Page 6 of Twice as Twisted

So I put it back in the pack and shove them into my pocket, pushing down the craving. I can drink it away inside. He won’t think anything of that.

We’re almost to the front of the line anyway, almost to where Colt stands with his unsmiling face and his ugly hand and his stupid rules that make poor people feel like our equals.

He shakes a lock of blond hair out of his face, cool and guarded as he tips his chin at the couple in front of us, taking their money and motioning for them to go ahead. I hate him for that. For still being cool after all we did to him, all we took from him. There was always something untouchable inside him, unreachable. Something we couldn’t crush, not even when we stomped him into the ground like a cockroach. Like a cockroach, he always came back, unruffled and unbothered, like we didn’t matter.

He’s the one who doesn’t matter.

“Let us in,” I order, glaring at him resentfully.

“Don’t be a dickbag just because your brother’s home,” he drawls. “I know you’re good for a few bucks.”

“And I know you don’t need the money this is bringing in,” I point out.

He shrugs one shoulder, like it’s not worth the effort to lift both. “The fighters do.”

“Let us in, or I rip the metal plate out of your head and skull fuck the hole left until your brain oozes out your ears,” Baron growls.

“Sexy,” Colt drawls, dropping a lazy wink. “But everyone pays except the fighters.”

“You don’t pay,” I point out.

“True, but I run the show,” he says, rewarding me with a rare smile, one that feels like victory even though he’s the one gloating. “This isn’t a new club in New York where your name gets you on the list.”

“Told you,” I mutter to my brother.

“Let’s get out of here,” Baron says. “We don’t need this shit.”

“I don’t mind donating to charity,” I say, pulling out my wallet and handing over the cash I brought just for the occasion. “Maybe you can fix your ugly-ass hand so chicks don’t run screaming when you try to touch them.”

Colt drags the bills from my hand, letting his fingertips scrape over my palm. “No complaints so far,” he says, smirking at me as I stomp past him.

The asshole is way too full of himself now that his name has been restored to glory in this town. Or maybe he always was, and that’s why we hit him hardest, and why we let him stay to learn his lesson so many times. Now that he’s not our victim, he and I still keep up the act, needling each other to see how far we can push. But we only play at it. We both know the truth—that it pisses me off beyond reason to know that he is unbreakable and I’m not.

“Girls don’t complain because they won’t let you get close enough to touch,” Baron grumbles, giving Colt a look of pure loathing.

“Don’t be scared, Gloria’s not here,” Colt says, cracking a grin at my brother as he takes money from the next group.

“I’m not scared of Glory Hole Walton,” Baron snaps.

“You should be,” Colt says, never missing a beat, stacking paper and letting in a steady stream, clearly comfortable and in his element here, on the gritty side of town. “She’s got a car and she knows how to use it. I’m guessing you’d be next on her list.”

“I fucked your girlfriend,” Baron says, pulling a sucker from his pocket and casually unwrapping it. “All that time you thought Dixie was so devoted she’d never be with anyone else? Yeah, I’d already busted in her.”

“I’d punch you, but she’s not worth bruising my knuckles over,” Colt says, giving change and ushering in the next group of guys. “Really I should thank you for taking her off my hands. Keep her. She’s all yours.”

Baron’s jaw ticks, his only tell that he’s irritated. I’m not sure he ever gets truly angry, but I’m relieved he’s seeing at least a sliver of what I’ve had to endure since he left. Being unable to put the Darlings in their place is maddening.

Before he can respond, Royal and Harper come through the line, and Harper congratulates Colt on the huge turnout.

“I can’t believe I’m letting you do this,” Royal rumbles as they join us.

“Letting me?” Harper asks. “Like you could stop me.”

“I could stop you,” he says with a haughty grin.

“I’d like to see you try.”

“Is that a challenge, Cherry Pie?”

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