Wicked as Sin (Wicked & Devoted 1)

“That son of a bitch,” Cutter grumbled.

“Shush. He’s only riding down the street.”

Cutter gently guided her down the sidewalk, but she could feel rage pinging from him. “Walker is sniffing around you, Bre-Bee. He smells blood.”

“What the devil does that mean?”

“You think he’s a harmless kitten, that under all his BS he’s got a good heart. That man is a hungry lion ready to eat, and you’re the little rabbit he intends to sate his hunger with.”

His intimation sent heat rolling through her. “You don’t know that.”

Cutter scoffed. “Yeah, I do. He’s not even trying to hide it. You’re just too nice to understand. He was pleasant at the EM party. He took you to the hospital when you needed help. He ate the cookies you baked him—”

“How did you know about those?”

“I didn’t fix the church van. He did. But I intercepted the note he left you, ‘inviting’ you back to his place to pick up your container since he’d spent the evening ‘eating your cookies.’ I hope he meant your snickerdoodles and not your pussy.”

“Cutter Edward Bryant!” He’d never spoken to her like that.

Still, a vision of Pierce, big and inked and naked, with his dark head between her bare thighs as she writhed in ecstasy, shot a bolt of fire through her bloodstream.

“I’m serious,” Cutter growled. “He’d like to.”

She knew. He hadn’t kept that a secret. “Well, he never touched me, especially…there.”

“And now he won’t. I warned him away again. This time, I made sure he knows I mean it.”

Brea stopped their stroll by putting her foot down. “Did you ask me what I wanted?”

“It’s not him. You have better taste than that.”

Admitting that she didn’t would only start an argument. And why bother? Other than eyeing her on the street just now and supposedly fixing the church van, Pierce hadn’t given her any real indication he was interested in more than sex. Besides, how could she introduce him to Daddy? Unless Pierce was willing to put a ring on her finger, that was impossible. But the notion seemed highly unlikely. He might give her a night of sin but never his last name. Time to stop indulging in this stupid fantasy that the bad boy wanted her for anything more than a fling.

Time to forget him.

Brea looked down the sidewalk. The door to the beauty shop opened. Rayleigh, the owner, stuck her head out and shot her an Instagram-ready brow.

“I’ve got to go. I’m sure Gabrielle and her mother are waiting for me. I’ll see you later.”

“Call me if you need someone to run you out to the Richards’ place later.”

Brea was tired just thinking about the twelve-plus-hour day in front of her. “Thanks.”

Cutter leaned in and kissed her cheek. “I’m only trying to protect you.”

She sighed. “I know.”

After giving him the only smile she could manage, she headed inside the salon. Four hours, two perms, a shampoo-and-set, and a no-show later, she propped her feet on a vacant chair in the break room and waited for her next haircut. She was playing a crossword app on her phone when it rang. It was Cutter.

Brea almost didn’t answer. He probably wanted to remind her of all the reasons Pierce wasn’t right for her, and she wasn’t in the mood.

But as her finger hovered over the decline button, something told her to answer. “Hi. What’re you doing?”

He paused. His silence was somehow rife with tension. “Brea, I want you to listen to me carefully.”

“What’s wrong?”

Had he gone by to check on Daddy and found him collapsed again?

“I’m in a situation. I’ve always managed to make it out safely in the past…but I don’t think this one will end that way. I’m sorry. I called to say goodbye.”

Chapter Four

Brea’s heart stopped. Her world came to a standstill. “What are you saying?”

But she knew. Cutter lived steeped in danger, and her worst fear, that something had finally proven stronger than him, had come true.

“Cage is on his way. Stay put. He’ll explain. But—”

“No!”

“Don’t make this harder,” he barked, his voice gravelly with resolution and something she’d never heard in his voice—fear. “I’ve called the rest of my family and said my goodbyes. I love you, little sister. Take care—”

“Stop. There must be something you can do. This can’t be happening. I don’t…” Know what I’ll do without you.

The words pressed on her chest, cutting off her breath and forcing out tears.

“I negotiated the release of a group of hostages. Saving fifteen lives at the price of one is a good deal. My end will be quick, and you’ll go on. Live well.” He let out a shuddering breath. “For me.”

“Cutter, no. You can’t just—”

But the line went dead. The reality that she’d probably never again talk to the brother of her heart slammed into her chest.

She believed in a benevolent God. Sure, bad things happened in this world…but why Cutter? Why now? Brea didn’t understand anything about this—except that she had to do something to stop it. Surely, His will couldn’t be so cruel as to let someone as wonderful as Cutter die for doing a good deed.