Page 9

9

MERCY

R aider’s fist connects with my face, splitting my eyebrow open. The sting of pain is exactly what the monster is begging for. That is a feeling he knows what to do with. I throw a fake jab, causing Raider to pull to the side, leaving the ribs on his right open for my fist to connect with.

A sinister sneer breaks across my face. “Getting sloppy there, brother?” I taunt him.

The smirk Raider throws my way is what clues me in that I fell into his trap. Just as my brain catches up, a throwing star embeds itself into the wall behind Raider. With a second quickly following. Both of which skimmed my ear, nicking them. Looking back over my shoulder, I eye the man that threw them. The distraction hit its mark as a punishing blow catches me off guard and lands on my temple, causing stars to erupt across my vision.

The blow to the head is exactly what I needed to rein in the monster in my soul that is always begging for blood. I turn to Blender, giving Raider my back. We stand there watching each other for a long moment, readying for the inevitable to happen.

“That’s twice in as many days that you’ve not been able to keep your toys to yourself. There won’t be a third,” I reprimanded him.

Blender allows a sinister smile to spread across his face. “You did try to teach me to share. I’m just putting it into practice.”

Rhino’s chuckle stops my retort. “Brother, I doubt that’s what he meant when he was teaching you that lesson.”

Blender just shrugs, leaning back on the wall as everyone takes their seats again. I look Raider over as he sits, noting the black eye blooming and the way he favors the ribs on his right side. Remedy first checks in with him before coming over to me to access my split eyebrow. I hold myself still, not at all liking the feel of another's hands on me.

“Mercy, I’m going to ask you this one fucking time,” Relic grits out, breaking the silence. “Are you solid, or do we need to be looking into other options?”

I want to lay this man out. I know he is my Pres and I should respect and follow him. The monster inside of me doesn’t quite see it that way and Relic hasn’t done anything for me to truly respect him. I follow and do as I’m told—for Raider. Raider has earned my respect and loyalty and because of that, and that they are blood brothers, I follow Pres with caution.

I glower at the man before acknowledging him. “I’m good.” Then I shrug casually. “For now.”

Raider’s eyes narrow, letting me know he doesn’t believe the shit coming out of my mouth. I know a conversation will be had about this shit show today.

“Dammit, brother, you put several holes in the brand-new walls. Could you not have beat on Raider more instead of the walls?” Terro fumes glaring at the damaged walls.

“Just making sure you and the boys stay busy,” I remark flatly.

Terro just narrows his eyes at me menacingly. I can feel the monster rising, ready to get its taste of blood. When Hermes’s voice brings my every thought to a standstill.

“Something isn’t adding up,” He mumbles, typing a mile a minute on his keyboard, “The name she gave me didn’t exist until four years ago. It first showed up in Colorado enrolled in computer science at CTU. Then she finished her degree and moved back here like she said a few months back.”

“What do you mean? She didn’t exist until four years ago?” Relic questions leaning back in his chair.

“That’s just it. On the surface, it appears what Paisley told us is true. The thing is, when I dig deeper, it appears that her life was someone else's,” Hermes says quickly, still going to town on his keyboard.

“You're not making any sense, brother.” Blitz snaps, drumming his fingers on the table once again.

Hermes sighs, looking up like we’re all idiots. “Okay, the easiest way I can explain it is this—at some point, Paisley found someone's information that was parallel to hers and erased their name and applied hers to it. I don’t get it. It just seems too easy.”

He stops talking and goes back to clicking away on his keyboard. The room sits in silence as we all process his words. My anger and frustration grow until I feel as if I need to tear my skin off for some relief.

“Looks to me like our little lamb has some fucking explaining to do,” I boom, shoving to my feet and making my way to the door.

I ignore all my brothers hanging around the bar as I make my way to my room. The prospect is standing outside and eyes me warily as I march toward him.

“You're free to go,” I toss at him as I unlock my bedroom door and step inside, my anger rising even more as I find it empty.

I silently close the door behind me, being sure to lock it. I allow my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the room, catching the faint light from under the bathroom door. If I was a good and decent man I would knock on the door and let her know that I’m in the room. Sad thing is I’m not a good or decent man. Hell, most days I’m not even an okay man, so why pretend today when we have a lying bitch to get answers from?

I make my way across the dark room, testing the door to see if it’s locked. When I find it is not, I slowly push it open, listening for any movement. When I hear nothing coming from the bathroom, dread tries to fight its way past the anger. Only to lose when the door is fully open and all I see is Paisley asleep in a full bathtub of bubbles and water. I react without thought. Surprise, that's nothing fucking new.

“Have you lost your goddamn mind?” I thunder, storming across the tile floor toward the tub.

Reaching her before she has time to process what’s going on, I grasp under her arms and snatch her out of the water, bringing her eye level with me. Her eyes snap open wide and search the room before settling on mine. For a moment I watch the fear wash away and she relaxes before they open even wider than before. Her hand snaps up, trying to cover her mouth. Understanding hits me just as the words try to escape her lips.

“I’m going to …” Before she can finish, Paisley is vomiting once again.

“Can you fucking stop that shit already?” I growl, placing her in the shower and turning it on full blast, not giving her time to get out of the way of the icy water.

Paisley screeches, trying to get away from the spray as I kick my boots and socks off, hang my cut on the back of the bathroom door, then pull my shirt over my head. I reach for my jeans when her words give me pause.

“You know if you didn’t keep scaring the hell out of me or, I don’t know, manhandling me, I might be able to stop puking on you.” She is glaring at me with her arms crossed to try to hide her tits from me.

I cock a single eyebrow at her and step into the shower stall, crowding her against the cold tile behind her. She gasps, trying to take a step away, only to realize she has nowhere to go at this point. The itch to wrap my fingers around her throat is just too much for me to fight. I lean my left hand on the wall beside her head as I slowly drag my fingers from her hip, up her side and down her arm before striking like a snake.

She pants, arching into me. Leaning forward, I whisper, “See, your smart mouth is spewing bullshit when your body is begging for me to manhandle you. Which am I supposed to believe, Little Lamb?”

She shutters under my hold and whispers, “That’s just it, I don’t know which to believe either.”

Her words act as a starting pistol. I pull back, watching her for just a second before the feel of her hand on my side breaks all control. I tighten my grip on her throat as I slam my mouth onto hers. I use my hold to tilt her head to the exact angle I need her to be. Sweeping my tongue across the seam of her lips, searching—scratch that— demanding entrance. She continues to deny me until I flex my grip and she gasps. I invade her mouth, branding her with every swipe and stroke. The bite of nails on my side just stirs the need building inside of me.