Page 53 of Ruthless Raiders

A few of the other guys chuckle low under their breath, and right on cue, a girl saunters into the garage. She has big, bouncy blonde curls, bruised lips, and a ring of hickeys around her neck that almost looks like a necklace. She’s wearing daisy dukes and a flannel shirt tied around her waist.

Hot on her tail is a terrifying sex god on legs.

He’s tall. Slender but built. His black hair falls in soft, deliberate waves, slightly damp like he just stepped out of a shower. Hazel eyes flick calmly around the garage, and he’s covered in tattoos, not messy ones, but clean, sharp designs that stretch across his arms and peek from under the collar of his fitted black shirt.

“Thank you for joining us Xavier,” Marcus snarls, but Xavier just shrugs.

“Sorry, for keeping him.” The girl who I am assuming is Cassandra pouts, in an exaggerated southern belle accent. “I can be so distracting at times. You know that, Marcus.”

“Mmmhmm,” Marcus grumbles, just as Xavier steals some of his ribs off his plate and slides into the seat between Marcus and Isaiah.

Xavier leans back in his chair, Cassandra curled across his lap like a smug housecat, and nods at the table. “What’s this about?”

Marcus smiles, slow and wide. The kind of smile that says he’s been waiting for the curtain to rise.

“Well,” he says, dabbing his mouth with a crumpled napkin even though there’s no mess to clean, “Now we can get started since everyone’shere...”

His gaze slides over the table—lingering on me.

“You,” Marcus says, tapping his fork against the edge of his plate without breaking eye contact. “Are gonna help us out, sweetheart.”

I blink. “Me?”

“You,” he repeats with a nod, like he’s confirming my name on a list. “Jasmine Rivera. Late admission to Haven, lives in a prettylittle apartment with our favorite runaway, and—if I’m hearing things right—currently warming up to oneBrooke du Pont.”

My fork freezes halfway to my mouth. “Excuse me?”

Marcus grins. “Come on now. You didn’t think we invited you just for some grub?”

I glance at Landon, but he’s eyes are narrowed in on Marcus, jaw clicking like he’s grinding his teeth to the nub.

Marcus leans in, elbows braced on the table. “We’ve had guys trying to get close to the du Ponts foryears.Problem is, no one’s cracked that circle. Everyone we’ve sent in tried to charm her or her brother, but failed. Some even tried to get in her bed. But nobody realized…”

His grin widens.

“She wasn’t into them, because she wasn’t into guys.”

I snort. “I’m sorry, gay never crossed your mind?”

The table goes quiet. Isaiah chokes softly on his beer.

“Nah, sweetheart,” Marcus smirks, leaning into the table. His hands hovering over his empty plate. “Foolish ain’t we.”

I nod, and clear my throat. “So let me get this straight,” I shift in my seat. “You want me to what? Seduce her?”

Marcus shrugs. “Call it what you want. But she likes you. You’ve got her attention. We want her money. Or more specifically…” He steeples his fingers. “Herfather’smoney.”

“And you think dating me is going to get her to open the family vault?”

“She’s a du Pont,” Asher cuts in, tone flat. “They don’t share bank access over brunch. But if you’re in, you’re in.”

“The du Ponts own seventy percent of Texas real estate.” Xavier looks at me for the first time, a look of corruption on his smiling face. “They’ve got more influence than the damn governor, and are more beloved given that Howard du Pont is one of the biggest pastors in the state. If we can get them on our side—or evenoneof them—we can finally cut ties with the Italians and move with the cartel.”

My heart hammers in my chest. I stare at Marcus. “You want me to manipulate her.”

“We want you to make heruseful,” Marcus says simply. “And in exchange, we keep Tommy alive.”

I freeze. “What?”