Chapter 41
Chapter
Forty-One
Dante
F or Angel, we make it a ritual. Slowly, we strip her down, touching her, kissing her. She’s satin soft, perfect, even with her war wounds.
Knight kisses her first, easy and romantic with an edge of gentle control. Next is Reaper.
He looks her in the eye, then kisses her in a carnal claiming, bringing it to the gentlest edge I’ve seen from him.
When it’s my tun, she shivers, nipples hard, her body pliant. And those bruises and collected marks? They make her perfect in a different way. They make her perfect for us. They make her fit.
None of us are pristine. Reaper and I never have been. Knight might have been in his younger years, but he’s one of us, and that paints us all.
And now Angel…
She killed. She fits into our world.
Do I wish she didn’t?
Fuck yes, but not because I don’t have…feelings. I just— “I wish we didn’t have to do this,” I admit .
“Fuck you, Dante.”
I ignore Knight.
And Angel lifts her face. “I can still go.”
“No.” I don’t want her gone. It’s not what I mean, but I can’t say the words I need to. “Just, the circumstances.”
I slip my hands under the heavy warm fall of her hair and kiss her, light because if I go deep, I might never be able to climb out. And I end it by biting on her lips, making her moan.
Then I step back and she’s once more in the circle of us.
“We need to bite you in the throes of passion, and you have to bite us—that’s vital. We also need to tell you our real names. You know mine.” Knight’s gaze darts to me as my chest tightens. “I read it.”
“We have to do it now, Angel,” Reaper says, using my name for her. “Time’s running out.”
“And this President,” Knight says, “you know she’s going to surprise us.”
“A-And Susan? And the other girls?” she asks.
“That operation will take time to close down,” I say. “That’s a different conversation. We need to do this now.”
“Ready?” Knight asks.
This should feel artificial, odd. We don’t have time to have sex because he’s right. The Councilwoman will arrive early. She thinks we have her prize—Liz—the thing that’ll get Candice Helmont, aka Candy, fucking mother of the year, running here, right into our grasp.
Only we’re turning the tables.
She won’t think we’d do this, claim Liz, have Angel claim us right back.
And we don’t have time for sex, but we can all get her off and we can get off over that.
Throes of passion doesn’t mean penetration.
And there’s so fucking much to get passionate about with Angel.
Lizette is fucking gorgeous, and she looks better naked with us around her. It’s hot. She’s free use to us, ours to have. They love her, and me—it doesn’t fucking matter what I feel. I don’t do emotion.
Like with the kisses, Knight moves in first.
She responds to him before he touches her. Anticipation is thick around us.
This is erotic and hot, and I watch as Knight takes her, sliding his hand between her thighs, fingering her in a way that makes her writhe and shake and come in seconds flat. To me, he misses the opportunities to make her hotter, make her beg. And I carefully avoid telling him, because this is what she wants and craves.
She’s three different omegas. Each with specific appetites, and we fit her bill, and she ours.
I’ve never met an omega like her.
She’s moaning, her thighs wet, his fingers glistening as they slide in and out of her. She’s all over him, rubbing, and I’m feeling a little weird inside, like there’s a hot hook in my heart.
Oh, fuck, am I jealous of fucking Knight’s fingers? He’s getting what I crave, and though I’m getting some eventually, I’m fucking greedy.
She starts to come and he rubs her clit, his fingers hooked as they come almost all the way out before pistoning back in. He skillfully spins out her orgasm and sinks his teeth into her, telling her his real name. “Griffin.”
But then I get the sight I need.
“Lizette. Angel.” She whispers as she bites Knight. He jerks, like he’s fucking coming in his pants.
The moment they’re done, Reaper growls, the full predator baring his teeth. He drags her into him, slamming his fingers into her, dragging her head back by her hair and kissing her with the kind of elemental and dirty passion that’s at his core. She starts to come immediately and he rides her through it, bouncing her right into the next .
Then he bites down, growling out his name, “Sebastian.”
She howls and bites down on him so hard blood runs, and I know exactly where he’s getting his next tattoo. “Angel. Lizette.”
I glance at her once they’re done and grab her, hauling her to me. “You think you can just fucking come?”
“Yes.” Her eyes glitter, the need in her completely unbound.
