Page 46 of Outcast

I jolted to a sitting position as images of Parker on the ground and Amorette hovering over him scrolled one after another through my head.

Pressing my hand against my chest, I sucked in a deep breath. My heart was beating so fast, I couldn't count them if I tried.

Esteban ripped open the door to his room. "What?" he barked.

The memories dissipated and I was left staring at Esteban in all his glory. I never appreciated him how I should have.

Standing there with a lazy tent in his boxers, he was a work of art. Delicious tan skin that stretched taut over corded muscles. A strong jaw and full lips that could smirk better than the devil himself.

Yet, it was always his charm that got to me.

Not for the first time, I thought,why couldn't it have been him?

He was so uncomplicated. The man livedand breathed the club likePapáhad. He was sexy as hell, and made me feel like a queen.

I liked him, more than liked him, I'd simply been stuck on Matías for years. There was history there that was hard to erase.

Except, now when I looked at Matías, the fifteen minutes in the back room excluded, all I felt was resentment.

"Oh shit, I didn't realize Rita was in here." Due poked his head in and gave me a chin nod. Esteban straightened up and stepped into his line of sight.

"What do you want?" Esteban asked again, methodically enunciating each word. He was close with Due, more than he was to any of his brothers. It was odd how detached he sounded.

Due cleared his throat. He was also one of the officers, like Esteban. He wouldn’t let Esteban pull rank on him, but he seemed to allow him this moment of anger.

When creating the Dirty Dogs decades ago,Papáhad wanted to keep it simple. He'd installed three Vice Presidents to help him with the heavy lifting. They had the same title but they were still ranked by responsibility. There were six officers to run projects and oversee businesses. They didn’t have autonomy to dish out punishments or make decisions, that was allPapáor on occasion the VPs, but they kept the gang running.

Then there was everyone else. All one-hundred-thirty-nine of them.

A great legacy.

"Leo's head is gone."

"So fucking what?" Esteban griped.

"So, we didn't take it. When I left the yard last night, Leo had been strung up as a traitor."

I tried to call up some empathy for the guy. He wasyoung, probably Esteban's age or a couple years younger, but he was an idiot who put every single Dirty Dog’s life in jeopardy.

So there was no empathy. And when I'd walk by his body, I'd work damn hard not to spit on him for dishonoringPapá'sday.

"Fuck," Esteban mumbled and tipped his head back.

"The VPs are calling the officers to do a search."

"Fuck them. Leo's head is the least of my concerns right now. I'll join you when I'm ready." He started to shut the door, but stopped when he caught Due staring hard at me. "And stop whatever thoughts you're thinking."

The door rattled when it slammed closed, and Esteban turned to face me.

He stood with his arms loosely by his sides, his chest rising and falling, his stomach contracting as my gaze moved down his body.

Now his half-erection was a full-on monster.

Desire curled in the pit of my stomach.

Turning my head, I swallowed hard.

"You can look, Rita. You can always take your fill any way you want it," he said softly.

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