Page 24 of Savage

“Thisisneeded. You’re playing with fire for this guy, and if King finds out…”

He didn’t need to say what would happen. I was already walking a thin line with King, and if he found out I’d been following Cooper, that I’d just spent the night inside him? Let’s just say I liked being alive.

“I know. All right? You don’t need to keep harping on it.”

“Apparently I do,” Alessio said. “Did this guy weave some kind of spell over you that night in the alley? You’ve been a man obsessed.”

He didn’t know the half of it.

“Was tonight the first night you’ve seen him?”

Not wanting to compound my fuck-ups by lying to my friend more than I needed to, I decided to skirt the truth instead.

“It was the first night I fucked him.”

Alessio opened his mouth like he was going to say something but then clicked it shut. “But not the first night you’veseenhim?”

I raised a brow, and he stared at me for a long moment before calling down the bar, “We need shots, and keep ’em coming.” Then he picked up his glass and gestured for me to follow him to a private U-shaped booth in the back corner.

He didn’t wait for me to fully slide in the booth before saying, “Tell me everything. And don’t even think about leaving out why you’re wearing your leathers instead of a suit.”

“Christ, you’re?—”

“Perceptive? Yeah. I am.” He nodded at the bartender setting a couple rounds of shots in front of us.

“He doesn’t know it was me.”

“Clarify.”

I reached into the inner pocket of my coat and set the mask on the table between us.

“Are you fucking insane?”

“Yeah.” I tossed back a shot, relishing the burn. “I think I am.”

Leaning in, he lowered his voice even though there was no one around our booth to hear us. “You fucked him in yourmask?”

The whiskey was making its way through my system, warming my insides and taking the edge off. Unfortunately, that also meant my lips were looser than usual.

I nodded. “I did.”

“And Cooper…wanted you to?”

“Christ, Alessio, you think I’m some kind of predator? He invited me in.”

“Oh. The guy’s got some hero worship goin’ on.”

“Don’t fucking call me that.”

“It’s true, though.” He dangled a shot from his fingers, a knowing smile on his lips. “You saved his life and he decides to thank you with his body.”

“That’s not—” I stopped, let that thought roll around my brain. I would’ve known a thank-you fuck. “It wasn’t like that. He would’ve fucked me as Lachlan too.”

Alessio choked on his drink and coughed. “What?”

“You really underestimate me, don’t you?

“No. No, no, no.” He shook his head and pointed at me with his shot glass. “You didnotintroduce yourself to that guy. You didn’t. And how do I know that? Because you’re a smart asshole and you’d know better than to let this shit get messier than it is.”

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