Page 65 of Deranged (American Street Kings 3)

Silence. He didn’t say anything, and I was too weak to talk any more. I just wanted the darkness to take me, because the farther I slipped into the void, the nothingness Glenn had told me about, the more the pain dissipated.

I felt his hand brush against my cheek. “Sleep, little sis. I’ll be here when you wake up.”

“Promise?”

“I promise.”

I wiped my nose on the pillow before nestling deeper into it. Sleep was lessening the pain—not just the pain between my legs, but the pain in my chest too.

“I’m sorry.” He sighed, and I managed to open my eyes in time to see a tear slip between his lips. “I’m sorry I couldn’t stop them.”

I closed my eyes again.

“But I promise, when I’m big enough, I’ll stop them. And then no one will ever hurt you again. Do you believe me?”

I simply nodded, my cheeks rubbing against the rough fabric of my pillow.

“Dahlia, say you believe me.”

“I believe you,” I whispered. “I believe you.”

The butterflies never came back after that day. And neither did I.

It waseasy to spot Crow among the rest of the crew. He was the biggest, meanest looking motherfucker in the front. Arrogance and power clung to him like a second skin, his superiority easily spotted. Sleek, long hair, the color of midnight, hung down his back between his shoulder blades in a low-tied ponytail. His beard was as dark as his hair, his cheeks cleanly shaven, leaving a thick chin strap along his jawline. When he got off his hog, I stopped breathing as I watched him straighten his big frame.

Slither wasn’t kidding when he said this man was the worst of the bad. It radiated off him, the malice and wickedness.

Wearing faded black jeans, leather cut, and black shirt, he oozed more power than any Wall Street suit.

I swallowed hard, the mere sight of him intimidating me, letting my confidence falter. And all I could think about was Onyx, seeing his face, feeling his touch. How good it felt to be with him. “Slither,” I turned to him, “I can’t do this.”

“Yes, you can. And you fucking will.”

I shook my head. “Don’t make me do this, please.”

“Do not start this fucking bullshit,” he gritted between clenched teeth. “You are doing this, or I swear to fucking God, I will hurt you more than anyone has ever hurt you before.”

I stumbled back, his words hitting me square in the chest. If there ever was someone who knew how badly I had been hurt before in my life, it was him. For him to threaten to hurt me worse than that…it was horrifying.

“Glenn, what’s gotten into you?”

He moved in front of me, blocking me from the Sixes. Angry eyes glared at me with a kind of hate that crawled all the way up my spine. “I fucking warned you not to call me that.” He grabbed my wrist, twisting it up between us, pressing our bodies against each other.

“You’re hurting me.”

“You’re testing my patience, little sister. I swear to motherfucking God, if you don’t do this job, I’m going to hurt you so much more than this.”

I lifted my chin in defiance. “Who are you? Because you sure as hell ain’t my brother anymore.”

“That’s right.” He tightened his grip, leaning down, stoning me with his whispered words. “Right now, I’m your fucking God, and you will do as I say.”

He let go of me, gently easing back, making sure no one witnessed the animosity that pulsed like a heartbeat between us.

“Now pull your shit together and get your head in the game.”

I glanced at him, the warning clear in his eyes. Disappoint him, and I would regret it.

Slither’s men rounded us as he approached Crow. I couldn’t hear what they were saying as they leaned close together. Slither always made sure I was never on the hearing end of any of his business conversations. But he didn’t know I was on the hearing end back at the Kings’ compound, hearing things about a man I didn’t know. A man who was supposedly my brother, yet…I hardly recognized him anymore. It became all the more clear that the man before me now was no longer the boy who swore to protect me, but rather a power-hungry, cruel, and vindictive monster who thrived on the pain of others.

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