Devils: A Reverse Harem Bully Romance: (The Brotherhood Book 2)

by K. M. Raya

  Confusion and anger fill me in equal measure. “Club? What club?”

  Papa frowns. “Do not mistake me for a blind fool. You may not be permitted to marry one of those heathens now, but you will get them in line. If you don’t, I’ll find someone to do it for you. If they keep digging, they will find things they do not like, and we cannot have that if this partnership is to thrive.” He turns back around to leave, without giving me the chance to ask questions, but before he makes it to the door, I ask one simple one.

  “What did you do?” My voice is barely a whisper, but he hears it.

  With stiff shoulders, Papa turns back around—slowly, as if giving me the chance to scramble and think up something to excuse my out of line behavior. But I’m passed that.

  “Do with what, pray tell?” He sounds amused to the untrained ear, but I know I’m only a wrong word away from pain.

  Gathering courage I don’t think I really have, I step towards him. “Let’s not pretend anymore, Papa. What did you do to Mama, where are you keeping her and why?” I see her face every night now in my nightmares. She haunts me. After the ceremony, I didn’t see her again. Papa must have had her whisked off somewhere once her performance was over… that's all it really was anyways—a performance for his peers.

  He laughs, and I feel it in my gut like the churning of acid. “The same thing that'll happen to you if you defy me again. Do you know how much I have risked—how much money is on the line?” I do know. And I don’t care either. “You think this estate came cheap? Are you under a delusion that you earned this finery? You are mine to do with as I please—an object and nothing more. You will marry whomever I choose, whenever I choose and secure whichever alliance I deem worthy. You will do it with your eyes down and your head held high, do you hear me?”

  Clenching my jaw tightly, my eyes burn into his—not wavering for the first time in my almost twenty years. For the first time, I can see the cracks in his facade. Something is worrying him, and it’s beginning to show face. Something about his relationship with the Brotherhood is weighing heavily on his shoulders. He wants the alliance badly… and I’ve never known Salvatore to want for anything he couldn't just take. He knows that making me marry one of them will only backfire, but he still needs to keep them close. He needs me, and I have a feeling that’s the only reason I'm standing here right now.

  I guess I don’t answer in the timely manner he expected me to, because the next thing I know, Papa’s in my face. I find myself backing up towards the wall, but his hand tightens around my throat, lifting my body from the floor easily and cutting off my air supply. If any other man were to touch me in this way, I'd knee him in the balls… but I can’t do anything right now but hang here like dead weight. Papa won't release me until he’s made his point.

  A part of my brain still can't accept what's happening. Papa’s never laid a finger on me, but a strange twinkle in his green eyes tells me my time of lenience is coming to an end. I know my face must be turning purple, but still I refuse to move. I don't grip his hands or try to fight him. I know that if he wants to kill me, it won't be much longer.

  He brings his face close to mine, the rough scratch of his beard brushing my cheek. “If you let me down again, if you embarrass me, I’ll cut off your hand and use it to slit Mama’s throat. You think I will not do it, but I assure you I’ll let you watch. I’m still young, bella.” His smile is sickening as it widens. “I have plenty of time to start over with a new wife. Don’t believe for a second that the two of you are in any way irreplaceable.”

  Pulling his fingers from my neck, he lets me drop to the floor in a heap, gasping for breath. I hold my throat, coughing and sputtering as he struts to the door, walking out without another word and leaving it open behind him. It takes another few rounds of gagging coughs for me to gather myself and look up from the floor. My eyes connect with Nic’s as he stands there at the threshold of my bedroom with something odd in his expression. His slash of a mouth is turned down, and his eyes almost look… sad. I don’t understand what that expression means, but it pisses me the hell off.

  Standing quickly, I use the wall for balance before stalking to the door. Nic straightens—wiping the pitying look from his face as I get closer. I grip the door in one hand while the other refuses to leave my throat where I know a bruise is already starting to form.

  “Not a word of this to anyone,” I spit. There’s no room for argument. It's not a request, it’s a demand.

