Sinful Pleasure | 18+

Chapter 32 - Axel

I was such an asshole, and an even bigger one for knowing but not wanting to do anything about it. I think Kez was desperate to know everything about me that I wasn't ready to say out loud. And although she had never asked properly, I thought maybe it crossed her mind many times.

It was probably why she seemed too close. And it wasn't a desperate and needy too close, but it was close enough I was afraid I'd get angry. I couldn't afford to lose my shit right now, but maybe I over thought this. Maybe I felt she was closer because she knew she belonged to me. The Vixen knew what I would do to her if she let my brothers touch her, again.

I thought back to yesterday and the way I acted, it was possible I only did it to change the subject without her having the chance to ask about me first. Jesus Christ. Sex was my only choice when it came time to avoid talking about myself.

Of course, I didn't mind. But as of right now we had no time for sex or arguments or sulking because we didn't get what we wanted. We had to focus and be on guard-all the time, whether it was on a day we did nothing or everything.

We had to be fast and ready when shit hit the fucking fan because if we weren't I'd say our ass' would perish. I knew my brothers and I had a hard time and truly hated admitting things out loud, but with only three of us, and Kez, Damon and Ricky, Julio was bound to have the upper hand.

Besides being in an illegal business and doing activities that gave us a higher criminal status, it hadn't been long enough for us to know all the ropes, and nor did we want to know them. The Santiago's made their own damn rules.

Julio had been in this far longer than we had, and though we were around and all, being his children, we paid no mind to his dirty deeds, but couldn't, either way. This meant he knew better, and god, just thinking about it I wanted to put a bullet between my own eyes. I could only hope we had everything ready and under control.

Clearing my throat, I pulled open the curtains, squinting at the bright and hot sun blazing inside the bedroom, blinding me. I blinked to adjust my sight and turned around, scanning my eyes over everything, not that there was much in the room besides a lot of built-up dust and a couple of left behind items.

It had been a while since we were in Spain, seeing as my brothers and I ran back to America after what everything our parents' put us through. Somehow, none of what I was staring at brought up shit I wanted to forget about, and I wasn't being overwhelmed, but I did feel weird.

My gaze scattered across the wall behind the bed, the posters of naked girls and guys-some covered up-a little skin showing made a smile curl upon my lips.

The smile wasn't a dirty one, like a sinful let's strip and play dirty, no, it was rather one of an almost exact smile I had when I watched who put them up. God. I enjoyed this feeling-this feeling of genuine happiness, even though I knew it would only last a little while.

I licked my lips, then looked to my right and walked over to the dresser beside the closet, and I racked my eyes over the basketball trophies. I had a guess Kez would have been curious about who played because of the basketball court in our backyard. It probably crossed her mind it wasn't Roman, when in fact it was. It certainly wasn't me or Creed.

Although in high school I played, only for a short period. It was Roman's passion. Pulling my bottom lip between my teeth, I slowly opened the first drawer to see if I had anything inside, and I did. I was surprised because I remembered cleaning everything out, but I was wrong.

Grabbing the small photo frame from inside, I hummed in curiosity and flipped it over, a lump suddenly got stuck in the back of my throat when I caught the attention of what and who the photograph was of. I forced a swallow, breathing in and out with shallow breaths.