25. Kane
Kane
All of a sudden, the video on my phone disappears.
I click through the folders, thinking that my fat fingers have mis-clicked, but no. It’s gone. Wiped from existence in the blink of an eye. I didn’t even get to rewatch it once. It’s just gone.
“Zane,” I sigh, cracking my neck. I’ve been sitting in one place for hours, playing with the paints that I’ll eventually use for Mercy’s portrait.
I normally only create a few for each target, but for Mercy, I think I’ll start with half a dozen.
Maybe more. I have to capture the sunlight reflecting off of her eyes just right—which is why I’m in Zane’s surveillance app to begin with; I’m looking for a still image of Mercy standing beneath rays of golden sunlight when the live feed pops up, and she isn’t in her room.
So I click around until I find her standing outside with Sam.
Confessing to him.
At first, I’m elated. Finally , they’re getting somewhere.
Mercy has been moping in her room all week, and it’s downright depressing to watch.
Not that I mind the doom and gloom—it’s given me an endless fountain of inspiration to pull from.
When I’m not pinning Zane to the wall and kissing him senseless, I’m covered in paint as I try to embody Mercy’s essence on canvas, falling just short of satisfaction.
I need to see her in person before I can finish a single painting.
And therein lies the problem; Zane’s watching me like a hawk.
Shacking up with him is fun—he’s even more skittish now that he knows I’m liable to pounce on him at any moment—but he won’t relax.
Not completely. After spending years with him, I know how to read his moods.
He’s happier now, but he’s still finding something to brood about. If I had to guess, it involves Mercy.
The minute the video suddenly disappears, I know it is.
What he doesn’t realize is that I was watching Mercy’s confession in real-time. I heard everything.
She loves Sam.
She wants to be with him.
But she likes me.
The cheesiest grin splits across my face, and I jump up off the floor, dropping my phone and spilling my paints. Yes. This is it. The wheel is in motion. By this time next year, Mercy will be madly, hopelessly in love with me. Hell, I bet I could do it in six months. Three. One.
Shit, could I really pull that off?
As I ponder the logistics of stealing that much of Mercy’s time, I realize the huge, glaring flaw in this plan.
She already loves Sam.
But she’s not in love with him. Wracking my brain, I think back to the night he joined our game. What was it he said? Did she have to love him or fall in love with him? Do the semantics even matter?
I know that Sam will argue that he’s won.
He’ll try to end our game early. Any excuse to keep Mercy all to himself.
If he can get rid of me and Zane, he’ll have no competition for her heart.
I was hoping that he would consider my offer of sharing her, but from how fucking pathetic he gets at the mere mention of my cock splitting his girl in two, I doubt he’ll go through with it.
No, Samson Wright doesn’t like to share.
Mercy does.
That’s the linchpin. That’s how we win the game.
By stealing Mercy from Sam’s arms. The best part is that she’ll come willingly.
God , it’s going to be a bloodbath, and I am here for it.
My cock swells at the thought of Sam and me fighting over my sweet Siren.
The way those pouty lips will part as she begs us to stop, tears spilling down her face as I cut Sam down in front of her.
Her heart will crack with every one of Sam’s broken bones.
It might not actually go that way—we don’t usually resort to bludgeoning people to death—but a man can dream.
I drag in a breath and groan. Fuck , that turns me on.
I grab my phone and leave the studio, flying up the stairs to tell Zane the good news.
He won’t be as excited as me, but I’ve got this infectious quality about me.
By the time I’m done explaining how perfect this plan is, he’ll be on board.
It’s even better that Mercy loves Sam, because the heartbreak is going to absolutely kill him .
I’m a goddamn genius.
“Zane!” I turn his bedroom doorknob to find that it’s locked. “Hey, bitch, open up. I have an idea.” I knock loudly. “I know how we can make things more interesting with Mercy.”
“I’m busy.”
“What, masturbating?” Chuckling, I lean my shoulder against his door. “C’mon, you don’t have to hide it. You know I’ll help.” I can hear Zane shuffle around until he leans against the other side.
“What’s your idea?”
“It’s no fun if I can’t see your face.”
This isn’t like him. Usually, he’ll sit at his computer and let me talk about whatever’s on my mind, grunting every so often so that I know he’s listening. When he’s worked up, I always listen. Now that it’s his turn, and he’s hiding from me.
