Page 28 of Filthiest Of Them All

“I expected you to kick me out,” I answer.

She scoffs. “Did you steal my phone this time?”

“No,” I grit out.

“Did you steal anything of mine?”

“I would have stolen your thong but you weren’t wearing one so no, I didn’t steal any fucking thing.” Her quiet chuckle feels like a balm to my tattered soul. I find myself relaxing at the sound but it ends all too quickly.

“Get in the bed, Alex.” I climb in beside her, wearing nothing but my boxers. This is new for me. I don’t sleep next to anyone. Tatum lays beside me silently. I’ve watched her long enough to know she takes a while to fall asleep. The awkward silence is weird. Normally it never bothers me because I don’t have a lot to say to anyone, but with her I have this need to make sure she is comfortable so I ask, “Who hurt you?”

I feel her tense beside me. “I’m not weak.” Her softly spoken answer is one I didn’t expect.

“Never said you were, Bambi.”

“What’s with the nickname?”

“You were the prey and I was the hunter the other night, the name fits.”

“Whatever you say,Butcher.” I say nothing because the truth is I hate her calling me that, it’s not a name I chose for myself. She rolls onto her side and faces me. I can feel her overthinking from over here but I don’t say anything, giving her time to work it out in her head. “Why are you here?”

“If I knew the answer to that question, then I wouldn’t be here lying beside you.” I can't hide the edge to my tone.

“Wow, you sure know how to make a girl feel special after you just fucked her.” Bitterness laces each one of her words.

I loll my head to the side and look at her. “Tatum, I shouldn’t be here.” Conviction is clear as I speak. “Your brother is someone I want dead and groveling at my feet as I tear the son of a bitch apart slowly. I want his blood covering every inch of my skin. I want to inflict the most amount of pain on him as I can so he can pay for what he took from me. You share his blood and here I am making myself at home inside you.” She recoils and tries to scoot away but I snap my arm out and wrap it around her waist, pulling her flush against my side.

“Get out,” she snaps.

“No. Don’t let your anger cloud your judgment. I know what he asked you to do to get intel on me.”

“How?”

“I heard enough of your conversation with him. I would never have asked such a thing of my sister, she was mine to protect and that little cunt stole her from me.”

“And what? You plan to steal me from him and force me to face the same fate as your sister?” When I don’t answer she gasps and struggles against me to get free. I roll over and use my body to pin her beneath me. “Fuck you, get the fuck off me!” she screams. I pin her arms above her head and grind against her pussy so she can feel how hard I am.

“Does that fucking feel like I want to kill you?” I snap, she stills beneath me.

“What are you doing here with me then?”

I exhale and decide to be honest. “I have no fucking clue. You were meant to lead us to your brother and never know we existed, but then you had to start digging and bringing attention to us so we had no choice.”

“Who are you worried about finding you?”

I grind my teeth. “No one. The endgame here is finding your brother, and I won’t let whatever this is between us cloud my judgment. He will die and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop it.” She sniffs and I fight back the growl that wants to break free.

“You kill my brother and you can forget I ever existed.”

“You’re not someone who is easy to forget, Miss Lawson,” I mutter.

“Stop stalking me and then it won’t be so hard.”

“You need to stop crossing my path, then I might.”

“How the fuck do I cross your path?” she splutters.

“The guy you were with today?—”

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