Page 86 of That Sik Luv

The suicide. Fucking perfect.

“What suicide?” I ask, playing stupid.

“The deacon. Sorry, thought you knew. They initially thought it was murder because of the way the scene appeared. Confessional was all messed up. Multiple gunshots, yada, yada. But his Bible…” He pauses, leaning inward. “Inside his personal Bible, he’d confessed to some nasty shit. It spoke the truth, and all the pieces connected.”

I’m grinning like a fucking demon beneath my calm exterior. My plans worked flawlessly. Years of sitting in a cell with an imagination that ran wild, and talking to fellow convicts assisted in that. I learned the way the world really works behind those bars. Made friends that turned into family. Real fucking family. Not the trash floating through my veins, giving me my physical appearance.

“But yeah, Saint’s lying low, and Callum has had it with Alastor. That man is panicking. The election is coming soon, and if Alastor’s highest donor drops him over this shit, he’s risking re-election. He’s been in here asking for Bones.”

Fucker knows too much.

“Knew that was coming. It was only a matter of time. Those politicians lose their shit when things start to collapse around them.”

“Keep your eyes peeled. They’re wising up, Aero,” he says directly, before looking at Briony in the corner. “You can’t stay the masked man forever.”

I absorb that, my mind racing endlessly. He’s not wrong. I’ve stayed under the radar with the help of Alastor, committing his crimes while he protected my identity, my secrets. But crossing him by not following through with my commitments has that protection dwindling.

“Just…play it safe,” he says softly, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I pull away from his touch. “Fuck off.”

“I mean it, Aero. When men get desperate, they do crazy shit.”

“Do they really?” I ask sarcastically.

This man knows better than anyone how desperate a man can get. Especially when backed into a corner by an institution set to break them. He’s witnessed it firsthand, seeing his friend become a fucking hitman for the enemy just to get closer.

He tips his head, the look in his eyes an understanding, followed up by a warning for a friend he genuinely cares for.

“Don’t get soft on me now, Nox. I’ve seen you cut out a guy’s tongue.”

“I’m just saying…” He pauses, eyes peering over at Briony. “Love has a way of making us weak. Blinding us.” He runs his ring-covered hand over the top of his shaved, tatted head. “I don’t want to see you slip up, not even for a second because of it.”

“First of all, fuck off. Second, what the fuck does a pimp from Detroit know about love?”

He laughs, grabbing for his exposed abdomen beneath his button-up shirt that’s freely hanging open since his little rendezvous.

“Hey, we all have our vices. I’ve loved a few I shouldn’t have.”

“A few,” I repeat with a nod. “Precisely the problem.”

“I get it, though. She’s got a hot little body on her,” he says, licking his lips as he eyes Briony, who’s playing with the ends of her hair in the chair by the corner.

He looks back at me, studying my face, eyeing the tension in my neck.Am I that obvious?

“And she’s young,” he continues, pushing. “Tight little pussy just begging to be destroyed.”

He runs his lips together while rubbing his chin as if imagining it.

“Enough,” I grumble beneath my breath.

A knowing smirk glazes his face.This fucker better not even think about it.

“Hey, sweetheart?” he calls over to her, still staring at me with that shit-eating grin.

Fuck. You.

Briony looks up, dropping her hair, and instantly her spine straightens in the chair. The move unintentionally pushes her breasts up, her chest rising and falling as she nervously exhales.

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