Page 82 of Nest of Thieves
“Play with me?” Vette sets aside his empty plate.
I choke on my water, and they all laugh. Scowling, I ask, “What?”
“A game. Come play a video game with me?” He glances at the guys. “It’s how we escape when shit gets too real.”
He wants me to escape with them. My chest tightens, but I keep my face blank, not letting him see how much I appreciate being included. Oh—hold on, am I going to cry? What is this emotion?
“Okay.” I carry my dirty dishes to the sink and blink rapidly. This isn’t my normal reaction, but I did just watch a man die.
“We’ll wash them later,” Lark says. I glance at him, and he shoos me toward the stairs. There it is again. That desire to do what he wants because I want to make him happy. I want to listen. Iwant...oh, I am so fucked.
Vette leads the way, and as soon as his foot hits the second floor, my heart drops. Shit. I bite my lip and sit on the couch in front of the TVs, accepting a beer from Lark. Vette and Mac sandwich me, and the three alphas grab their controllers. The screens turn on and the gaming systems whir.
I take a drink, nervously glancing around.
Any second now.
“What the fuck?” Mac asks when he realizes his profile no longer exists.
I pinch my eyes shut. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“¿Que está pasando?”
“I don’t know, my profile is gone too,” Lark says.
Their eyes fall on me like a heavy weight, and I take a deep breath, growing some lady balls and opening mine.
“I deleted your profiles.” I stare at the TVs. “That was after I found the cameras in my room and before the shots. I’m not sorry.” I pause. “Well, maybe a little, but you fuckers deserved it.”
Mac guffaws. “You ruthless little omega.”
A smirk tugs at my lips, but I try not to smile. I know how men get about their games.
“It’s all good,” Vette says, startingCall of Dutyand dropping a controller in my lap. “You can get me back to level twelve, right, mami?”
“I have no idea how to play.” I look at him, knitting my eyebrows together.
He tips his head to the side and stares at me. “That’s all right. Every time you die, I’m going to spank that pretty ass.”
“That’s not fair. I’m going to die so much.” Which means his hands will be all over me. My nipples harden at the thought, and my perfume fills the air, betraying me to the alphas.
“Then I guess that ass is mine to beat,” he says with a wolfish smirk that does something to my insides.
“You only want to touch my ass.” I shake my head and turn toward the screen.
“Start the game, Jo,” Lark says, setting up a new profile.
“Whose side are you on?”
Lark and Mac both say, “Vette’s.”
“Rude.”
I press play. It takes all of fifteen seconds to die. Biting my lip, I cut my gaze to Vette. He tips his head to the side and pats his legs.
“Lie down, mami.”
“This isn’t fair,” I say again.
