Page 58 of Where Sinners Repent

“He wants to fuck me, I swear,” he murmurs.

Now it’s my turn to scoff. “I think you might be as bad at misreading situations as I am. That man does not want to fuck you, honey.”

Remembering the look of pure disgust on the enormous man’s face when he glanced at Leon’s nails held zero fuck-me eyes.

Leon’s smile doesn’t falter. “Babe, you don’t feel the way he hates me so hard. No one hates someone that viciously unless they want to fuck you like a wild animal. Mark my words... One day it’ll be too much for him to bear, and he’ll find himself balls deep inside of me.”

I double over laughing. “You are insane.”

With an incredulous look, he grabs my other hand. “Coming from the girl who just got kidnapped and her nipples pierced forcefully and is sitting here not even a day later blushing about it like a schoolgirl with a crush.”

My laugh dies, and I scowl at him. “Fuck you.”

His eyes roll.

“I bet those little weirdos love piercings,” he murmurs, and I have to stop myself from growling at him for calling them names. “I hope Griff does. My dick has more metal in it than a hardware store.”

“Stop it,” I gasp, eyes rounding.

I’ve never seen a pierced dick. I bet it’s hot.

He hums, nodding. “Jacob’s ladder, the thing runs from my balls to the tip.”

“Wow,” I mutter, wincing as I think of how much that would actually hurt.

“So, you’re just waiting for a man who hates your guts?”

He purses his lips.

“Not exactly. I’m fucking this kid who works at Northview Garage, but I think he’s catching feelings. There’s this girl who drops in when the Devils throw parties, too,” he smirks. “But mostly we’re just trying to stay alive in this war.”

My heart drops into my stomach. War.

It takes me a few tries to work up the courage to ask. “What war?”

Pulling my nails back under the light, he finally sits up straight, stretching his lean body. Leather creaks as he moves, running his hand through his curly hair.

“Well, there’s us, the Devils. We run the North of Havenport. We also own the North View Garage, but we let them do their thing. Then you have the Wraiths, who run the South. There are also clubs in surrounding cities, like the Krakens over at Diamond Bay and smaller groups like the Kings brothers who run the underground fighting world. Oh, and Harley and his men. They run the world of weapons in this city and almost every other city in the state.”

My head is spinning, trying to grasp how complex this world is. Trying to grasp the names and cities.

“Okay,” I whisper. “And you are at war with the Wraiths?”

He huffs. “Babe, we are at war with everyone.” At that, his face hardens. “Around here, there’s only a few places we can negotiate with other clubs without mass bloodshed. Grey zones. We’ve got the dockyard and fighting pits. Any bloodshed there, unless in the fighting ring, is practically like signing a death sentence.

It’s free range for any club to come onto our turf, rules and respect out of the window. So, you’re not only fighting one club, but you’ve also got little dropkicks who are too big for their britches jumping in for a piece of blood. A piece of what we’ve worked so hard to build.”

How can he talk about this so calmly? Like we are talking about grocery shopping or something else completely mundane.

How are the people downstairs drinking and having fun? Aren’t they scared? I’m scared.

“Shit,” I breathe. I gnaw on my lip. “Leon?”

He looks at me, raising his brows.

“My brother... he said things have changed with the Wraiths. What could he mean by that?”

I don’t want to know the answer. But I need to know.