Page 21 of Devil’s Candy

They’ve certainly got the money and the power to protect my girls. And they seem like hard enough men to keep the ills of the world at bay. But are they giving Sasha and Katarina that right amount of soft?

My daughters deserve gentle protection after all they’ve been through.

All that I allowed to happen to them.

Guess Candy isn’t the only one doing a lot of self-blame. But I deserve a whole lot more of it than she does.

The things I’ve done…

I squeeze her leg, my thumb skimming her bare thigh through the rips. Christ, I want to run my hands all over her skin.

My attraction to her is clouding my judgment, and that makes me weak and puts me in danger.

A deep rumble fills my chest, a small sound, pushing through my lips.

Candy looks over at me, her leg tensing under my touch. “You think I’m right, don’t you?”

I got so deep in my thoughts, I’d forgotten the thread of our conversation. I lightly massage her thigh. “Do I think that you deserve to die unprotected because you slept with me? No. I don’t.”

“Oh.” I feel her relax under my hand. “I don’t think Angel sees it that way, though.”

Well. He’s going to change his mind by the time we’re done talking.

This is likely not a conversation that Candy should witness, but I wasn’t leaving her unattended at her place.

We arrive at the strip club where Angel keeps his offices. With his new partners and his new real estate deals, he’s shutting down his drug trade. He’s started selling that business for a pretty profit.

I imagine he’ll be leaving this club behind soon enough. But he’s still here now, and I intend to take full advantage.

I pull into the alley that leads to the back parking lot. It’s closed from view except for the small entrance through an alley, most of the buildings that surround it, windowless. Almost anything can happen in this parking lot without a single witness.

It’s another way in which Angel was strategic in his choices.

I park the car, not bothering to get out. The parking lot is wired with closed circuit cameras, which means the Sinclairs already know I’m here.

Sure enough, the back door bursts open, all five brothers filing out into the parking lot just as my car rolls to a stop.

Rock is in the lead, his square jaw and blockish body perfectly suited to his name.

Next is Axel. Race car driver, he’s intelligent and driven. But he’s also an adrenaline junky.

Angel takes the middle, Gunner behind him. A weapons expert, he doesn’t like to be touched, and that’s a major personal weakness.

In the back is Knox, an MMF fighter and all-around badass.

I know their story. All of them orphaned and in the system. They were adopted by a low-level gangster, adopted to become a criminal army. It’s made them hard men.

I step out of the car, but I don’t make eye contact, don’t challenge any of them as I move around the Honda Accord I’ve rented to open Candy’s door.

She’s visibly shaking now. I reach for her hand and help her out. To her credit, she stays on her feet, her head high, despite her trembling.

My girl can fake it.

I bet she’s had to do that a lot. It hits me that she shouldn’t. She should have a man she can trust to keep her safe.

I don’t even think as I wrap an arm around her waist, steadying her as we start to walk toward the Sinclair men who have fanned out in a line.

“Candy,” Angel calls out. “You were not on the list of people I expected to see today.”