Page 26 of Cross the Line

“Bloodthirsty?”

“You know I love it,” he says, smiling back at me. I nod my head and inhale the nicotine into my lungs.

“This didn’t go as planned, yeah?” Griz asks, looking at Demon.

“Not really, but it’ll be handled just the same.” Just as he says that, my cell phone rings. I pull it out and narrow my eyes before walking away and answering it.

“Mom?”

“Hey, honey. I hate to bother you.”

“It’s no bother. What’s goin’ on?” I ask her. I haven’t heard from her in a while. I usually don’t unless she needs something. My mom and I didn’t always see eye to eye about the club stuff, which drove us apart.

“I haven’t heard from your brother today,” she replies.

“He’s a grown man. I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll call you later,” I tell her.

“It’s not like him not to answer my calls, Rob. You know that.” I hate that she sounds so pained about this. She doesn’t care if she hears from me for the most part, but if my brother doesn’t check in, she’s in a world of panic.

“Maybe he got busy with work.”

“He still calls me. Is there any way you can go check on him?”

“I’m not at home right now. It’ll be a few days before I get back. I’m sure you’ll hear from him by then.” Not that I give a shit. My brother and I don’t get along that well either. Technically we’re only half brothers. We share the same mom, but that’s it.

“Are you out with that club again?” she asks, sounding disgusted by the idea.

“Yeah, I am. I’ll see what I can do when I get back, Mom.”

“What if something happened to him?” I nearly roll my eyes. My brother is a grown-ass man that probably didn’t feel like checking in with his mom today.

“I’m sure he’s fine.”

“Could you call him?” Jesus, she will never stop.

“Yeah, I’ll try. I really need to get goin’, Mom. I’ll let you know when I get back.” I don’t wait for her to say goodbye; I just hang up. It’s how we work.

Pulling up my brother’s number, I dial it. It rings and rings before going to voicemail. I hang up, not leaving one because I honestly don’t give a shit what he’s doing. I was only calling to appease her.

“You good?”

“Yeah. My mom is worried that my brother didn’t check in.” Demon eyes me a second.

“Somethin’ we need to check out?” he asks.

“Fuck no. He’s a grown-ass man,” I tell him.

“I forgot you two don’t talk much. Let me know if you need anything.” I nod my head before turning around and walking over to the chairs. I sit down and wait. Wait for fucking Liam.

Chapter Fourteen

Raven

I grew tired of waiting. It seemed that all I was doing was waiting and watching as the poison I was putting in Luke’s food slowly ate away at his insides. It was taking too long. Now I have him in the back room, tied to a chair and gagged. He looks so fucking helpless, and I can’t say that I mind that. It was how I felt. It was exactly how I was. Helpless. I couldn’t do anything to help myself. I was left to their mercy. I was left to them. And it’s all his fault. I walk circles around him as I slap the knife against the palm of my hand.

“I wanted to wait. I wanted to watch the life slowly seep from your body. I wanted to make you hurt the way I hurt. You know, I knew. Not at first, but the more the idiots talked, the more it made sense. You. You did this to me. You deserve to rot in hell for what you did to me. What you made me endure.” I circle him a few more times before pulling his hair, tipping his head back so he’s forced to look at me. His eyes are glossy, the poison setting in. It’s not enough to kill him, not yet, anyway. I want to draw his death out. Make him feel what I felt. I want him to hurt, to feel that pain.

“You were stupid, Luke. So fucking stupid,” I tell him before pulling the gag from his mouth.

---