Page 9 of Filthiest Of Them All

Steam billows around him, his hair wet and slicked back. All his tattoos are on display and I greedily run my gaze over him but freeze at the sight of the tattoo in the middle of his chest.

Ellie.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know thatEllieisElenor. The next tattoo that captures my attention is the one in an upside down U shape around his abs.

De Santis Cosa Nostra.

My eyes bug out of my fucking head, I’m not dumb I know what Cosa Nostra stands for. Mafia. Is that what he is, a made man? Alex’s gaze meets mine and I can see the warning in them, if I ask the question that is burning in the back of my mind he’ll shut me down. But, if I keep my mouth shut and wait it out, I could do some research on whoever the fuck Da Santis family is while they go to that meet.

“Whatever you are plotting, don’t,” he scolds as he stalks toward me. I drop my sandwich on my plate and stare at him, partly praying that he stays the fuck away from me but also wishing he would drop that towel and rid me of this sexual tension I can feel pulsing between us. When he veers off at the last second toward the dresser, I hate that I’m annoyed he didn’t attempt to touch me.

“I wasn’t plotting anything,” I mutter as I finally pick my sandwich up, which doesn’t taste as good as I hoped. It was the sight ofhimthat ruined this beautiful snack for me. I was fine and happy until he walked out here looking like a fucking God and making me want to take a bite out of him and not my actual meal.

“This for me?” I swallow and peer over at him to see him standing there in a pair of gray sweats. I want to fucking whimper at the sight of him. Jesus this is so fucking unfair. Why did he have to be a raging asshole who wants to ruin my life?

“Yes,” I snap. When he continues to eye it warily I growl, then snatch half the sandwich, meet his stare and take a bite. “Happy?” I say around a mouthful of food. His eyes narrow in disgust so I swallow and smile sweetly. “No rat poison was used, scouts honor,” I say, holding up two fingers. His face slackens.

“I’d bet my fucking life that you were never a scout,” he mutters as he snatches his plate off the bed and stands there eating the sandwich I made for him. I hate that his sandwich now looks more enticing than mine! We both eat in silence but it’s charged. Not in the awkward kind of way but in the way that you can feel so many unasked questions hanging between you both. I get so lost in my own thoughts, I don’t realize he has taken the plate from my lap and turned out the lights until I feel the mattress dip from his weight.

I gasp and scoot around on my ass to face him. He sits there on the edge of the bed with his phone in his hand, reading something like nothing is wrong.

“What are you doing?” I ask when he locks his phone and places it on the bedside table. I may not be able to see him but I can feel his eyes on me which just heightens my awareness of him in the dark. Goose flesh begins to break out over my skin and a small shiver works its way down my spine.

“Tatum, I’m a twenty-seven year old man who is quite fucking capable of sleeping next to a woman without sinking my cock inside her.” I feel a blush coating my cheeks but what’s worse, I can feel myself growing wet at the picture he’s painting and without consent, images of him pop into my head of him naked and on top of me as he thrusts— “I’m tired. Now lay the fuck down and go to sleep.” I swallow and suck in a ragged breath, trying to calm my thoughts. I have never, and yes I mean fucking never, met a guy and wanted to fuck them. I normally steer clear of the opposite sex and don’t find any of them attractive, but it seems like that isn’t the case where Alexander is concerned.

Yippee!

“Why did they say I couldn’t stay in that house with them?” I blurt, trying to buy myself some time to think of some plan so I don’t have to sleep next to the fucking Butcher.

He sighs and I can tell he is at the end of his patience with me. “Fine. If I tell you, will you shut the fuck up and go to sleep?”

“Pinky promise.”

“They won’t let a female near them. They have their reasons why and you being around for the foreseeable future until we… get what we want is going to cause problems. Now, go to fucking sleep.”

“Asshole,” I mutter as I toss the sweater I’m wearing onto the floor, then stand so I can rid myself of the sweats. Just as I kicked them to the side and peel the covers back his words stop me.

“What are you doing?”

“Uh, going to sleep?” It comes out as a question.

“Why are you undressing?” The tightness in his tone has my brows raising.

“I thought you said you could control yourself? Or were you lying again and you do actually find my vulgar ass attractive?”

I roll my lips over my teeth to keep from laughing when he growls out loud. “I may just decide finding that cunt isn’t worth it after all,” he mutters to himself. I preen and climb in beside him. I lay on the edge of the bed, not wanting to touch him. Silence stretches between us, I have no idea if he’s asleep or awake but I can’t shut my mind off long enough to even try to sleep. It doesn't help that I suffer with insomnia and have no melatonin to help put my ass to sleep.

I start to delve into everything I have learned. Alex is clearly part of some mafia. His sister is dead, he blames my brother. He wants me to give up the only family I have left because he thinks Nexus is the one who murdered his sister. I know Vivian and her friends think he did it as well, but the brother I know, he would never hurt anyone. He saved me from our father. He’s never asked me for a thing, I was the one who promised to help him hide.

“He didn’t do it,” I whisper.

I feel him shift beside me and lay on his side facing me. I keep staring up at the wooden beams not wanting to look at him. It seems whenever he is around I can’t keep a level head and that is a huge problem considering what he wants from me.

“How well do you really know Nexus Valerian, Tatum?” His tone is soft and that surprises me more than his question.

“He would never hurt anyone.”

“How do you know that?”

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