Sweet savage that she was. Fierce and defiant and soft and pliable.
My throat thickened. “The prick took off after her. He put his hands on her, so when I stepped in and distracted him, she bolted. I found her walking her ass through the frozen forest. Long story short, she asked for a place to stay until she can figure out a way to get free of him. I agreed.”
All in a night’s fun.
“And you agreed to help her? After this chick,who you never should have touched in the first place, broke your heart?” Trent added all kinds of emphasis in the areas that stabbed at my guilt.
“When you put it that way, it makes me sound like I’m the fool here.” I cracked it like a joke.
“Soundlike it?” Jud arched a brow.
“What’s her end game?” Trent cut in.
I gave a halfhearted shrug. “She wants out.”
“Out from under Jarek or her father?” Trent’s jaw was working like mad. He’d always considered himself the protector of the family, like because he was the oldest, it fell on his shoulders. He’d forgotten our father’s blood ran through all of us.
Vengeance.
Cruelty.
Greed.
Unease twitched the muscles at the back of my neck. “Not sure how far she wants to take it. She just said she needs to prove to her father that Jarek has turned on the family.”
Dread poured out of him like a sieve.
“This could get messy.”
I took a sip of my drink. “It always does.”
“You trust her?”
My spirit shook. “I shouldn’t,” I admitted.
Trent eyed me, seeing way down deep the way he always did. “Think the most important question here is what your end game is, man. Why are you doing this? You want a revenge fuck, or does it go deeper than that?”
A disorder burned through my body.
Possession.
Hunger.
It all rose from a well to swill with the loss.
“I’m going to fight for her. The way I should have then.”
The truth of it plowed through me like a cry for victory.
“Is she worth it?” Jud’s voice was soft, filled with empathy.
I ran my finger around the rim of my glass, staring at it while I contemplated, my mind flashing through a thousand memories.
In all my rage, I’d almost forgotten how the girl’d been so fucking sweet.
“I might regret it, but yeah, I think she is.”
Jud gruffed an incredulous laugh. “Chances are you will, man, chances are.”