“Wrong fucking answer.” And I finger fuck her hard, spearing her perfect pussy and her ass, and she pushes back on me, convulsing and coming.
I lick her throat, finding the right spot to bite. She’s hot. Furnace hot, and perfectly tight, little ripples working against my fingers. I know exactly how I feel in this moment. I know how I’ll always feel when it comes to her, and it infuriates me.
I don’t want it.
I want her even more because of it.
How dare she rip me down into shreds of naked emotion?
How fucking dare she make me so damn vulnerable I’d worship at her altar?
“Darian.” I stare at her. “You fucking say my name as I brand you.”
I sink my teeth into that perfect spot, biting deep, drawing blood as she cries out, “Darian!”
I release her as I whisper, “Come as you bite me, Lizette. Angel. Come.”
She bites me and it’s utter euphoria. She shudders, crushing my fingers with her contractions and her heat seeps in, branding me as I brand her, and the pain and pleasure are beautiful fucking things. I can feel her breathe in my veins, feel her blood move through my bones. She’s mine. And I’m hers and I fucking come.
“Lizette.” Her voice is a hoarse sound. “Angel. Your …Angel. ”
She half collapses, and I hold her before handing her to the other two.
“Get showered, get changed, and get upstairs,” I tell them, ignoring the wild emotions spinning inside my chest. Especially at her last words. “I’ve got a feeling the shit’s going to go down in the next few hours.”
I don’t feel any different. At least, I tell myself that. Sure, my neck both hurts and feels unbelievably good and her scent ticks up notches. But no. No different.
I dress in a suit and go upstairs to the main floor. Only Julien is at the door and Darcy is behind the bar. Knight’s in one of his slightly flamboyant suits and he’s draped around Liz like he fucking won her at a fair. And she loves it.
She’s in a pretty dress, one I suspect Darcy got for her. Because Angel tends to favor those big, boxy dresses I’ve grown to have an affinity for.
They’re very easy access.
Reaper’s in his black jeans and long T-shirt. He’s smoking a cigarette and goes off to talk with Julien.
I toy with my drink, staring at it.
Fuck. I hate this.
If I had my way, I’d walk into the Council building and kill them all. Or at least, see how many of them I could get. I’m pretty fucking sure Reaper would be with me and Knight would be on his computer, shutting down the cops at every turn.
But it’s a fantasy, a futile dream. The Council’s too big, an octopus as Reap said. This gamble is the best we can hope for.
I don’t tell the others, but it is a gamble.
And I find I don’t like gambling with Angel .
Not at all.
She deserves the good.
She deserves… Not me.
I fucking wish I smoked. Because I’d be giving Reaper a run for his money. Instead, I placate myself with the whiskey and the moderate fantasy of killing her mother.
I go still as a car door slams.
They’re here early enough to miss opening hours, but on time for us to be getting ready. There’s commotion at the door, and I sit back in my seat and wait as Julien stops her entourage from entering, even though the main doors are open, and Reaper leads in the queen bitch herself.
Candice looks at each of us.
And I can see it. The resemblance. It’s not huge. Liz looks more like her father, but it’s there.
Now I know.
I wait, observing her, looking at her beneath the layer of glamor and fierce competence. Beneath the aura of power.
And I realize something.
She’s fucking nervous.
Her gaze locks on mine and she looks away first. Darcy slams a bottle down, making her jump. Finally, Candice lays eyes on her daughter.
And wrinkles her fucking nose.
Knight growls.
She’s seeing the fading bruises, the untamed beauty. Her youth. And she’s seeing the marks on her throat. All of them.
“That can be ignored,” she says, aiming her words in her alpha voice at me. “I know. I escaped the mark.”
“Probably because you’re a stone-cold fucking bitch,” I say pleasantly. “Her father was nice. Still, can’t win them all.”
“Shut your mouth or I’ll shut down this place and throw you in prison with this…scarred beast.”
This time, the growl comes from Lizette. “Where he escaped from,” she says.
Reaper locks eyes with Liz and fucking smiles .
“Quit with your alpha voice. It’s like a gnat. An annoying buzz.” I could use mine. We all could and she and her entourage would be commanded to leave. Or dive face first into traffic.
