Page 35 of Vicious Intentions

He’d been an issue since the beginning, believing he’d become president of the house because his father had been. Not a chance in hell, the weak piece of shit.

“Fuck. Fuck!” Cain hissed. “You know it’s that fuckhead.”

Cristiano stood with his arms crossed as other members of the house used fire extinguishers to augment the slowing rainstorm.

“Find the fucker!” Cain yelled. As with every order one of the three of us doled out, four of the other members jogged into the night in search of Theo. My guess was that he’d hung around to watch the circus.

“We can’t be sure it’s him,” I suggested, but there was no other logical choice. But at this point, if there weren’t limits placed on Cain, he’d go off the deep end.

He shot me a hateful look. “You know better, dude. I’m going to hunt that bastard down and handle him the right way. He’s going to bleed.”

He’d raised his voice to the point that the folks remaining outside glanced in our direction, including a few of the girls huddling under the front porch. While our reputation as bastards, monsters, and killers went far beyond the pristine iron gates of the college, up to this point there’d been no evidence left of a single crime. And I certainly hadn’t spent four long years in the establishment to have it yanked out from under me two weeks prior to being freed.

I got in his face, struggling to get his attention. “You need to keep your mouth shut. That asshole isn’t going anywhere. Maybe keep your voice down so no one knows what the hell is going on.”

“And why don’t you shut your trap,” he retorted, getting all the way in my face.

While most of the time I could tolerate his bullshit, tonight wasn’t one of them. I shoved my hands against him, shaking my head.

He grinned but didn’t hesitate, issuing a hard punch, then another.

“Jesus Christ,” Cristiano snarled. “Why don’t the two of you knock it off.”

I rubbed my jaw, noticing Kelly had joined the group of girls. It was easy to tell she was searching for her friend. “Yeah, fine. He’s fuckin’ long gone by now. Let’s get back to our night.”

Exhaling, Cain stood to his full height. Then he issued a hard jab to my gut. That was it. I was finished with dealing with his crap. I lunged my body toward him, bending over and catching him in the chest, the force pitching us both to the ground and into the mud.

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” several of the other members cheered.

Both Cain and I issued several savage punches. This had more to do about Sage than it did anything else. He wanted her all to himself, and that wasn’t going to happen.

No one tried to stop us. They knew better than to get in the middle.

After issuing several additional jabs, I struggled to my feet. The man was fucking deranged as far as I was concerned. Cain remained where he was as I paced the area.

“You’re an asshole. You know that”?” he asked as he hoisted himself to his feet.

“You both are,” Cristiano finally piped in.

Before I had a chance to launch into Cain again, the three other members returned.

“What did you find, Franco?” I asked.

He walked closer, eyeing the girls then turning his back. “Theo’s car is still here.”

“Fuck,” I snarled, unhappy I’d been right. “The fucker wanted a distraction. That’s what the fire was all about.”

“That means he’s still in the estate.” Cristiano took long strides closer.

“Sage. He’ll do what he can to use her against us,” Cain hissed. “The party’s over. Get everyone out of here!”

At least he had one decent idea. “Go around the backside to the playroom,” I instructed Cristiano.

“He can still get into the room,” he explained. “The locks weren’t changed.”

A stupid move on our part and one I had a feeling would cost us.

“Exactly.” I trailed behind Cain as we entered the house, both of us bounding up the master stairs to the fourth floor. We didn’t need to go to the end of the hallway to discover the door was open. I jogged there anyway, checking the room quickly. “Not here.”

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