Page 15 of Injustice and Absolution

And then it did, at the hands of the man in front of me.

“I took care of him, kitten,” he finally admits. The way my body burns with lust at the nickname he’s given me makes it hard to concentrate. “He willnevertouch you again.”

His spoken promise is followed by a silent one, unless my emotional state is causing me to read him incorrectly. Between pants of desire and relief, I register a finality to his statement. An oath thatno other manwillevertouch me again.

The admission—whether real or imaginary—stirs the craving I’ve had for Royce for longer than is appropriate.

Fuck, it will never be appropriate.

But I don’t care. Right now, the only thing that matters is feeling his lips on mine. With one final rush of need and confidence, I balance myself on my tiptoes and throw my arms around his neck.

Then finally, I press my lips to his.

CHAPTER SIX

ROYCE

Earlier That Evening

Ihear the sweet, innocent voice of an angel before I see her. When I look up through the open set of French doors, my eyes land on her and Maggie on the back deck.

She reaches for the broom in Maggie’s hand, but Maggie pulls it away.

“Hell no,” Maggie begins. “I’m not letting you help set up for your own party. Besides, you can help clean up tomorrow when your birthday is over.”

No longer interested in their conversation, I give my attention back to the newspaper in my hands.

Until I hear...

“Plus, Ronin looks so sad that you left. You should go back and talk to him. Maybe you’ll end up getting lucky tonight, and he’ll take your virginity for your birthday.”

I look around to make sure I’m alone before standing and stalking slowly toward the French doors. When I reach them, I stand with my back against the wall, just inside the entrance.

I have no right to, but Delilah’s sex life interests me a great deal. The fact that there hasn’t been evidence she has one since coming to live here brings me immense satisfaction.

“Maggie!”Delilah hisses.

She's never engaged in the more sexual conversations that go on in this house. If she’s ever around when it comes up, she quickly excuses herself for one reason or another. I can’t blame her. I don’t tend to stick around myself.

Shit that should never be said between club members and the younger generation are thrown back and forth as though we’re nothing but degenerate heathens.

I’ve overheard plenty of conversations between Delilah and Maggie in the past four years. Between Draven and I, we had to make sure she wasn’t asking certain questions that pertained to the disappearance of her father.

To make sure we weren’t overlooking any secret interest she may have, I bugged both her and Maggie’s rooms—a decision I regretted the second I overheard Fernando taking my daughter’s virginity.

After that, we purchased a transcription software so we don’t have to listen to the live feeds if we don’t want to. Now a simple search of keywords will tell us what we need to know.

Neither one of us ever caught wind that she was curious. If she is, she keeps her interest to herself.

When Delilah first came here, she was in a state of shock for some time. She didn’t speak for weeks. Harleigh, one of our harlots, suggested getting her in to see a therapist. That being above my emotional capacity, I tasked her with the duty of taking it on and seeing to it Delilah got whatever she needed, and I would foot the bill.

The good doc eventually got her out of her shell, but Delilah refused to continue her sessions after a couple months. I worried she would retreat back into solitude, but she didn’t. However, she didn’t exactly branch out and get into trouble the way Maggie did.

The way any normal teenage girl would.

“I’m sorry,”Maggie apologizes but continues to laugh.“I was just kidding.

“You’re hilarious.”Delilah pronounces in a sardonic tone.

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