  Surprisingly, Nic just nods once, before turning away from me and stalking down the hall without a backward glance.

  ✽✽✽

  "You really do have a knack for getting in my way. It must be your superpower because it's really starting to piss me off," I snap. Carter smiles, but it's not a pleasant or even remotely welcoming smile. He blocks my path in the hallway outside my bedroom this morning, leaning a shoulder against the wall like he’s been waiting here for some time.

  "Don’t pretend you don't miss this." He steps into my personal space, close enough for me to breathe him in. His hands are in his pockets, and I don't have a clue what he’s doing here so close to my bedroom—probably stalking me like he used to, because he doesn’t trust me anymore. "Tell me you don't want me to throw you against that wall and fuck you until you can’t walk..."

  His face is close now... too close. His breath smells like mint, and his dark blue eyes burn though me, reaching in deep and squeezing on my heart until my head feels light and dizzy. Gulping deeply and irritating my sore throat, my brain tells my body to turn around and run, but my heart demands I stay right here and see where this leads.

  Forcing myself to look unaffected, I cock my hip to the side and place a hand on my waist. “Of all the words in the English language, you just had to go and say those…” I drawl, pretending to be bored and mildly amused when in reality I’m exactly the opposite.

  His eyes flash. Reaching out, Carter pinches a strand of my hair between two fingers, seemingly studying my blue strands closely for some reason. His eyes flicker back to mine and a smirk pulls at his lips. "I think about it all the time, you know." I know he's telling the truth, despite the venom behind his words. His body being so flush with mine makes no secret of the raging hard on he has going on down there. It presses against my stomach, making my toes tingle and my thighs clench. "I think about your taste, your smell… your lips." His eyes flicker down, enough that I know he isn’t talking about my mouth. I somehow manage to refrain from showing him how much his words punch me in the gut.

  "You’re trying to get inside my head, but it's not going to work, Car. We both know that." My voice doesn’t shake, and it's a small victory for me.

  "Do we?" he snorts. "Do we know that? What, are you too good for me now that you're back in daddy's castle?" His arms raise to his sides, gesturing at the grand corridor around us. "Too busy spreading those thighs for Nic—"

  My knee connects with his cock, and it takes less than a second for him to hit the floor, cupping his junk and cursing like a sailor. It’s an immensely satisfying sight. Squatting down to his level, I can't help but take pride in my work. His face is red, and his long hair is disheveled as he works to catch his breath.

  "Calling women out on their sex life isn’t very modern of you, Carter. I'm honestly disappointed you decided to pull that card given your own colorful track record." I don't even try to correct him. I wouldn't touch Nic like that if someone was holding a gun to my head, but he doesn't know that, especially after Papa let it slip that they’ve been slinking around clubs in Brooklyn behind my back. Let him think I’m fucking Nic, let them all think it.

  "Fuck you—" he snaps through clenched teeth. He's trying to collect himself, but my knee connected pretty hard. He’ll probably be pissing sideways for a week.

  "Been there done that, asswipe. I won't be making that mistake again," I lie through my teeth. Smirking, I reach out and trace my fingers over the sharp angle of his cheekbone. His skin is smooth and warm and my fingers tingl
e. My smirk drops and my face sobers. "I thought you were smarter than this, baby.” His eyes widen and then narrow at the endearment, like he can’t figure me out somehow. “I thought you all were. What's it going to take for you to realize who's side I'm on? We’re running out of time and you don't even know it."

  He frowns, breathing a little easier now. "What the fuck are you talking about, running out of time for what? Stop talking in circles and say what you fucking mean."

  Tsking, I shake my head sadly, my long curls swishing over my shoulders and covering the bruising on my neck. "I'll let you think on things for a while. We're all a part of the same shit show. You guys could have left things alone and been free. You didn’t have to come here and you know it. When it all comes back to bite you later, don't point fingers at me because I'll be long gone."

  "I don't under—"

  "You don't have to understand, just hear it. Listen for once in your goddamn life. I know it must be hard for Carter Draven to not know everything."

