Chapter 6
WILLOW
T he door slams open and winter rushes in on a growl of wind and one very pissed off Savage. I know of Reaper and the reputation his name carries. He doesn’t ask a lot of questions from his enemies. He just eliminates them and I am very much the enemy here.
Instinct has me stepping behind Venom, fingers fisting in the back of his shirt, my heart rioting against my ribs.
“It’s okay, snow angel,” he rumbles, steady as stone. “Reaper’s not here to hurt you.”
“But I’m the enemy,” I whisper, hating how small those words sound when everything inside me is fighting to be brave.
A deeper voice answers from across the room, gravel and command. “No,” Reaper says.
I look around venom and watch as Reaper steps around the half-frozen Vulture tossed on the floor.
“You’re not the enemy, sweetheart. You’re his daughter. That’s two different things in my book.”
Knots made of pure tension and instant fear inside me loosen. I wish I could say I’m braver than I look, but that’s not so true.
I step out from behind Venom. The sheet I have wrapped around me is not the most flattering, but I didn’t exactly have all the time in the world to find something to wear while guns were going off outside the window. All I can do is hold the man’s gaze and keep my spine straight.
Reaper’s gaze is sharp and assessing, not cruel when it lands on mine. I stick my hand out because my mama raised me to have manners no matter what.
Pinning my shoulder back, I offer a shaky yet firm, “Willow Caine. Thanks for not judging me by the blood in my veins. It’s a first.”
Reaper takes my hand in his. “Reaper. That’s sad to hear. I’m sorry about that.”
The edges around his eyes soften with what I perceive as genuine sorrow. “Not your doing, but thank you.”
Heavy boots thud in behind him, and the cabin fills with big men and bigger energy.
Savages. I can spot one a mile away. They carry themselves differently than any Vulture ever could.
I think it’s pride and morality that makes them stand out. My father thinks it is pompous arrogance and the world should be rid of everyone wearing a Savage cut.
I can’t change his limited thinking. No one can. Tonight proved that.
Snow shakes from the men’s shoulders and with them they bring the scent of finality. Like an ending is coming and they are the bearers of that energy.
Venom curses under his breath. “Wonderful. Parade night. Please come in and scare Willow half to death.” Despite the cold tone, venom reaches out and does that male thing all dudes do.
He clasps their hands and does a cute little shoulder boop.
I would never describe it like that to him, but it is what it is.
I hold in a small laugh as venom turns to me and quickly makes introductions to his Savage brothers.
“You know Reaper, our president,” Venom says, chin-lifting around the circle.
“I do.”
I store the first impression that comes to mind about each man as we go down the line.
“This is Ash. Our VIP.”
Piercing gaze, can see to the soul, controlled fury simmering just under the surface. Got it.
“And Beast. Our Sergeant-at-Arms.”
Silent, broad as a door, Sergeant-at-Arms ink glaring and in your face. He’s a teddy bear. I just know it.
I take the next man’s hand while I use the other to hold my sheet firmly around my boobs.
Venom moves to the next.
“Cipher. All things geek. I don’t even try to keep up when he talks code.”
I offer a soft laugh and get a smile from the man in return.
I glance at Cipher’s tattooed knuckles, and I get the feeling he’s a restless mind in constant motion as he fidgets with the edge of his cut.
“Storm.”
Gray eyes that don’t miss a detail. He’s clocked me, the room and the stash of weapons on the counter the second he walked in.
“And Roman’s on the door. He prefers space and silence.”
Roman doesn’t look over. He stays angled toward the night, a shadow watching for more shadows.
I square my shoulders, raise my chin, and shake each hand I’m offered, feeling the weight of their attention and the unspoken question in every set of eyes.
They are all wondering how the hell I wound up in their brother’s bedsheet in the middle of a snowstorm.
Fair enough.
“I know it’s proper to offer coffee or something hot on a night like this,” I say, forcing a smile, “but I have no idea where Venom hides his mugs.”
Storm snorts, already moving toward the tiny kitchenette. “Given Venom’s a coffee addict, there’s a stash big enough to caffeinate an army. I’ll get it going while you—” he flicks me a quick glance, not unkind “—spill the beans.”
I watch him move like he’s done this here a hundred times.
“How do you know I have beans to spill?” I ask, genuinely curious despite the fear crawling up my throat.
Not that I don’t want to tell them everything, but I’m curious as to how easily he reads me.
I mentally add that to his list of traits.
