Page 57 of Stone

“I want a fucking name. I want a name!” Finn spins and pins his glare on Mr. Personality.

“I’m getting a fucking name,” he responds cooly, and I raise my eyebrows at just how controlled this man is.

“They do all kinds of shit in those compounds. They fucking torture you with instruments for their pleasure.” Finn’s face has turned bright red as he continues his tirade. “They do shit we’ve never even considered.” He turns to face me, then scans me up and down.

“They hurt you?” His face pales. Then, as if he’s found the answer to his question when I didn’t so much as open my mouth, he continues. “They tortured you, didn’t they?” His solemn voice sends a chill through me, and I almost want to lie to protect him.What the fuck?

“Of course they did. You know the shit that goes on in there. You can see it with your damn eyes, Finn. Stop with the bullshit so we can progress. I have a hectic day, and you’re slowing me down,” Mr. Personality states with no emotion, and my eyebrows rise at his abrupt words.

Finn’s head drops forward, and he kicks the floor, and when he lifts his face, his focus lands on me.

“We’ll make them pay.” The sincerity in his tone stuns me, and out of nowhere, I open my mouth to admit my truth.

“And rape,” I rasp. Then I feel the burning of my ears as I clear my throat. “They rape you too.” Why the hell shouldn’t I admit that? They use it as a power play to demean and relinquish your rights. To make you feel lower than low. Something for them to use for fun while making you feel worthless. Why the fuck shouldn’t I own that, make it my own, and force people to see it for what it was?

The men stare back at me, their faces as white as a ghost.

“Vector. I want Vector.” My hands ball into fists as I glare at Oscar with intent, and understanding crosses his face.

“Vector is yours. But we can’t make a move on Benito.” He strokes a finger over his thin lip. “Not yet, at least.” I nod, appeased for now, despite everything he stole from me. A family, a life, memories and all.

Your time will come, Benito, but for now, Vector will pay for the consequences of his actions.

The bedroom door opens, and their attention is drawn to it, to her. My blood boils with a jealous, possessive feeling and a need to protect her from everyone but me.

“Don’t fucking look at her!” I demand.

Their eyes immediately dart away from Sienna, and the tension in my coiled muscles fades at knowing she’s off their radar.

Her emerald eyes have widened, and I chuckle at her startled reaction. “Come here, baby. Let me introduce you to my brothers. My blood brothers.”

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Sienna

We drive to one of the O’Connell’s beachfront properties in a comfortable silence. Knowing Stone has the support and protection of his blood family helps ease my worries. The resemblance to his brothers is uncanny. They all have the same bright-blue eyes that penetrate your soul, burning deep inside and extracting your thoughts and feelings, leaving you stripped bare before them.

The head of the family, Bren, is the one who looks most like Stone, with cropped hair and a sharp jawline and broad muscular shoulders that stretch his shirt across his back. Oscar is leaner, with sharper features, and his dark hair has a wave to it. It reminds me of the first time I laid eyes on Stone in an infirmary bed in the basement of our house and ran my fingers through his silky locks before they whisked him away and returned him with a despondent look and the cropped haircut he wears now.

Finn is lean in stature and wears a leather jacket and untied combat boots, and a toothpick hangs from his mouth. He has aplayful aura about him that makes you instantly warm toward him.

In the past hour of driving, I’ve decided I like Stone’s blood family more than my own. They’re at ease with one another, have no pretense, and their guards are down as if they trust each other. Their jovial antics have even had Stone stifling a smile. I reach out and entwine our fingers while resting them in his lap. He turns his head to face me. His eyes narrow as he scans over me, as if trying to determine what caused me to openly show him affection when we’ve always remained so guarded. I bite into my lip as excitement at our potential future together bubbles inside me, threatening to spill over, and Stone’s lip twitches as if hearing my thoughts. He lifts me onto his lap, and I yelp at the sudden movement before he wraps the seatbelt over me, keeping me in place.

The firm ridge of his cock rests between us, and my face reddens with the way my thoughts instantly spiral to being used as his willing recipient. He spoke about us having a baby, and now, with the O’Connells behind us, a future together could be on the horizon.

We just need to get past our family first.

Stone

The O’Connell beach house is a magnificent property on the coast of New Jersey. Bren explained he bought the property for his ever-growing family, but it is under a false name to avoid detection; essentially, it’s a safe house. When Sienna asked him how many kids he has, he replied with too many, making me grin at his bluntness.

Out of all my brothers, I seem to have the best connection with him. We’re alike. It’s clear, even though I’m the youngest of the family. Broody and stoic, I like to sit back and watch. Maybe that’s in part because of my conditioning, but also, I enjoy watching people and taking in their reactions. That way, you can gauge their intent, witness the telltale signs of their behavior, and decide how you’re going to deal with them before you actually need to.

Oscar is like this too, but to the extreme; it’s pretty damn obvious the guy is on the spectrum.

I have two more brothers, Cal and Con. Con is the only one I haven’t met yet and, apparently, it’s because we were so close growing up that he took my death harder than the others. Therefore, they’re protective of him.

There’s not a flicker of recognition in my mind when I’m around them. No memories flood back to me like I’ve heard can happen in memory loss cases. And the truth is, I don’t care.

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