  He brings himself into a sitting position, resting his elbows on his knees and I move out of his way. He rakes a hand through his long hair and inhales deeply and slowly. "Just tell me something... " He hesitates, so I just raise a brow, waiting for him to get it over with. "Was any of it even real?"

  His doubt irks me. "What do you think?" I clip, trying but failing to keep the bitterness and betrayal out of my voice.

  His navy eyes flit between mine—studying me the way he used to. It's unnerving being the subject of Carter's stare. In the past it made me quake, because those eyes used to be followed by nimble fingers or his tongue. Those eyes used to make me feel like my bones were made of jelly. Now they just make me realize how alone I am.

  "I honestly have no idea." The finality in his voice kills me.

  Fighting the urge to flinch back, I force my lips to turn up into a bitter half smile that I don’t feel at all. "I guess you have your answer then, whenever you decide you want to see it."

  Leaning down, Carter stiffens as I place a small kiss on his cheek. To my surprise, he doesn't pull away, but he does shut his eyes tightly.

  I pull back, but stop at his ear, seeing chills break out over his tanned neck and I whisper, "Don't trust anyone in this place. Don't trust anything you see or hear, especially when it comes to me while Papa is near. I’ve lived in this hell for years and I know how to play the game. It's all a show, a delicious lie to make you feel like you're bigger than you are. Take my advice for once and just run, Carter."

  Captain

  “What do they expect, to just waltz back in like nothing happened?” I bark at Alexi over the phone. He’s pissing me the hell off this morning.

  “They’re still on Sal’s payroll, it would be easie—”

  “Do you think I care about what’s easy? I’m halfway convinced to shut this shit show down altogether. We can't trust them.”

  Alexi sighs, clearly exasperated, but I don’t give a fuck. “Captain, I understand where you’re coming from, but just because they worked for Giles doesn’t mean they hold any loyalty for the man.”

  Grinding my teeth, I try to refrain from throwing my phone across the room. Finley and I have been locked in this conference room for two hours, hashing out contracts with Alexi Cassini. To say it’s weird to be speaking with him on cordial terms after warring with the Cassini family for three years is an understatement. Alexi seems convinced that hiring our men back is the safest course of action, but I disagree. Those henchmen were loyal to Giles. I can’t trust them, so why waste the resources?

  “How can you be so blasé about this? You of all people should be skeptical, right Alexi? Giles practically hunted you for the better part of three years and you’re all gung-ho for hiring his men back? You do realize these were the same men that shot at us in the clearing, right? Hell, we must have killed at least five before the rest bailed. No, I refuse to go into this with eyes half open.”

  The silence stretches on the other line, but Finley swoops in just in time. “I have to agree with Captain, father. We can’t take any unnecessary risks. If we’re planning on taking over Black Pharma, then we need to do it with the right team. We can’t trust anyone on Sal’s payroll, or anyone who might have been affiliated with the Montgomery name, or Draven, Faux and Kingsley. I don’t think Sal’s being truthful with us, and if shit goes down the way it did that night, we need men in our corner who will bleed for us.”

  Alexi grumbles for a few long moments, but he doesn't immediately disagree. I don’t plan on budging, even if he did feel like arguing. Despite the fact that he’s my father's age, I’m still his boss. I’m beyond done with this conversation. “Figure it out, Cassini. I want an update by the end of the week—no ex-cops, no ex-cons. I want clean records, private security is a plus, got it?” I don’t even give him a chance to respond before hanging up.

  “I don’t know why, but that was incredibly satisfying,” Finley breathes—leaning backwards in his chair while he pops his neck from side to side.

  I smirk. “Your old man better catch on quick or we’re gonna have problems.”

  “Do you even have an off button?” he asks, and I snap my eyes to his and raise a pale brow. “You just became a big boss; you could lighten up a little.” He smirks, and it reminds me so much of Ellis.

  Snorting, I just shake my head in exasperation. “Big boss my ass, Sal’s the one pulling the strings and we’re just his puppets. I’m under no fucking delusions here, man.”

  “Something’s fishy about all this, don’t you think?” he asks. He doesn't know the half of it yet.

