“RYTH…WAIT,” Nick called.
The heavy thud of steps drew my focus. She was pissed…really pissed. Not that I wasn’t expecting it. I shoved the controller to my desk and rose from the chair as she rounded the landing.
“Ryth, for fuck’s sake!”
“Get the fuck off me, Nick!” she barked.
A damn hurricane tore into my room, snarling, her eyes wide, and her hands flailing in the air as she screamed at me. I caught that weak-ass prick Gio’s name, then something about it being convenient, whatever the fuck that meant.
But the entire time my little sister stabbed me in the damn chest with her finger and screamed up in my face, all I thought about was fucking her.
“You fucking beat him bloody!” she roared. “He walks with a goddamn limp!”
“He’s lucky he’s walking at all,” I answered coldly. “He has Caleb to thank for that.”
I could still see the blood on my hands, still hear his whiny goddamn pleas. He thought he was fucking safe hiding in Lazarus’ shadow, thought he was untouchable. When it came to Ryth, no one was safe…not even Lazarus’ chump.
“You could’ve killed him!” She was working herself up.
She wanted to hit me. Fuck, she wanted to hit me. I’d let her, too.
Only her.
I lifted my gaze to Nick, who just looked at me with a pained expression and shrugged. His hair was a damn mess…hers was too. My brows rose as I narrowed in on her. The way her shirt was wrinkled, the way her breaths deepened. I stepped closer, making her pull her hand back.
“You look pissed, little sister,” I murmured. “And well ridden, too.”
She flinched, and her breath was snatched away for a second. Then those perfect lips curled in a sneer. “You bastard.”
Her venom made that thing in my chest flutter. “Now you get it.” I stepped forward as Nick closed my bedroom door.
Her fucking mom was still here, still feeling ‘under the weather’. If she was gone, I’d have her daughter on the floor in an instant, her knees parted and her pussy filled. I swallowed a flare of jealousy. I wanted my fucking fill too.
I licked my lips as she stumbled backward and smacked into my brother. That flare of anger met a flicker of fear. I caught the flare in her eyes. She flinched when I lifted my hand…that, I didn’t like.
“I am a bastard,” I said carefully as she glanced behind her, moving to the side until she hit the wall. “I am a mongrel, and a bully. I am a ruthless piece of shit and a goddamn animal.” I stopped right against her, forcing her against my chest. I didn’t give her room, didn’t give her air…didn’t give her a thing.
Suffocating.
Buried.
Howling with desire.
That’s how she made me feel.
That was the fucking beast she triggered. The one who’d invaded her goddamn room and stolen her panties. The one who’d driven his fingers into that sweet little cunt under the table with our parents just a few feet away. The one who wanted to see her ruined by me…and my brothers.
So fucking ruined.
“So you better get your pretty head around that, little sister. Because when it comes to family, there’s nothing and no one I won’t destroy.”
She stiffened, then tilted her head until those blue eyes met mine. The primal urge to protect her corrupted me. My hold slipped, there was no stopping the fall. Because I was falling.
“Stay away from him,” she warned. “There’ll be no more bloodshed, do you hear me?”
“As long as he stays away from you.”
She flinched and swallowed hard, then shoved me away. “Let me out.” I moved away, letting her go. “Let me the fuck out!” She shoved Nick to the side, yanked open the door, and was gone with the thunder of her steps.
I stared at the open door, listening to her.
She’d calm down…
Or she wouldn’t.
Either way, she was safe. That’s all I cared about. Nick met my gaze, giving me a wounded smile before he left. Her bedroom door slammed with a boom! Loud enough to let everyone in the damn house know she was pissed.
I clenched my jaw, then turned.
She thought her precious little boyfriend was hurt.
But she didn’t understand.
It had been a message.
One received loud and clear.
Touch her…and see what happens.
I glanced at the monitor and found that the game was stuck and I was dying over and over again. I stepped closer and hit the button, killing the damn thing cold. I couldn’t play, not all fucking day. I’d been waiting for her to come home, waiting for her to explode.
Now that she had, I needed to run.
I grabbed my sneakers, yanked them on, and strode down the stairs and out the door. By the time I hit the end of the driveway, that unmerciful anger was back.
She was safe.
She was protected.
That’s all that mattered.
I turned my head, pushing into a jog…trying my best to ignore the gray fucking Audi following me in the distance…and the Rossi hitman behind the wheel.
