Page 90 of Blood in the Water

Despite the way her hands trembled slightly, she didn’t move, didn’t flinch. I’d be impressed if I wasn’t so pissed. She didn’t seem confident enough to be an actual assassin, especially after so obviously catching her planting that tracker last night. A professional would have been seamless. In and out.

So that left one other explanation for why this person would be in my apartment: she followed me home from the club.

That had happened a few times before—women wanting more than I was interested in giving them—but this was the first time one somehow got inside. Again, I might be slightly impressed if I wasn’t so angry.

“Couldn’t get enough from last night?” I glared, eyes trained on the little breaths she exhaled. “I’m flattered, but get the fuck out of here.”

Our apartment was supposed to be a fortress—our one safe port in the storm. Ciel needed to do somemajoroverhaul to our system if she had snuck her way in here.

Speaking of Ciel, he chose that moment to walk into the living room. With a yawn, he reached one hand up his shirt and rubbed his stomach while the other rubbed sleep from his eyes. Somehow, he completely missed theintruder alertsituation going on.

“Oh hey, Ryu. I thought I heard you come in late last night.” Then his eyes flicked up to where I was pointing a gun at the woman, and he completely froze. “Oh,fuck.Ryu, wait!”

Ciel made the dumbest fucking decision of his life and dashed in between her and my gun. My eyes went wide, and my finger immediately popped off the trigger.

“‘Oh fuck’what,Ciel?” The redhead took one step further behind him, letting my brother protect her. It made my blood boil even hotter for so many confusing reasons. “What the fuck is going on?”

Ciel swallowed, one hand splayed to his side, the other coming slightly behind him to brush against her middle. I was so fucking livid right now that I couldn’t tell what made me more pissed off: the fact that some floozy I almost fucked in the office of my nightclub had made it into my inner sanctum or the fact that my own brotherknewher, wasdefending her, and wastouching what was mine.

Since when was she mine?

Since when didCielknow women?

“Put the gun down, Ryu,” another voice said from my side. My head whipped around to see my other brother. Wynn wore sweat-soaked workout clothes with a towel wrapped around his neck, like he had just come up from the gym. His body carried the intensity of a snake ready to strike, except he wasn’t aiming to strike ather.

“Why am I the only fucking one concerned about this?” I barked at Wynn. She was in ourhome. Nobody was allowed in our home. “I’ll only ask one more time. Who thefuckis she, and why is she in our house?”

Finally, the redhead rolled her eyes. “I wastryingto tell you. My name is Leona.”

The name sliced through me with instant recognition. “So,you’rethe little princess running for her life and expecting us to fix all her problems.” I scoffed. Suddenly, it all made sense. She snuck into my club and got on my good side, all in some twistedplan to convince me to agree to work for her for a fraction of what we were worth.

“Ryu—” Ciel started, but I wasn’t done.

“You had the balls to let me shove my tongue down your throat last night? To spread you wide on my couch and feast?” I laughed darkly. At that, the other two snapped their attention to Leona, who stared right back at me without an ounce of fear. “And now you’re somehow in our house. What a fucking joke.”

“That’s enough,” Wynn snapped, standing next to Ciel. “What is going on here?”

Now,twoof my brothers were in between me and this woman. The way Wynn’s jaw clenched in offense, not at her butforher, told an entire fucking story that caused a deep gash of jealousy to open in my gut.

“You’re in their pants, too?” I rolled my eyes and stepped back, not fully lowering my gun. “Makes sense. Who knew award-winning pussy would make my brothers turn against me?”

Did she even know who we were? She had to; that’s why she was trying to worm her way into our group, but if shereallydid, it made no sense why she wasn’t running for her life right now. I was seconds away from losing my shit.

“Oh, so you think my pussy is award-winning? Isn’t that nice? Well, fuck you too, dickwad,” she hissed, not even breaking eye contact.

The entire room went silent. Ciel and Wynn shifted, waiting to see what I would do. They both knew me; they knew I didn’t take kindly to threats and insults.

But despite my fury, that fire in her eyes, that defiance in her look, my heart beat faster than it had in ages. For some reason, the woman standing before me, staring me down, elicited more shock, concern, anger, anddesirethan I’d felt in years. Astrange wave of emotions swirled in my chest like a whirlpool, threatening to suck me down and drown me.

I was furious. At her, for being here. At me, for being played like a fool.

But I wanted her. Bad. I’d been dreaming of that pussy all night long, and now it tempted me, laughing at me for being such an idiot.

And that made the anger so much fucking worse.

“Put your gun away,Ryu,” Leona snapped. She still stayed behind Ciel and Wynn like a fucking coward. “Just let metalkto you.”

Well, I wasn’t going to shoot my brothers, no matter how idiotic they were being. At the end of the day, this Leona was just a whore who had bewitched them. The same thing would not happen to me. The last time it did, I ended up with a knife in my back and a bullet in my belly.