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CONAN

J esus fucking fuck.

I’ve been punched in the head more times than I can count. Stabbed, too. But this shard of glass in my thigh? It burns like hell, worse than any knife I’ve taken.

If it weren’t embedded in my flesh, I’d already be chasing down the assholes who ran me off the road, grinding their skulls into the tarmac until the rage bleeding through my veins finally quieted.

Smoke pours from the Bugatti’s hood, the thick stench of it clawing at my throat. My jaw ticks.

“You hanging in there, Con?” Finn’s voice cuts through the speaker—tight, clipped.

“Hanging in? Are you worried about me, big bro?” I throw back, forcing a smirk I don’t feel. Pain rips up my leg.

Having a surgeon for a brother is useful, especially when your hobbies include bare-knuckle fights and underground cages. I’ve always craved the chaos—still do. It’s the only place I feel alive.

Mom hated it. But she’s not here anymore to tell me I’m throwing my life away.

“This is nothing,” I mutter, watching blood soak into the fabric of my ruined suit.

Finn exhales. “Hallie will patch you up. How much blood have you lost?”

The question lands like a warning. I glance down again, watching crimson pool beneath me.

“I don’t know, Finn. I didn’t bring a measuring jug.”

My thigh is soaked. The glass is buried deep. I’m not sure which hurts more—the wreckage of my Bugatti or the pain in my damn leg.

“Can you wiggle your toes?”

I grit my teeth and flex. Relief. They move. Although, I am starting to panic now that he’s mentioned the blood loss thing.

“Yeah. Toes are good. How long until she gets here?”

“Ten minutes. She’s already on her way. Please, don’t be an asshole to her. She’s…” He trails off.

My brows lift. That hesitation? That’s not nothing.

“She’s what?”

“She’s been through a lot, and she’s finally coming out the other side. I’m mentoring her. Just… don’t be your usual ass self. Be nice.”

I scoff. “When am I not a delight to be around?”

Laughter crackles in the background, Reggie or Rowan, one of the Murphy twins.

“Really, Conan? Your main daily purpose is to rile someone up.”

Fair point.

“Fine. I’ll play nice with Nurse Hallie.”

“Good. This is what you get for leaving mid-wedding. Karma is a bitch.”

“Mid-wedding? No. I did all that. I left mid-party. There’s a difference, Finn. I was only going to bring Veronica back to the cabin. She’s at a club.”

“You have an entire selection of women inside Inferno. All of them obsessed with you, for some fucking reason. And yet, you’re running into town for?—?”

“For someone I want to chase through the woods tonight,” I interrupt, scratching at my jaw. “Not someone to tie up in a damn sex club.”

Inferno’s fun. The pain, the power, the punishments—it scratches an itch. But what I like? It’s deeper than that. Rawer. Primal.

And not every woman can handle it.

When I find one who can, I don’t let her slip through my fingers. Even if it means ditching my brother’s wedding reception to go collect her myself.

“Don’t come at me for my kinks. I don’t even know what twisted shit you’re into, Doctor.”

Finn clears his throat. “Because it’s none of your damn business. You stay in the woods, I’ll stay in Inferno. How’s the pain now?”

“Fine.” It’s not. But thinking about her—barefoot, breathless, running from me—makes the pain ebb.

“Good.”

“My car is fucked though.”

I’d just had it wrapped matte black, too.

“Wait till I get my hands on the dickheads that did this. I’ll beat their heads through the hood of their own car.”

“I’ll get Rowan to tow it to your garage later. You’re fine, that’s all that matters.”

“Aww. Big brother’s getting soft in his old age.”

They worry. I know they do. I make reckless choices—it’s what I do. Make a mess, then fix it. Or let them fix it for me.

That’s family. That’s how we were raised.

“Shut the fuck up, or I’ll tell Hallie to make sure it hurts.”

I chuckle, already planning my next move.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll win her over with my charm, brother. Don’t you worry.”