Page 56 of God of War

"Okay," she whispers.

I brush my lips across her crown, breathing her in, saying a prayer. That she's mine. That she's here. That Nicolas didn't get his filthy fucking hands on her.

"As soon as this is done, I'm going to work on putting my kid in you,mi alma," I murmur.

She shivers, whimpering quietly. I know she wants it. She wouldn't let me fuck her the way I do if she didn't. Who knows? Maybe planting my kid in her will soften her bastard of a father. Heirs have a way of doing that.

I climb from the SUV, striding toward the front door. It takes five minutes of constant banging before Sullivan practically rips it off the hinges to glower at me.

"You've got a lot of fucking nerve, Leyva," he snarls, hatred painted across his face. "Give me one good reason I shouldn't shoot you right fucking here."

"I'll give you three. Follow me." I don't wait to see if he's following, I just turn on my heel, heading back toward the car.

Five seconds later, he mutters a curse, stomping out after me. His steps falter when he sees Brynna sitting in the passenger seat, but when she meets his gaze, he quickly glances away.

Stubborn fool.

I lead him to the back of the SUV, using my key fob to open the hatch.

He rears back when he sees Nicolas and Juan hog-tied inside, both bloody and battered. Both beaten within an inch of their lives. Neither is conscious now, but they were for most of what I did to them. I made sure of that.

I'm going to have to burn the SUV to get rid of this evidence, but the state they're in? Every one of their screams was fucking worth the effort.

"What the fuck is this, Leyva?" Sullivan growls, his eyes locked on the men in the cargo hold.

"A gift," I murmur. "Torture him. Kill him. Make him suffer however the fuck you want."

"Why?"

"He's been giving you information about my organization for the last year, and you never stopped to question why. He works for Rojas, Sullivan. Did you really think Rojas would leave you alive when he was done using you in his little game? If you did, you're a fucking idiot."

Sullivan's mouth tightens. "Don't piss me off, Leyva."

"No," I snarl, beyond playing nice. "You don't piss me off, Sullivan. They attacked tonight. They put their fucking hands on your daughter. Andyou could have stopped it." I glower at him, rage boiling in my veins. "She's the only reason I'm not lining your body up beside theirs. She loves you. She needs you. So you don't piss me off, motherfucker. Take your gift and be grateful I'm standing here at all."

"Jesus," Nolan mutters, cracking. His hand shakes as he brushes it down his face, glancing toward the front of the SUV where Brynna sits in the passenger seat. He can't hide the worried lights in his eyes, the guilt or fear. "They attacked her?"

"Yeah, they attacked her." I slam the cargo hold closed, meeting his gaze. "It's the last fucking mistake Rojas will make. You may hate me. I don't care. But right now, I need you to hate him more. If she matters to you even half as much as she matters to me, love her enough to hate him more."

Nolan eyes me for a long moment and then jerks his chin in a nod, his expression softening incrementally, as if, for once, he's seeing what's right in front of him. He realizes that Brynna isn't a game to me. She's something I'll die to protect. "What do you need me to do, Nazario?"

I meet his gaze, mine filled with rage so cold it's turned to ice. "Keep her safe no matter what because every single motherfucker Rojas planted in my organization is going to die."

Nolan stares at me for a long silent moment, shock and distrust warring in his eyes. He wants to believe me, but he's spent so long looking for the knife in his back, he doesn't even know what the word means anymore. But he does understand love. He had a wife. He has a daughter and a son he loves, even when he fucks it all up. And that's what sways him now. "You're really going to kill your own men for my daughter?"

"They aren't my men. They belong to Rojas." I meet his gaze, letting him read the truth in mine. "And I'll kill anyone I have to kill because tonight is the one and only time anyone will ever paint a target on her back. I'm not you, Sullivan. I won't wait for them to come and pick them off one by one every time they insult or target her. I'm going to bathe this city in blood until every motherfucker in it knows exactly what'll happen if they even look in her direction."

"And Rojas?" Sullivan asks.

I smile coldly, viciously. "Felipe Rojas is already dead. His goddamn body just hasn't realized that it's time to stop flailing yet."

"Good," Sullivan grunts, satisfaction glinting deep in his eyes. "Destroy the motherfucker, Nazario."

"Keep her safe, Sullivan. Don't let anyone near her while I'm gone."

He jerks his chin in a nod, eyeing me sideways. "I'm still not on board with this."

"And I still don't care," I mutter. "Neither does she. She loves you, but her place is at my side. You won't stop her. You won't stop me, either. So you can either get used to the idea and keep your daughter in your life, or you can cut off your own goddamn nose to spite your face. The decision is yours. But you and I are done with this bullshit. This is the last time she'll be in the middle between us. Take it or leave it."

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