Page 67 of Dangerous Deviance
“Who cares about her?” I yelled. “Let’s kill them both!”
But Derek didn’t move.
“Tell me, Wilhelm,” Muro said. “What’s this girlfriend of yours like, anyway?” He smiled. “Ellie. Isn’t that her name?”
“She’s not a girlfriend,” I quipped, but I knew saying those words didn’t make it any better. But I had to protect her, and that meant pretending she wasn’t mine. She couldn’t become Muro’s target. But how did he know I had Ellie? “She’s—”
“Your woman,” he smirked. “One thing is clear to me. You care about her,” he nodded. “Be careful now, Little Adler. Love is dangerous, my friend. It misguides us.”
I lifted a brow, then adjusted my aim. What was worse, Muro calling me a friend, or giving me advice about love?
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“I’m asking you: what could be more reckless than falling in love with a dangerous woman?”
I stared at him, the smile still painted on his face. I didn’t understand him. If he had sent Ellie, then why warn me about the very woman he wanted to kill me?
“What the fuck?” I yelled, tilting my head towards Derek. “Let’s shoot them—”
“Lower your gun too, Wil,” Derek roared, his eyes still resting on Muro.
“Fuck playing nice,” I said. “It’s over. Gerard can—”
“Lower your fucking gun,” Derek said.
I waited, watching Muro’s face. The lightning bolt tattoo pulsed with his heart rate, and yet Muro’s cocky smile never dropped. He was having fun with us.
He was playing a game, and it was bigger than Derek and me.
The woman groaned in fear, her lip quivering, and I saw Ellie in her. The woman might have been under Muro’s spell, but she wasn’t there by choice. She had been coerced, taken from her life. And just like Ellie, she didn’t deserve this.
I lowered my weapon, and Muro shoved the woman to the side. She fell to her hands and knees and began sobbing, a relieved cry that echoed through the room. Derek lowered his gun too, but clenched his fists.
“My issue isn’t with you,” Muro warned. And I had a feeling I knew who he wanted. Gerard.
“Good luck, Muro,” I muttered. “You’re going to need it.”
“Likewise,” he said.
It took all of my energy not to slam my fists into the walls of the elevator, not to toss that red orchid across the lobby until the vase shattered into a million pieces on the white tiled floor. Muro was a cocky piece of shit, and I hated him down to his bones.
Derek checked his phone, then started the engine.
“What the hell was that?” I yelled. I hit the dashboard with my fists, cursing myself for the ache in my palm. “Who cares what happens to Muro’s slave?”
“Gerard asked us not to fight,” Derek said.
“This is war, Derek. It’s not just a disagreement. We’ve got to—”
“Sometimes,” he said, his voice booming so loud that I shut up. “Sometimes, there are issues that we can’t see.” He glared at me. “This isn’t just about Muro and the drugs, or the soldiers. And if Gerard asks us not to start a war—”
“Our father doesn’t know—”
“Our father is doing what he thinks is right,” Derek said, his voice loud again. “I respect my family. I stick by them, even if I don’t understand what’s going on.” His eyes were bloodshot, as if he had been thinking about this for a long time too. Ethan, our half brother, crossed my mind. Even though Derek and Ethan had hated each other, when Ethan asked for our help, Derek never hesitated. He was always loyal to his family. “If our father asks us to wait on a war, then I will respect his wish as best I can.”As best I can, meaning until that time had passed. Why wasn’t thatnow? Derek shifted back into his seat. “You ought to do the same.”
I turned forward. I could do my best too. For now. “All right,” I said. “The hell is going on with Gerard then?”
“I don’t know,” Derek said, sighing. He started the engine and the car rumbled around us. “But I know it’s important to him. He’s our family. He raised us.” He let out a long sigh. “We stick by him.”
