Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Christian
“Savano?” I repeat, deliberately keeping my voice even. I just came in from surfing, so my hair is still soaking wet. Removing the towel from my neck, I step toward her. She smells exactly the way I remember, like coconut mixed with something sweet. “As in Shadow and Ash Savano?”
She glances down quickly, then back up, her gaze catching mine. “Yes. Sin Savano is my brother.”
I shake my head and take another menacing step toward her. I could rip her apart right here, right now, and not one person here would try to stop me. The thought excites me more than it should. “You’re either super ballsy or super fucking stupid to walk in here like this…”
“Why are you here? What do you want?” Jackson asks, his tone harsh, which is typical for him, even on a good day.
I watch her closely as she considers her answer. Her cheeks are flushed, and fear flickers in those whiskey-colored eyes. Good. It shows she has some sense. She should be afraid.
She pulls in a heavy breath. “I, um…there have been rumors circulating about what happened on your front lawn a few weeks ago, and in a world like ours, I know what that means…”
I’ve known about Eve for a while now. From the moment she stepped onto campus, she’s been working overtime to blend into the wallpaper. It’s like she goes out of her fucking way to dress down and cover up that body. Leggings. Oversized sweaters. No makeup. She thought all that would keep me from noticing her. Yeah, no. It had the opposite effect. For weeks, I’d watch her in class and wonder what she was trying to hide…
Now I know.
I narrow my eyes at her. “Why don’t you enlighten us?”
“My brother moved on you,” she says simply. “And I know something like that can’t go unanswered.”
Ash laughs sardonically, the muscles in his shoulders tensing up. This guy has been going through it lately. He’s usually pretty chill, but ever since the incident on the lawn, he’s been on edge. Can I blame him, though? We’ve all been on edge...
“ Moved on us?” Ash spits. “Your brother slaughtered one of our members on our fucking front lawn.”
Eve pulls her eyes away from me to focus on Ash, and I feel it. I feel the absence of her gaze. “You killed our cousin,” she says.
Apparently, that’s true. We didn’t know it at the time, but her cousin was Tyler Savano—a member of the Burning Crown who fucked up royally. He was warned, and he didn’t stop, so the Sacred Sons made the call to excommunicate him–and the only excommunication from the Burning Crown is death. And as far as my brothers and I are concerned, how we deal with our members is our own damn business.
Sin Savano clearly didn’t agree, so he recruited Gabriel— my fucking cousin—and used him against us, like a Trojan-fucking-Horse. When that didn’t work out, Sin ambushed us here, at Rush House, and slit Gabriel’s throat. Lucas was also stabbed, and he barely made it out of that shit alive.
So, yeah, to say her brother “moved on us” is the understatement of the fucking century.
Ash moves toward her, and I lift my arm to stop him from making contact. “If you’re here to make a case for your brother,” I say, holding Ash back. “Then you’re wasting your breath.”
Her eyelashes flutter, and I can tell she’s taken the bait. “I’m not here to make a case for him. I’m here to offer myself as payment for what he’s done…”
The room goes silent as the other guys absorb what she just said. It’s Ash who speaks first. “What does ‘offering yourself for payment’ mean exactly?”
She lifts her hands. “It means…I’ll do whatever you want. My brother has no idea I’m here, and we’re very close. If he knew I was staying here, it would kill him.”
I allow my gaze to rove over her body, which is hidden beneath a loose-knit sweater and a pair of jeans. I can still feel the warmth of her pussy on my fingertips. I can still hear her quiet, almost inaudible moan the moment I took control of her body…
Moving toward her, I grab her chin. She flinches, and I smile. “ Whatever we want?” I ask, purposefully trying to provoke her. I know how much she hates me, and the feeling is mutual. But tormenting her is quickly becoming my favorite thing.
She swallows. “If it means you won’t hurt Sin, then…yes, anything.”
Good. I’m relying on that sisterly devotion to see my plan through. And devotion is something I can relate to. When Lucas was injured in the attack last month, and we didn’t know if he’d make it, something dark slithered around my heart and took hold. It was a cold, desperate feeling I never want to experience again—and that’s where Eve comes in.
But I already know she can be obstinate. I’ve seen it. So as a test, I force her chin up and lean in, pulling her bottom lip between my teeth. I bite down gently. Mmm , she tastes like coconut chapstick, and I have the sudden, irresistible urge to rip this bitch apart with my teeth. It’d be so fucking fun.
Her eyelids flutter closed, and her muscles tighten, but she remains perfectly still. She doesn’t resist or try to push me away. I linger for a second before breaking contact and taking a step back.
Damn. My tongue darts out to lick my bottom lip and use the pad of my thumb to wipe the corner of my mouth. Mmmm. It’s not just her pussy that tastes sweet. Her mouth does, too, and I already want more.
“Take your shirt off,” I tell her.
Lucas says something from across the room, his voice breaking through the haze. I lift my hand and snap at my brother to shut him the fuck up. “Ah, hold up,” I say to him, never taking my gaze off Eve. “Let’s see if this chick is serious.”
