“—Bishop!”
He steps into my space. “Move, Tillie.”
Nate
Brantley paces back and forth in front of a bedroom door, a bottle of scotch dangling from his fingertips.
I tip my head. “The fuck are you doing?” I had a feeling the whole Tillie thing would get to him, but this is taking the cake. Maybe he cares more for her than I thought…
“Shut the fuck up with your thoughts, Nate. It’s not about Tillie.”
My brain is buzzing with alcohol, turning my limbs numb, but I don’t give a fuck. I’d rather feel the cool buzz of nothingness than the molten lava of Tillie fucking Stuprum blazing through my veins. I slide down the wall opposite and watch as he continues to pace back and forth like a caged lion protecting his prey.
“So what has gotten into you. Never seen you like this before. Should I be worried? Has our dark prince fallen in love?”
He pauses, snarls at me and then takes a long swig of the amber liquid. Then he continues pacing in front of the door. Figuring he’s not going to answer me, I kick my leg out and hang my arm on my knee. “You think Tillie will forgive me one day?”
Instant. “No.”
I snort, licking my lips. “Yeah, you’re probably right.”
He continues pacing. He’s deranged and unhinged. Like a wild animal threatening to break out of its cage. My eyes catch the door handle. Its gold pattern lingers in my attention for longer than it should. It’s not that the door handle is odd, because this whole fucking house is creepy and peculiar. It’s the Dark Mansion, and it well and truly holds its title with pride. With its sharp concrete rooftops and the cement hidden gardens that take you from one wing of the house to the other; It’s all fucking Addams family and gothic, but the house has been in the Vitiosis family since way the fuck back then. My eyes fly to the other door handle beside this one. It’s silver, plain, and smooth. Nothing to it and it’s certainly not gold. I examine another and then swing my head to the other side to check the rest of them. My skin is itching with curiosity when my attention lands back on the door handle in front of me. Gold that sparkles so bright it reminds me of an angel’s halo, and a single pattern of what looks like a lotus flower on the base.
I fly to my feet, adrenaline coursing through me. “What is behind that door?”
Brantley freezes momentarily before flying toward me, wrapping his fingers around my throat and shoving me against the back wall. He tilts his head, examining me closely. His pupils are dilated. Yeah, he’s fucked up right now.
He leans in closer, his mouth touching my ear. “You can’t have her,” he whispers, kissing my cheek before pushing away from me to continue his pacing.
“Well, now I’m really fucking curious. You hiding her behind that door, Bran Bran?” I throw Tillie’s nickname at him.
He flips me off.
I smirk, pushing off the wall before walking directly up to him. I don’t want to test him. No one tests a fucking wolf unless they want to get eaten, or unless you’re fucking Tillie.
“Let me see her.”
He can’t possibly have a girl in there. I mean—really? That would be fucked up… which would be totally something Brantley would do.
He snarls at me, his jaw clenching. He opens his mouth to say something just as Eli’s voice breaks out from behind us. “Yo! Madison and Bishop have just had a massive fight and Tillie was in the middle of it!”
“What the fuck!” I slam my fist against the wall and kick up from my seat. I don’t know what the fuck is going on between the two of them, but whatever it is, they need to sort it out before I lock them both in a cell on Perdita and throw away the key.
Actually, that’s not a bad idea.
Brantley and I both fly down the hallway and jog down the stairs from the third level, down to the second, and then down to the first. My feet hit the foyer when I hear Madison screaming from down the main hallway—coming from Luce’s office.
Brantley stills when he realizes that they’re in there, but then Tillie’s voice comes through and we both rush forward.
“What the fuck, Bishop! You selfish fucking—”
“Enough!” I snap, entering the room, my heart erratic and my eyes checking over Tillie quickly to make sure she’s not hurt. Be awfully unfortunate to have to turn on a brother…
Madison runs toward me, her arms wrapping around my waist.
“Shut the door,” I order Brantley, even though this is his fucking house and Bishop is the leader. But the leader is damaged right now, so naturally, I’m going to have to step up.
I press my lips to Madison’s head, my fingers curling under her chin to lift her face to mine. “Who do I need to kill?”
Tears pour freely over her swollen cheeks. She’s always so painfully beautiful, but it’s hard to notice that when Tillie is in the same room.
“It’s nothing.”
“Madison…” Tillie urges.
Madison swipes at her tears. “It’s nothing. I cheated on Bishop, so he hates me and we’re over and that’s why we’re fighting. I’m going home now.”
“Hold up!” I pull her back by her arm when she tries to take off. Because that’s what she’s good at—running. Except now she’s running on my patience and if it’s true, that she really did cheat on Bishop, then she and I will really have a problem. Because I’m a hypocrite like that—she can only cheat with my cock. Could. I’d never touch her now or ever.
“Nate!” Madison