“Talk to me,” I grumble, scratching my nails against the door like a trapped cat. For fuck’s sake, we should be past this secrecy bullshit. “I’m right here. I’m not going anywhere.”
After what feels like an eternity, he turns the lock and pulls open his door. I lean against the doorframe, unable to keep a smirk off my face as his eyes travel down my body, snagging on my boner. He snaps his head up and blushes.
Fucking adorable.
“I think we should bring Mercy and Sam to the cabin,” he says quickly, pushing his reading glasses up his nose. He rarely wears them, but when he’s been staring at a screen all day, he gets headaches. “What’s your idea?”
That’s not what I was going to say, but I agree with him. “Absolutely.” Pushing myself off the doorframe, I slip into his personal space and grab his hips. “I never realized how slutty those glasses are.” My lips curve into a wicked grin. “You should wear them more often.”
A divot appears between Zane’s eyebrows as he pushes against my chest. “Wait—we’re not—” His blush deepens. “ How are you still horny? We just had sex this morning!”
“Wasn’t enough,” I grunt, cupping the back of his head and easily licking into his hot little mouth.
He moans. I love that fucking sound. “Clothes off, glasses on.” I push him onto the bed and pull my shirt over my head.
“Let me tell you my idea, and you can shower me in praise for how fucking smart I am.” It’s a brilliant plan, and I’ll have fun explaining it to Zane.
But what’s better is the way that he can barely focus, his glasses steaming up before I’ve even touched him.
Yeah, I’m buying him a dozen fucking pairs of those.
“Let’s invite them to the cabin.” I love the idea of bringing her.
I don’t know how I hadn’t thought of it already.
“Then we’ll tie Sam up and fuck his girl while he watches.
” Licking my lips, I picture it—the rage on Sam’s face while I guide Mercy’s pretty mouth over my cock.
“He’ll be so fucking broken once he realizes how much she loves it.
” I scrape my nails against Zane’s scalp.
“I know you don’t really like her like that, but you could join in.
” Admittedly, this part is bad timing with my impromptu seduction in progress, but if we’re being honest with each other, I might as well say what’s on my mind.
“I can’t get the thought of you two out of my head. ”
Some of my paintings have turned into erotica of Zane and Mercy together. There isn’t any definition—barely any lines or shading—but the idea is there. The shape is there. And it’s really goddamn pretty when the two of them are together.
Zane closes his eyes and swallows, shuddering like I’ve just fed him the most bitter pill of his life. “I don’t know.” He rubs his forehead. “I don’t hate her. But that doesn’t mean I want to fuck her, either.”
“You don’t have to decide right now. I just wanted you to know.” I sigh against his lips. “I think it’d be really hot if we tag-teamed her.” I resist the urge to kiss him so that I can hear his reply.
“We’ve never done that before.”
“Nope.” I’m usually the only one who handles our targets. “But if we’re exploring new things together…” I pull Zane into my lap and chuckle as he claws at my abs. “We can add this to the list.”
I can’t speak for Zane’s list of desired life experiences, but sharing Mercy with him—and maybe with Sam after we rile him up first—has quickly climbed to the top of mine.
The very fucking top.
I’ve already moved on to palming Zane’s ass and sucking a hickey onto his neck when he mutters a soft, “I’ll think about it,” driving me absolutely wild because he’s open to the idea at all. The Zane I knew a few months ago would have flat-out refused.
But the Zane of today is curious.
That is my biggest win of the day, no matter how much Mercy likes me or not.
I’m in the middle of tearing Zane’s pants off his legs when Mercy’s voice fills the room, the tiny speaker on Zane’s cell phone blaring from his jeans’ pocket.
“I want you to be there. ”
Sam’s voice is next, laced with such anguish that I almost feel bad for the man. “ Please ? — ”
Zane’s hand slaps mine as he tries to grab his phone, but since I’m the one with his pants in my hands, I have the upper hand.
I grab the device and stare at the screen, watching a recording of the video I just saw him delete from the server.
I thought he hadn’t even saved a backup, but here it is. Staring me in the face.
“What’s this?” I ask, turning the screen towards him and waving the phone in the air. The video is time-stamped for today, barely ten minutes ago.
“I don’t want to watch him break you. I can’t. ”
I drag in a breath as a wave of excitement crashes over me. This is the part where Sam threatens?—
“I’ll kill him. I’ll kill the fucking bastard while he’s still inside of you. ”
Zane reaches for the phone again, but I hold it out of reach. “Give me the phone!”