Page 135 of Saint

“You know the rules; what’s learned in Sigma House stays here.” Brax’s gaze cuts to Declan; he’s loosened his grip on the blade but not by much. “But your father doesn’t play by the rules, does he? He used Liam’s secrets to steal Trinity’s father’s seat in the Senate. He blackmailed them.”

“The House plays dirty sometimes, so what?” Declan glares at Braxton. “Your family is resurrecting a two-year-old grudge just because it took you that long to get leverage over my father? What’s done is done. There’s no going back.”

“Trinity hung herself!” Brax yells, and Violet flinches at his comment. “She was pregnant.”

Fuck.

Now, the grudge makes a little more sense. If Trinity was pregnant with Liam’s baby, it explains why the Westwood family never let it go. If anything comes above politics, it’s legacy. Ian Pierce stole more than a seat in the Senate. He stole a piece of the Westwood bloodline.

And now the Westwoods want him to know how it feels.

Declan.

Violet.

They’re out for family blood, and Oliver Westwood has brainwashed his sons into doing the dirty work.

“It’s okay.” Brax calms, and his voice quiets.

He closes his eyes for just a moment like he’s at peace. And as someone who has stolen plenty of souls in my time, I know that’s not a good thing.

When he finally opens his eyes, his dark gaze lands on me. “You can’t stop this, Kole. Pierce blood will spill for what they’ve done.”

Brax drags his free hand down Violet’s body. She’s trembling as his touch trails her stomach.

“Don’t hold back, Vi.” Brax slips his hand under the band of her pants. “Scream for your brother and your boyfriend. They won’t save you. Kole would rather let me have my way than step in and risk your death.”

That’s where he’s wrong. I won’t let either of those two things happen.

Her eyes move to mine as Brax’s hand slips into her pants, and I find the edge of the universe in her stare.

He thinks I won’t care enough to stop him because members of Sigma House are trained not to care about anything.

And I didn’t.

But that was before Violet.

So we stand here with marks carved into our chests to prove our loyalty, but it doesn’t matter. We survive more than our scars within these walls. We survive this house. This brotherhood.

And I survive for her.

Only her.

Violet won’t die tonight. But I’m going to slice off every part of Braxton that has touched her to teach him what it means to be loyal.

43

I Need To See This

Violet

I’m shaking against therestraints as Braxton digs his hand into the band of my pants again, and I can’t help but wonder if he’s right.

Would Saint let Brax do what he wants with my body just to stop him from killing me? Saint has watched men touch me—even if he did make them pay for it afterward.

But this has to be different. It isn’t a game.

This isn’t just Saint and me feeding our depravity with what we crave in each other. This is Brax out for blood. Out to get revenge against a father I didn’t know I had. And he wants to use me to do it.

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