Page 34 of Cruel (Brutal Academy)

"You were expecting us to be dead?" Hunter's tone was ice cold, dangerous. Even I was freaked out when he spoke like that. Crossing me was a bad idea. Crossing my brother was the closest thing to a death sentence a person could get without an actual bullet through their brain.

"Or chained up for a while longer?" I glanced over at my twin. "Maybe the plan was to auction us off too."

"Now there's an idea," Dane said slowly. "I'm sure we could find someone who needs a couple of boys who know how to dig."

It was my turn to laugh. "I didn't realise you were a comedian."

"I would have thought a pair of clowns would recognise one," Dane said dryly. "What do you want?

If he thought he'd insult us by calling us clowns, he'd have to think again. We'd been called a lot worse by better people than him.

"Did you know Chloe and Zachary were fucking each other?" Hunter asked bluntly. "Park and I had the…pleasure of hearing them while we were chained up."

"We'll be sending them the bill for our therapy," I said. "It's going to take a long time to get past hearing that." Spending the night lying under Chloe's bed while she and Dane fucked was bad enough.

"If anyone needs therapy it's—" Dane started.

"Most people," Hunter snapped. "There's nothing wrong with admitting you have issues. You didn't answer the question. Did you know about Chloe and Zachary?"

One side of Dane's mouth drew back. "Yes, I know. If you thought you could come here and stir up trouble by telling me that, you were wrong."

Hunter glanced at me. "Sounds like trouble in paradise to me." He looked back at Dane. "So you knew, but you're clearly not happy about it. Don't like sharing?"

"I'm not going to discuss this with you." Dane closed the lid of his laptop. "I'm sure you have enough problems of your own without coming here to bother me about mine."

"Not at all," Hunter said lightly. "We don't mind. Consider it a complimentary therapy session from us. Go ahead and vent." He gave Dane a ‘give it to me’ gesture with his fingers.

When Dane didn’t speak, Hunter continued.

"Zachary is a prick and you don't want to share Chloe with him. Maybe you don't want to share with anyone else. But you want her and if that's the only way you'll have her…" He cocked his head at Dane. "Am I getting warmer?"

"Is there a point to this conversation?" Dane snapped. "Because, if there isn't, you can both fuck off. We'll be sure to do a more thorough job next time."

"Ouch," I said with a laugh. "I think he's threatening us, Hunt."

"Yeah, I got that vibe too, Park," Hunter agreed. He fixed his gaze on Dane. "Here's the thing. We don't like Zachary. We're pretty sure you don't like him either. I'm not entirely convinced his agenda is—how do I put it—Chloe-friendly. It's certainly not Lila-friendly. Do you think you can trust him or do you think he would shove both of them out of the way to take Samuel Bell's place if he got half a chance? Be honest with yourself if not with us, because we think we have a common enemy."

"If you think I'm working with you…" Dane scoffed.

"Fuck no," Hunter replied. "You're missing the point."

Dane looked at him coldly. "What is the point then?"

"The point is, neither of us wants Zachary to push Lila and Chloe out of the way. Parker, Slade and I are going to keep a close eye on Mr Zachary Sinclair. I suggest you do the same."

Hunter leaned in toward Dane. "Ask yourself this: Is there even the slightest chance Zachary would have let off that bomb in the vicinity of Chloe? I know that wasn't Chloe's plan, but can you be sure it wasn't his? Right now, I feel like we’re living in an enormous spiderweb. Tangled as hell and sticky as fuck. We're going to look out for our woman. We have no doubt you plan to do the same thing. But remember something. Parker and I messed with her birth control. Zachary messed with abomb. Who do you think is the greater threat?" He sat back.

"If you're not suggesting we work together then what?" Dane asked carefully.

"Just be on alert," Hunter said with a shrug. "No one will mind if you take out Zachary for overstepping. And he will. I'm willing to bet a big chunk of my trust fund he doesn't want to share with you. He might have a plan in place to get rid of you. Would you be all that surprised if he did?"

"I teach at Brutham Academy," Dane pointed out. "Nothing would surprise me less than a plot against me or anyone else. Hell, you two probably have a plan to get rid of me."

Hunter grinned. "Actually, we don't, but now you mention it, maybe we should. What do you think, Park?"

"Hedidhold us down so Zachary could inject that shit into our veins," I said slowly. "But I'd turn my back on Dane faster than I'd turn it on Zachary. Or Chloe, to be honest. Given the way Dane's cousin Ric has managed to get in with Caleb, I'd think there was an opening if Dane wanted to take it."

"Exactly," Hunter agreed. "We don't have to be enemies. We don't have to work together either, but we could be… Is ‘allies’ too strong a word?"

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