Page 69 of Sinful Mates

What Colton did to his enemies when they betrayed him. Anubis, as the god of mummification, taught his avatar to remove organs and mummify a body. Sending them back to their relatives was Colton’s sick little twist.

“That what they say about the cunt?” Murderous vengeance shone in the president’s eyes.

Time to remind him what we were up against. “He’s deadly, Slade. I wouldn’t be so cocky.”

Slade huffed, rebuking my warning. “I’m the god of War and Chaos. Let the cunt try me.”

Pride and arrogance, Slade’s sin. Possibly his downfall, too.

Sloth mine for taking this long to unveil the identity of our damn enemy.

“Colton went up against six avatars and lived,” I reminded him. Cupid, Ares, Athena, Hermes, Hades and Persephone. The last two half-gods.

“He won’t get out alive this time.” By the way Slade talked, he would march in there with an army, get half of them killed, the rest deserting. Strategy was our best bet to make it out of this alive.

A text came through on all our phones and I read it without needing to see the screen.“I’m taking the missus for a ride. Can you pick up the kid?”Sticking to the code. Mention no names.

My gut curled over at the thought. I wasn’t alone with Mia yet. Whenever I read to her, Aaliyah or Alaric were always there. I promised to teach her ancient Egyptian and some spells. Play the role as Mentor Daddy. Homework Daddy. Yet the idea terrified me.

Still, I texted back, “Sure,” because I hadn’t spent as much time with her as the others. Slade, Alaric, and Zethan pitched in a lot of their time.

I also planned to pay the superintendent’s wife a little visit while she picked up her daughter from school. Intimidation went a long way with these asshole cops.

This morning’s raid triggered Alaric, and he needed space away from the club and some of our woman’s healing magick.

I snatched up my phone and shoved it back into the compartment in my cut. “I’ve got to hustle and pick up Mia. Let’s discuss the plans later tonight.”

Slade nodded and lit up his cigarette, sucking down the smoke, setting fire to the end, the flames flickering in his eyes. He probably imagined all the ways he would tear Colton Raine apart.

“Thursday, you’re coming down to Sydney with me to pay Colton a visit,” he told Zethan.

The order set me on edge. If they didn’t return, Alaric and I would be forced to face him next. I wasn’t afraid of Raine. Quite the opposite. I looked forward to returning the hell he caused us. For once, I feared one of us not returning to my mate. For all the things left unsaid.

On my way to the garage, I gave Brix the order to join me, and activated my glamor for anyone outside the club to see.

Brix and I parked outside Mia’s school, three spots down from the old superintendent’s wife. Close enough to get her attention. At first, she toyed with her phone, and a scan of her messages showed she arranged a baby shower for a friend. Brix lit up a smoke and wandered towards the gate, making sure to get her attention. She tried to dial her husband, but I cut her off every time.

Point made. Message driven home.We know where your daughter goes to school. Same campus as our kid. Fuck with us and we’d fuck with your family.

On her last dial, I let her get through to her husband and listened to the call. “They showed up at Lisa’s school,” she stated with a shake in her stuck-up voice.

“Bold bastards,” her husband growled. “I’ll send officers around there straight away.”

Played right into my hands. We were picking up our stepdaughter. No crime in that. To the club’s lawyer, police interference equaled harassment, and we were quickly building a strong case for that.

The end of school bell tolled. Kids tumbled out of school, running, jumping, squealing as they piled onto the school bus. Heads down and thumbs tapping on their phones, sullenly hopping into cars with their parents, not looking up from their devices.

We waited about five minutes for Mia to show, all the while my agitation growing, my reckoning powers telling me something was up. Fuck. If Colton Raine came to the school to kidnap her, I would personally kill him.

Stomach churning, I pushed inside the school’s grounds in search of her, my breath stolen the longer it took me to find her. Eventually I caught sight of her on a park bench outside of the basketball courts, head buried in one of the books on Egyptian mythology I loaned her.

I sat down beside her. “Hey, Sot Nesu, you forget it’s home time?”

The moment she glanced up, her eyes rimmed red and watery, ruddy cheeked, I knew something was wrong.

“What’s wrong?” I curled her into my arms, and she bawled her eyes out. Snot dropped on my shirt, but I didn’t give a shit. Despite my reluctance, this innocent, beautiful child was mine to protect.

“I hit Lisa and got in trouble!” Mia wailed.

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