Page 84 of Tico

My gaze roams over him. There’s blood trickling down his face from a cut near his temple; his once pristine suit is now torn, wrinkled and bloody; and his dark brown hair, which had been slicked back, hangs messily in his face.

I reach into my cut, pull out a slim box, and hand it to Ember. She frowns as she takes it.

“What’s this for?”

“Open it.”

She gives me a weird look but takes off the lid and then throws her head back, laughing.

“You did not,” she says in between laughter.

I grin. “Did you really think I wouldn’t get you your own after seeing the damage you did before and your bruised knuckles afterwards?”

Ember laughs again when she sees the engraving on the inside—For my vicious little hellcat.She slips on the brass knuckles I’d had made for her after getting measurements of her hand while she slept, testing them out, then she grins darkly at me. Leaning down, I kiss her.

“Go get him, Vicious.” Then I lean in so only she can hear. “And by the way, his real name is Earl Andrews.”

She gives me a proper vicious look, befitting her name, as she turns and walks towards The Collector. She stares at him coldly before pulling back and landing a brutal punch to his jaw that sends him flying into the dirt on his side. Ember crouches down beside him, holding his chin to make him look at her.

“You’re lucky as fuck you’re in the Feds’ hands, Earl, instead of mine and the Royal Bastards.”

His eyes widen slightly at the use of his real name, and she gives him a dark smile that sends chills down my spine.

“If you were in my hands, I’d make you suffereverythingyou put your victims through. If I had my way, you’d be sent to a psych institute where your punishments would continue daily. You’d be kept alive as long as possible, drawing out your pain day in and day out until you finally draw your last breath,” she seethes before roughly releasing his chin and punching him again. The satisfying crunch of bone and his cry of pain has hersmile darkening further. “Such a shame that your jaw will be wired shut now but at least you won’t be able to spill your poison for averylong time. With any luck, someone will shank you before long, ending your pitiful life.”

She stands up and steps back. I wrap an arm around her waist and we both watch as Weber’s men haul him away. Weber stops by us, eyeing Ember warily and I narrow my eyes at him.

“Should I be watching you more closely, Ms. Foxx?”

She huffs and shakes her head. “Not so long as the sick fucks stay away from me and mine.”

He doesn’t quite look convinced, but he nods before turning back to me. “My men cleared the site; you guys are free to leave anytime you want.” His gaze drops to Ember’s bandaged arm and then to the group of women. “However, if you’re able to swing it, Jezebel and the others asked if Ember could go with them to the Steel Archangels compound. I think having a familiar face for a day or two while they settle in might help them.”

Ember looks up at me with hope in her eyes, and I find myself nodding.

“Yeah, Vicious, we can swing that.”

Her eyes brighten as she hugs me and then slips out of my arms, walking over to the women to tell them the news.

“You sure got a firecracker on your hands, Tico,” Weber tells me and I grin.

“Don’t I know it,” I reply quietly as I cross my arms over my chest, watching Ember with the women and kids.

Weber gives me a weird look before smirking. “Just be careful of how close she gets to the Steel Archangels women. She’ll probably take on a habit or two while she’s there.”

I bark out a laugh despite the situation, knowing he’s right. I’m sure Levi, Thor and Dragon’s Ol’ Lady—the President and theEnforcer of the Steel Archangel’s—will be teaching her how to throw knives in no time.

I pause as I watch Clutch and Taco drag Kane into a van. “Where was Kane hiding?”

A dark look crosses Weber’s face and my stomach twists. “He was in one of the locked rooms we had passed on the way to where we found Ember and the other group of women. He had a young woman in there with him.” He pauses and my heart sinks as he lowers his eyes. “She didn’t make it. Apparently, Kane enjoys knife play. We don’t know if he purposefully nicked an artery or if it was an accident, but she bled out before our paramedics could save her.”

Fury rolls through me. I knew Kane liked the darker activities with his sexual partners, but I never thought he’d go this far.

Then again, I never thought he’d betray the club either.

But the woman had to have been screaming while he did that. “How did we not hear them?”

Weber’s lip curls with disgust. “When we opened the rooms, we saw that they were all padded and completely sound proofed. There’s no way we would have known they were in there without physically opening the door.”