Page 71 of Penance

She always smells nice, warm and floral, not that artificial bullshit either.

Plus, I kinda liked her as a mother, if I needed one, which I don’t.

Cam and Eli are standing a few feet to their left, speaking with some of Dad’s personal circle. Cam isn’t much of a talker, he nods, he smiles -what he thinks is a smile- at the petty bullshit that spills from their corrupt mouths.

Jacob is being Jacob. He’s getting on my nerves a lot lately, my eyes automatically dismiss him. I don’t give a fuck what he’s doing today, as long as he stays the fuck away from me. I love my brother, but I also hate him sometimes. Now is one of those times.

Frank and his wife Carol are sitting on another ostentatious sofa. The fabric lavish and too bright, everything in this fucking room is too bright. My eyes ache just standing in this darkened corner. Kyla-Rose is nestled between them, looking happier than ever having Carol gushing over her, as she does at every family event. She can be a charmer when she’s not slaughtering grown men three times her size. Carol reaches up cupping Kyla-Rose’s cheek, her thumb caressing her soft skin, I growl lowly, my chest vibrating. I know she’s not a threat, but one can never be too careful.

Kacey, Huxley and Maddox stand sentry at the side of the couch. Their imposing frames keeping everyone else a good three-feet away at all times. Their collective gazes monitoring every guest, every staff entry and exit. Stances ready to pounce should the need to protect my cousin arise. I feel my lip twitch in amusement. They needn’t worry, no one shall get to her whilst I’m here. Although, I’m glad to see them taking the job of protecting my other half seriously.

Stealthily I move through the room. My movements causing an automatic ripple effect through the groups of people. Simultaneously they shuffle out of my way, ensuring they give me enough space to pass through without the need to touch any of them. Keeping to the edges of the room, I approach my cousin’s men. I move as delicately as possible before stopping still behind none other than Maddox fucking Sharpe.

His spine goes rigid at sensing my presence, and I have to banish the slight tilt of my lips from my stony face. I’m going to intimidate this man into making sure he doesn’t upset Kyla-Rose. Although, the big one with the tattooed head growled at me over him the other day. That was an interesting development. But I won’t watch her hurt over him. She’s done just that for the past ten years and I refuse to see it happen again.

Perhaps I should lure him out and kill him now, make it quick and bury him in one of Violet’s many flower beds. I could do all of that before dinner is served, I’m sure of it. The ground is hard but that’s never stopped me before. I could always chop him up and dump him in the bottom of the compost heap. I wonder how long it would take for him to rot in this cold weather. In fact, I could dispose of all three of these men without anyone but Lala ever noticing.

Perhaps that would make her cry, or perhaps I could distract her enough that she wouldn’t notice them gone. We could play lots of games and brutalise lots of bad people to keep her occupied. She would notice them goneeventually; she’s smart this one. Plus, I don’t think I even need to worry about the other two. The fighter worships her, an idiot could see that, and the dark eyed hacker is quite obviously besotted.

I shall leave them alive.

For now.

“Maddox,” I growl, my sharpened fangs almost brushing the shell of his ear before I step back and raise my eyebrows at the other two in greeting.

“Charlie,” Max grunts in return.

I watch him from the corner of my eye, his face hard and unyielding. The man is by no means frightened or even concerned with my presence but I sure as shit will try my very fucking best to change that. I love a game. I can see why my cousin is drawn to him, his soul is pitch black and familiar, it calls to hers, I can almost feel their pull to one another, it’s magnetic.

“Report,” I order, shoving my tatted fists into the overly tight pockets of my slacks, eyeballing the three men.

“Nothing since the bird, and obviously the pub incident last night,” Huxley tells me as he switches from civilian to soldier.

His spine straightens, his arms hanging by his sides in a comfortable but formal stance. You can take the soldier out of the army, but you can’t take the soldier out of the man. I nod, sliding my view over to Kyla-Rose. Her misty emeralds narrowed in on me, I smirk at her with a wink. She knows I’m checking up on her, but I’ll never stop. I will die for her if I need to. Slit my own throat and offer myself up in sacrifice.

“You sorted your shit out with her yet?” I pry gruffly.

I needn’t say more, they all know who my question is aimed at.

Maddox grunts in response, but there’s something in his eyes that has me narrowing mine in on him. I tilt my head, his large, tattooed hand runs over his raven-black hair, curling into a fist as he tugs his fingers through the length. I raise a single brow at him before shifting my gaze to the lesser of evils, the hacker and the fighter.

“You gunna share her with him if he ever pulls his head out of his arsehole long enough to make it up to her?” I deadpan.

Huxley erupts into uncomfortable laughter. As is his way, being the comedian of the group to shield your feelings seems like a lot of hard work. Kacey narrows his eyes on Maddox before sliding his gold gaze back to me.

Interesting.

“That’s not up to us, it’s up to Kyla-Rose,” Kacey huffs, shoving his hands into his pockets.

His answer more than perfect -not that I’ll tell him that.

“You three better not fuck up, I’ve got very creative ideas on how to end you and ensure you’re never found,” I smile at them, a devilish grin that makes Huxley shudder, my smile widening accordingly. “I even have mood boards for each of your deaths,” I smile broader, my sharp fangs glinting in the light as I turn away, heading straight for Lala.

“He scares me,” I hear Huxley whisper and this time I can’t stop the grin that engulfs my face, twisting my features into something downright petrifying.

Approaching the couch where Frank and Carol are still doting on Kyla-Rose. I slow my pace, watching as Carol caresses my cousin’s cheek, taking any and every opportunity she can to touch Lala’s face or hair. I’m pretty sure Carol would adopt her if it was a possibility. She would have made a much better mother than the one Lala was stuck with.

“Frank,” I greet with a firm nod of my head.

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