Page 29 of Deadly Little Hearts

“What the fuck?”I ask, staring at Gage with an eyebrow raised.

Lucas pushes against my hand on his chest, and I hold him in place.

“I just saw him with Mia, looking a bit too cozy.”Gage’s eyes narrow and Lucas scoffs.

“Where?”I ask.

“It wasn’t even like that.”

“Well, what was it like, then?Because if I hear you’re fucking her—” I shake my head with a look of disgust, and he rolls his eyes.

“The sooner you’re done fucking yourself up, the better.”Gage takes a step back.“We have a job to do, in case you didn’t notice.”

“I’ll be done when I’m good and ready.You don’t know what it’s like.I’m dealing in the only way I know how.”

“What, by turning your back on the one girl you’ve ever given your heart to?”Gage huffs out a derisive laugh, and Lucas breathes loudly through his nose.His eyes glass over slightly before he blinks and they harden once more.

“She broke my fucking heart the second she took my parents from me,” Lucas says so quietly, I think I might have imagined it.

My hand drops from his chest and I step back, giving him space.“You know as well as I do that she didn’t mean to kill your mother.She protected herself, and your mother killed your father,” I say, and Lucas remains silent.His gaze is stuck to the ground.

“Yeah, well, whatever.It still fucking hurts,” he finally says.

Gage releases a heavy breath.“I’m sorry.I just hate seeing you like this.You look like shit, and we’re supposed to be leading our brothers with pride, not pity.”

Lucas wipes his bottom lip with his thumb, taking away the blood.“I know.”

Gage doesn’t respond, and it’s clear that whatever just happened between them needed to, so we can start fresh.Maybe this is the turning point for Lucas.Maybe this is what he needs to start moving on.

Gage is right.We can’t afford to fall apart now, when so much is weighing on our shoulders.If we fall, then the whole Brotherhood falls alongside us.I won’t let that happen, not when it’s our time to shine—with or without my father’s backing.

“Let’s go.We’ve got a meeting to hold,” I say, moving toward the garage and checking over my shoulder to make sure Lucas follows.Though he’s fucked up, we need him; we need to show united leadership.

One of the guards opens the door as Gage and Lucas follow closely behind me.The lights automatically switch on, and the hair on the back of my neck stands on end.Something isn’t right.I scan the room, but nothing seems out of place, except the tires of all my cars are slashed with large holes.

I grab my gun from its holder on my hip and look back at Gage and Lucas.Gage already has his pointed at the nearest Beamer.but Lucas runs his hands over his legs, then shrugs, coming up empty-handed.

Ignoring his incompetence, I move silently through the garage, checking every corner, and once we’ve done a full sweep, it’s clear there’s no one else in here.I shove my gun back into its holster and check over each car.The tires are slashed, but nothing else.

“What the fuck?”Lucas spits out, running his fingers over the cut on my newest car, a Bugatti Tourbillon.Anger boils deep inside me.

“Blake!”I scream, and one of the soldiers comes running in.

“Yes, boss?”

“Find out who the fuck broke into my garage.Check the cameras,” I yell and reach into my pocket for my phone.It’s ten past seven, and we are now fucking late.

I hit the call button on Zeke’s name.“We’re going to be a few minutes behind schedule.Hold the fort until we’re there.”I hang up, not giving him a second to reply.

“You’re driving,” I say to Gage and walk out of the garage, heading straight for Gage’s car.I slam the passenger door shut once I’m in my seat.

“Who the fuck would do that?”Lucas asks.

“No fucking idea, but we’ll find out soon enough.”

“Where’s your father?”Lucas asks.“Tires slashed—could it have been him?”

I shake my head.“Not his style.Wouldn’t wanna break a sweat.Plus, Brax has been following him.He would have known.”

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