Page 46 of Deadly Little Hearts

Freya hugs me, and I squeeze my eyes shut, unable to look at her.She doesn’t deserve the likes of me.

“Shh, look at me,” she begs, her finger running along my jaw.

My chest rises and falls against hers, but I refuse to open my eyes.I can’t.Because then she’ll see me for who I truly am.One fucked-up animal, who preys on broken toys.Who chews them up, then spits them out once I’m done, leaving them panting, bleeding, and messed up.Fuck.I’m just like him.

Freya’s hands wrap around my torso, her head resting on my raging heart.My hands ball at my sides, and I want to push her away.To flee and never come back.But I can’t move.I can’t walk away.I’m stuck, and I fucking hate myself for it.

“I wanted that, and I want you,” she whispers, and my damaged soul clings on to each word.

“But I’m broken, fucked up,” I say.

She peers at me with her stormy-blue eyes.“Who isn’t?I’m the same,” she whispers.

“We all are,” Lucas says from the corner of the room, but I can’t look away from her, afraid that if I do, then she’ll be gone.

“That’s why we fit together,” Gage says.

“Till death do us part,” I whisper, and Freya’s lips claim mine.Her salty tears are a reminder of what I’ve got to live for.

She loves me for who I am, and I’ll spend every day wondering how my broken soul got so lucky.

Chapter 24

Lucas

Theboatcomestoa stop, and the workers move down the large dock, securing ropes and pulling out the bridge.They start removing crate after crate full of products, from guns to drugs, that will no doubt destroy families and fuck up people’s minds.I should feel bad about it, but I’d rather they get pure shit from us rather than cutters from some low-life scum.At least we know our shit is the purest you’re going to get on the streets of Daringhood, but after it’s out of our hands, who the fuck knows what those lower drug dealers do with it?Frankly, it’s not our problem.

I mean, look what it did to Freya’s mother.She hasn’t talked directly to me about it yet, but fuck, her mother is a wreck.I shouldn’t even call her a mother, because she’s not.She’s been chasing that high her whole life.She put drugs before her own kids—that much is evident—and it’s the reason they got kicked out of Daringville in the first place.At least my mom actually gave a fuck about me, even if it was for her own personal gain.She always made sure we were taken care of.Now that she’s gone, I’ve got to keep my shit together for my sister.I’m all she has.I’m her role model, and that’s fucked up.Thank God she’s got her nanny looking after her.

I slide my sunglasses over my eyes, pulling the cap farther over my head.I shouldn’t be here without telling my brothers, but fuck it.I need answers about the explosion, and we aren’t getting any with our dicks in our hands or in Freya.We’ve sent Zeke, Brax, and Callan in to check the docks, but they haven’t given us anything useful, and whoever set that bomb would have had to get it from somewhere—and nothing comes in or out of Daring without going through the docks.

Watching Freya touch herself the other night and get herself off was like watching my own private porn show.The way she worked her fingers over her clit until she made herself come?Jesus.It took everything in me not to move from that seat in the corner of the room and have my way with her.I wanted to keep my distance from her, to not let her in too deep.To take things slow.But watching her come apart ...fuck, it was hard not to intervene.To stay put with my hand around my own cock, imaging her lips around it.My dick twitches, but it’s not the time or place.I’ve got work to do, and I can’t afford to be distracted by her.

It’s time to find out who the fuck has big enough balls to blow up the town hall and get away with it.

I push open my door and step out of the car I borrowed from one of our maids, shutting it quietly behind me.Duke, one of our soldiers, watches me closely before glancing back at the crates and writing something down on his clipboard.I hope the ball cap and glasses are enough to fool him into thinking that it’s not me, that I’m just a regular member of the Ville.If I’m someone else, I might get more answers—get the crew to talk and find out if they know anything other than what they’ve told us.I need the gossip because I know for a fact that these men gossip more than some women.If they have heard anything, I’ll get it out of them.

Shoving my hands into the pockets of my reflective jacket, I stroll over and stand next to Duke, and he nods in greeting.

“Big shipment?”I ask, and he grunts.“Hey.I heard your boss has been starting trouble in the Ville.”

Duke stops writing, flipping the pages of his clipboard closed.“What?You got the wrong end of the stick.”He glares at me, then glances around us, but there’s no one close.“I’d be looking a little closer to home if I were you.”He steps back, pulls out a cigarette from his pocket, and lights it up.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”I ask, crossing my arms over my chest.If he thinks we’ve got something to do with this, I won’t hesitate to pull out my Glock from my pants and kill this fuck head.

He raises his hands in surrender.“I know The Brotherhood didn’t do it, but I’d be watching—”

Someone yells out from the ship.“Get over here now, Duke!”

Duke takes one last drag from his smoke before putting it out under his boot.“Look, Lucas, I know it’s you under those glasses and hat.That shit doesn’t fool me.All I’ll say is, look closer to home.That’s all I know,” he says, before walking off toward the ship.

I turn away, with his words playing around in my head.What the fuck does he mean?I know for a fact that my brothers had nothing to do with this, but who else is in our inner circle that would go behind our backs and kill all those people?Possibly one of the councilmen who was unhappy with the proposed changes.Could it have been Samson?But would they really want war, though?

I head along one of the piers, where there’s a large shipped docked, and one of the workers drives a forklift off the ship with an empty case.What the fuck?I move closer, standing in front of him on the jetty.He stops, his eyes widening when I take off my hat and glasses.

“Shit.Sorry, Lucas,” he mutters.I haven’t seen him around before.

“What’s this about?”I ask, waving to the empty crate.

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