Page 65 of Brutal Collateral

Ambrose rushes to me. “Fuck, Ava.” Hugging me, his squeeze feels genuine.

Only in his arms do tears threaten to leak from my eyes. “I’m okay. I’m okay.”

“You look terrible,” Atlas says and glances at Ares who stands there with cold eyes.

Griffin’s brothers have been more polite to me than Ares, and they’re supposed to be the savages. I cannot wait for a woman to bring Ares to his knees.

“Are we killing anyone today over what they did to her?” Ambrose bares his teeth.

“No. Not today,” Ares answers.

“Griff said we’re meeting here tomorrow at noon?” Atlas asks Ares.

I snicker into my hand. So much for the time Ares wanted.

“Griff?” Ares roars. “He’sGriffto you?”

“Calm down, God of War,” Atlas toys with him.

Ares snorts. “We will talk privately about how pretentious they are with thisQuinlan Empire.Weare the Gods in this equation.”

It hits me, my last name will be Quinlan. And if my husband runs an empire, that makes me an empress.

If I recall, plenty of those were killed off, except ones married to strong emperors.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Ava

Ares politely turnsdown dinner, even though I hear my other brothers’ stomachs growling. They all leave and moments later, a doctor arrives to give me a quick examination.

Sitting in the living room with Griffin hovering over me, this doctor takes my vitals and checks my temperature. Since I’m not in any severe pain, just suffering from a small bout of dehydration, the doctor advises fluids and rest.

The doctor’s final question before he leaves quiets the room. “Are you on any kind of birth control? A shot, or an IUD?”

Griffin’s jaw tightens.

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