Soulless Devil (Sons of Valentino #3)(2)

I mean, my older brother’s best friend, Savvy, is the closest thing to a sister I could ever have but she isn’t blood. She’s always been there growing up. She comes to every family event. And I’m almost certain that one day she’ll be my sister for real. If Matteo could chain her down, he would. In a heartbeat.

“Fine, but this is a one off thing. I don’t have time to be chasing after all of you.” The woman huffs as she takes the cup.

I look at her name badge. “Thank you so much, Margaret. I really appreciate it, ma’am.” The smile I offer her, the one that usually gets me anything I want, has absolutely no effect whatsoever. She sends me a final glare as she walks off with the cup in hand. Turning around, I head back out of the library.

I swear to God, Luc is going to owe me for tonight’s missed opportunity.





I pull up to the industrial garage we’ve converted into a club. It’s already packed. Vehicles everywhere. Thankfully, I don’t have to teach any motherfucker a lesson for parking in my spot.

Jumping out of the car, I’m greeted with enthusiasm from the crowds of college assholes hanging around in clusters. I nod to acknowledge them, but that’s all they’ll get from me. They aren’t my friends. They’re a means to fund this club. That’s all. I don’t have friends. I’ve never needed them. I have Luc and Luc has friends. He’s always been the popular one. I’m just his weird lookalike, who tags along with him everywhere. At least that’s how we’re perceived.

Entering the garage, I find my twin enjoying the attention of a busty brunette. I roll my eyes, walk right up to them, and pull her off his lap. She shrieks as I place her feet on the ground. I’m gentle. It’s not like I’m out to hurt the girl.

“Go find another dick to ride,” I tell her, gesturing in the opposite direction.

Luc smirks up at me. “What the fuck, bro? I was enjoying that.”

I stare at him for a moment. He’s lying. He wasn’t enjoying her attention. He was just taking it. “Sure you were. Get up. You wanna fight? Let’s do this shit and get it over with. Some of us have shit to do tonight.”

He stands, pulls his shirt over his head, and kicks his shoes off, leaving himself in a pair of black jeans. “Really? What were you doing?” he asks.

“I was studying. You know, that thing people do at college,” I tell him.

Luc laughs—more like howls. “Please, you’ve never needed to study a day in your life, Einstein.”

“Well, there’s always a first for everything.”

He shrugs a shoulder. “Fine, don’t tell me what you were really up to. I’ll find out anyway,” he says as he shakes his arms out and stretches them above his head. “Let’s do this.” He smiles.

My brother doesn’t fight for the money, obviously. He lives on the adrenaline, the high, the pain of each blow. He loves to play with his opponent, with the crowd. No one ever knows if he’s going to win or not. Until he decides to throw that knockout blow. The one that’s endgame for his opponent and has left him undefeated.

“Okay, boys and girls, let’s get this party started!” Luc yells over the roar of the crowd as he enters the ring.

I take my place standing at the door of the cage. If I think for one minute he’s in any kind of real danger, I will be at his side in seconds, blowing someone’s head off.

Everyone cheers as my twin jogs around the platform, putting on one hell of a performance. The theatrics have the crowd throwing bets either for or against him, though the majority are counting on Luc for the win. I look over to Henry, the little math geek who’s been our bookie since we started. He sends me a thumbs-up. It’s a good night. Lucrative.

The opponent enters the ring, giving me a wide berth. I smirk at him. It’s not me you should be avoiding. You’re about to get in a locked cage with a Valentino.

He’s either stupid, brave, or both. I don’t give a shit which. Regardless, it’s his funeral. Not literally. Hopefully… We’ve been lucky so far. No deaths on our hands—due to cage fighting anyway—and I’d like to keep it that way.

The fight starts and I watch as Luc takes hit after hit, doing nothing to block the blows coming at him. I feel each one, like they’re connecting with me. My blood boils, and my hands clench to get in that ring and strangle the motherfucker dumb enough to hit my brother. I don’t though. I know this is part of the game that Luc insists on playing.

Eventually, after a few minutes, Luc shakes his arms out before tilting his head to one side, his glare aimed at his opponent. I can’t hear what they’re saying. However, judging by the look on Luc’s face, it’s not fucking good.

My brother throws a punch to the guy’s head and the crowd goes silent as we watch his body fall to the ground. Luc then kicks his motionless form in the ribs, probably cracking a few before storming out of the cage, through the crowd. That’s not like him, usually when he knocks someone out, he’ll stick around until they come to.

I follow my twin out to the parking lot. “Luc, hold up.” I pull him around to face me. “What the fuck was that?” I ask.

“A fight.”

“What’d he say to you?” I try again.

“He said he’d bet my mother would put up more of a fight than I could,” he hisses. “Then he went on to say that he intended to find out firsthand.”