Page 91 of Heartless Sinner

Me: On my way.

Twenty-One

Brooks

Iusually only found other people pathetic.

Yet here I was, bruised to hell in the Devil’s Lair with my mind stuck on Daphne.

Every time the door made a sound, I looked at it, expecting her to walk through.

I hadn’t planned on going to her last night.

Definitely hadn’t planned on letting her see me so broken.

She was the only person who could calm me. Maybe the Fawn bullshit was real.

Across from me, Enzo sat forward with his forearms planted on his knees like he was seconds away from grounding me. “We need to talk about last night.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” I fished my phone from my pocket and acted like it was suddenly the most interesting thing in the world.

“I enjoyed the show actually,” Cassian said from beside me.

No fucking shocker there.

Give Cassian a drink, bloodshed, and someone else’s drama, and the fucker was entertained for hours.

Enzo slowly turned his head toward him, pinning Cassian with that same disapproving look.

“When the lights go out, the fight ends,” he said in that same goddamn motherfucking tone. “That’s the rule.”

“Fuck the rules,” Nico said, tossing a football toward the ceiling and catching it one-handed.

I dragged a knuckle under the cut on my cheek and hissed when I hit the tender skin. I’d refused stitches.

“What happened to”—I dropped my voice into a mock version of his—“I piss on the rules and wipe my ass with the consequences?”

He’d once said those exact words to me.

Enzo had broken more Son rules than anyone alive. He’d beaten Elder Sons. Killed a few. Yet, somehow, I was the problem because I’d punched Cory a few extra times.

Fucking hypocrite.

“It’s not me I’m worried about,” Enzo argued. “I couldn’t care less if you’d beaten Cory to death.”

I tapped a finger I was positive was broken against my glass.

Enzo set his glass onto the coffee table and laced his hands between his knees.

Here’s Dad Enzo again.

I wanted Murderous Enzo back. Dad Enzo was getting on my fucking nerves.

“There’s a difference between us,” he continued. “The Elders are terrified of my family. They aren’t of yours. They won’t exile me out of fear of dying. But you, they’ll kick out. Your family’s power depends on the Sons. Your future depends on it.”

Nico stopped tossing the football.

Cassian downed his drink.