Wolfe wasn’t the type to brag about his women, but when it came to Daphne, he protected her with every bit of his non-existent soul.
“Everyone who doesn’t matter, get the fuck out!” he demanded, ushering the last of the naked bodies down the stairs before plopping into the chair beside me.
“Where is she?” I was not about to play his power games.
The truth was Wolfe was in control of everythingbuthis feelings for Daphne! He was fearless until she walked in, and then his dick was the only thing that mattered. That, and fuck, I think he might actually love her. A nervous laugh shot straightinto my throat, and I paused… But he’s never kept her. And that is the only reason he still breathes.
“Wolfe?” I growled, tossing a glance at the stream of ignored texts. “I can smell her on you. Tell me where she is!”
The bastard cracked a laugh, rolling his fingertips into his mouth with a suck.
“Now that we are all here.” He pulled his fingers out, savoring her taste. “Less for Nathem, who will be joining us in a moment, let’s talk about the clusterfuck that was today.”
“What are you talking about?” Jessie arched a brow. He was a torturer with a poet’s soul, smelled of cedar, and radiated all that dark romantic shit. “We retrieved the guns and the stolen cash. Most people would call that a win!”
“And got Karsten’s son shot!” Wolfe huffed. “So I call it a clusterfuck!”
“Shot is not dead,” Blade laughed, leaning on the stair banister. “And everyone who comes to play knows the risk.”
“Didn’t I banish you to door duty?” Wolfe asked, flicking his cigarette on the floor.
Oh yes, he’d finally banged Carissa. Wolfe’s sister! It had only been ten years since that infatuation started. All of us smirked, tapping the edge of our chairs in his honor.
“Shut the fuck up,” Wolfe shook his head, pointing at an empty chair. “And shot is almost worse,” he continued. “Why? Because now Karsten’s son will name us in that grab! Which means Marianne’s gonna turn around to shield her people, and our faction support is going to drop until this shit clears.”
“And,” Nathem stormed in, dropping into the other seat next to me, smelling like… I turned. “He is already pissed about the little side job we did to set up the Reapers.”
The Reapers were a factionless crew who didn’t meddle in Underworld politics and were granted amnesty in all majorterritories. Their sole purpose was to carry out contracts. It wasn’t personal; death never is.
When I was seventeen, I had done some work with one of their uppers, Zade Carden, and was asked to join their guild. However, Daphne was a hard stop. Accepting their order meant severing all ties to her, so I told them to go fuck themselves and never looked back.
Besides, hiding behind a hood was never my style.
“Sounds like it might be time to call in a favor,” I advised, still drilling holes into Nathem’s skull. “Where were you?” I changed the subject, watching that smug, Irish son of a bitch toy with the idea of not telling me.
“I was making a drop,” he said casually. “But speaking ofDaphne!” Nathem laughed, confirming… what exactly? He had about two seconds before I yanked the words out of his mouth, along with the accent most women dropped their panties for. “She is on Rinley’s shit list.”
“Oh yeah, I saw her tonight,” Blade grinned. “Is it me, or has she gotten prettier?”
Wolfe got to him before I did.
“You know what? I think the door is lonely without you. Maybe you should go keep it company.”
Blade only smiled.
“Rinley knows if he goes anywhere near Daphne that Threx and Wolfe will have him by the balls,” Jessie said as if it were common knowledge. And it was.
“That doesn’t mean he won’t do it, though. That fucker is unhinged,” Nathem leaned forward. “And bitter that she left.”
“Speaking of,” Jace, our medical advisor, who somehow managed to get more pussy than all of us combined, chimed in. Must be the dollars because God knows it wasn’t his face. “What is Daphne now that she is out?”
I arched a brow at the doc in silent thought. I didn’t quite care for the way “out” and her name touched each other in the same sentence.
“Daphne is family,” I declared. “She has earned her place.”
“And non-negotiable,” Wolfe added. “Does anyone here think otherwise?”
They all huffed and shrugged, with the same pathetic smiles she always seemed to conjure even in the Underworld. Dark things liked her! Me most of all.