Page 86 of Savage Daddies

“The last of what?”

“Of you trying to pursue my wife. I’m disappointed, Blazer.”

“Bullwhip,” I correct, “and who says I’m trying to pursue your wife?”

“Do you take me as a fool?” He gestures to the other side of the room. To the very same pair of red lace panties Zoe was telling us about earlier.

I drop my eyes.

Zoe.

Fuck, why of all people is it mybrothershe’s married to?

“Now, let me cut to the chase.” Felix leans forward and nets his hands. His jaw juts out in front of him—an obvious indicator of our relation, and his mismatched eyes narrow.

Are the others still upstairs? They need to get the fuck out of?—

“Don’t worry about them.” His eyes remain on mine. “Worry about us.”

I fold my arms over my chest. The suits don’t tidy him up or make his face any less harsh. God, we’re like two peas in a pod, both outcasts. Both with a hunger to destroy. Our only difference is Zoe. He wears her like a designer handbag, and I have an obsession with making her come.

“Join me.” His eyes narrow even more at the request. “Think how powerful we’d be.” Felix undoes a cuff link and rolls back his sleeve. The beard isn’t the only thing he shaves. He strokes his hand up the length of his limb. “Come on. It would be a waste when we both have the same blood running through our veins.”

I wince.

Wrangler. Poet.Zoe.Yes, they have loyalties to me, but it’s different. I’m not like them. They have goodness in their heart, and the two other guys kill only when it’s necessary to do so. I kill for fun. To control. To pay tribute to my childhood self who needed somebody to stand up for him.

And now Felix is my brother.

Brothers should stand up for each other and protect each other no matter what.

“How many people have you killed?”

“Why?” he scoffs. “Is this one of those sibling things where we see who has the most?” He shakes his head, and a smile lights up his face—a genuine one. He looks nothing like this on TV. Everything’s too reformed, too planned out, but this doesn’t feel like one of those moments. “Oh, I don’t know. You’ve seen the folders.”

“You wereeighteenwhen you started?”

“Technically seventeen, but I only killed two at that age.”

“Why?”

“I had a dream. You ever had one of those?”

Everybody has dreams, but so few people pursue them. Mine was to make something of myself, and I joined Venom Vultures to be powerful and in control for once in my life.

But it’s not good enough.

I murder and repeat.

Murder and repeat.

Nothing ever changes.

Brander’s the only one in the group who understands what it’s like to be parentless, but he has Alice so I never see the guy anymore.

Suddenly, Felix interrupts my digging and presents the perfect opportunity. Belonging to something, truly, is all I’ve ever wanted. Venom Vultures gave me that for a time.

But nothing beats blood relation.

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