Storm huffs a dry laugh as he finds the filters without looking.
“Five men do not stop whatever shit they are doing to go hunt down the rebel daughter for nothing. You have something they want. Plus, you were out in this, crashed your SUV, and then the good Doc here saved you. It’s written all over your face, too.
You don’t carry bad news well, it sits on you heavily and smothers out the natural light you carry. We all see it.”
My mouth hinges open. “Well, damn.” I blow out a breath. “What am I? A walking neon sign?”
Venom lets out a low laugh. “Something like that,” I watch as his mouth tips with a smile. “Good people usually project and it’s easy to read.”
He brushes a knuckle down my arm and murmurs, “I’ll get dressed.” He looks at the blood on his shirt at the same time I do. Then he’s gone down the short hall, leaving me with his brothers and the thud of my pulse.
I look at the Vulture on his knees silently judging me. Like he has any right to. He’s one of the worst on my father’s crew. There’s nothing he won’t do to someone if his president orders it.
My sheet slips, and I tuck the edge between my breasts. “I have something to tell you. But before I do, I need to go back to my SUV. I left something important. Without it, I can talk all night and it wouldn’t mean a thing.”
“Stupid cunt.” the Vulture spits on the floor in my direction. “Your father will see you in a grave for this.”
Roman moves from the door so fast I don’t track what he does until the Vulture is picking his face up off the floor.
“Watch your mouth,” Roman states flatly.
Okay then.
“Um, thank you. I guess. That makes only three people in my entire life who have stood up for me. My mom, Venom and now a man I’ve just met that wears a scowl like a permanent mask.
“Are you talking about this?” Roman holds up my phone by the corner, the glass cracked and a smear of my dried blood across the front.
My heart leaps to my throat. I cross the room, aware of every eye tracking me, keeping my movements careful and open palmed. Caine blood makes people nervous. I understand.
“Thank you,” I say, stopping a breath away. I hold out my hand. “May I?”
Roman studies me for a beat that feels like he’s using an x-ray on me.
I look him square in the eye and let him look for whatever it is he needs to find.
I see a depth of pain simmering just below the surface of control in the man.
Another second and he blinks. I guess he thinks I’m okay, because he steps in just enough to pass my phone over.
The screen is spiderwebbed but alive. I can work with that.
Roman leans in a fraction more and pitches his voice low for just me. “You are a brave woman. No one holds my gaze longer than a second. Venom better watch his back, or I'll take you from him.”
The words hit something tender. I lay my fingers lightly over his for a fraction of a heartbeat then take the phone and retreat to Venom’s side as he returns, fully dressed, clean and looking at Roman like he might murder him in his sleep.
“Well, gentlemen we find ourselves all huddled together once again in the middle of the fucking night over coffee mugs and secrets. Shit just keeps getting deeper with the Vultures and Euphoria. It’s about damn time we break this ring up and bury these fuckers.”
Ash doesn’t mince words and I can appreciate him being so done with all the violence and the nature of what Euphoria has caused.
“Sorry, sweetheart,” Beast rumbles from beside Ash. His voice is surprisingly gentle despite the menace he carries like a second skin. “I know the man’s your father, but you have to understand he’s also?—”
“Hurting people.” My voice is steady now.
I won’t cry here. I won’t. “Hurting hundreds if not thousands of people with his actions. I know. My brother fell victim to Euphoria, and he keeps on pushing it, cooking it, selling and doing anything he can to get it into more hands so more parents can lose their kids to the drug that can never kill.” My stomach rolls with disgust. “It is the biggest damn lie I’ve ever heard in my life. ”
Silence hangs in the cabin. Storm hands me a steaming mug of coffee. My fingers are shaking hard enough I almost drop it. Venom takes it, curls my hands around his instead, and holds it with me.
I hold my phone up and proceed to tell them how I ended up crashing on their property line in my pajamas. “This will explain everything.”
“Wanna start at the beginning?” Reaper sets his mug down and crosses his arm over his wide chest. Roman closes the door and comes to stand by the Vulture still shaking in the middle of the floor.
“Last night I planned to stay in, tea and a new romance from the Broken Chapter.” I shoot each of the Savages a look asking for forgiveness. “Sorry. I’ve been sneaking into your territory ever since that bookstore opened up.” I shrug. “I love a good romance. The more forbidden the juicier it is.”
All the men smile, but it’s Venom who speaks up beside me. He settles a hand on my back. “We saw you sweetheart. You did nothing wrong.”