Page 24 of Filthiest Of Them All

“When?” Halo asks.

“At the meeting.” I turn and face them all. Each one of them looks confused.

“How does she know about him?” Pope hedges.

I shake my head as I try to think back if I mentioned something about him. “I don’t know. She told me the deal extended to him. Why?”

“What if they’re linked?” Vat says.

“How? Nexus meant nothing to us untilafterwe left the family,” Omen clarifies.

Vatican’s eyes widen as he faces me. “Desire is the one hiding Nexus. There is no way that little fuck would be able to hide from us on his own. Desire’s helping him. She knows Halo’s blind spots and is playing on them.” My face slackens as his words sink in. I pull my phone out and dial Carnage. This time he picks up on the third ring.

“What?” he says as he answers.

“How the fuck does your bitch of a sister know about Nexus Valerian?” I snarl.

“Who the fuck are you talking about, Butcher?” He sounds irritated and that is a sign that Carnage is telling the truth. He always gets angry when he doesn’t know shit.

“I’ll say this one fucking time, De Santis. If I find out you or your sister had a hand in anything to do with Elenor?—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, you stupid fucker. I may hate you but that hate doesn’t extend to your sister. You fucking know that, you fucker. I never went after your sister!” he roars. “I was the fucking one helping you protect her and getting her ass into the good schools and making sure no one fucked with her. Don’t you ever fucking accuse me of ever laying a hand on her!” His anger is felt and I know now, without a shadow of a doubt, he’s innocent, which means either the twins are in on it with Desire or she’s acting alone.

“Carnage, pick a side quick because your sister fucked up. She showed me her hand at the meeting and now, I’m coming at her with everything I fucking have,” I yell, then try and calm myself, not wanting to get in a fight with this fucker.

“You have my word, Butcher. If Desire had anything to do with what happened to Ellie… I’ll deal with her.”

“No. If she did, I’ll deal with her myself,” I answer.

“You really gonna torture the woman you were in love with?” I grind my teeth and work my jaw side to side.

“That was a long time ago,” I force out through clenched teeth. “Get the intel fast or I’ll extract it from her the only way I know how. You have one week.” I end the call, then face the guys. “Work with the angle that Nexus and Desire are somehow connected. Figure out how they know each other. We find that link, we find him.” I turn to leave but Halo’s words stop me in my tracks.

“Best way to find that link is to go to Chicago.” I peer over my shoulder at him.

“Your point?” I push.

“Your pretty little blonde is in Chicago.”

I growl in annoyance. “Get a flight out of here tomorrow. We work from there. Pope, call Damon and tell him to meet the Luther’s for the shipment on Friday. Omen, deal with Adrian and have him and some others fly out separately to us and set up a perimeter in Chicago to watch our backs.” I don’t hang around for them to reply, I storm out the back door to call my little Bambi who is going to learn what it’s like to be hunted byme.

* * *

I fucking hate the busyness of the city. I’ve been in Chicago mere hours and I already miss the peace of my home. I don’t get how people can live in a place like this and even hear themselves think. Omen drives us through the city. I don’t know what the connection is, but I can feel it in my bones that Tatum is somehow tied into this web of bullshit between Desire and Nexus.

“We’re coming up to the location,” Omen says, pulling my attention to him. I nod and wait for him to park across the street from the hotel Vivian has purchased to open her new club. The location is prime and will garner a lot of traffic. There is no doubt in my mind that her sex club will be profitable.

“Why was construction halted on this?” I ask Halo.

“The permits keep getting knocked back. Someone is black balling them,” he answers. We all know this has Desire’s name written all over it, she wouldn’t allow a hotel with a sex club to be built here. It would take profits from her brothels she has around town. Unlike the ones she runs, Vivian’s embrace kinks, its upper class and all her girlsandguys are tested regularly.

“We got a situation.” The urgency in Pope’s tone has me going on alert. I follow his gaze to the alley next to the hotel. My breath lodges in my throat when I see Tatum standing there, she looks pissed off but it’s the sight of her in those jeans that hug her like a second skin and that tight yellow long-sleeve shirt she wears that falls off one shoulder that has my mouth watering. “Why is Wrath here?” I shake my head and push away those thoughts. I cut my gaze to the guy standing beside the one she is arguing with and my anger soars. Wrath De Santis shouldn’t be anywhere near her. He is fucking poison and I know for a fact he loves to take what isn’t being offered. I’ll be fucking damned if I let him take a single fucking thing from her.

Only I get to fuck with her.

“Well, I guess we know who is blocking the permits from going through now,” Vat mutters. I grunt my agreement without taking my eyes off Tate. Wrath is grinning like a fool, he’s loving the sight of her all fired up.

“This isn’t a coincidence, I don’t believe in that shit,” Halo voices. I nod in agreement. “There is no fucking way Desire suddenly comes back to haunt us, then drops Nexus’s name and now suddenly, Wrath is here with your girl.” I bristle at the wholemy girlcomment but remain silent as I watch her throw her hands in the air, then stalk away from those two. She pulls her phone from her pocket, then brings it to her ear. She suddenly pauses, then turns and faces our car. She may not be able to see us through the tinted windows but she doesn’t need to, she can feel me watching her.

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