Kings of Chaos (Dirty Broken Savages #1)(46)

Before she can say anything else, I’m walking away, crossing the street and getting back into my car so I can finally get out of here.

I roll the windows down as I drive so I can feel the wind rushing over my skin and hair and think about how good it’ll be to finally have all of this behind me.

On the way back to the house, I pass a sign for an outlet mall and decide to stop. There’s one thing I need to make this completely perfect.

There are a bunch of stores for clothes, housewares, and electronics, but I find one that specializes in shoes and walk inside. It’s blessedly quiet and mostly empty, and I wander the shelves, looking for the perfect pair.

In the years since I got out of that room and started this mission, nice shoes have become my one weakness. They bring me comfort, soothing me and keeping me grounded. Another little ritual, like the cutting and hunting down everyone who tormented me and killed my sister.

There are a lot of shoes on display, but I need them to be perfect. Sexy. Deadly, almost.

Then I find them.

All black with sharp stiletto heels. I can tell from a glance that they’ll fit me perfectly and also make my legs look killer, so I grab them up and head for the register.

The girl behind the counter grins as she rings them up and wraps them in tissue paper before putting them in a bag. “These are great,” she says. “Is there a big occasion coming up?”

I think about standing on that roof and putting a bullet right through Ivan’s head, and I smile.

“Yeah. There is.”





18





ASH





I SIT in the kitchen at the table, idly flipping one of my knives back and forth between my hands. I throw it up in the air and catch it by the blade, not cutting myself at all. It’s practically mindless at this point. Muscle memory from years of practice, and I do it to keep my hands busy while my mind wanders.

Annoyance is still eating at me from this morning. I wanted to go with River, to see her in action and spend more time with her, but of course Gage had to go and shit all over my parade because it’s not our job to do her job for her. Or whatever.

It’s not like I was going to do the work anyway. I just wanted to ride along. To see what she’s like when she’s not here.

I’m into her. Everyone can see that, I bet. She’s fucking sexy as hell, and she has this mystery around her that makes me want to know more.

I flip the knife and don’t catch it this time, letting the blade sink a little into the wood of the kitchen table just because I can. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out, smirking when I read the text.

Are you home right now? I’m in the neighborhood.

It’s from Sam, a woman I’ve fucked a few times. She added a little winky face at the end of the message that clearly means she wants to hook up. There’s no other reason to be in this neighborhood, so I know what she came for.

Sure, I send back. Come on over.

She’s been here before, and she must actually have been in the neighborhood when she sent the text, because it takes her less than ten minutes to make it to the front door after I hit reply. She knocks once, and the dog starts losing his shit.

He’s barking and running in a circle in front of the door, clearly not feeling the fact that there’s a stranger here.

“Calm the fuck down, mutt,” I mutter under my breath. I’m still not clear on what the dog’s name even is, since River calls him something different every time she sees him, and Knox seems to be doing the same thing. “She’s a guest, not an intruder.”

The dog doesn’t seem to understand anything I’m saying, but he sits back on his haunches and watches the door when I open it.

Sam’s on the other side, and usually she has some seductive look on her face when she comes over, but now she just looks worried. She twists her dark hair around her fingers, fidgeting with the strands.

“Did you… get a dog?” she asks, glancing around.

“Yeah, you could say that,” I tell her, grinning my most charming grin. “Why? Are you afraid of them?”

“No,” she answers, too quickly. “It was just loud. Unexpected.”

As if on cue, the dog barks again, and she jerks back from the door.

All at once, I’m amused and annoyed all over again. River wouldn’t be standing there cowering in the doorway because of a dog. She’s the one who brought the damn thing into our house in the first place.

I shoot the dog a look that I hope conveys that if he fucks this up for me, he’ll be sleeping outside in the fucking dirt. The happy expression on his furry brown face suggests he isn’t picking up the hint.

“He’s harmless,” I tell Sam. “Come on in.”

I lead her to the living room, not bothering to fill the silence with small talk. We both know what she’s here for. We settle on the couch, and even if I did want to talk to her, she’s on me before I would have been able to get a word out.

She climbs into my lap, wrapping her arms around my neck while she straddles me. Her mouth is soft and plush when she leans in to kiss me, and she tastes and smells sweet. My hands go to her hips automatically, and I kiss her back, biting down on her lower lip just to hear the sound she makes when I do it.

It’s low and needy, and her hips roll against me as she grinds down.