Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92376 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
I lean close, whispering in his ear, “You’re probably wondering why I haven’t removed the bit yet, and that’s because I said when we get started. We haven’t started yet.”
I pull back, watching his pupils flare as I continue cutting into him. The more Sik Vik screams, the more relief I feel. It’s like I’m funneling the pain through him, freeing me from it once and for all. It’s the sort of act that reminds me why no one fucks with the Lordes.
Blood rushes from his finger onto the table as I hear the lock at the door. When it opens, my butler, Kline, steps in. “Boss,” he says.
“What?” I say through my teeth. I don’t enjoy being interrupted, especially in the middle of vengeance.
“Your fiancé has arrived.”
“What?” I ask.
I figured word would get back to Logan that we had him, but I expected he would be appreciative we’d handled the enemy. But maybe this will emphasize to my future husband why it’s essential we unite as our fathers intended.
“Looks like we have a visitor,” I tell Sik Vik, whose eyes are wide with horror. “This will give you time to consider why you should have learned to control your temper before you stepped foot into the cage tonight. The only regret you should have is that someone didn’t teach you that lesson before you encountered the Wildes and the Lordes.”
I clean up before leaving my new friend and following Kline through the hall until we reach my study, where Logan waits for me. His button-down shirt is rolled at the sleeves, a few buttons undone at the top, revealing enticing hairs that tempt me to take him now and claim him as mine.
“How is Wrath?”
Logan flinches, like he wasn’t expecting me to care about his family. “He’ll be fine. Thank you for asking. And thank you for apprehending the asshole who did that to him.”
“Trust me, it’s my pleasure.”
He searches around the room uneasily. Maybe considering his last time here under very different circumstances.
“I was in the middle of entertaining him when you arrived.” I figured that might cheer him up, but his nostrils flare.
“Is he alive?”
“Not for long, but probably longer than he wants to be.”
“I don’t want you to do this, Killian.”
I’m taken aback.
“I always thought our bloodlust was one of the things that united our fathers, but maybe I was wrong, or maybe it didn’t get passed down to his son.”
Logan doesn’t respond.
“You’re not suggesting I let that monster go after what we saw him do, are you?”
His brow creases. “What? No. But it’s not your job to punish him for what he did to Wrath. It’s mine.” The greed drips off his lips, and there’s hunger in his eyes, something I haven’t seen from him before.
Full of surprises, aren’t you, Logan Wilde?
I chuckle.
“Why is that funny?” he asks, offended by my amusement.
“We were just talking about how good we are at reading people, yet here I am, realizing I misread you.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
I start circling him, a predator taking his time studying his prey, to make sense of what I missed, trying to recalibrate the sensor in me that would’ve usually picked up something like this from someone.
“You’ve been playing the golden boy for so long, maybe you’re starting to believe it, but there’s something else in there. The blood of your father, who was a sick fuck, same as my own. That’s why they got along so well, isn’t it?”
His jaw stiffens, and I feel his defensiveness, the kind one only feels when someone’s read them right.
Now I’m satisfied.
“What would you do to him if I gave him to you?”
“I don’t want to talk about that.”
“Then I won’t give him up.” I turn my back on him.
“Can’t you see it as an early wedding present maybe?”
Adrenaline shoots through me, and I spin back to him as my lips slip into a grin. “Well, well, look who’s coming around.”
He doesn’t look happy about it, his eyes narrowed, hands balled into fists, but it’s hard to tell how much of this is about me and how much is about him wanting to punish Sik Vik.
“I’m not coming around to anything.”
“So you want me to sever the agreement?” The way the muscles in his jaw shift, I’m half expecting him to growl at me, like the dog we had when I was younger if you got too close to him. “I’ll take that as a no, meaning you understand you’ll eventually have to concede.”
“We don’t have to discuss that tonight. Just let me at Sik Vik, if you’ve even left anything for me to do.” He sounds jealous, which feels like vindication for what he did with Alana earlier.
“My responsibility is to my father,” I add, “to keep my promise to protect your family. Outside of that, I don’t owe you anything. Why would I, when I don’t even know if you intend to be my wife?”