Page 69 of Brutal Prince

That comment didn’t fill me with hope, considering that he’d notice it. He was a clever man and a master of disguise, but he’s hardly going to relax and let down his guard in his own home. He’s confident, but not that confident. At least that was my interpretation of him.

As if they were reading my mind another message came through. The bugs are still active, so he hadn’t discovered the secret.

Or maybe he did discover the bugs and was playing us. If he discovered his camera had been tampered with, he’s going to wonder what was stolen from his apartment. When he found nothing was taken, he’s going to wonder what the reason for it was.

THIRTY THREE

Dominus

I deleted her emails and then erased them from the deleted box. I let her believe that Vic and I had an arrangement and in a way we did. It was an unspoken arrangement. She’s fucking Bruno and maybe my brother, while I will have my fun with Cattus.

She’s not a beauty like what I’m used to gazing at, but there is something her that I find absolutely tantalizing. When she lay sleeping on my couch her porcelain skin and violently red hair against the dark grey fabric of the couch was such a treat.

I fought with the devil crawling under my skin and watched her sleep, untouched by my hand. Peaceful. Alluring. Yet if I touched her, I’d be desecrating an art form so pristine and misunderstood.

She was an innocent that held the heart of my fourteen-year-old self. Our unyielding link came from a bond created in childhood and even now, I saw her as that girl, Cattus, not the woman she claimed to be today.

Feeling a buzz of excitement in my chest for our upcoming date, I whistled an old tune that we once danced to on the field under the heat of the summer sun. We were the offspring of university staff who left us to our own devices on summer break while they worked.

Pouring myself a coffee with a dollop of milk, no sugar, I checked the latest news online. Still that song blazed through my mind like it was only yesterday that we giggled and frolicked, singing like we knew the words.

“What was the name of that song?”

I was still humming it as I brushed my teeth in preparation for the daily slog of pretending to give a fuck. Glancing up from spitting toothpaste in the sink, I caught movement in my peripheral vision in the hallway outside the bathroom.

“Someone of your size does a terrible job at sneaking around,” I called out, wiping my mouth with a towel.

He appeared before me large and imposing, my little brother wearing a murderous look on face that didn’t suit him.

“Are we unhappy, lil’ bro?”I mocked.

“Are you seeing her tonight?”

I sniggered. “Did someone get ditched?”

He stepped forward, hands tightly bound into fists. “Don’t fuck with me.”

“Lately your attitude has been causing me some concern.”

“Answer my fucking question,” using his big finger to threaten me.

“You used to be such sweet natured boy when we were kids.”

“You know what happened back then. You fucking…” He made a hissing sound like a deflating tire as he forcibly calmed himself down. “Are you seeing her tonight?”

“I have invited her over and she has accepted.”

He stepped forward in anger, only to hold himself back. “Why? Why her? Is it because she’s mine?”

I scratched my head feigning confusion. “You’re losing focus, Arthur.”

“Don’t fucking call me by that name.”

“Fine.”

“You have a damn harem at your fingertips, why choose her?”

“We have history.”

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