Page 15 of Filthiest Of Them All

“So, he’s treating you okay-ish then?”

“Where are you going with this?” I bite out.

“You’re a beautiful girl, Tate. Men seem to talk more freely when they arerelaxed.” Bile rushes up my throat. I swallow a few times and try to control my outrage.

“Are you suggesting that I… seduce The Butcher?” Disgust laces each of my words. Not because I find Alexander repulsive but because my own brother is suggesting I whore myself out for intel.

“Call it what you want but if he?—”

“Do you even know what he looks like?” I ask.

“Of course.”

“How?” I know I sound shallow asking this but for all he knows he could be some fifty-year-old balding, overweight trucker.

“I’ve seen pictures.”

“Where?” I shout. “Where the fuck have you seen him, Nexus?”

“Why are you being such a chick about this?” Tears prick the backs of my eyes.

“You’re just as bad as all those foster fathers I had. I’m nothing but a way for you to pay your debts.”

“Hey, hey, hey, come on now. You and I both know I never hurt that crazy fuck’s sister?—”

“He isn’t crazy!” I snap.

“Wait, are you defending him right now?” I bite back my retort and remain silent. “How long have you been with him?”

“A couple days,” I mutter.

“Wow, all it took was two days for you to turn against your own brother.”

I scrub a hand down my face. “He didn’t turn me against anyone. He also isn’t crazy, Nexus. Someone hurt his little sister and he won’t stop hunting until he finds out the truth.”

“How do you know that?”

“I can see it in his eyes. His sister is his purpose and reason for doing all of this. He loved her, Nexus, you can feel it!” My voice rises as I begin to doubt everything I know. “He really loved her and this won’t end until he—” I hear rustling behind me and tense when the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. “I have to go.” I end the call, power the phone off and slip it in the side of my shoe. My breathing turns ragged as I wait. When a couple of minutes pass and nothing happens I find myself praying that it’s Alex out here with me and no hungry mountain lion.

Oh my God.

Wouldn’t that be a way to go, escape my captor only to be eaten by a lion! A shiver works its way down my spine when the rustling begins again. I wait with bated breath and clench my eyes closed, not wanting to see the animal as it takes my life. I feel it approaching and when I feel a presence beside me I deflate.

“How’d you find me?” I mutter as he takes a seat beside me onhiscomforter. He stretches his legs out in front of him and rests back on his elbows, getting comfortable.

“Being able to sit out here and look up at the stars is one of the reasons why I keep coming back to this place.” He doesn’t sound angry, he just sounds… tired. I mimic his position and look up, my eyes widen. The stars are everywhere, there’s no buildings to obscure your view of them, they’re so bright and beautiful. We sit here for a long while just looking up at the beauty of the universe. “To answer your earlier question, there isn’t a place you can run to where I won’t find you, Tatum.” On most guys, that answer would sound cocky but when he says it, I just hear the truth.

“How come you can find me but not my brother?” I push.

He sighs and I can’t help turning to look at him only to freeze when I find his gaze already on me. “I thought about that a lot today. The only conclusion I have is that someone with enough knowledge about me and my guys is hiding him.”

I frown, then study him for a second trying to sense if this is a trap. “Why would you think that?”

His green eyes burn with an intense look and I find myself trying not to fidget. “Want to know something I can’t figure out?”

I purse my lips and decide to throw caution to the wind, he hasn’t killed me yet so may as well push my luck. “Sure, why the hell not,” I mumble which has the corner of his mouth lifting into a smirk. It's amazing, there is no light out here yet I can see him perfectly thanks to the moon and stars shining so bright.

“How someone like you could share blood with a piece of shit like him.” I recoil.

---