This whole damn thing hinges on whether or not she can set her hatred aside and submit to the Sacred Sons, to me.
I take a step back and flick my chin at Eve, urging her to do as she’s been told. It takes several long seconds, but finally, she pulls her pink sweater over her head and drops it onto the floor beside her. She’s wearing a white, lacy bra that shows a hint of her pink nipples beneath.
Oh, fuck, yes . My cock is already twitching.
“Bra, too,” I say.
A flash of defiance crosses her face, and I hold my breath, wondering if she’ll pass this little test I’ve set in front of her. She may decide this is all too much and bounce.
I really hope she doesn’t do that, because my backup plan will be much, much less pleasant for her…
Finally, she pulls in a deep breath, reaches behind her back, and unhooks her bra. Her movements are slow, and I’m impatient, so I hurry her along by reaching over and pulling it off the rest of the way.
Her tits are on the larger side, heavy, with tight, pink nipples that make my mouth fucking water. So this is what she’s been hiding under those oversized hoodies...
My brother says something snarky, but I don’t even hear him—I’m too focused on Eve, remembering how her pussy melted for me when I pushed her against the wall and took it by force...
Ash steps toward her. “How do we know your brother hasn’t sent you here?”
She shakes her head. “He’d murder me if he knew I was here.”
Ash tilts his head to the side, openly staring at her tits. “Then why come?”
“I’ve grown up around a secret society, and I know what you’ll do to my brother…” she answers.
“And what’s that?” Lucas asks.
“You’ll kill him,” she says bluntly.
“And how do you know we won’t just kill you instead?” I ask.
Her gaze shifts back to me. “I don’t know that. But I do know in societies like these, codes of conduct are everything. And I haven’t done anything wrong. I’m not even a member of Shadow and Ash. So you’d have no grounds to kill me.”
She’s not wrong. Business with the Burning Crown can get violent and bloody, but there are strict rules that we’re obligated to abide by—rules passed down from generation to generation. It’s the reason we’ve survived for over a hundred years.
Lucas flicks his chin at Eve. “Wait in the hallway. We need to talk this over.”
She glances down at her sweater, but before she can grab it, I stop her. “Leave it. If you’re going to be our whore, then get used to being naked.”
She folds her arms over her chest, and my gaze follows her as she walks across the room and out the door. As soon as she’s gone, Lucas turns to the group. “Well, what do you guys think? I vote no.”
I roll my eyes at my brother. Of course, he’d vote no. He’s so wrapped up in Wyn, I’m sure Eve is the last thing he wants to deal with right now.
Jackson shrugs. “I say yes. We could keep her for a while, then kill Sin. Sounds more fun than just killing him outright.”
Ash nods. “We might actually get information out of her, too, which could prove valuable.”
Lucas shifts on his feet, and I can tell he’s itching to finish this conversation so he can get back to Wyn. “But we risk letting a viper into our den…”
Ash scoffs. “You just saw her—she’s terrified. What damage could she do? We take her phone, cut off her contact with the outside world…” He shrugs. “Easy.”
“Yup, and we could make it known that we have her. Send Sin photos and shit. Twist the knife…” Jackson adds.
I walk over to the desk and grab a blunt out of the drawer. The weed hits my bloodstream quickly, and my muscles instantly relax. I lower myself into one of the leather chairs, tilt my head back, and allow the smoke to escape my open lips.
I won’t lie, I’ve thought about Eve every fucking day since our encounter in the psych building. She smells so fucking delicious, and the way her body moves just does something to me. I can’t fucking explain it.
Eve Savano intrigues me, and I haven’t been intrigued for a very, very long time.
I blow out another billow of smoke. “If she wants to pay for her brother’s sins. Then, I say, we let the bitch pay…”
Lucas shakes his head. “Yeah, whatever. This is on you guys, though. I don’t have time for this shit.”
“You got it, bro,” I say casually, studying the charred end of my blunt. “Don’t worry about a thing.” I look up at my twin and flash him a smile. “We’ll take care of it.”
When Lucas leaves, Jackson turns to Ash and me. “So what the fuck are we going to do with her?”
I shrug. “She wants to be our toy…” I say. “So we’ll make her our toy.”
Ash leans against the wall, arms crossed over his chest. “And how’s this going to work, exactly? Does one of us get her? Do we all share her, or what?” His eyes light up a little too much at that last suggestion.
“Whatever goes, man,” I answer. It’s all part of the plan—only, they don’t know what the plan is. I’d share my thoughts with them, but I know for a fact, they’d have an opinion and I don’t have the time or patience to deal with their dumb-ass objections.
It’s better if they don’t know.
Standing abruptly, I walk over to the door and pull it open. Eve is standing in the hallway, hugging herself. She whips around to face me, her eyes wide. She looks like a fox that’s been cornered by a hound, and that look of fear on her face makes me smile.
Damn , I’m really fucked up inside.
“You can come back in,” I say, holding the door open so she’s forced to pass under my arm. She watches me closely as she walks back into the study.
I close the door and lean against it, re-lighting my blunt. “We accept you’re uh…” I motion to her, “ payment. Now let’s talk terms…”