Page 97 of King of Cruelty

“I cannot possibly convey how uninterested I am in living without you, so please,” I said, tucking the last gun through my waistband. “Stay here where I know you’re safe.”

Coming out from behind the couch, Kenzie came over and rested her hand on mine. “Bane, who are you lying to right now? Me or yourself?”

I blew back. “What?”

“If you really believe that I’m strong enough to face the Brotherhood by your side, why are you telling me to hide? And if you really think you’re enough of a weapons master, martial arts badass to take them all on by yourself, why can’t you protect me if I do need it? So which is it?” she demanded, folding her arms. “Are you lying about how tough I am, or how strong you are?”

I gaped at her.Damn, she really turned that around on me, didn’t she?

“I’m not lying about anything,” I cried. “I just don’t want you in harm’s way. That’s a very natural wish for a boyfriend!”

She shrugged. “Well, I’m not going anywhere, so”—Kenzie plucked one of the guns from my waistband—“let’s do this.”

“I—”

The door burst open.

I whipped around, squeezing off two shots and dropping the brother before the battle cry left his throat.

“Arggh!”

I grabbed Kenzie and we dove over the same couch, dropping down hard and grabbing each other as bullets ripped through the furniture—raining fabric and down on our heads.

“There’s no point hiding, Alexander! Mom says you’ve got something of hers, so bring it and yourself out from there. Do it without a fight, and we’ll deliver you to Mom with a lot less holes.”

Kenzie leaned over and kissed the tip of my nose. “I’ve got an idea. Stay down.”

“Wha—? Don’t!”

“I’m standing up,” she called. “Don’t shoot.” Kenzie raised her arms and stood. Her hands weren’t empty. “Because if you do, I’ll shoot this.”

I goggled at her. The woman was standing out in the open with her gun pressed against one of Liam’s floor-safe hard drives.

“What the hell’s that?” one of the goons shouted.

“It’s what your mommy so desperately wants. She wants it even more than me and Bane. That’s why we came up here and busted it out of the floor,” she said, nodding at the mess we made of my brother’s living room. “We don’t want to fight, and I’m one hundred percent sure you were told not to kill us anyway, so here’s what we do: Bane and I will walk nice and slow to the elevator. Once we’re inside, we’ll throw the hard drive out to you, then let it whisk us away. Everybody wins.”

Raucous laughs filled the room. I snarled, peering around the couch and training my gun on the two men standing half in and half out of the room—waiting for them to give me a reason.

“That’s cute, sweetheart, but you’re wrong. We were told not to kill Alexander. You’re fair g—”

“Think, dumbass,” she snapped. “If you kill me, I’ll drop the drive, and Bane here will destroy it before you have time to jump over this couch and stop him. Then—oh yeah—he’ll kill you. Let us both go, and at least you’ll win big points with Mom.”

I saw them exchange a look amongst each other, and then to whoever else was waiting out in the hall.

“But... Mom would kill us if we just let you go,” he ventured, actually considering a trade for a useless hard drive that was no doubt filled with nothing but boring tax and accounting information for Liam’s businesses—dirty and legitimate. “She specifically said she wants Alexander.”

“You’re not letting us go. There’s nowhere for us to go. Either way, the Brotherhood has the building locked down, so all you’re doing is making us someone else’s problem.” She clicked off the safety. “We have a deal or not?”

A long, tense silence smothered the room. I fought with everything in me not to grab Kenzie and pull her out of the line of fire, but if her play was going to work, I couldn’t make them jumpy. I had to—

“Fuck it, fine,” said the sandy-haired one with an eagle tattoo on his neck. “Deal. Throw us the drive and we’ll let you go.”

“Fuck that for a joke,” I barked. “All of you, aim your guns at the floor and back away from the door. Do it. Now!” I blared when they didn’t move.

Cursing, Eagle Tattoo and his friend disappeared from the doorway. Murmurs, swears, and shuffling footsteps followed, along with my jaw-hanging disbelief.

That worked? It actually worked? Everyone said to let my blue balls lead me to the woman of my dreams, and damn, were they right. Kenzie Fucking Blaine wasn’t just the whole package, she was the US and all the international post offices combined.

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