Page 33 of Torched

“Is he poaching again?” With a pinched mouth, I lift my eyes back to Jeremy. He’s throwing me a guilty look. “What?”

“We think they are doing more than that.” Jeremy straightens his spine, his dark blonde hair glowing a little under the chandelier of my bedroom. “We have reasons to believe they aren’t just poaching a few of our clients.” He quickly glances at Kane. “We think they are planning a coop.”

“A coop?”

Jeremy nods. “They’re going after the clients that are most strategic first and word on the street is they want to take over.”

“Take over what?”

“Our business!” Kane snaps. “Our empire! Ourfuckinglife!” He takes a step forward. “Don’t you see it? She wants to distract you.”

“She has no contact with them!”

“You don’t know that!” Kane shouts.

“I do!”

“How?!”

“Because she said so!”

“Right and the Reyes are known for their trustworthy behavior?”

My hand lifts, pinching the bridge of my nose, because I realized my mistake the moment the words rolled off my tongue. The Reyes are anything but trustworthy. I’m definitely not debating that, but my mind doesn’t seem to register that Cristina is one of them. I don’t fully trust her, but there is something about her that keeps my attention. Every time I tell myself to stay sharp, and keep my distance, she does or says something to lure me back in. Like the other day when we were walking toward the restaurant and I saw her neck crane, staring at that toddler that was wobbling down the street. That tender look on her face is burned into my membrane. Or the smile she gave me when I brought her favorite chocolate mint ice cream when I stopped over at her Chelsea condo to watch a movie. Not to mention that time she told me she was volunteering at the shelter with her mother.

I know I’m a criminal. I walk through life on the wrong side of the law, and I don’t obey like a sheep just because a bunch of old men in a fancy building have decided on it. Because, like most of this population, I don’t agree that a few hundred men can decide what's best for millions of people. Really, when you think about it, the law is subjective, but I still like to believe I’m a decent guy. That I have morals and can separate right from wrong. Just because I’m not a saint, it doesn’t mean I’m the devil either. I feel the same about her. I’m positive she has seen horrible things, and maybe even acted out on some for the sake of her family, but it doesn’t mean she’s like her cousin. It doesn’t mean the name Reyes automatically assigns her a moral deficit.

“She’s nothing like them. They banished her, Kane.”

“I thought she left?” he scolds, his temper showing that he’s no longer playing indifferent.

“It’s both, okay? They banished her because she refused to join the family business, and she left to start over in New York.”

“She’s dirty! I know it! She’s going to bring us down.”

I hold his gaze with a pinched mouth.

“I’m telling you, Liam. That woman is going to be our downfall. She’s nothing special! Fucking ditch the bitch! There is plenty of pussy in the world.”

“Not like her!” I rebuke, hating myself for showing my cards. Showing him that though I tried to push them away, I have feelings for her after spending the last couple of months with her.

“Oh, fucking hell.” There is dread dripping from Kane’s voice, and he gives me an incredulous look. “Please tell me you’re not in love with her, Liam.”

“I’m not in love with her.”I think.“But I do have feelings.” I volley my attention between Jeremy and Kane, Kane glaring like a mad cow while Jeremy gives me a gaze of pity. Both stabbing me deep in the chest. I can feel my throat turn dry, my chest suppressed under what feels like the weight of an elephant.

“Why?” Jeremy questions. There is no judgment in his question, but I can still see he’s on Kane’s side for this one.

I rub a hand over my face, not knowing how to explain this to them without them thinking I’ve completely lost my mine. Maybe I have, though.

“I see myself in her,” I begin, figuring my brother won’t let this one go anyway. “Someone who wants more than the life she made. To escape and settle down after her dues are paid.”

“The only way a Reyes can pay their dues is taking a permanent trip to Hell.”

“I want more than this, Kane. We have all the money in the world. More than we can spend. But we have no one to share it with.” Confusion hits Kane’s eyes at that. “I don’t know what I’m doing it for anymore, and I want more.”

“What more is there? We are fucking kings of the world! When we arrive, doors open. You can buy any fucking thing you want. There is no more!”

I know he doesn’t understand. We agreed that we would never marry and have kids, simply because it didn’t fit our lifestyle. The world we live in doesn’t allow us to have weaknesses, and neither of us ever had a wish to have more than your regular hook-ups.

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