Reign of Wrath (Dirty Broken Savages #3)(79)

It’s clear to hear the anger and hatred burning in her voice as she confronts Julian, but it’s also clear that she’s holding herself back a little because of the plan. Otherwise she might have already clawed his eyes out for daring to talk about her sister that way. I want to have her back, to stand right beside her as she faces down this fucker.

But I can’t.

I have a job to do.

Allowing my brothers to be the ones who stand behind and beside her, I shift around to one side a little. Julian is so fucking focused on staring down River, almost foaming at the mouth with his anger, that he doesn’t even notice when my sticky fingers find their way into his pocket and take his phone.

I turn my back a little, one ear cocked to listen to River dressing him down while the rest of my focus is on the phone in my hand. We got a little device from our hacker friend that I plug into his phone. It’s designed to basically allow us to tap into his phone, so we can hear his calls and things like that.

It runs a program that downloads the software onto his phone, and I tap my foot a little as I stare at the screen, willing it to hurry the fuck up.

“You have a lot of nerve,” Julian is saying, practically spitting the words at River.

River snorts right in his face, and I smile with pride. “You’re one to talk,” she shoots back.

The program finishes downloading, and I unplug the device, pushing it back into my pocket before sliding Julian’s phone back into his, just as subtly as I took it out.

He never moves or notices, so focused on the anger and hatred coming from River. Going both ways, really.

I step away from Julian and sneeze into my hands, not loud enough to draw attention, but enough to give River the signal that I’m done with what I had to do.

She glances my way and something shifts in her eyes, so I know she got the signal. Finally, she lets herself say to Julian what I know she’s been dying to say this whole time.

“You know, it’s surprising you’re actually here at all tonight,” she says, her tone still angry. “Considering the word on the street is that your business isn’t going so well these days.”

Julian’s eyes narrow. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? What do you know about that?”

I can see it the second the suspicion hits him. Because of how carefully we planned all this out, he hasn’t had a reason to suspect us this whole time. But now that River’s in his face telling him about it, it hits him that we’re the ones with reason to go after him.

River shrugs.

“I know a lot about it,” she says. “Because we’re the ones who burned down your gym. We stood there outside of it and watched it go up in flames.”

Julian opens his mouth, but no sound comes out. Maybe it’s the shock of hearing that, or maybe he’s just so full of rage he doesn’t know what to say.

But River isn’t done yet. She grins, and it reminds me a lot of the savage, unhinged look Knox wears sometimes.

Only it’s a lot hotter on her.

“We’re also the reason you have no supply or demand for your fucking drugs. So yeah. We know business isn’t exactly booming right now.”

Fury fills Julian’s face in a split second, and the tension grows thick and heavy in the air. We all shift closer to River, ready to protect her if we need to. But before Julian can do or say anything to her, a loud moan cuts through the air, amplified in the large room and ringing from the vaulted ceilings.

Julian’s face drains of color, and his eyes widen, as if he recognizes the sound immediately.

And, you know, he should.

Considering it’s his sister.





33





River





My heart is pounding in my chest.

I watch everything that plays across Julian’s face as he hears the unmistakable sounds of sex and his sister’s moans.

This main room has one of those large, almost theater sized TVs in it, mounted into the wall, and that’s where Julian’s fucked up sex tape is currently playing. He whirls around and sees the video, watching himself as he shoves Natalie over the couch and pushes into her, fucking her hard for everyone in the room to see.

Everyone at the party is turning to watch as well, drawn by the sounds.

Up to this point, I hadn’t seen the video yet because I really didn’t want to see a repeat of what I saw live in person at the church. But I have to admit that Knox got a great fucking shot. It’s filthy stuff, and it’s incredibly obvious who it is.

Both Julian and Natalie’s faces are clear in the video, and they keep moaning each other’s names.

At one point, Julian even makes her admit that no one can make her come like her brother does, telling her he won’t let her finish if she doesn’t say it, which really just seals the fucking deal. There’s no way around the damning evidence about just what kind of relationship the two of them had.

People in the crowd start murmuring, watching the video and turning to their little clusters to talk about what they’re seeing. It’s amazing, because some of those same people are the ones Julian was just rubbing elbows with, trying to charm his way into their good graces. And now they can all see him for what he really is, live on a ridiculously big TV screen.

It’s perfect.

Julian looks like his brain has momentarily shut off. He looks stunned, like he’s cycling through dozens of options to try to find a way to salvage this, to fix it. But there isn’t one. It’s clear he keeps coming up with nothing.