Page 5 of Brutal Knight

Smoking helped keep my demons quiet but I was becoming more and more reliant on it. I really should stop.

I should also stop lusting after Tatiana, but I may as well try to stop breathing.

Last night, I’d called her up to me, claiming her in front of the whole King outfit. I couldn’t stop thinking about how her gorgeous, deep blue eyes had widened in surprise, then narrowed into thin slits when I'd announced her name. How her hips swayed, her tongue parting luscious lips, her movements graceful, flowing like water as she came towards me.

She’d met my stare as she walked, her expression filled with scorn and hatred, and…secretdevotion. Something she tried to bury long ago but that still remained, no matter how hard she tried to cleanse it from her.

The crowd of powerful men had partedfor her, their gazes burninginto her, unable to resist the pull of her seduction. And yet, her eyes,only for me. Her breath, eager and aroused,for me…her very soul, entwinedwith mine.

It made me hard, just thinking about it.

This was how it was meant to be: her, always comingto me,so that I could worship at the alter of her heart.

Burying my adoration of her was like a star trying to reduce its brilliance to the shimmer of the moon.

It wasn’t possible.

A star would always shine with the brilliance of the sun, just like my love for Tatiana. It incinerated me with the its intensity and nothing would ever change that.

Ever since she'd arrived in Vegas five years ago,in my own fucking backyard,she'd seduced and teased, playing hard to get. She fucked her way through both the men and the women of this city. We flirted and conversed in public, but we never spoke about our past, the secrets between us, or our real feelings.

We played a game that only the two of us knew about, both never willing to admit the truth.

That we were meant to be together. That the sun, stars, moon and even the motherfucking ocean had tilted the day we’d met, bringing us together in a clash of fervor and fate. And that nothing would ever tear us apart.

And now that we’d killed the old bastard Don of Vegas, things were safe enough to pursue what I really wanted in this life, and that was her.

My littlepolva.

It was time to stake my claim, and this Friday, her birthday, was the perfect time to do it.

To remind her that no matter what she did, where she went,or who she was with, she fucking belongedto me. Not him.

Because, fuck Rook. Fuck her contract with him, and fuck Rook’s and my history.

I was going to pry her from his cold, heartless fingers.

I’d inscribed my name on her heart years ago, and it was embedded as deep as the damn Grand Canyon and more permanent than this goddamn tattoo Bourbon had instructed us to get.

There was no getting her out of my system, and she needed to be reminded of that.

The prickling on my shoulder stopped, and Romero leaned back, admiring his work and making final adjustments. He made a final flourish before placing his machine on his black and chrome station.

“Good?” He grunted at Bourbon, who looked over the tattoo carefully before nodding. Romero stood, cleaning off the extra ink, then began to apply the petroleum jelly and wrapping.

Familia est vita. Domus Regum.

Family is life. House of Kings.

I had to admit that it looked good.

And even though Bourbon had branded us with this tattoo, as well as making us make a blood oath in front of all the made men in our outfit, all this was a formality. A way to demonstrate our loyalty in front of everyone.

You messed with one of us, you messed with us all.

Once Romero was done giving me aftercare instructions, he grabbed the remote and changed the neon-lit Bluetooth speakers to Metallica, then began to prepare the next booth for Dante, my other best friend, also heavily involved in our line of work. We’d come in out of the regular hours, and had the whole shop to ourselves.

Bourbon finally stopped looming and sat in the newly vacated tattooist’s chair. He faced Coulter and Torian, who were sitting on the black velvet couch. “Now that the rest of the men have sworn their loyalty to me, as soon as we've fleshed out anyone else still loyal to Nero?—”

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