Page 36 of Tangled Lies
“Yes, pretty girl?” he glanced over at me.
“Whatever you do, please don’t let my uncle take me back tonight.”
I had a feeling I could ask any of them and the answer would be the same, but Jett? He was loyal. Ronan? I couldn’t decide if he was the devil out of the four of them. He was themost controlled and the most angry. I let the butterflies in my stomach take over as I got lost in Jett’s ocean eyes as he looked over at me. They darkened into something scary and inhuman. Maybe I was wrong about Jett being the most playful of the four, because in that look? I wondered if maybe they were just the four princes of hell.
He sat up, kicking his legs off the edge of the bed, and studied me for what felt like an eternity. The fluttering butterflies turned into a buzzing of electricity.
He stood up, and with every step I swore my body vibrated. He stopped in front of me, his hands going to my cheeks.
“Your uncle lost you. Even if he tried to cheat, he’s already shown us his hand. The game’s started and we’re the ones setting the rules. Don’t you think?”
I nodded, not sure I heard every word as I watched his mouth. This was serious. I needed to pay attention, but all I could do was look at him and wish that no matter what, he was someone I got to come home to.
That they all were, because their darkness was a life I craved.
CHAPTER 9
KNOX
Margaux had a fire in her that her uncle had missed. The red dress Jett insisted on took her beauty and put it on display. I supposed that if tonight were step one in a new plan to disrupt Senator Harrington’s plans, then this was the way to do it.
The issue? And it sure as shit wasn’t just mine, was the way we all looked at her. What had Ronan started? Arranged marriage? I think we all agreed that it was bullshit. His father had his reasons for setting it up. He always had reasons. Ronan was just a product of an affair, but he’d proven himself to Barone and earned respect. Ronan was a key player in Barone’s plans, and as long as he fell in line and followed the family’s rules, he was rewarded. We all were.
Tonight was one more game for the family. A high profile-auction for charity. One more piece for the family’s puzzle.
It had taken us years to earn our place in the Barone family. Not all of us were born to the right relative, and not all our relatives lived to tell the tale. The four of us learned early on how to survive. So why the fuck was Margaux disrupting our lives?
We’d never had a woman with us in public, let alone in our limo. I disliked change.
I’d watched Margaux for the last however many miles, trying to read her. The girl had a poker face to be envied. She looked happy as long as you didn’t pay attention to those eyes of hers.
I leaned forward in the limo and slid my hand up her exposed thigh, pushing the slit of the dress aside to give me access to the thigh that was covered by the silky fabric. I didn’t let the amusement show, but when she jumped and tried to squeeze her thighs tight, I enjoyed pressing my fingers between them apart far too much.
“Careful, angel. A man might think you’re playing hard to get.”
Her eyes were wide and her hand rested on my shoulders like that would stop me.
“What are you doing?”
I noticed the way she looked around the limo like it would change anything.
“This.” I held up a small thigh holster with a knife. “It won’t kill anyone, but if you need to get away go for the eyes or throat.”
Her breasts rose and fell quickly. I liked that she responded to my touch in such a way and hated that I thought that at all. It was clear that my brothers didn’t view her as a simple toy. She was different, and I couldn’t determine why.
Her skin was soft under my touch, and maybe I lingered longer than needed. Perhaps the backs of my fingers brushed over the thin lace of the panties just to see her reaction.
My cock jumped as I watched the way she bit down on her bottom lip like she was trying to keep herself under control.
The driver stopped in front of an older downtown Vegas icon, and I shifted back to my seat.
There was a steady stream of cars for the charity auction. We weren’t here for the charity. Rarely was anything what itlooked like. This wasn’t a choice, but we needed something being auctioned off.
The whole thing was slight to our family and our control of Vegas. There weren’t many families left, but those that were, politicians sure as hell were doing their best to force us out and take over with their own corruption. One evil for another.
Ronan covered Margaux’s leg, but the slit of the dress fell open anyway. Interesting that he cared at all.
I needed my cock to settle down. I tried to focus on the faces of those walking the carpet to the event. But she was in the back of my mind the whole damn time. Margaux was that change that I’d never expected. Would she play the role she would need to?
