nothing in this world, felt the sudden urge to step forward and protect those green eyes from his wrath?

“I see yesterday wasn’t just a nightmare,” she whispered, and I wasn’t sure if it was meant to be heard, but we heard it all the same.

“It appears, unfortunately, it’s not, Mrs.…”

“Crusiaux,” she supplied when he didn’t finish his thoughts, as if he struggled to process them.

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