Page 11 of Devil to Pay: Cutter

Smartly, he takes off, not pushing his luck by asking any other asinine requests of me and that leaves me ready to get friendly with a bottle of bourbon. I drop down onto a stool next to Dark, who has a semi-blitzed Rae sitting on his lap. He’s got his face in her neck, whispering something as he kisses her and she’s eating every bit of it up, giggling. Never thought I’d see the day. He’s big, a few inches taller than me and I’m six feet. A solid wall of hard motherfucker if there ever was one. Not a man you want pissed at you. And on top of that, he’s fucking smart. Dark’s our numbers man. He keeps the books for the club. You wouldn’t think a badass who looks like him would be able to count higher than his fingers and toes, he’s never been to college, but finances come easy for him. It was a no brainer for Vlad to appoint him our treasurer. Still, one woman?

She’s fucking hot, I’ll give her that. Long, wavy, light-brown hair that I know would be feather-soft to the touch. Perfect for running your fingers through if you’re into that. I’m more of agrab a fistful to give me more leveragetype of guy, but to each his own.

I definitely wanted to fuck her when I met her. But Rae, Rae isn’t a bitch you casually fuck. She’s the all-or-nothing kind of woman. The kind you know before you ever decide to sink inside that sweet pussy that if you go there, you’re done for. She’s got control of your dick for the long haul. That’s what happened with Dark.

He started out as her bodyguard. Stupid fuck made the mistake of getting to know her kids, which ultimately led to fucking her. He never left. The assignment became permanent. And now he’s married to the bitch.

I never thought I’d live to see the day when Dark tied himself to one bitch—one pussy—for the rest of his life. Not Dark. He knew what was important until he met Rae and she confused the hell out of him. Pussy can ruin a man’s life if he’s not careful.

He only just notices me when I take the shot of bourbon the prospect behind the bar slipped me.

“Brother,” he says.

“Dark,” I return once I’ve swallowed the shot and slammed the glass on the bar top. “Rae.” I make sure to acknowledge her. She might have ruined my brother by turning him into a family man, but she’s smart. Cool. And I’m not a big enough dick to ignore her.

“Pretty hot bitch you marched through here. Where is she?” he asks.

Rae’s eyes go comically wide. “What?” she squeaks. Swear to Christ, it came out as a squeak. “You have a woman here?”

“Calm your tits, sweetheart. She’s a woman and I brought her here, but I don’t ‘have a womanhere.’”

“Why’d you bring her back?” she asks.

“I fucked her. She fucked me over when I fell asleep—stole my money and credit card. Tracked her down. Now we have to figure out what we’re going to do with her.”

“So you liked her enough to fuck her—”

I cut her off. “I like a lot of women enough to fuck them, sweetheart.”

She throws a droll look my way. “Fuck and fall asleep with her in the bed?”

“We fucked hard. It was late. I couldn’t help myself.” Though that’s not entirely true. I told her I wanted her to stay the night. I was actually looking forward to fucking her after we both rested. Rae doesn’t need to know that shit. She’d never let it go.

“No problems in Georgia?” Dark asks, thankfully changing the subject.

“Aside from getting ripped off? None. Death Bringers got no foothold in Georgia. It was a smart location, what with the treaties we signed with the Thunder Gods.”

“I’m so done with those Death Bringers. Glad as fuck Georgia worked in our favor, but we need to find out how they found out about our movements in the first place. Something’s not sitting right.”

“Agreed.” I wave to the kid behind the bar to slide me another shot. “That’s on you brothers who keep your asses safe at home.”

His whole body gets tight. “You got a problem with how we’re doing things?”

“Not one bit. I’m just saying that Rough and I are busy on the runs, so it’s up to you all to figure this shit out.”

“And you couldn’t just say that?”

“Pardon me,” I answer sarcastically. “I didn’t know you had such a soft constitution. What else shouldn’t I say in front of the lady?”

His lips purse as he narrows his eyes at me, letting me know I struck a chord. “Fuck you,” he clips.

“Thanks, but I’m booked.”

It’s either leave or punch him in the face. Rather than escalate this shit with my brother, I stand from my stool, swiping up my bourbon, and head for the pool table.

I’m two games in when the door opens and I know it has to be Horace back with our food. He pushes his way through the swarm of brothers who smell the heavenly scent of Emperor's Garden and descend on him.

“Back the fuck up,” I shout and the men turn to look at me. “That’s mine. I’ll cut anyone who tries to take my food.” They know I’m deadly with a knife and don’t make bullshit threats.

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