Point is, Candice has nothing on my voice, and combine mine with Knight and Reaper? Utterly dangerous.
“You do not want to play a game of voice with me. I’d win.” I offer a smile. “But I won’t say no.”
“You have something that isn’t yours,” she says, normal-voiced.
Even if she doesn’t believe me about my voice, she’s smart enough not to take on three alphas with her game. Besides, she has more important things up her sleeve, things I’m looking forward to destroying.
“She’s ours. And you know what, Candy? I hold pure gold in my hands.”
It’s time to play the card Angel doesn’t know about, and I fucking hope Knight’s got a strong grip on our girl.
“Fucking gold.” I lay the folder on the table and slide it over. It’s old school, I think she’ll appreciate it. I nod at it. “The truth’s in there, Candy. And it could put you down, should you pursue trying to bring us down. All of it. The bodies you stepped on. Those you buried, and the ones you blackmailed. Every last nasty deed you’ve done.”
“You don’t know shit. Lizette, come.” Candice snaps her fingers.
“Liz, stay.” I nod at the folder and continue. “The baby you abandoned doesn’t have to go with you. The man you had killed? You know damn well he was her father.”
“What?” Angel balks, her gaze whipping to everyone’s face. When she lands on Candice, she lunges, but Knight is quick to grab her. “Liz, no.”
The woman snatches up the folder and scans the contents, snapping it shut. “You can’t prove it. ”
“Actually, we can. That’s how we got it. Dug up all your digital and not so digital graves.”
Candice presses her lips together. “So I’ll just take you all out and walk with my prize girl.”
“No, Candy. We didn’t get to be the kings of the fucking criminal world without learning a trick or two, like scattering and copying everything and having it ready to drop if we don’t report in. Plus, I’ll fucking turn you inside out. Me and the rest of the Unholy Trinity,” I say. “Just one more thing…”
“If it’s about Elias, you can save it. Nothing’s gonna take me down. Not some has-been’s rebellious temper tantrum or even family .” She glances at Liz.
“How about a sex slave ring?” I ask.
Her gaze snaps my way. I have her full attention now.
“Excuse me?”
“Well, I’m sure your involvement in an underground sex trafficking operation wouldn’t be a good look for the head of the Council. Especially since you’re funding it.” I pause as Knight hands me another folder. I open it and push it in front of her. “It’s all there. Your deal with Jake Edmonton, his death, your Council employee, Susan Pemberton. We rescued her along with the others. So try anything, and we will fucking end you.” I take a swallow of my drink and nod at the folders in her hands. “You can keep those. As a gift.”
I stand.
“And as I said before—Lizette is ours. We’ve all bonded, all bitten each other, marked each other, know each other’s true names, and we’ve all knotted in her. You can take the readings to verify. We’ll do the tests. She is, by Council definitions, ours. And selling your daughter for power and votes?” I say. “Not a good look.”
She glares. “I did not sell Susan.”
“Knight?” I call him into the conversation.
“According to the documents I found, that’s exactly what you did,” he chimes in. “Surprise. ”
I smile. “See? I can destroy you. Happily.”
Candy’s eyes narrow. “I know, courtesy of Ghost, where many of your bodies are buried. I have you cornered, too.”
Oh, I’m sure she does know some of our crimes because that’s something Ghost would do, but I don’t care. What we have on her is far more damning, especially for a woman running the fucking Council.
“So? Try it,” I say, “But if you double cross us, we will act. It’s mutual destruction or mutual salvation. If I were you, I’d pick the latter.”
The woman’s cockiness disappears, and she looks like she wants to strangle me.
“I think in chess it’s called stalemate?” I ask.
It’s clear she’s clinging. There has to be more to this, I know it, but Candy’s smart. She’ll work it out and leave us be. More importantly, leave her daughter the fuck alone.
She doesn’t want the full wrath of the Unholy Trinity. And she doesn’t want to be on Reaper’s radar.
Finally, she says, “I need the Hover Valley region. That’s why I sweetened the deal with the next in line. Craig is expecting a woman.”
I shrug. “Get him one. We leave each other alone. Do your job and find someone else for that region. You’re an alpha, strong, and there are plenty who’d want the role and be loyal. Liz isn’t. She’s a handful.” I hold out my hand. “Do we have a deal?”