Page 41 of Dirty Secrets

“You want to know one of my secrets? I’ve wanted to fuck you for as long as I can remember,” I said quietly, and I was surprised her neck didn’t snap at how fast she looked over at me. “Josh would’ve beaten me to death if I’d touched you. I was just a horny kid who’d just discovered what to do with my dick, so I probably would’ve wrecked everything with you back then.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” she asked as she turned her eyes back to the road, trying to sound casual, but her voice went tight.

“You deserve so much more than me, that’s why. Why haven’t you told Zavier you have a thing for him?” I threw back.

“I’m glad I didn’t because I would’ve just embarrassed myself.”

I didn’t want to tell her that was bullshit in case she decided Zavier was a better option, so I lit a cigarette and fiddled with the radio, ending the conversation.

CHAPTER EIGHT

ZAVIER

“What’s up with you?” Beckett asked, her words almost being drowned out by a scream as her knife slammed into her latest victim's thigh. She was on torture duty, apparently.

Reid had decided to hang out with Riley, not wanting to witness this shit, but I was used to it.

After all, I’d been the one in the torture chair before.

Beckett was an acquired taste for a friend, but she’d been loyal to me over the past year as I had been to her. My family killed her brother, and her family had killed my brother, cousin, and father.

It was a good balance, if you asked me. Three pieces of shit in exchange for one good man.

Maddox wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of our friendship, but he’d get over it. Finding out I was his cousin might have been the reason for his tolerance, but I doubted it.

The only family in his mind were those who’d adopted him as a kid. He was more of a Donovan than he ever would be a Lopez, and I loved that for him.

I almost wished they’d found and adopted me too.

“Raven’s acting weird and I don’t know what’s going on with her,” I answered, eyeing the guy and wondering what he’d done. The Donovans didn’t just torture people for fun, they had to have done something to earn it.

They weren’t complete psychopaths.

Beckett chuckled, giving me a grin. “Trouble in paradise? Something happened since you got home last night?”

“She’s just giving us emotional whiplash. The guys aren’t helping, she hasn’t been sleeping properly, thanks to them bringing girls home so damn much. She’s pissy.”

“I’m not surprised. You guys really need to let her find a boyfriend or something.”

“I’m trying to convince the guys to back off a little, but they won’t. I’d rather we help her find someone nice than her fucking a stranger for her first time and ending up with her heart broken.”

She gave me a sad smile, turning to face me. “She’s going to get her heart broken no matter what, Lopez. It’s rare for anyone's first time to end well.”

“We can try to make sure he at least respects her. Reid won’t listen though, and it’s making her push back and do dumb shit to spite us. I might be able to convince Logan to side with me and find someone for her, but Reid won’t budge,” I sighed, and she rolled her eyes.

“Reid will learn the fucking hard way when she walks out on you all and announces she’s gotten hitched to some random asshole. Why don’t you just sleep with her?”

“I offered and almost got my ass beat,” I muttered, amusement flashing across her face.

“You seriously like her, don’t you?”

“You fucking know I do.”

“Don’t get defensive with me. I’m usually just teasing but I’m genuinely asking you now,” she insisted, turning back to the guy in the chair. “Rain check. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He groaned but didn’t say much else, and I followed her into the main room at the Psychos’ shed. I waited for her to lock the old bathroom door so the man couldn’t escape, before we headed to the bar to talk.

It was quiet here today. No cage fights were on and no one was training. Most people were out on jobs, so it was only Beckett playing torture master, one of her fathers, Slash, who was the boss and was arguing with someone on the phone in his office, and one of her other fathers, Tyler, who was pacing on the phone outside.