Page 89 of Caged Hunger

A figure stepped out of the darkness, the flickering lights overhead falling against his pale face.

The man nodded.

“You can call me Romeo, considering all the wooing and romance I’ve given you all these years.”

Basher growled.

“He’s not calling you anything other than a ‘dead man,’” Basher snarled, taking a step forward while holding Cameron protectively behind his back.

Romeo just smirked.

“And what would you know about love and romance? Abandoned as a child, then tossed around from one foster home after another. It’s no surprise that you turned to a life of crime shortly after. Killing people? Causing destruction and chaos? That’s not the life of someone who knows love.”

The man wasn’t anything remarkable. Average looks, a little on the shorter side. Short brown hair parted neatly to the side. He was the type of guy you would assume would be good at doing your taxes.

“Cameron should be with someone who can take care of him. Shower him with love, security, and happiness.”

“Oh, and I assume you’re that guy?” Basher growled.

“I’m a much better man than you. What do you have? Muscles and a low IQ?”

Cameron pushed around Basher, nearly knocking him over.

“Hey! I decide who the best man for me is! You know nothing about Basher. He’s a kind and sensitive man, loyal and so fucking sweet it scares me. Yes, he’s been through some rough shit in the past, but who hasn’t? That just makes him more unbelievable when it comes to the man he is today!”

Basher was holding on to Cameron’s shoulders as he tore Romeo a new asshole. The guy was physically shaking as he defended him.

No one had ever defended Basher like that. He knew he wasn’t the greatest, the smartest, or even the kindest person in the world, but to hear Cameron speak about him, you would have thought he was Mother Teresa.

Something in Basher's chest tightened as he heard those words.

God, he loved this man.

Cameron was his person—the one who had somehow broken through every wall he'd ever built around himself and claimed a permanent place in his heart.

From this moment until his final breath, Basher knew exactly where he belonged.

“You’re so blinded by his big dick that you don’t even recognize when a man is wrong for you. That’s why I tracked down Basher’s old crew and found where his enemies were hiding. I knew that with Basher still around, you would always be drawn to him. So I figured when the Caplans killed Basher, I would swoop in and sweep you off your feet. What could be more romantic?” Romeo asked.

He was still holding a gun in his hand, but he seemed to have forgotten about it for the moment as he gestured with his arms wildly.

“Do you hear yourself speak?” Cameron shouted, his face burning hot with fury. “There is no world where I would ever want to be with a psycho like you!”

Darkness slowly crept into Romeo’s eyes. Basher watched as the warm brown faded away, swallowed by something colder and far more unsettling, until they were as black as the night itself.

“Cam?” Basher whispered, suddenly concerned for the young man’s safety. He pulled Cameron behind him just as Romeo raised his gun.

“Fine. If I can’t have you, no one will.”

Those words seemed to echo in the silence that followed. A bolt of searing pain tore through Basher's body.

It hadn’t even occurred to him until he heard Cameron scream that he had just been shot.

Basher looked down at his hand as he pulled it away from his stomach. Dark blood coated his fingers, and for a moment, all he could do was stare.

Memories of that night he had been stabbed in prison flooded his brain.

His eyes glanced up just as Romeo pulled the trigger a second time.