Page 85 of The Venom We Bleed

Juliet.

“I know you’re upset because I’m not letting you spend time with her, but?—”

He whirls on me, pinning me with a look so dark it’s closer to that of a mad animal than a human being, and I shut right the fuck up. “That is not what I’m pissed about,” he snaps.The jersey dangles from one hand, his fist gripping it as if he’s strangling it in lieu of me.

I close my eyes. “It…” What do I say? That last night was an accident? It wasn’t. I’d been one hundred percent sober and I liked it. I wanted it then and I want it again. I reopen my eyes. When I do, Lex is staring back at me, nostrils flaring as if he can smell her sex on me. Logically, I know that doesn’t make sense, but ever since last night, I swear I feel as if I’m branded by her.

“I don’t want her to drive us apart,” I tell him. “I won’t let her.”

“I don’t care,” Lex bites out, “that you fucked her. I care that you won’t let me fuck her too.”

My hands fist at my sides. “I didnotfuck her.” Each word comes out through clenched teeth.

Lex drops his shirt and steps up to me, our chests brushing against one another as he gets in my face. “She was mine first,” he snaps. “I should’ve been the first one to have her.”

He’s not listening to me. He’s breathing heavy, chest rising and falling as he, too, seems to rein in the desire for blood and violence. “Who said you get to decide who does what? Who takes her to work? Who takes her home? Who fucks her?”

I narrow my eyes on his. “You did,” I bite out. “You and Gio. You know how we work. You never had a fucking problem with me calling the shots until her. If you want to keep her all to yourself then why haven’t you made a move before now, huh?”

Lex doesn’t respond. Of course, he doesn’t. “Because you’re scared,” I tell him. “You’ve been obsessed with her for thirteen fucking years and not once have you done anything more than watch and jack off to her pictures in your fucking house.”

The punch is expected. I let it come, not even bothering to avoid it as it sends my head snapping to the side. “Fuck you!” Lex bursts out. “I’m not a virgin.”

Slowly, I turn back to face him. I work my jaw, tasting blood on the inside of my cheek. “No,” I say. “You’re not a virgin. You pay hookers and strippers to come to your house and dress up as your little obsession so you don’t have to step over whatever barrier you’ve built for yourself. You’re living in a fantasy when it comes to her and now that she’s dropped into your reality, you don’t know how to deal.”

A muscle jumps in Lex’s jaw. My own aches. Fuck, but he hits hard.

“You want to piss on her too?” I ask. “Mark her as yours so every asshole in school knows it? Think she’ll let you when she finds out about that room of yours?”

The snarl that escapes him is more predator than man. I hold my arms out on either side of my body. “Do you want to talk?” I demand. “Or do you just want to hit me again?”

“I want to do a hell of a lot more than fucking hit you, Pierce,” Lex bites out. He only ever uses my last name when he’s pissed as hell, and for what it’s worth, this kind of anger from him is rare. Unfortunately, that only makes it all the more dangerous.

“Then let’s go,” I offer. “But just know that even if we beat each other bruised and bloody, we’ll still have this talk after.”

Lex takes a step back, rocking onto the balls of his feet as if he’s contemplating my offer. I watch him and I wait, my own body tensing as I take in each minuscule twitch of his form. When he doesn’t move after several moments, I still don’t relax. I’ve seen Lex fight and he’s a nasty, manipulative son of a bitch. He’ll make you think he’s done, that he’s letting you go—and then he’ll go for the kill. It’s why Darrio likes using him for enforcer work so much. It’s why he likes using all of us for enforcer work—we’re all bastards when it comes to survival.

“Why Gio?” he demands, and I know what he’s really asking. Why not him?

I release a slow breath and let my body finally relax. “Because we needed to talk.”

“About what?”

I take a step towards him and then think better of it, but unwilling to back down, I go still, remaining right where I am.

"I didn't fuck her last night," I tell him.Truth."I wouldn't do that to you."Lie.What a fucking liar I am. I wanted to have her last night and only by the grace of some unseen God had I managed to drag my desire back from the brink.

I could have taken her so easily. She'd been so open and ready for me, her wet slit practically weeping for a good, hard ride. As ashamed as I am to admit my folly, it wasn't Lex's obsession with the girl that stopped me, but the bruises hidden beneath her clothes. Tit for tat, my ass.

I'd wanted to do more than just devour Juliet Donovan's cunt; I wanted to flip her over and fuck her hard enough to pile drive her through a damn wall. With my hands on her skin, moving over the places that fucker had touched her before she'd killed him, I'd finally understood why Lex is and has been six feet under her thrall for so fucking long.

Juliet Donovan is pain personified and men like us love a little bit of agony.

Lex doesn't move. He just continues to stand there, staring at me as if he can see past all of my bullshit and right to the heart of the problem. I wanted to fuck Juliet Donovan last night. If it'd just been a fuck with no emotion attached, I might have done it, but for some fucking reason, Silverwood's public enemy number one has scrambled my fucking brains.

I reach up and drag a hand down my face, releasing a low curse.

Honesty. That's how our friendship works. I never keep shit from Lex and G. They know all of my dirty little secretsand I know theirs. This can't be any different. She can't be any different.

---