Unstable by Lacey Carter Andersen
10
Cole
Damn it.I did not want to see that. I did not want to see them all fucking. Most men would be sitting outside with a hard erection feeling pissed they didn’t have a willing, waiting woman in that room. But I’m not pissed. I’m sad. And lonely.
Under Maxen’s thumb, I would never be foolish enough to take an interest in any woman. Doing so would inevitably end in her death. And as much as an asshole as I am, I never wanted to be the reason someone died.
Not if I could help it.
But the longing to have someone is there, exactly where that damned mutant had known it was, a deep dark place inside of me that wants so many things I can never say. I hate that that place existed. I wish my soul was as black as Maxen’s, because regardless of what I feel, he commands my hand.
I will do terrible things, whether my conscience eats me alive or not.
So why have a conscience?
And then there was the sight of Kiera naked. Damn it. Now, my dick does get hard again. And the longing to not be alone is coupled with the longing to touch the fierce berserker woman.
I didn’t deserve her. Even thinking about her in such a way is dangerous. But then, Emory had touched her. Emory was inside her tight ass fucking her like she was an angel, and he was a demon claiming her for himself.
Maybe I hate Emory. Hate him for living through the same terrors I had lived through, for being twisted beneath the shadow of our brother just as I had, and somehow coming out of it all with a woman he didn’t deserve.
Yeah, I definitely hated him.
A dark car passes me slowly on the street again. And this time, I know. I know it’s Maxen’s men.
If I go to them now, I can communicate a deal with Maxen. I have a plan about how to save myself and his woman and not actually return the relic to the demons. This is the smartest plan. The others will die, but their lives should mean nothing to me.
My half-brother, the last of the dragon shifters, and a sane mutant. They should be nothing but chess pieces in this game. Pawns to sacrifice for the greater good.
So why am I hesitating?
Maxen is the only one who can give me the wealth and freedom I’ve earned with my own blood, sweat, and tears over the years. If I just walk away and hope he doesn’t come for me now, I walk away with nothing.
And as the images of every dead person whose life I’m responsible for rolls through my mind, I know what I have to do. There’s only one answer.
I stand and walk in the direction I saw the car. It’s time to make a deal. Time to kill a few pawns to finally be free of my king.
Only, that damned mutant must have gotten to me more than I ever imagined, because I feel the unmistakable emotion that I hate: regret.
