Page 9 of Striker

Breaker got his name for a reason. He is the breaker of rules. Of codes. Of things.

Of men.

Viper’s tense laugh tears through the room as my brothers relax. I hate it when those two butt heads. Breaker has always,always,been headstrong, going up against orders whenever they don’t sit well with him, so I’m glad when he rolls his head on his shoulders, easing the tension from his neck, though he grinds his teeth. I want to tell him I don’t agree with these orders either, but, well…

It’s too late now. Even if I don’t like what we’re doing to these girls, we all agreed to this.

“Breaking is never pretty,” Reaper says, as he takes a step backward. Reap’s black gaze flickers to the monitor. “But it’s necessary.”

I jump as Breaker’s fist goes through the plaster, breathwhooshingout of me in surprise.

Breaker’s clear blue eyes narrow on Reaper. “Necessary? Doing what we had done to us, scaring the shit out of two innocent women, is necessary? Leaving them in isolation? What next? Will we starve them? Beat them? Tell me Reaper, at what point does necessary become your cruel fun?”

“You knew what this mission entailed when you agreed to it,” Reaper growls. Lunging forward, his finger lands the centerof Breaker’s chest. “You agreed this was the only way, just like the rest of us.”

Breaker shakes his head, casting his eyes down. We all agreed to this before we knew their bodies. Before we knew what they tasted like. Before we heard them moan and the feral sounds they made as we made them come.

“He’s right,” Viper says quietly, and we all turn our attention to him. He points to the screen with Cora in the center. “But this one? She’s innocent.”

Reaper barks out a laugh that reminds me of ourotets. “Innocent? We’ve watched her for a long time. Cora is hardly innocent.”

“We watched her, yes, and we all know she…” Breaker trails off. He pinches the bridge of his nose, eyes moving back to the screen. She still hasn’t moved.

“Rune Gavin raised her,” Reaper says. He points to the monitor. “Which means she’s manipulative and cunning. This is the only way to get what we need from her.”

“There are better ways to get their cooperation,” Breaker says. “We don’t have to terrify them to get what we need.”

“And suddenly Breaker has a conscience,” Reaper says brutally. “Is it because your cum was still inside her when we took her? Since when does coming in a woman make you care for their well-being?”

Breaker’s palm slams against the door frame. He’s wound up so tight, I fear he may lash out at Reaper.

“There are other ways,” he says again. His eyes focus on the screen behind Reaper for a moment, then bounces between us all. “We agreed to do this, but not with her. She’s not even supposed to be here.”

“He’s right, Reap. She’s just a girl,” Viper says quietly.

Reap laughs. “She’s hardly just a girl. She’s a sly little Vixen, remember?”

I watch her still form on the screen, a gross, slick feeling roiling in my gut, remembering the day we saw her leave Rune’s office. “Ever consider she was made that way?”

Reaper’s gaze locks on the screen. “We’re all made.”

“I’m going in there.”

“Don’t even think it, Breaker,” Reaper snarls as Breaker takes a step back defiantly, almost daring our brother to stop him.

Breaker shakes his head as he backs out of the room. “I will not allow this part, Reap. We don’t have to be cruel to get what we want.”

I expect Reaper to go after him and drag him back to talk some sense into him, but he doesn’t. Instead, he sits in the chair next to me, and leans forward, forearms on his thighs, his eyes on the screen. Despite what he says, he doesn’t like this any more than the rest of us.

I think he may like it even less.

Reaper isn’t as cold as he pretends. Like the rest of us, he was made that way, but he’s lying about Cora and he knows it. We all do. The months we spent watching them gave us insight into their lies and Cora’s life wasn’t easy. She’s had it hard with little control of her fate, despite being raised by Rune in wealth. She’s still been surrounded by powerful, cruel men and if what we suspect is true…

She’s had even less control over her body.

“Fucking idiot,” Reaper says, but there’s no anger in his voice. He may think we have to treat them brutally, but we all know he doesn’t want to.

We saw how he acted last night. Cora’s sweetness enchanted him as much as the rest of us. He was verging on the edge of utter madness with Princess the entire night, barely able to restrain himself. We see now how he’s been in and out of the room, coming in to stare at the monitors, watching Delilahclosely, then leaving again only to come back and do the same thing. He’s never been like this with a target before and we’ve done this dozens of times. Held targets for days in fact. Watched them break or forced them by any means until we could retrieve the information we needed. Or we just kept them alive until the price was paid. Then we either released them or disposed of them. Whichever we were paid to do.

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