Page 7 of Blade

Don’t fucking touch her!I screamed in my head.

Luis stared at me in shock before his brows drew down and fury turned his dark tan skin a mottled red. “What the fuck did you just say to me?” he asked with his usual deadly calm despite his appearance.

“I-I-I-I d-d-didn’t say anything,” I stuttered. Because I knew I hadn’t uttered a word.

The two men glanced at Luis, then me with barely concealed confusion.

“Are you calling me a liar?” He glanced at his men. “Are you going to just stand there while this little brat insults me?”

“Uh, boss, no one said anything but you,” the first guy quietly replied as he cast the other man a questioning glance.

Luis blinked as he stared at me, then at the other guy. “Are you trying to tell me you didn’t hear him shout at me?”

“I’m sorry, but he didn’t say anything,” the other guy confirmed with a shrug of one shoulder.

My heart was racing, and I trembled head to toe. I had no idea what had just happened. Never in a million years would I dare to yell at Luis Trujillo.

Manny had told me to never trust his father and to never anger him. I wasn’t a fucking idiot.

Thankfully, he blew off what had just happened as a figment of his imagination. At least, I hoped he had.

“Sage, go wait in my room and we’ll do your homework when I’m done,” I quietly instructed. For once, she didn’t argue with me and I was grateful.

She cast a nervous side-eye at Luis as she skirted around him, giving him a wide berth.Smart girl. She disappeared down the back hall toward my room.

“Hermadreworks for me too,” Luis told me as his goons inventoried the weed I still had left. “But she’s getting worn out.”

I wasn’t sure exactly what he was getting at.

“Might be time for a replacement soon,” he murmured as he stared down the hallway.

As I ground my teeth, I was afraid I might crack a tooth. But I remained silent.

Once they were done calculating that I hadn’t stolen jack shit from Luis, he took his money, thumbed off a few bills and tossed them on the chipped coffee table. “I’m taking off ten percent because I had to come for my money.” The rest, he stuffed insidehis inner jacket pocket. Then the first guy opened the door. Luis paused and looked over his shoulder at me.

“Yourmamais real pretty… boy.” Darkly, he grinned. “Next time, don’t make me come for my money. If I have to, I’ll be taking more than ten percent. You understand me?” His black eyes burned through me.

One day, I hoped I slid a knife through his heart.

“BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor”—WrittenByWolves

Present…

I’d tossed and turned the night before, so I was dragging ass, and my eyes were on fire. I looked like I’d either been smoking weed for two hours straight or was coming off a three-day bender. My dreams had been plagued byherand that hadn’t happened in months.

With a yawn, I rolled over and sat up, dropping my feet to the floor. I scratched my chest, then briskly rubbed my hands through my hair, trying to wake myself up.

I left my small bedroom and shuffled to the kitchen in my underwear. Another yawn hit me as I started a pot of coffee. While it did its thing, I went into the bathroom and turned on the water to shower.

By the time I got out, I went back to the kitchen with my towel around my waist, poured myself a mug, and drank it hot and black. Between the shower and the shot of caffeine, I started to wake up.

I had about thirty minutes before I needed to be heading out for my first job.

After Raptor established the chapter down here in the Dallas area, he also opened a branch of the biological cleaning company like we had in Ankeny. Since Phoenix and I had experience, initially we ran the show, but it was exhausting.

Now that we had Torque, Tigger, and Ares trained, the workload was easier. Today it was me and Ares. We had a murder-suicide in a rich neighborhood in Fort Worth that was the first stop. Evidently, he caught his wife cheating and lost it. Just went to show that money can’t always buy happiness.

About twenty minutes later, I was walking over to the clubhouse. I’d nearly made it to the door when Raptor, Gator, Phoenix, and Tigger came out. They all had weapons on them, though they weren’t drawn.