Page 67 of A Devious Arrangement

“Jesus Christ, Bash.” My eldest brother pinches his nose as they both step aside, letting me in.

Fuck me. The scene looks like something from a horror film. The asshole who dared to touch Anastasia is tied to a chair, and there’s plastic underneath him and hung on three sides. Our family doctor, who’s paid enough to know to keep quiet, stands in the corner of the room, ready for whatever I ask.

I side-eye Matthias.

“What? We didn’t know how far you’d take it, so we thought we’d get ready just in case.”

I’d planned to only scare him a bit, but the sight of him has fire licking up my spine. This man had a death wish the moment he approached Stasia, and it’s too fucking bad for him he didn’t know better.

He’s shaking his head as I walk up to him, stopping so close my shoes are only an inch away from him.

“I didn’t mean to…I didn’t know she was yours, I swear.” He stumbles over his words.

Nothing he says is going to faze me, not when there’s a roiling heat burning under my skin. My pulse is speeding in my ears, anxious to get started, but I take my time unbuttoning my shirtsleeves at the wrist and rolling them up my forearms.

He watches my every movement, his eyes so wide they’re bulging out of his head.

“I’m not going to kill you,” I say in a carefully controlled tone.

“Thank God. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

I pick up a hatchet from the tray prepared beside me. The freshly sharpened blade glints in the light.

I bare my teeth. “I wouldn’t thank me yet.”

“No…no…p…please. I’ll never touch her again.”

A menacing aura fills the air as I grip the weapon. “You’re right about that.”

His hand’s already bruised from where I crushed it earlier, and he cries out when I grasp it, holding it down against the wood armrest. He’s looking at my brothers for help, but neither Matthias nor Damon move to step in. There’s no question in my mind that they’d let me do whatever I want.

“You shouldn’t have fucked with what’s mine.” My smirk is wild as I bring the blade down on his wrist, cutting through tendons and bone like butter. Blood splatters everywhere as he screams, then goes dead silent when he passes out.

I wipe the warm liquid off my face and gesture to the doctor. “Make sure he doesn’t die.”

Damon tosses me a cloth, and I use it to clean my hands.

He arches a brow. “Feel better?”

I shrug. “The fucker had it coming.”

My brothers and I take the elevator up in silence. None of us is willing to risk a word until we get into our private room. The music is pounding when we exit the door right onto themain level of the club. The bass vibrates through my feet. There are bodies moving with the beat, touching in a way that’s more sex than dance. It’s intentionally designed to give semi-private spaces to encourage the guests to let go of their control. The thrill becomes an addiction that keeps them coming back.

The club’s been mine for the last several years, and I’ve managed to double the profits. It’s a small project that keeps me active when all of my brothers are busy with their own shit. Xavier used to run it with me, but since he abandoned me, I’ve been doing it on my own. Which, if I’m being completely honest, has been a godsend. Without it, I think I’d have lost my mind a while ago.

That is, until I met Anastasia. Now, nothing can take my attention away from her.

The bouncer nods at us as he lets us pass. There’s a long, curved staircase that leads to the second level and the private rooms. Renting them out by the year is one of the ways I increased our profit. These men want to show off their wealth, and nothing says powerful like owning a spot at our club.

I swipe my key pass, and our room door opens with a beep. It’s decorated like a lounge, with leather furniture, dark wood accents, and a one-way mirror overlooking the dance floor. Matthias has this place on absolute lockdown. Security cameras, soundproofing, alarms if anyone comes in. It’s one of the only places we can meet and speak as freely as we want.

The noise is cut off when the door clicks shut behind Damon. He’s slow as he walks across the room, controlled as he pours Matthias and himself a drink. It’s not lost on me that he’s left me out.

He makes his way to a lounge chair and sits down. His casual pose is undermined by the coldness in his eyes. Growing up with a Lord as my big brother means I’m used to this. I flop on the sofa across from them.

“Wasn’t that fun?” I smirk.

Matthias looks at Damon, then back to me. “So you’re obsessed with Anastasia?”

---