Page 19 of Catch a King (Five Kings 1)

“So, the happy couple finally made it out into the light.”

My blood freezes when I hear my brother’s sharp tone and I spin around and see him watching us from the end of the corridor. His eyes flash angrily as he growls, “You’ve got some nerve, brother, I’ll say that for you.”

“She was up for auction, it’s the rules that anyone can make a bid.”

He shifts off the wall and stands before me, barely controlling his anger and says tightly, “A private word - now.”

Groaning inside, I say to Millie, “Wait in the bar, I’ll be five minutes.”

She needs no further telling and heads off with just a worried look in my direction and I set my mood accordingly to deal with my brother.

“What’s up?”

“What’s up, brother, is you just ruined our plans and you don’t even know it.”

“What plans?”

“That auction was set up because that little lady knows the fucker who killed our father and I was going to use her to get to him. So, way to go, bro, you messed it up big time.”

What the... I stare at him in shock and growl, “And you’re telling me now, why didn’t you say something before?”

“Because it was on a need-to-know basis. The less people that know about this, the better, so now it’s up to you to complete the plan.”

I swear to god, something in my heart shatters into a million pieces at this moment because the thought of Millie being caught up in our revenge, makes my soul ache.

Slade is enjoying every minute of this and smirks as he flips his thumb in her direction.

“You may need longer than five minutes, bro, Axel wants a word.”

I don’t even speak as I head down the corridor with my brother because Slade has delivered a low blow. Who is Millie and why is she really here? What have they been hiding from me and my heart sinks when I realize it may change how I feel about her?

I definitely need to hear this.

Chapter 16

Millie

Ikeep busy by clearing up the bar and I’m not alone. Ruby, one of the other women who hangs around here, is helping, and she looks at me with curiosity. “How are you feeling, that was intense last night?”

“It certainly was. To be honest though, I’m feeling good, Sawyer was a surprise, a nice one.”

“Yeah, you did well there. If you’d had Slade last night, you wouldn’t be so bright this morning.”

“Tell me about him, Slade, what’s his story?”

Ruby shivers. “You know Slade, in fact, all the Channings are treated like gods around here. The girls want them and the guys are afraid of them. Slade though has a certain, shall we say, danger to him that not many girls can resist, until they see it first-hand that is.”

“What do you mean?”

She looks around and then lifts up her skirt and points to a jagged scar just above her right thigh. “The mark of Slade.”

“He did that?”

I stare at the scar, not too deep but deep enough to hurt, and she shakes her head. “The guy’s an animal. He likes to mark his women. He calls it a sign of respect to him.”

She laughs bitterly. “The guy’s a maniac. He fucks women like a dog. He has no care, no loving, just rage. He ties you up, beats the shit out of you and then makes you orgasm so many times you want him to do it again, then he messes with your head and batters your soul.”

I feel sick just thinking of the lucky escape I had and wonder about the brothers. They seem poles apart and yet… I shiver. There’s a dangerous undercurrent to Sawyer. I see it in his eyes. I’ve seen madness in men’s eyes before, and I recognized it immediately. Perhaps it’s the result of war because many of the Reapers have that same look in their eyes.

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