Page 44 of Twisted Tate

I don’t do any of that. I need to plan a way to painfully destroy her fucking father and quit thinking with my dick.

Fox is talking about timelines and logistics for how we are going to get the fucker. I’m nodding in the right places, but half my attention is on Reese—the way she tucks her legs underneath her, the way she laughs at something Ivy says, the way her fingers drift toward her mouth when their conversation becomes intense, before she catches herself and pulls them back.

She doesn’t need that anymore. She has me.

The thought hits harder than it should. A week ago, I was fucking nameless women. Now I’m ready to burn down everything my family has built for that woman over there.

What the fuck is happening to me?

Headlights sweep across the windows, and I hear the crunch of tires on gravel.

Reese jumps and places her fingers on her lips.

I go to her. “It’s just Thorne, baby girl.”

I lean down and press a kiss to her lips, pushing my tongue in her mouth so she has something to soothe herself. If she needed it, I’d pull my cock out right here for her. I wouldn’t be shy. She sucks my tongue for a few seconds, and I don’t know how I’m going to get anything done with how hard I am for her.

“You’re safe,” I say against her lips. I don’t miss Ivy smirking at me when I rise to greet my brother.

The door swings open and Thorne walks in, shaking rain off his jacket. “Is it finally time to let the little brother in on whatever is going on around here? Shit is going insane.”

Thorne immediately gives me a hard stare. He never likes being the last one brought into things. But we don’t have time for his bullshit.

“Thorne.” I grip his shoulder in greeting. “Thanks for coming, brother.”

“Like I had a choice.” He shrugs off his wet jacket and tosses it over a chair. “Dad’s been up my ass for two days asking what I know. Which is nothing, by the way. Because my asshole brothers decided to leave me in the dark.”

“I only just got here today, fucker.” Fox doesn’t look up from the papers spread across the kitchen table. “Stop bitching and sit down.”

Thorne’s eyes sweep the room and land on Reese, taking in the borrowed clothes and the way Ivy is sitting close to her, like they’ve known each other for years instead of hours. Then he looks at me.

I try to convey what I’m thinking without words. Now is not the time rehash everything. We need a fucking plan.

Whatever he sees in my face is enough. He doesn’t ask questions. He just nods once and drops into the chair across from Fox.

“Alright. What’s the plan for killing Jenson Donaldson?”

Thorne plays the part of the careless youngest brother sometimes, but he knows what needs to be done. And he’s going to help make sure it gets done right.

“That’s the problem.” Fox taps his pen against the table. “We can’t just put a bullet in his head. He’s on the Council. And if we keep killing members of the Council, they are going to get suspicious. And with Dad’s Talons not giving them anything to work with, we could start a fucking war if we give anyone reason to think we are involved.”

Fox glances at Reese and then focuses on me. “And that’s going to be a hard sell.”

“So we need cause.” Thorne leans back in his chair. “Something that makes his death look justified. Or better yet, like an accident.”

“An accident would be cleaner.” I move to stand behind the couch, my hand settling on Reese’s shoulder. God I just need to fucking touch her. “But the Council isn’t completely stupid. Dad can manage them as best as he can. But when Reese reappears, they’re going to have questions.”

“Then we need to give them answers before they ask.” Fox is already mapping it out, the way he always does. “We need to control the narrative. Make it look like Jenson brought this on himself.”

“His trafficking operation.” Ivy speaks up. “That was always the plan, right? Use what he’s doing to those girls as justification?”

“The problem is proof.” Fox shakes his head. “We know what he’s doing, but we don’t have documentation the Council will accept. They’ll want records, financial trails, names. Something they can point to if anyone questions why a Council member ended up dead.”

“I gave Tate some names.” Reese’s voice is steady, and I lean down and kiss the top of her head. My brothers both look at me as if they can’t believe what they are seeing.

“That’s a start,” Thorne says. “But we still need to be able to prove it.”

“We’ll get all the sick fucks.” I’ve been turning this over in my head for days. “Jenson’s been operating outside Council-approved channels to run his operations and build his own network. They tolerate a lot of shit, and some of them would turn a blind eye to the trafficking operation if it lined their pockets, but none of them tolerate being cut out of the money. If we can get the right proof, the Council will give Dad the authority to take out each and every man on the list.”