Page 83 of Vicious Intentions

The estate where we’d lived had been shut down, several of the Elite students expelled. The scandal had rocked the university, but with dozens of lawyers intervening, the fifteen minutes of malevolent fame had eventually faded. Even with everything that had gone on, including a criminal investigation into Theo’s disappearance, we’d been protected. The truth was that we’d been treated as the gods we’d believed we were, not facing one minute of punishment for what we’d started.

Our vicious intentions.

Was I the kind of man who could have remorse or guilt? I’d convinced myself a long time ago that I had no conscience. Hell, my father had nearly beaten it out of me, forcing me to handle aspects of punishment just to dull my senses. It had worked.

Except for when I was with Sage.

She’d been the light to my darkness, the reason I wanted to make changes in my life. It was ridiculous since I didn’t really know her, but that’s how strongly I’d felt. So had Hunter and Cain.

Now, Rose.

A beautiful, intelligent miracle with the voice of an angel.

Who could be behind the acts of revenge. I found it impossible to believe and would argue it to my grave had my mother not betrayed my father long ago, leaving her only child in the hands of a bastard who could care less if I existed. A bitter laugh erupted in my throat.

Hunter and I followed Cain as he stormed down the hallway towards her suite, his anger increasing. When he reached Brock, who stood by her door, I was certain Cain was going to kill the man. He issued two hard jabs to the man’s throat before pushing him up against the wall. “How the fuck were you stupid enough to allow her to get away?”

Brock didn’t push back, didn’t struggle. He knew what would happen if he did.

“I’m sorry, boss. There was a call about a fire on the floor. Management got everyone out. She managed to leave with the crowd. I tried to stop her, but she ran from me.”

Shit. She’d planned it. What was she trying to do?

Cain hissed. “She was responsible for calling it in. I don’t need to check. I feel it in my bones.”

“Why? Where the fuck could she go?” Hunter demanded.

“Maybe to meet with the people working with her. What else?” Cain remained adamant, but I heard his voice crack. He didn’t want to believe it any more than I did.

“Get your head out of your ass, Cain. We don’t know anything for certain. I refuse to allow you to condemn Rose, who could be an innocent player in all of this. If you keep doing that, you’ll need to come through me. Got it?” Hunter’s upper lip curled as he fisted one hand and I took a step closer, daring him to try.

“Fine. But we will determine if she’s involved.”

“And if she is?” Hunter threw out.

At this point I doubted we had a clue what to say. She’d already managed to crawl under our skin.

“Search her room,” Cain stated as he pulled his hand away from Brock. “I’m going to hunt down her assistant. Maybe I’ll get some decent answers. I’m also going to have a chat with the detective.”

“I find it interesting that this detective you talked to hasn’t called me,” I told him.

“Me neither.” Hunter laughed. “Maybe the man you talked to isn’t a detective after all.”

“Fuck,” Cain snarled, obviously realizing we were right. “This ends today. Period.”

Mr. Omnipotent was at it again. He’d yet to learn there were some things and people he couldn’t control with violence.

The lovely woman or women was a case in point.

Damn it, my cock twitched just thinking about touching her. An ache had formed in between my eyes.

The game had been well played. And planned. The three of us looked at each other for a few seconds, the tension palpable. We’d been big and bad wolves for years. To think it was possible that we’d almost been taken down by a beautiful woman was disturbing.

Even worse was the fact that the three of us cared for her more than we wanted to admit.

Cain narrowed his eyes as he looked at Brock. “I will deal with you later.” He moved towards her door, sliding his keycard into the lock.

He didn’t bother going inside, his face remaining twisted as he headed for the elevators.

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