Page 15 of Savage Sin

But kidnapping isn’t me.

“Yet here you are, asshole,” I grit into the night and reach for my handcuffs.

I flick the wrist bracket through the snaps over and over again. My mind wants to flirt with the idea of what I could do to this woman. Defile her, use her, make her love me before I break her.

I shut down that line of thinking. Taking the enemy is one thing, fucking them is another.

Besides, hurting a woman goes against every fiber of my being. Sure, I’ll put a bullet in anyone to protect the innocent, but that’s different. Punishment at that level is earned and not by good deeds. Harm the weak and I will stand up for them. It’s that simple.

I scrub a hand down my face, reach for my pack of smokes and light up. It’s that or go riding until I can score. I haven’t done that in years, so I stick with my current vice and let the nicotine work its way into my system.

That reminds me. I reach into my pocket and pull out the baggie of E. Euphoria is a lot of things, but endless pleasure is not one of them. Not without some major side effects.

Like permanent death.

I haven’t been this close to the source of my meeting the light during an overdose in years. Ares has done all he can to keep me clean, and his efforts have paid off. But sometimes the urge is stronger than I am. Nights like those, my demons rise to torment me for hours.

I put my cuffs into my back pocket and drag on the cigarette between my fingers. Smoke fills the depths of my lungs. I drop it on the gravel driveway and hit the unlock button on the FOB.

Lights flash in the darkness and the second I open the back of my SUV, all the vengeance in my blood boils to the surface.

My gaze sweeps over her body. Dark brown hair falls over a delicate face. Smooth skin stretches over a feminine jawline. I can’t make out much more. The interior dome light does jack against the darkness. I move a swath of hair aside and notice hints of bruises on her cheek. I take her chin between my fingers and angle her head a little until the light catches on those dark lashes and full lips. She’s out cold, but I don’t need to see her eyes to know whose blood runs in her veins. The face of the Colombian drug lord I’m sure killed my brother is etched into my memory with a stone chisel, and this woman is the bastard’s spitting image.

There’s a skittering of rocks behind me and my blood jacks full of adrenaline. I spin, gun raise, hammer cocked. I’m in the middle of nowhere with a package that many would kill to get their hands on. Including myself.

“Easy, brother. It’s just me.”

My trigger finger pauses. “For fuck’s sake, Seth. Don’t walk up on an armed man unless you wanna meet Jesus.” A bulky man with broad shoulders and a waist to carry the muscle lumbers out of the shadows. He wears a half smile like he knows better than to sneak up on an armed man, but doesn’t give a shit. He’s let his hair grow out since the last time we were together, and the beard is a new addition.

Red from the brake lights catches on the dangerous glint in his eyes as I take his hand and pull him in for a quick bump of our shoulders and a double tap on the back.

“It’s been a minute. You could have had me bet a million bucks on you being the last person to call me. What has you all the way up here this time of night, man?”

Seth’s cabin and lake resort are a couple of hours north of the Savage compound. I don’t come up here nearly as often as I am invited.

I nod and put some distance between us. I smell like guilt, gunpowder, and blood.

“There are two answers. Do you want the short version or the version we need a bottle of vodka for?”

Seth’s laugh is gentle. Which is also new. I’m not a family man by any means. But my friend makes a beast I buried a long time ago rise and claw at old desires I have no right to want.

“I wouldn’t mind a drink and a visit with an old friend. We have a lot to talk about.”

“The married life agrees with you,moy brat. Justice and the guys okay?” Few people realize I’m Russian born and not local. I don’t see the need to correct them. I get a lot of judgment for my birth land. But Seth and his crew never seemed to care. They judge on character. Or at least, who they know me as now. I return the favor. Seth shares a woman with his two best friends. There’s a lot of story there to unpack and I don’t like to meddle. But it’s changed him for the good. On the flip side, some things don’t. Years of being special ops left scars on him and he carries that weight even today. It’s in how his shoulder slump a little forward and eyes shine with the dark knowledge of death. Like recognizes like.

Being the good guy who always followed the law put him on the opposite side of the tracks as me every day of the week. Until the good boy next door here found himself in hot water with some local mafia a few years back trying to swipe his land out from under him.

Bad boys have their usefulness. Me and the Savage crew cleaned out the trash and we made some friends in the process.

“Justice is due next month. We’re up here taking it easy and keeping her off her feet. Ya know, calm is good for the babies. How long that lasts will depend on what you have to say about why you called me in the middle of the night for a cabin when you know you can just ride up any time.” Seth spreads his legs and crosses his arms over his chest. “Is the girl in the back of your SUV part of why you’re here?”

Shit. Ruining people’s baby vacations is the last thing I want. I cock my head from side to side, releasing the buildup of tension. “I didn’t feel right about just showing up. But be careful about the questions you ask. How much you really wanna know, man?”

“I like knowing what I am dealing with. But you need to get inside first. Do what you gotta do. Get the stench of blood off you, too. Jacob, Lucian, and I will come by later once we secure the perimeter. You bringing heat we should know about? Do we need to get Justice off the premises?”

“Nah. I wasn’t tailed, and no one knows where I’m at. I’d like to keep it that way.” We lock eyes and he jerks his head in agreement.

“But I won’t lie if I’m asked. You feel me?”

---