Page 33 of Room Seven

She lasers daggers into my chest.

Viper drops her in the middle of the enormous bed and all that pretty raven hair spills over the golden duvet beneath her.

“Hell’s own angel sent to tempt us to sin, brothers.” I lean of a squirming Aster and place a kiss on her forehead. “Don’t go anywhere. We’ll be right back.”

I get another muffles string of curses and I follow Mirsha into the sitting area. We both head for the bourbon.

We stand shoulder to shoulder. “You knew who was on that plane.” It’s not a question and the stiffness in my oldest friend’s back speaks volumes.

He puts the stopper back into the crystal decanter and pushes the glass away. Probably because he feels the same sour churn in the pit of his stomach as I do.

“I knew,” he admits and turns his full body toward me. I feel Viper come up behind me and turn to see he has water and a damp cloth in his hands. He puts them on a nearby table and we both corner Mirsha who isn’t good at sharing with the class.

“I didn’t know if I had the strength to face her until he was being shoved inside the car with us. Keeping my mouth shut was easier than trying to tell you two where we were going and who we were collecting.”

“You mean safer.” Pounding on his face would help with my current anger issues, but I don’t want Aster to see either of us bloodied.

Mirsha shrugs out of his suit jacket and tosses it over a nearby chair. He releases the cuff links and places them on a tray on the table beside the bottle of water and cloth.

“What the fuck is the difference? If I talked, I would convince us all to haul ass in the opposite direction. If I stayed silent…well, here we are. What the fuck do you want me to say? She makes me insane to the point I’ve nearly let the darkness take me. Let’s just leave it at that.”

Guilt eats at his exterior, and he drops his weight into a nearby chair. I exchange a knowing look with Viper. The last time Mirsha got like this, we had to bribe his way out of a Mexican jail. A bad mood turned ugly at a dive bar on the wrong side of town. Given the amount of people in Mexico City, it was Mirsha’s luck he found the one guy who didn’t mind beating the shit out of him so he could stop feeling. But Mirsha is a fighter, and it wasn’t long before he fought back. Blood was drawn and as soon as the cops arrived, the cuffs went on.

My hurting brother rubs at a spot over his chest. The same one I feel day in and day out. “I don’t know how to live without her, brothers. And I sure the fuck can’t see us handing her back to her father. Not after what he’s done.”

“What did the bastard do to her?” Viper’s tone is ice cold.

“He is marrying her off to the Romanov son.”

Nine

Aster

My eyebrows pop up at the smile on Viper’s face when he walks into the room.

Cocky bastard.

My heart pounds and my bound feet connect with his gut.

“Umph.” It’s more of a grunt than a word.

His muscular body bulges and flexes under that pricey dress shirt as he crosses the room. He’s stripped off his suit jacket and rolled up the sleeves to reveal the colorful tattoos I don’t remember him having. I decide to stare at a safer point in the center of his chest, given how hot the new ink looks on all that gorgeous, tanned skin.

“I see you’re still mad, baby girl.”

You think, my glare screams, since my mouth is currently stuffed with one of their silk ties. I sit up and immediately regret it when my vision fills with floating dots and the room spins.

“It’s all the blood that went to your head when you were upside down over my shoulder.”

Not an ounce of remorse hangs on his words. But there is plenty of pride.

Like I said, bastard.

My eyes narrow into slits, which has him dropping my ankles and raising his hands in defense.

“I know.Mia culpa. Give yourself a minute.” The sexy way he winks at me is just another layer of arrogance. Just because I’m in his bed, he thinks he’s won.

His hand returns to my ankles in a firm grip, but not painful.

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