Page 71 of These Monstrous Ties
“We can do this the easy way,” my brother drawls, “or the hard way.”
Lucifer takes us back a step, and I hear the rest of the Unsaints shift with him. Lucifer isn’t aiming the gun at me, or them. I’m certain the others are, but I don’t take my eyes off of Jeremiah’s, even though it isn’t me he’s looking at.
“You can let her go now and we all walk away from this, or I’ll cut your son into pieces and feed them to you, one by one.”
No one says anything. Silence rings out after my brother’s words. No one is looking at me, save for Trey. He looks almost apologetic. But now is not the time for that.
“You piece of shit.” It’s Ezra’s rumbling voice that breaks the silence. My brother’s eyes snap to his. “You motherfucker. You abandon us, break your fucking oath, andyou dareto make demands of us?”
Lucifer chuckles darkly, and when he speaks, I can hear the smile in his words. “You keep mistaking me for someone who cares about that child. About Julie. You got all of that wrong. It’s why you’re here, in this position.”
Nicolas spits on the floor and works his jaw. “Wrong?” he counters, tilting his head, gun aimed at Lucifer at my back. Kristof’s and Trey’s are, too. “Funny, for a guy who doesn’t care, you were waiting in the shadows of the kid’s house. You dragged Sid out at gunpoint for him. Brought your cronies out for him. That doesn’t seem like someone who doesn’t care to me,Lucifer.”
Lucifer has one arm around my front, and he tightens it against my chest. “Before I consider your request,” he says calmly, “what happened to Sid’s throat?”
Kristof’s gaze darts to me and Lucifer notices. The fucking idiot just gave himself away. I feel Lucifer tense behind me.
“I’m going to kill you,” he says quietly to Kristof.
“Let me go.” That’s my voice joining the fray. I’m sick of being used as a pawn. “Let me go,Lucifer.You don’t want to kill me. Sure, you might want to fuck me again. To use me. But you don’t want to kill me, and they know that.”
“Careful, Lilith.” Atlas’s words. “I wouldn’t tell Lucifer what he does and doesn’t want.”
“Fuck you,” I snarl to Atlas. This earns a disapproving click of the tongue from Cain. I twist in Lucifer’s arms to meet Atlas’s dark eyes at my side. “Did you know?” I ask him. “Did you know he was going to rape me that night?”
Atlas’s gaze doesn’t falter from my stare. “Rape?” he mocks, a smile curling on his lips. “Seemed like you wanted it to me.”
I lunge at him, but Lucifer keeps his grip firm around my chest.
“I will fucking carve out your tongue and shove it so far down your throat you’re going to choke on it.” That comes from my brother. For once, we’re on the same side.
But Atlas smiles fully now, turning to my brother. “You never told her, did you?”
That makes me pause.
“I’m sick and fucking tired,” Lucifer begins, his voice low against my ear, but loud enough for all of them to hear, “of asking you the same fucking things over and over again, Sid. Who ishe,” and I know he’s referring to Jeremiah, “toyou?You have the same last name, but I know Jeremiah. I know him probably better than you. He’s fucking filth. You wouldn’t marry shit like that, no matter how rich he was. Who is he to you, Lilith? And don’t fucking lie to me.”
His breath against my skin makes goosebumps form on my arms. All along my body. I meet Jeremiah’s gaze in the darkness. His brows are furrowed, and there’s a frown on his face. He actually looks worried.
I have no idea why.
I have no idea what it matters, at this point, what I am to Jeremiah. That I’m his sister. It’s very clear, based on the amount of muscle and guns Jeremiah has brought here, and based on the fact he’d followed me here, that he would kill for me. He might not pay a ransom or concede his territory or his business, but he’ll fire a gun into someone’s brain for me.
That should be enough to Lucifer and the Unsaints.
But the way Jeremiah is looking at me, and the amount of times Lucifer has asked the question…I want to know. I want to know what it matters.
“He’s my brother,” I whisper.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Present
No one moves,but the entire atmosphere in the room changes. It’s as if someone has taken the air from the house, closed everyone’s lungs. Choking us all. The tension is heavy but loud, like beating rain. And there’s a storm brewing, even as not a single word is spoken after my confession.
And that’s what it feels like.
A confession.
