Page 124 of The Carnage We Keep

A hand brushes the small of my back. I jolt and whirl, a flash of fury in my eyes. Instantly, that hand tightens as another lands warmly on my hip.

“You going to be okay?”

I frown up at Damiano’s stupidly hot face.

“Uh, yeah.” I shrug the memory away and lift my chin, then cock a brow. “Are you?” I nod at the eight men scattered around the room. “There’s two more than we were expecting. Plus the two bouncers by the elevator.”

He rolls his eyes. “I can handle them just fine. I’ve been boxing my entire life.”

“Have you?” I shrug. “I’d have never guessed based on what I’ve seen.”

“Careful—”

“You must be Tucker!”

A guy with a face that would be attractive if he didn’t exude bag-of-dicks energy walks up grinning a used car salesman smile, residual cocaine lingering on his nostrils.

“Trip,” the Epstein wannabe says as he clasps Damiano’s hand and shakes it violently. “Trip Carnegie. We emailed?”

Damiano smiles. “Of course,” he growls, his eyes silently dissecting the guy.

“Well, this is it, bro!” Trip grins. “Welcome to The Wolf Pack!”

His eyes shift to me. I instantly want to crawl out of my skin at the way his gaze flat-out molests me.

“Fuck…” he whistles. “Looks like someone understood the assignment.”

Damiano clears his throat. “This is Brinleigh.”

My eyes snap to his. Fucking Brinleigh?!

“Brinleigh Rae,” Damiano continues, smirking at me. We never actually got past his fake name, since that’s all we needed for the invite.

Apparently, someone isn’t over Tucker.

“Well, Brinleigh,” Trip grins lecherously at me as he undresses me with his eyes, “welcome to the club.” He pulls a baggie of coke out of his pocket and offers it to me. “Do you party?”

“Oh, I’m not even old enough to drink,” I giggle in a ditzy, bubblegum voice.

Trip grins wider. “Excellent.”

God, I am going to enjoy stuffing this fucker’s severed cock down his throat.

Suddenly, Trip is taking my hand and pulling me further into the room.

“Why don’t you and I go get to know each other better, Brinleigh?”

Instantly, Damiano’s hand wraps around my other arm like an iron vice.

“She’s with me,” he growls with a tight smile.

Trip chuckles. “Not how it works, bro! This is our party. You bring a snack and share with the whole class.”

Dame’s grip tightens to the point of bruising when Trip tugs at me again. But I quickly shoot him a look and mouth “I’ll be fine” as I shrug him off and let Trip pull me toward a group of people. Damiano’s face is stony as he watches me go.

The plan was to hang for a bit, get the lay of the land, then figure out a way to get the girls out before we did our thing. But then I happen to look across the room, where a very young, scared girl is shrinking against the wall while one of Trip’s predator buddies tries to kiss her neck and run a hand up her chest.

This plan needs to pick its ass up off the ground and get fucking moving now.