Page 112 of Snake

I almost tell him to stay, but Mason gives us both a nod and then looks meaningfully at Nim’s back before locking eyes with me again. “I’ll hold down the fort. Our girl needs some fresh air.”

Silas and I give each other a careful look, and then we’re stalking down the hall with Nim between us like she’s the Queen Majesty and we’re her guards.

I guess, in a way, that’s exactly what she is. She’s older than Gray. That makes her the heir to the Hart name.

Christ.

Jesus fucking Christ.

I meant to go outside the house, but when I spot that massive oak tree, a touch of wind rattling its autumn leaves together, I veer for the courtyard instead. I saw an ashtray out there, so I’m sure Jet smokes his cigars in that glass-walled cube. No reason I can’t light a smoke out there.

Silas holds open the door, scanning the hallways behind us like he’s checking to make sure we weren’t followed. For once, I don’t mind his paranoia. We’re going to have to be extra careful with our girl from now on.

That is, if she’s actually decided to stay. Christ, I want to ask her so badly, but this couldn’t be a worse time. Not when she’s glaring bloody murder at the entire world.

“Blackmail?” I ask as soon as she spins around to scowl at me, like she was reading my thoughts.

She shrugs, her anger dissolving. “My parents had money issues. Kept getting worse, year after year. The family lawyer said they were broke as fuck.” Her lips thin, and there’s a touch of sadness in her eyes before she shutters them. “They left me with a mountain of debt to pay off. Only makes sense they came here to blackmail the Harts. Or sell me back to them, whichever way you want to look at it.”

God, I can’t imagine how that must feel. Like a fucking poker chip exchanging hands.

“Nim, I’m sorry.”

I tug at my smoke as I watch Silas come up to our girl and slide an arm around her shoulders. And fuck it if I don’t see sincerity in his eyes when he looks down at her.

“No one wants to hear shit like this. It’s one thing, hating your family...quite another finding out they never even were your family to begin with.”

Hm. Makes me wonder if that’s something Silas dreamed about when he was a kid. Being born under a different roof, with a name that came with a pre-approved Swiss bank account.

Nim shrugs, looking away. But she’s still angry. Still hurting. I don’t know what she was expecting, but to be told her entire life was a lie...I’m pretty sure that wasn’t on the table.

I tug at the cigarette again. Look at Silas. Look at her. Then I study the glass cube we’re in. There are two entrances into this courtyard, but everyone would be either in the dining hall or in the den, both hallways leading to one of the exits.

It’s a risk, but it’s a statement too. And what are we, if not fucking rebels at heart?

“Hey.” I flick ash off my cigarette as I walk up to them. “How about you go over there—” I point at the thick trunk of the oak tree “—and make our girl forget about her problems for a minute?”

From the sadistic gleam in Silas’s eyes, I get the impression he’s been wanting to fuck Nim for a while already.

I adjust my cock inside my pants as I look at Nim. “Think you can spread your legs wide enough in that pretty dress of yours?”

There’s a flush on her cheeks now. A glow in her eyes. But the anger is still there. The disappointment, and the heartache.

“I’ll keep lookout,” I tell them, turning so I can lean with my back against the tree. “But you’d better hurry, because I also plan on getting my cock wet before we go back there.”

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