There was nothing more unsavory to my leader than the idea of ending up on the wall.
"To whom?" I rolled my eyes. "Our loyalty is to the club, each other, and Daph. I am not afraid of that bitch, and neither should you be. Nobody plays the game better than we do. But Daphne's off the table."
Wolfe made a face, his mind turning. "Why would Carden let you in on this?" he asked before I turned away.
"I pay the Reapers to look out for her," I admitted, and Wolfe finally smiled. "Carden took the contract as a personal favor for all the work I've done for him."
"Of course you fucking do," he shook his head and shooed me away. "Go get married, Threx. When you're done, I have a present for you."
"Oh, yeah?" I made a face, unsure if I could take any more of his gifts.
"Remember when I had a feeling Rinley was playing both sides?"
My heart twitched a bit, something like Christmas fluttering up from the dark pit of my stomach.
"Well, you'll never guess which one ofKarsten's mentook out my pretend queen on orders from Marianne," his voice brightened. "I was wondering if you might want to go play with me."
A grin spread across my lips when I slammed the door shut, peeking my head through the window to throw some fuel on the fire. Because I had been waiting my entire goddamn life for this moment.
"Wolfe," I growled, blading my voice like a weapon. "Did you know Rinley took Daphne's virginity against a dirty wall, leaving the blood to drip down her leg like some back alley whore?"
Wolfe went pale, the coffee in his hand dropping to the floor, when he turned to look at me.
And there it was.
The creature! The breaking. All the emotions I was waiting for him to feel.
No more math for you, buddy.
Let's see how far that love will go.
thirty-three
Daphne: Basic Dental Care
“You’re leaving?” Finn scoffed as he pulled into our client’s driveway. “Two death dealers show up, and suddenly everything you worked for doesn’t matter anymore?” He licked his lips. “Poof. All gone. Just like that?”
“Did you miss the part about my friend getting shot?” I tilted my head at his indifference with a heated look.
“I’m starting to think that’s routine in your world,” he said, dismissing Blade’s wound with a sneer. He’d clearly investigated the men who dragged me from the clinic two days earlier and had opinions. “You’re just hiding behind that excuse.”
“For what, Finn?”
“I don’t know, Daphne. To cover up for whatever truth those two are feeding you to fuck with your head.” He made a face, the arrogance in his eyes tingling with judgment. “Are you really fucking both of them?”
I blinked as a rush of anger blazed in my lungs, hot and violent.
“Here’s the truth: if I want to go home and care for someone who helped me survive, paid my tuition, and fed me… then I will.”
I stepped out onto the pavement, meeting the cool air in a broken stride.
“Because no, Finn. Getting shot is not normal. And even if it were, I don’t need your approval.”
“Yes, you do.” He slammed the door shut and jerked the medical kit from the backseat. “Because no one else in your life is going to say it to your face.”
“Say what exactly?”
“That this is a goddamn mistake,” he said, stepping close, two inches from my body. “You’re tossing away your future. For what? To rot away with criminals? To waste the spark you fought for because the monsters can’t live without you? I don’t know. Pick a lane, Daph.”