Page 31 of Merciless

My fingers glide across the keys, never missing a beat. The room fills with a haunting melody, each note building for something more climactic.

“So how’s the dare going, hmm?” Derrick’s voice breaks through the music.

I skip a note and stop playing. Opening my eyes, I scowl at him as he meanders deeper into the room, a grin spread across his face.

“It’s going fine,” I say.

He plops onto the chaise lounge and spreads his arms over the back of the seat. “That’s not what I hear. A little bird said you’re having a hard time.”

“And who’s the birdie?” So I can kill them.

Derrick shoots a playful look toward me and tuts. “That’s only for me to know. It seems your sister wants nothing to do with you.” He shakes his head. “Such a shame. I’m sure I could have won her over by now. It makes it easier that I’m not her brother, after all.”

“Is that what you think is happening? That she wants nothing to do with me because I’m her brother?”

Her mouth says one thing, but her reactions say another. Eden can’t hide the blushes and how she ducks her head to avoid looking at me for too long. She must take me for a fool if she thinks I don’t see right through her charade.

“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Derrick says. “She’d be out of her mind if she ever fell for you.”

“I haven’t tried yet.” I narrow my eyes. “And the week isn’t over.”

“I don’t know, man. It’s been three days, and the girl’s still avoiding you like the plague. Are you⁠—”

“Patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet.” I stand from the bench and run my fingers over the piano’s keys one last time.

It may be day three of the bet, and I’ve gotten no closer to winning Eden’s affections, but I’ve only just begun. Eden will be mine. I’m sure of it. I need time to get her to trust me enough to get between her legs.

I hate losing, and I don’t plan to lose this bet.

Straightening my uniform jacket, I fix the gold tie at the base of my throat and turn to Derrick. He looks at me with pinched eyebrows.

“What’s that look for?” I say.

“Who said that bit about patience?”

I sigh and step down from the piano platform. “Aristotle. I never realized just how true his words were until now. Maybe you should remember them instead of pestering me about a bet that isn’t over yet.”

Derrick’s grin slips before he catches himself and schools his features. He stands and follows me out of the grand room.

“Four days, then,” he says. “That shouldn’t be too hard, right?”

“You’re the one who’s doubting me.” I cast an annoyed look at him.

He rolls his eyes and raises his hand to hover over my shoulder. His eyes widen when he realizes what he’s about to do, and his arm drops to his side.

Derrick follows me out the front doors that lead to the parking lot. “Have you decided what to do about the Walker brothers for what they did to Asher?”

I shake my head. “No, but I’ll think of something. We’ll let them sit for a while, thinking they got away with what they did. I don’t want them expecting a hit back.”

They’ll get what’s coming to them soon enough.

One thing they should know about me is that if they fuck with my brother, I will destroy everything they love.

Derrick’s smile loses its playfulness and matches the darkness in my heart. He may be an asshole, and I may tolerate him, but he is loyal to a fault. “I can’t wait to fuck them up. I’ve been dying to get my hands around their throats for a year now.”

I hum in response and slip my hands into my pockets. We walk through the parking lot, and a flash of long dark hair in the distance grabs my focus.

Eden walks on the side of the long drive to leave the campus, her hair pulled back in a ponytail. A purple ribbon cinches the hair together and flutters in the wind. She keeps her head low, shoulders tight and nearly touching her earlobes.