Page 28 of Shadow

Malik grunted in response, still not awake enough to form anything coherent. Malachi was sitting in a computer chair in front of the TV, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees as he shot at a bunch of zombies. I wasn’t sure he was even aware we were there because he didn’t look away from the screen.

“Headset,” Malik told me. I looked at him, arching a brow in question. He gestured at Malachi. “He has a headset in his ears. Completely zones out when he’s got them fucking things in. Fucking building could collapse around him, and as long as that game didn’t turn off, he’d never know.”

I snorted. Nolan, who had served in the military with Konrad and Shaw, stepped out of the chapel, a tablet in his hand. He held it up and nodded once at us. “Come sit in the chapel. The guys and I have done some talking, and Hyram and I want to catch you guys up.”

Placing my hand on Malik’s lower back, I led him toward the chapel. Hyram followed us in, and once the four of us were seated, Nolan slid his tablet toward us. He had some kind ofmilitary-grade shit pulled up on his screen, giving us an aerial view of… something.

“What is this?” I asked as I began to zoom in and move the map around.

“SDMC’s territory,” Nolan explained. He rolled his chair back across the floor and grabbed some papers off the filing cabinet behind him, then handed those to me as well. “This is every business they own. I figured since they not only ordered a hit on Anatoly but also fucking missed and damn near killed Malik, we could start with hitting them where it hurts, too.”

I smirked. “I like the way you think.”

“If we’re going to do that…” Malik said, taking the papers from me and scanning through them, his voice trailing off. I watched his profile, waiting for him to gather his thoughts. Malik was smart, and he was cunning. He hadn’t survived all the shit he stirred in prison by luck alone. Even with my protection, people still tried him. He was a hothead and an easy target. But he’d survived numerous attacks. “We need to hit what’ll cripple them. I imagine they’re in some kind of illegal trade, right?”

“Guns,” I said. “Sometimes drugs, but mostly guns.”

He nodded. “And that money has to be filtered through a business. I’m sure they disperse it, but to cover their tracks, most of it is going to go through their top-earning business.” He placed his pointer finger on one of the pages. “Which would be their security business—Safe Dreams.” He looked at me. “And I know you’re good with tech. We wouldn’t even have to leave the clubhouse to fuck it all up.”

Goddamn.

“I’m so fucking hard right now,” I rasped as I stared at him. And it wasn’t a lie. Hearing Malik come up with a plan that was right up my alley and would let me destroy something in my favorite way was hot as fuck. And it’d get me my own retaliation against the club for what they’d done to my man.

“Jesus Christ,” Hyram growled. “Keep it in your pants, Tarasov.”

I looked at him, snorting when I found him pinching the bridge of his nose. “You really think I’m going to let anyone see Malik naked aside from me? Lost your fucking mind if you think that.”

Nolan shook his head. “Can we trust you to handle this?” he asked, bringing us back on topic.

I nodded and leaned back in my seat. My gaze focused on the chain-shaped bruise on the back of Malik’s neck, and I reached up to finger it, making him shiver. “Yeah,” I said, still not looking away from that pretty bruise marring Malik’s skin. “Give me a few days, and I’ll have their company so fucking dismantled and their shit so screwed up, it’ll take themmonths,if notyears,to fix it all.”

Nolan nodded once. “Good.”

Malik turned to look at me, and I dropped my hand. “Can you stop playing with my neck?”

I smirked. “Why?” Leaning in, I let my lips brush his ear, and he shuddered, his eyes closing. His throat clicked as he swallowed. “Is it turning you on, baby?”

“Fucking hell,” Hyram snapped. He jerked back from the table. “I’m out of here. Not listening to you two get all freaky.”

Malik sighed, and then, his breath hitched in his throat when I flicked my tongue over his lobe. “I’ve got this urge to pierce yourear,” I murmured. “Just another way for me to mark you and claim you, baby.”

“I’m weirdly turned on right now,” Nolan muttered.

Malik snorted, breaking the spell, and I leaned back. Nolan slid the papers and his tablet back to him and stood up. “It’s good to have you back home, brother,” he told Malik. “It was oddly weird not having you here.”

Malik frowned but didn’t say anything, like he didn’t really know what to do with that confession. And maybe he didn’t. I was fully aware he’d always felt like hehadto be here rather than anyone actually wanting him here. But this was his family.

It was another reason I’d ordered he be allowed in without needing to prospect. Sure, Malik had his mom, but he needed a brotherhood. A home. People who would have his back through thick and thin.

Malik turned to look at me once we were alone. “You really want to pierce my ear?”

I nodded. “Yeah, baby,” I rasped. “I do. I want to mark you in every fucking way I can.”

His teeth sank into his bottom lip, and my cock jerked behind the zipper of my slacks. But then, surprising me, he nodded. “Yeah—okay.”

I grinned, and it was purely wicked. “Really?”

Malik’s breath hitched in his throat, and his pupils dilated. “Yeah,” he croaked.

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