Page 58 of Kept

“I told you before to stop doing that,” I snap. “You’re gonna lose a finger.”

The smirk he gives me in return is dangerous. “Only idiots chop their own fingers off.”

My eyes slide to Zella in a clear question. “Care to explain?”

Instead of answering, he shrugs and waves the knife at me. “I like to see my food.”

Motherfucker.

Zella scrambles off the table, hastily yanking the edges of my fucking shirt down. “Ryder,” she says breathlessly. “We were just… um…”

Well, this should be good.

“Tell me, princess,” I say shortly. I have an indescribable urge to pinch the bridge of my nose in exasperation, closely followed by a flash of terror that I might actually be morphing into Maverick.

Something’s really fucked up whenI’mthe responsible person in the room.

Shaking off the shiver, I stalk towards her. She nibbles nervously on her lip, watching me as I approach and lean down, making her meet my eyes as I push her hair back.

“Why,” I murmur, “do I keep seeing you naked?”

Fuck, but her skin is glorious. She can’t hide her emotions from us, not when she doesn’t just wear them on her face but in the way her skin rapidly changes, flushing with color.

“I wasn’t naked!” she says, a touch too indignantly given the picture I seem to have stumbled on. “I still have your shirt on.”

“For now,” Enzo murmurs behind me. Both Zella and I turn to frown at him, and he raises an eyebrow. “Are we not all consenting adults here? I don’t see an issue.”

Spinning back to Zella, I pin her with a look. “Princess. I feel like we’re corrupting you.”

Enzo’s choked laugh rings out, but I ignore him.

This feels important.

“We’re not normal, Zella,” I tell her softly. “None of us. Our lives aren’t like other people’s. You might feel like you’ve stepped into the light, but all you’ve done is take another step closer to the dark. You need to be more careful.”

“Ryder.” Enzo growls behind me, but she needs to understand. First, it was the forest, and now this?

Zero self-preservation. And if I have to play the damn fucking good cop role to make sure she stays safe, then I will.

“You,” I whisper, “are far too good for scoundrels like us.”

The little crease between her eyes gets deeper. “You want me to leave?”

Her voice is flat, the spark in her eyes fading as she looks away. “You don’t want me… like that.”

“That’s not even a question,” I say quietly. “I can’t have you, Zella.”

When you fuck for a living, the job absorbs you, until it covers you entirely. I walk around every day with a film of filth covering my skin that nobody else can see.

I don’t want to sully her with my dirt.

And the longer she spends with us, the more the darkness will touch her.

We all wear our darkness, in one way or another.

“That’s enough,” Enzo snarls. “Go upstairs, little prey. Ryder and I need to have a chat.”

She slides out, avoiding both of us as she quietly gathers up her hair and walks out, her bare footsteps padding out of sight. As soon as she’s disappeared, Enzo is on me with a snarl, yanking me around to face him. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”

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