Page 23 of Smoke the Enemy

“I’mfine.” Lee growls.Yeah. Sure, you are.

Steffan tilts his head and holds his hands out. “What’s the matter? Who is she?”

“Van Doren. She’s Bailee Van Doren, for fuck’s sake.”

Three. Two. One.Steffan goes off. “As in fucking Bryce Van Doren’s little sister. When we told the brothers to keep an eye on her, it was to catch Bryce.”

My dark laughter echoes off the walls. “He’s keeping more than an eye on her.”

“Hey, fu–”

I hold up a finger. “Don’t you dare finish that sentence.”

Steffan kicks a chair. “What are you thinking, Lee? Her family has been banished from The Illicit. My father killed hers for betraying us. We’re after her fucking brother. Are you fucking mental, dude?”

Lee stands up. “But she’s not like them. She’s innocent. I didn’t mean for anything to happen between us. I was trying to be friendly to get information and…”

“She can’t be trusted,” Steffan says more to himself than to us. “But this could work. Maybe it will lure Bryce to us.”

“Or he’s already using her to get to us,” I counter.

“We have to be smart. And careful. Use this to our advantage.”

Lee opens his mouth, clearly wanting to argue, but he wisely shuts it.He’s smitten. How precious.His phone rings again. Steffan waves his hand and Lee answers the phone before walking out of the room. My eyes follow him out.

“Let me make sure I’m understanding this. He can fuck aVan Doren,but I’m supposed to stay away from Taylor? Wow. I wonder what it’s like being thefavorite little minion. Maybe then I’d get to sleep with who I wanted to.”

“This is different.”

“How? Rules are that once a family is banished, we don’t have anything to do with him. Lee’s dick inside a Van Doren falls under the ‘definitely having something to do with them’ category, don’t you think?”

“I get it,” Steffan sighs and finally sits down in the leather chair that Lee just vacated.“I want her, too.” He’s talking about Taylor. “It’s messy and complicated with a Dupree in the mix. We have to be smart. The original families will still hold loyalty to traditions and the fact his grandfather started all this. Despite what a piece of shit he is.”

“What if I don’t care about all that?”

“You will.” Steffan lowers his voice to a hushed whisper. “We will become the new leaders. There’s no reason we should throw what our families have worked for away and hand it over to these other assholes. Control your temper. Harness it.”

“Then why are we sitting around,” I bite back.

“You know why. We just discussed this, and we agreed to give her some time. Let fucking Dupree show his colors, and then we can tell her our intentions. We can’t let Father know either.” His eyes find mine again. At least he’s sayingoursthis time.

“He already holds resentment toward the Duprees,” I remind him.

“I don’t want Taylor to become collateral to The Illicit. We give her some space to remember why Alex isn’t for her, and when we get back on campus we can convince her further.” He drums his fingers on the arm of the chair.

“Well, it shouldn’t take too long at least. That fucker already scares her. I just hope she’s safe. No more accidents,” my fingers curl around the glass in my hand. I taught Taylor a few self-defense moves back on campus, but something tells me a guy like Alex might be more cunning.It feels too convenient that her was in a car accident and he was the one to save her.

“I’m sure you already have a way to watch her in realtime.” Steffan takes a drink and I can’t hide the smirk on my lips.

I would never leave our little mouse to dangle at the claws of a lion.

Taylor’s dark hair spills over her bare shoulder as she wraps a towel around her body, hiding all that beautiful skin from my eyes. My lips twist in a smile. I wonder if she can feel me watching, even though I’m not there. My plan to activate the camera on her laptop remotely was genius. She hasn’t discovered it yet, and if I’m lucky she never will. If I can’t be with Taylor, at least I can check to make sure she’s safe.

I watch her pour lotion on her skin, and even though her shower should have made her relaxed, I can still see the little V on her forehead, indicating she’s thinking too hard. Her hands move over her arms repeatedly as if she’s lost in thought. Her dewy skin turns pink where she rubs, and soon she’s sitting on her bed, the towel moves up, exposing more of her legs.

“That’s it, Little Mouse,” I praise her even though she can’t hear me. Her hands work over her legs, sliding higher and higher. I groan in the silence of my room, wanting to see all of her while also enjoying the little tease she is giving me.I’m thankful she never shuts her laptop. My camera is always on, ready to capture beautiful moments like this. I have zero regrets over invading her privacy either. She’s mine, after all.

Taylor pauses rubbing her lotion in, her head tilting to the side like she’s listening for something. I sit up in my chair, keeping my eyes focused on the screen. After a few seconds Taylor gets off her bed and crosses the room to her bedroom door. She flicks the lock and turns off the light, plunging the room into darkness. I sit and wait, my heart hammering in my chest. Right as my fingertips touch the edge of my phone, the light on her desk flares to life. There is a soft glow of light now instead of the glaring brightness from her ceiling fan lights. Taylor walks over to her bed and stands still, looking at the covers. I run my fingertip over my lips, contemplating.

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