  Tapping my fingers on the tabletop, I bite my lip against wanting to spill my concerns all at once. “You talk to Ellis today?”

  Finley frowns—clearing his throat. “Saw him heading to the gym, why?”

  With a lump in my throat, I scoot my chair back and stand, straightening my tie. “C’mon, we need to have a little chat.”

  ✽✽✽

  “Are you shitting me?!” Fin spits, his face is drawn up in disgust. There’s a vein throbbing in his forehead as he paces my temporary bedroom.

  The guys are sprawled out in various chairs—Carter in the corner brooding, Ellis pretending to fiddle with his phone while I sit on the edge of my bed with my head in my hands. Scraping my palms down my face, I glance across the room at Holden who stands next to the balcony window with his hands in his pockets. He’s been weird the past few days—not really talking, leaving the estate at random and just generally pissing me off.

  “Look for yourself,” Ellis grumbles, holding his phone out for Fin and Holden. On the screen is a video of I sight I never want to subject myself to again. I think the image of Angel’s sister solemnly swinging around that dingy looking pole will haunt me for the rest of my life.

  My friends stare at the screen, eyes bouncing to one another in confusion and disgust, just as I predicted. “Is that—” Holden whispers. They watch in silence and I hate the way I can replay it in my head perfectly.

  I nod. “Sofia Valentino, Sal’s eldest daughter.”

  “I thought she was married off to a Russian?” Finley asks. “Or is that just another lie Angel told us to make us feel sorry for her.”

  “Fuck you, man—” snaps Holden.

  Fin reels back and we all blink at the venom in Holden’s voice. What the hell is his problem? I ask him as much and he just turns away, raking a hand through his messy hair and facing the window again.

  Ellis stands up, pocketing his phone. “What’s wrong with you this week, you’re acting sketchy and we’ve all noticed. This is a big fucking deal and we need your head in the game.”

  The look Holden sends him is bleak. “I’m here, aren't I?”

  I don’t like how he’s acting. Something’s wrong and it irks me. The four of us tell each other everything—always have. I don’t like feeling suspicious of one of my Brothers.

  “What the hell are we supposed to do, do we tell Angel?” I ask finally, because that's what this
all boils down to.

  “Hell no!” Carter snaps. “She probably already knows. She told me herself not to trust anything around here, including her.”

  “What are you talking about? When—why were you talking to her? And why didn’t you say anything?” Ellis sputters, a hint of annoyance in his tone. But who the hell is he to talk? He and I are just as guilty of pretty much stalking her.

  “That’s not important,” I tell them. “We need to figure out what to do about the Sofia situation. You didn’t see it in person, these chicks were drugged out of their minds.” My eyes gloss over in memory. “They looked dead… there’s no way Angel knows about it. Say what you want about her lies, but I can’t see her being fine with her sister living like a zombie—dancing around for rich Russian mobsters.”

  “She doesn’t know,” says Holden quietly. All eyes turn to him. He still stands by the window, but turns around to meet our eyes with a guilty grimace. My stomach does a little flip. “And she’s not lying.”

  “What the fuck do you know, Holden?” growls Carter—standing up and making his way towards Holden. “You’ve been an asshole for days, what do you fucking know?”

  Holden’s eyes flash dangerously. “I spoke t—”

  BAM! The door flies open, slamming against the wall and knocking plaster to the floor. Every one of us stand abruptly, pulling our firearms smoothly from our waistbands and leveling it at the small blue blur that’s forced her way into the room. Eyes blazing, Angel faces off against five guns aimed straight at her face without flinching. Her chest is heaving, but not from fear—from anger.

  “I’ve been listening to you ladies bicker for twenty minutes. I think it's time you gave me some answers,” she demands.

  Carter laughs bitterly. “Eavesdropping, are we?”

  Her head snaps to him and she narrows her brown eyes. “You really want to test me again, Car?” Her eyes flicker down the length of him, pausing on his crotch and back up in the span of a millisecond. A mean smirk tugs on her mouth. “Healing up?”