Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CARTER
“Do you not have any fucking clothes?” Killian asks Heather as she sits in the lounge with the three of us. Knox is on one side of her, and I’m on the other. Grumpy ass is on the chair across from us, with a scowl on his face that I don’t think has left since I brought her here.
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Killian. I guess my kidnapper forgot my backpack filled with my fucking clothes.”
This girl is amazing. She has every reason to be terrified, especially of Killian, but she's not.
Every rude comment she answers back with has just as much snark without delay.
I think about twenty-five percent of my brother's problem with her is the danger she represents. The other seventy-five is because she stirs something inside him and he doesn’t like it.
Knox and I can both see it. Killian does not.
“Maybe someone can get your backpack then, because I’m tired of seeing your body.”
I roll my eyes because he’s being ridiculous. She’s been wearing my t-shirts that fall to just above her knees. She’s not walking around the house naked. As much as I wish she were.
She rises from the sofa and goes to the bar to fill a glass with a few fingers of scotch before setting it on the table in front of Killian.
“Here you go. Drink up and chill.”
Much to my surprise, he leans forward and grabs the glass.
“I think I will. Hard liquor is a requirement for suffering with your presence in my house.”
Knox chuckles softly as he shakes his head.
“You two should fuck and get it over with. It would certainly make living with you both more tolerable.”
Killian grumbles an inaudible response.
“So, you’re mechanics?” Heather asks, breaking the tension in the room and causing us all to chuckle.
I share a glance with both of my brothers before Killian surprises me and shakes his head.
“Not exactly. We have a chop shop.”
Her eyes scan each of our faces before her expression shows confusion.
“A chop shop?” She asks, and realization dawns on me that she doesn’t know what a chop shop is.
Killian laughs obnoxiously as he leans back against the couch with one arm behind his head and cradles his drink in his other hand. “You can’t be serious.”
Heather jumps up out of her spot and moves in front of him as she places her hands on her hips, with a furious glare in her eyes.
“I was raised in a fucking cult, dick! There’s a lot of shit I don’t know. But what I do know is you are a certifiable asshole.”
His laughter fades as his lips pull up into a huge grin.
“Again, you’re talking about my dick, Killer.”
Knox grabs her wrist and pulls her onto his lap as I stare on, wishing I could do the same. He wraps his hand around her waist, holding her close to him, and she calms in an instant.
Running his free hand through her long blonde hair, he speaks low, but we can still hear him explaining our situation.
“Ignore him, Tesoro. A chop shop is basically a theft operation. We have teams in place, so it’s not us doing the labor anymore. Long story short, cars are stolen and taken apart. We then sell the parts for a nice profit.”
Her gasp is loud as she says, “You’re criminals?”
And then turns to Killian and says, “It makes sense,” before turning back to me and asking, “Aren’t you afraid you’ll get arrested?”
“Yes,” Killian growls, “which is exactly why we don’t need you here.”
She turns on my brother's lap, looking at me with a sad expression, and her words nearly make my skin feel painful.
“He’s right. I shouldn’t be here. It increases your risk.”
Of course I know it puts more of a target on our backs. If anybody ever follows the trail of dead bodies, they’ll be in our shop asking questions we can’t answer. Maybe it makes me an idiot that I don’t care how high the fucking risk is. I want her with me.
I shake my head, telling her no.
“It’s nothing we can’t handle, Little Heathen. You aren’t going anywhere. Wherever we go, you’ll come with us.”
I spot the question in her eyes, even though she doesn’t voice it.
“You go where we go,” I reiterate, leaving no room for discussion, “Knox races, and he will want you there. Sometimes we go to Killian’s fights, and if we do, you’ll be there. I hunt, when necessary.”
“Hunt?” she asks, and I nod before responding because, of course, she’s thinking deer or something equally fucking boring like that.
“When people need to be eliminated, I handle it. You’ve seen me with a bow. It’s normally how I do it.”
The way her expression changes from curiosity to shock is fucking adorable.
“You hunt people?”
I shrug my shoulders, because it’s not really a big deal.
“Only when needed, but yes. If someone comes after us or if someone steals from us, I hunt them. I don’t kill for sport, but when it comes to my family I will without a second thought or any regrets. And that extends to you, Little Heathen.”
I don’t tell her about the innocent women I’ve killed, because I can’t lose her. She protects the innocent, so that might be the one thing that changes how she looks at me.
My eyes drop to her legs when Knox slides his fingers just under the hem of her shirt.
I watch as she shifts on his lap and touches his face tenderly.
I’m not jealous in a way you might expect.
It doesn’t bother me that my brother touches her like this, or that she has her hands on him.
The jealousy still exists though, because what she seems to have with him she’ll never have with me, because I’m so fucked in the head.
I glance over at Killian, and his eyes are locked on her legs too. He watches with an intense gaze as he slides his tongue over his bottom lip. His eyes move to mine when he realizes he’s been caught and abruptly rises from his seat with obvious anger.
“Sure, let’s bring Killer into our house and treat her like a goddamn treasured pet while she destroys us, one by fucking one.”
Heather glances at me with a pained expression on her face, and Killian storms off, walking to the door. He stops without turning back to us.
“You aren’t special, Killer. I can’t wait for Knox to fuck you and toss you aside like the trash you are so you’ll be out of our goddamn lives.”