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“The Warden, like a prison warden?” My mind searches for a connection.
“No, more like a game warden—Oh my god, that’s it,” he gasps, and both me and Roan tense. “That’s where I recognize you from. You were that whore by the elevator!” As soon as that word comes from his mouth, an animalistic darkness comes over Roan, controlled and predatory.
In the flash of an eye, Roan has his gun out and shoots him in the dick. I’ve never heard such blood-curdling screams as I do now. A heavy foot kicks the chair over, and his head smacks against the ground with a hollow thunk.
Roan descends on him like a dark storm, stomping on his head until there’s the definitive sound of his neck snapping. His hulking form stands over Goyle, his shoulders heaving with deep breaths, the veins in his neck throbbing, and his blood-covered hands dangling by his side.
I’ve seen enough dead bodies and fractured necks to know he’s dead without checking for a pulse. “Pendejo.” I groan. “How are we supposed to get answers from him now?” I throw my hands in the air and storm out. Roan’s thudding footsteps follow me, and I spin to shout, “Your tantrum has cost us our only lead, and for what? Because he called me a whore? I’ve been called so much—”
Chin down and eyes blazing, he crowds me up against the back wall of the landing. His sheer size traps me without even touching me. He plants one hand by my head and leans forward to growl, “I shot him in the dick because he called you a whore—”
“Grow up.” I try to move around him, but he slams his other hand on the wall, caging me in. There’s a sharp smell of copper from all the blood. For some twisted reason, the way it mixes with his rich cologne makes my pussy clench, and he looks down on me with a smug gleam like he knows it.
“I killed him because I’m the only one who gets to call you that.” He lingers just long enough for his words to pin me to the wall while he wipes his red-soaked hands on a handkerchief. He walks away, throwing the bloody cloth at my feet. I’m still plastered against the wall with an intoxicating mixture of lust and fright.
“Oh, and Cortez?” He looks over his shoulder at the top of the stairs. “If you ever make me that hard again while torturing someone, I’m fucking you next to their corpse.”
1. DECAY—SXMPRA, Teddy Slugz
Chapter 19
The One Where They Finally Bang 2.0
Roan
I’m throwing out Reggie’s third drink of the night—because she keeps setting them down and I can’t keep my eyes on her and her drinks—when I recognize a face across the club. My stomach roils when I spot her red hair and fuck-me eyes on the other side of the stage. Madison waves a few fingers, but I look away like I don’t recognize her. That doesn’t stop her from making her way over to our VIP area though.
Reggie has been hopped up like a live wire ever since we paid Goyle a visit earlier today, so I wasn't all that surprised when she insisted on going out.1 Like most things with her, I said no, we went back and forth ten times, and then I agreed with my stipulations. My conditions tonight were that we come here, to Peaches. I can keep her safe in my own club. I called Lochlan and had him double security and get the bouncers metal detector wands. Finn set up some facial recognition shit last year on the cameras that runs all patrons against a database of persons non grata in Fox-owned establishments.
Reggie’s dancing, seemingly oblivious to her surroundings. As soon as Madison slinks up to the velvet rope, though, her smile drops and she watches her with a cutting stare. Her body still sways, moving with the music pumping through the speakers, but all of her attention is narrowed in on the redhead. I haven’t been able to look away from her all night—what with her wearing painted-on leather shorts and a black, lacy bra with nothing over it except my black suit jacket—but especially now as I see the feral possessiveness spark in her eyes.
“Hey, baby!” Madison singsongs. I throw my arm over the back of the couch and watch with sick fascination as Reggie’s smile returns with increased smugness the more I ignore Madison.
Lochlan returns from the bar at the same moment and slings an arm around her shoulder. “Hey. Melissa, right?”
I choke on a laugh as she tries to smile through it. “Um yeah! It’s Madison, but—”
Lochlan lifts the rope and ushers her in. “Come in, come in. Has my asshole brother left you standing here for long?” His drink sloshes as he falls onto the other end of the couch.
“Aww. You’re a very sweet pup, but I’m interested in the big Fox.” She bops him on the nose with a dainty finger and winks at me. Gross.
She slides over to sit next to me and trails her hand down my chest. “You remember me, right, baby?” Pathetic.
“Sure,” I deadpan as I look around for Reggie. I find her approaching with a glare so poisonous, I’m surprised Madison doesn’t drop dead on the spot. The look of pure jealousy on her face sends blood rushing to my cock.
She walks toward us, unbuttoning the suit jacket with her chin held high. “I’m in need of a refill because someone keeps throwing out my drinks. You want something?” she says to me while sizing Madison up out of the corner of her eye.
“Whiskey sour. Thanks, sweetie,” Madison answers immediately, and Reggie’s lips tug into a sneer. “Anything for you, baby?” Madison asks me as she glides her hand lower. I remove it from my body, pinched between my thumb and forefinger like it’s a used condom.
I grab a fistful of her hair and look her dead in the eyes when I say cooly, “Call me baby one more time, and I’ll slit your throat.”
She laughs nervously, running her fingers through her hair like she doesn’t know what to do with her hands if she isn’t mauling me.
Reggie sees all this and pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, fighting back a smile, then heads for the bar. I’m only vaguely aware of Madison's jabbering because Reggie keeps trying to inconspicuously sneak checking glances on us while she orders. When she starts walking back with only one drink in hand, I smile internally.
Reggie stops to lean against a pillar a few yards away, kicking up one of her feet to rest on it. She lifts her drink to her mouth, but doesn’t take a sip. Her tongue flicks out to play with the straw as her eyes darken and smolder watching Madison climb onto my lap. She moves to straddle me, and an icy smile spreads on Reggie’s face.
I push her off me and stand, stalking toward Reggie, who purses her lips like she’s been waiting for this all night. I hear the clack of heels behind me. I step close to her, and she flattens her back against the pillar as if preparing for me to cage her in like at the mansion. Instead, I pause a foot away and tuck my hands into my pockets. “You need something, Cortez?”
