Page 21 of Upon Blooded Lips (Vengeance #1)

NATE

“ H ere, let me,” I say, knocking Eric’s hands away. I undo the messy knot he made in his tie and redo it in a trinity knot. The corner of my mouth lifts at the irony. After centering it, I run my fingers around the base of his neck, fixing his collar before tugging him closer and stealing a kiss.

“I heard what you told her,” Eric says after we break away.

“Do you think it was too much too soon?”

He shakes his head. “No. It’s up to her, and now she can decide, knowing all the facts.”

“Did her answer help put some of your fears to rest?”

Eric laughs. “Yeah, along with your cock down my throat to knock some sense back into me.”

I wind my hands into his hair and tug on the silky strands. “Always mine, little brother, no matter if we stay two or become three.”

“I know,” he whispers, and I seal my vow with another kiss.

“Fuck me,” I mumble under my breath.

“Yeah,” Eric says with a sigh as Tessa descends the stairs.

Her hair flows around her in a cascade of curls while the form-fitting navy dress Eric picked out shows off her curves.

Sparkling silver heels grace her feet, making her legs appear even longer.

Her mask dangles from her fingers, and I clock the French manicure the stylist I booked did, along with the flawless makeup.

Tessa would be stunning dressed in a paper sack, but dolled up like this? She’s utterly breathtaking.

She reaches the bottom and gives us a shy smile. “Don’t you two look handsome,” she says, eyeing us up and down.

Eric steps forward, withdrawing a turquoise box from his pocket. She gasps when he undoes the white bow and shows her the dangly sapphire and diamond platinum earrings.

“I can’t,” she says, shaking her head. “You’ve given me so much already.”

I chuckle and take out an identical box, displaying the matching necklace. “Those were your birthday presents,” I reply.

“And these are?” she asks, tilting her head and raising a brow.

“Because we want to.” I lean forward and slip the necklace around her neck, clasping it at the back before running my finger over the delicate chain. She shivers under my touch, and my thoughts turn dark, wondering what she would look like wearing a very different kind of chain.

She’ll break so beautifully for us.

Eric mimics my action, slipping the earrings on for her. She watches him while nibbling her lip, and I bite back a curse when my cock stiffens, desperate to find out what they’d feel like wrapped around it.

Fuck.

I turn away and lead them outside where the black bulletproof Mercedes sedan awaits. Eric acts the gentleman and helps her into the backseat while I round the hood and slide into the driver’s seat.

While I drive toward Chicago, Eric and Tessa make small talk.

Eric explains how we own Club Oblivion. Once a year, we hold a masked event, which is always popular and books out within minutes of tickets going on sale.

It’s the perfect place for Tessa to blend in while getting out of the house for a while.

What I haven’t told them is that I booked us a suite in an exclusive boutique hotel near the club for a few nights.

Tessa’s essentially been a prisoner her entire life, having never left the confines of Willowmen.

There’s so much she hasn’t experienced, and while we wait for her to decide her future—and ours—letting her get a little taste of the world and what we can offer her is the least I can do.

There’s also someone I want her to meet.

I spend the thirty-minute drive lost in my thoughts while their chatter washes over me in the background.

My instincts about her being perfect for us have only cemented since she came to live with us.

Right or wrong, I’ve felt this way for the past year.

Even before that, there was a surety, a knowing, that one day she’d become something very precious to us.

But what I told her earlier in the pool about Eric is true. I suffered under my father’s fists for years. Pain and I are old friends by now. But Eric’s pain? That, I cannot stand. It shreds me from the inside out, tearing into my soul and leaving indelible marks that can never be erased.

I have tallied every slight, every hit, every heartache perpetuated against him and ensured the offender paid for their transgressions tenfold. There is no mercy, no forgiveness, no reconciliation. I don’t bother entrusting retribution to fickle fate.

Vengeance is mine.

But Tessa is young and bound to make mistakes. For her, I might offer forgiveness. I hope, for her sake, she doesn’t take advantage of that goodwill.

I’m not above putting her over my knee and turning her sweet little ass red.

“Masks on,” I say after parking in my reserved spot in the underground garage beneath the club.

I check my mask is in place in the vanity mirror before opening the door and stepping out into the vast concrete space.

A light flickers, the noise from the fluorescent bulbs buzzing and crackling.

As I open the back door and take Tessa’s hand, a scuffle from several yards away snaps my back straight.

A frisson of warning sets off alarm bells, and I clap a hand over Tessa’s mouth, pressing my body against hers and trapping her against the car. Eric gets out and freezes when he glances my way, and I shake my head. He scans the lot with a raised brow.

I wait a beat, then two, and when nothing happens, I grab Tessa’s arm and propel her toward the elevator. Eric follows behind us, and I don’t take an easy breath until the doors close.

“What’s going on?” Tessa asks with a tremor in her voice.

“Nothing,” I assure her, meeting Eric’s gaze. There’s no need to scare her, not when I know nothing myself. But my instincts are rarely wrong. Something dangerous was in the parking lot. Right now, there’s no way of knowing what their intentions are or whether they’re even a threat.

But one thing’s for sure—if they come after me or mine, they’ll need to pray to whatever god they believe in for deliverance from my wrath.