Page 74 of Twisted Revelations

34

Beverly

“Ladies, would you like anything to drink?” Ansel’s facial expression had softened, and the tension in Laura’s face disappeared. Water was all we’d asked for.

Ansel disappeared as Aaron started the conversation, asking about our mission in Texas like D and Dax hadn’t already informed of how much trouble we’d been.

Ansel returned and handed us cold bottles of Evian in the midst of us telling about how we’d come up with and enacted the plan to take down, No-face, Santino.

The news reporting had been kept local, so D had sent the guys a recording of not only Santino’s death, but of how it had been reported. The news headlined highlighted how a lifelong resident of Houston had ended up crushed to death in his penthouse after a crane had malfunctioned. News reports claimed the only body found inside that penthouse was the resident and had been careful in not releasing Santino’s name.

D was tightlipped about the group of women that helped us, but I believed they were the ones who’d removed the rest of those bodies from that penthouse.

Aaron and Regina filled in more blanks about their time in Texas at the farm, and how Aaron had ended up there in the first place. A more vivid picture of what had gone down at that farm and a bigger piece of Regina’s story strengthened my respect for Aaron and my empathy for Regina.

“So, you’re telling me your crazy ass cousin Luis, who has a license to practice medicine, is a meth mixer who uses human ashes as an ingredient? And they had you cremating their victims?” Laura questioned Regina. She’d asked Regina the question twice, phrasing it a different way each time because she, like me, had trouble believing it.

Regina nodded. “My family is pure evil. Empathy wasn’t a part of their genetic sequencing,” she uttered more to herself than us. Seeing her in person allowed me to look past her being member of the cartel that had been hunting us. She was a survivor like we were.

“I’ve heard strange shit, but this…” Laura continued shaking her head.

Regina nodded again before allowing a sad smile to grace her face. Her family had put her through pure hell.

“You’re one of us now, Regina,” I stated. Megan and Laura agreed, each reaching to offer a touching caress against her arm. “If any of your psychotic family members come searching for you, they will be met with opposing forces. You’ve allied with the right group,” I reassured.

“By the way, that one.…” I pointed at Ansel, keeping my tone low. “Judging by the way he keeps watching you, I’d say you won’t ever have to worry about anyone touching you again in life. However, you might have to worry about him. He seems very intense,” I noted as he and I broke eye contact, and I returned my attention to Regina.

After our stories and updates died down, Megan stood. “I’ve cooked for you guys.” Her announcement had us as giddy as sugared up children.

Although she’d never reveal it to anyone, Laura knew how to cook too. She’d gotten a lot of practice at the center, cooking for the kids. She and I had also gained a wealth of useless knowledge from some of the classes we gave as well as helping some of the children with their homework.

Megan glanced at Ansel. “Will you call the rest of the guys?”

“No problem,” he replied as he headed out the front door. There hadn’t been anyone outside when we’d driven up, but D had informed us that Ansel’s house had a lot of secret coves.

We stood and followed Megan into the kitchen with Aaron and Regina on our trail. Seeing Aaron poke Regina playfully in the side showed that he cared for her. Whether she believed me or not, she was a part of this crazy group we seemed to be forming.

The rest of the crew gradually joined in. The first we met were Rob and Galvin. D and Dax had spoken freely about the men, so it was nice to put faces to the names. The men, like D and Dax, had no problems getting a woman’s attention.

Observing them, my smile never dropped. My gaze panned the group, noticing their differences and picking out the one underlying characteristic they shared. They all had that bad-boy killer swagger that didn’t put them in the same categories with normal men.

When he walked in, my gaze froze, and my smile dropped for the first time. Megan introduced him as Luke. The man was at least six-foot-seven, eight, or nine. I didn’t know, but Jesus H. Christ, he was fine. I remembered a conversation between D and Dax mentioning a Lucas Bradshaw. This had to be him.

He was a sparkling pale like a seashell that had gotten the lightest trace of sun. Ivory, that’s it. His skin was the same glimmering color of invaluable ivory. He was built like the ancient gods, arms long and corded with bulging muscles that poked at the shirt covering him. His charcoal gray slacks covered legs formed like they could take down a tank.

I didn’t have to view what was under his Olympic-blue, V-neck, long-sleeve Henley to know that the rest of him was as impressive. Tattoos peeked from the edge of his sleeves. When I assumed things couldn’t get any better, he sat directly across the table from me, and I got my first glimpse of his eyes.

They were light blue, but not boring or plain. His were a mixture of an electric and a darker China blue that made crystals look like cracked glass in comparison. They formed flawless gemstones that enticed you to get lost in them.

My face pinched in concern when I noticed the beauty in those eyes was tinged with pain that probably didn’t allow him to trust easily. My eyes fell closed, and I forced myself to stop analyzing him. I was used to being in therapy mode at the center and therefore found myself evaluating the people I encountered.

Luke was a good-looking man from top to bottom, with a chiseled jaw line that held up a prominent strong face with round features versus angular. There was something boyish in his features although he was all the man a woman could ever want.

It wasn’t easy, but I managed to pull in bits and pieces of the conversation as I did some serious eye stalking of Luke. When I could focus, eating and laughing our way through Megan’s delicious food, I enjoyed myself immensely.

The group of men could pass for a dangerous version of a high-end stripper team. They all possessed unique assets and flaring airs of danger emanated from their pores and made it impossibly hard not to stare.

However unique they all were, I was drawn to the titan that sat across the table from me. His eyes met mine a few times, heightening my awareness of his thrilling presence. I sensed he knew my watchful eyes were on him. Make that, staring a hole through him.

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