Page 90 of PET

With a groan, the driver gets out and slams the driver’s door behind him. The guy in the passenger seat is right behind him. Then the side door at my feet is opened and I’m yanked out, landing hard on the concrete below. My ribs crack and this time I cough, the taste of copper filling my mouth.

“No more talking,” he says low and rough, grabbing my biceps and pulling me to my feet.

And when they turn me around, I can’t help but burst out laughing.

I crane my neck and look up at the expansive Barrett mansion. Why does this make sense? I knew they were part of the society but not in it, I just didn’t know what their purpose was. But now I think I do.

The front door is yanked open by two small Asian ladies and Beau Barrett himself stands there lighting a fat cigar. He looks up at me for a second, grinning as his teeth clamp around the cigar.

“Christian, Christian, Christian… All you had to do was make a house call and we wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

Well, here’s my answer. They’re the fucking enforcers for us?

“And all you had to do was not fucking have your gorillas kidnap me. I was onto something, man. And where’s my fucking phone?” I snap.

Beau puffs on the cigar until it’s lit, billows of smoke leave his plump lips. I admire the view for a second. He’s always been a handsome son of a bitch, even though I hate him. The guy probably gets more pussy than a porn star.

He looks like an older Zeke with his dark hair, stubble jaw, and piercing olive green eyes. If Z looks half as good as Beau at this age…

“Where were you at there, kid?” Beau asks as he steps up to me, blowing a cloud of cigar smoke in my face.

“What are you going to do with me?” I ask instead, not wanting to admit that I was just comparing him to my boyfriend.

Holy shit. Zeke’s my boyfriend. Fuck, I like how that sounds in my head.

“I’m going to hand you over to the society,” he answers matter-of-factly.

My back teeth grind, knowing that if he does that, I’m a fucking goner. And Billie and Zeke won’t know what happened to me. I have to get out of this somehow, and I think I know just the way…

“Before you do that, I’d just like to know how long you’ve been letting your sister fuck my father.” He goes stiff after my words, his expression stone. “What was your plan? To have her sleep her way to the top so your pathetic family could have some kind of power in Reaper?”

He turns to me, grabbing the collar of my shirt before he shoves me backwards and into the door. “You don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about, Veradin. Every lie you spew is a tooth I yank from your lying mouth.”

I smirk, challenging him with a cocked brow. “You won’t know what I know if you hand me over to them. We share a common enemy, whether or not you want to admit it.”

His dark, hard gaze bounces between mine as he slowly releases my collar and steps back. “How do I know you’re not fucking with me right now? You say you know something, but how do I know that?”

With a shrug, I say, “You don’t. It’s a chance you’re going to have to take. Just know that I think we could help each other out. The ball is in your court, brother.”

Wesitinthesame garden we were in the last time I was here, looking out at the blooming flowers in the afternoon sun breaking through the storm clouds. Beau hasn’t said a word as he continues to puff on his cigar.

Breaking the silence, I ask, “What made you decide to spare me?”

He doesn’t answer right away, milking his tough guy persona out longer than necessary. We get it dude, you’re a fucking badass. Nobody messes with the Barrett’s. Literallyeveryoneis afraid of this demented family. Now I wonder how they were excommunicated from Reaper, yet are still here. Billie’s uncle Patrick was banished from the state as far as I know.

“Because if you know something that I can use against them, I’m going to hear what you have to say. And if it’s useless, I’ll kill you.”

Fuck. I wasn’t expecting him to say that, but I guess I’m dead either way.

“And because those elite society fuckers went from treating us like their equals, giving our family whatever they needed plus some—” he waves his hands to indicate to the luxurious mansion they live in. “But now I’m livid. They’ve murdered my little cousin and now they’ve made my little sister a whore.”

“So, you had no idea your sister was sleeping with my father…”

He shakes his head, stubbing out his cigar as he rests his left ankle on top of his right thigh. “I’ve tried to have her followed, but she’s a hard girl to keep up with. She’s a Barrett—” he leans toward me and taps his temple, “—she’s wicked smart.”

I keep my wise-ass mouth shut and only nod. I’m close to saying that if they were so damn smart, how’d they end up being servants to the society and not running it, but I don’t. That kind of shit could get me killed.

“What doyouknow about the society?” I ask instead.

---