Ruthless Titans #2
Wary of strangers trying to chat me up in a bar, I give Colin a thorough perusal. A few freckles smatter the bridge of his nose, and his green eyes are bright and friendly. He looks harmless enough, and he hasn’t tripped any of my internal alarm bells.
I lightly clink my glass to his bottle. “Maddie.”
“Nice to meet you, Maddie. So…” he drawls out, glancing behind me. “Waiting for someone?”
No woman in her right mind would tell a guy she just met that she was at a bar by herself.
Setting down my beer, I leave a twenty for the tip and grab my phone. “Thanks for the drink.”
“Wait. You’re leaving already?”
I toss him a wave over my shoulder and push through the entrance door. I didn’t come here to make friends or have a one-night hookup. I came for revenge against the man who murdered my father, destroyed my life, and took everything from me.
Julius Titan doesn’t know it yet, but he’s about to invite the Trojan horse into his kingdom.
And we all know how that story ends.
Within the short amount of time I was inside the tavern, darkness descended upon Winterhaven, and the temperature dropped by about ten degrees.
A few stars peek through the high cirrus clouds, and the moon is just a thin sickle, like a sideways smiley face.
String lights wrap every light post and drape in a zigzag canopy across the street, and the businesses that are still open have their window displays lit.
Shoving my hands into my pockets because I didn’t bring gloves, I start walking down the sidewalk in the direction where I parked my rental car. There’s a lot of pedestrian traffic, couples strolling arm-in-arm, groups of friends out for an evening meal.
Footsteps come up fast behind me. “Let me buy you dinner,” Colin says.
What is it with guys when a woman says she’s not interested? We’re not playing hard to get. We’re being literal.
“No, thank you.”
“Okay, no food. How about a cup of coffee? There’s a café up ahead—”
“No, thank you,” I reply, getting irritated at his persistence and his inability to understand the word “no.”
He makes the mistake of grabbing my arm, but before I can react, Colin’s grasp is painfully ripped away when someone takes him by the neck and slams him against the brick facade of the building.
“She said no, motherfucker.”
I blink to make sure I’m not imagining him.
Lukas Titan.
I don’t believe in coincidences. I never replied to the lawyer’s text. No one knew I was coming.
Colin’s feet dangle an inch off the ground, his face turning a bright shade of red as Lukas pins him in place like an insect on a mounting board.
The people walking past sidestep around us and continue on their way as if assaulting a man in public is a common occurrence and not worth their interest.
Growing concerned when Colin’s eyes start to bulge, I pull on Lukas’s arm. It’s like trying to dislodge a pit bull from its prey. “Let him go. He’s going to pass out.”
The fine hairs on my neck raise when electricity crackles the air, similar to the charge you feel right before lightning strikes the ground.
Trent Titan steps into the light, his frigid ice-blue glare locked on me, and for some inexplicable reason, I lose the ability to breathe.
Within the span of a second, I’m assessed and discarded.
I don’t know why that bothers me, but it does.
Standing in the shadows with his shoulder casually propped against the building is Sawyer, quietly watching with unnerving intensity.
“Let him go.” Trent’s deep timbre is barely spoken above a whisper, but it carries the air of authority.
Lukas releases his chokehold, and Colin plummets to the ground in a fit of coughing. “I’d highly suggest you brush up on your listening skills.” Grabbing Colin’s shoulders, Lukas hefts him off the sidewalk and roughly shoves him to get going.
Without a word, Colin limps off, throwing wary glances at the guys as he staggers back inside Donovan’s.
I hate to admit it, but I’m a little awestruck. The Titan brothers are much…bigger than I expected. Photographs only show so much but seeing them with my own eyes—holy hell. I get what all the online hype is about.
Straightening the sleeve of my coat, I give myself time to get my nerves under control by brushing away nonexistent lint. “I had it handled. I didn’t need an intervention.”
“Clearly,” Trent replies sardonically.
Sawyer’s dark head cocks to the side. “This is her?”
It’s not what he says but the way he says it. Like my existence is offensive to him. How do they even know who I am or what I look like? I highly doubt Mom talked about me, and I’m pretty sure there weren’t any framed photographs of me sitting on their mantel.
“Were you following me?”
Trent steps into my personal space. “Get your ass in the car.”
My hackles rise at being spoken to like I’m one of their many servants. “I have a rental.”
“Get in the car.”
I return his earlier glare. “I’m not a dog, asshole. I don’t obey on command.”
He looms over me, using his six-foot-two-inch height as an intimidation. “Get. Your. Ass. In. The. Fucking. Car.”
Too bad that shit doesn’t work on me. “Fuck you.”
Sawyer doesn’t try to stifle his laughter. “I like her already.”
“Fuck you, too.”
The grin that spreads across his mouth isn’t a nice grin. It’s a warning. “Our little sister has a mouth on her.”
“I am not your sister.”
Trent’s huff signals his exasperation. “What you are is a pain in the ass.” He looks at Lukas, a silent message being conveyed. “Guess we’re doing this the hard way.”
I’m suddenly hoisted up and thrown over Lukas’s shoulder. “Put me down!”
The wind gets knocked out of me when I’m tossed into the back seat of an awaiting SUV.
Great. I’m being kidnapped.
By my step brothers.
Sawyer comes around the car and gets in. Trent takes the front seat, and Lukas slides in next to me, effectively trapping me between him and Sawyer.
“Drive,” Trent tells the guy behind the wheel. Putting his phone to his ear, he says, “Got her…yeah…no.” He glances back at me. “She’s safe.” He hangs up.
Lukas leans in until our shoulders touch. His mouth parts slightly, closes. He takes a breath and quietly lets it out. “Sorry about your mom.”
Our eyes meet. Hold. “I don’t have a mother.” I lean my head back and close my eyes. Shut them out. Shut out the world.
I wasn’t expecting them, but their sudden appearance plays in my favor.
Julius Titan thinks he’s untouchable. He won’t see me coming until it’s too late.