Captivated by Cutter (Twist Brothers Book 1)

by Bex Dane

  "God, babe. Let's do it in the bath again."

  "Yes. That was so good."

  I pick her half naked butt up and carry her into the bathroom. "Run the water and take the rest of your clothes off."

  She starts the water and pours some bubble bath in. I don't need bubbles, but I'll take them. They look gorgeous on her tits.

  ***

  My phone alarm goes off at four a.m. She's curled up in my arms naked and smiling as she sleeps.

  I reach over her to grab my phone and see a message from Giselle, Arthur's girl.

  Giselle: Arthur is hosting his fall line-up party Saturday night at his Brentwood home. We'd love to see you there.

  Oh shit. My head plops back onto the pillow. I've been avoiding this topic, and now is the worst possible time for it to rear its head.

  I have to leave right now to make it back in time.

  Did Cass get an invite too?

  I don't want to wake her.

  If he's inviting me, that means he didn't figure out my identity yet. Or he did and he's setting a trap for me.

  Shit. Fuck. Damn.

  Things were just getting good.

  I need coffee. I need a smoke.

  This will have to wait for later.

  I have a long painful ride away from my girl to figure out how the hell I'm going to handle this.

  Chapter 20 Hatchets

  "What's wrong with you today?" Sutton follows me into my cabin after a long day of workouts and sparring, one in which I beat the crap out of Mace and another where I left Remy with a black eye.

  "They need to toughen up. They'll learn more from an injury than going soft on 'em." In my kitchen, I grab a jug of water and start downing it to try and replace some of the liquids I lost to sweat today.

  "That's bullshit. You don't come at someone like that without warning, not during training." She's leaning forward, arms back, all fired up. Totally overreacting. Mace and Remy take their shit out on me too. It's what we do. She's totally partial to Remy and gives me shit anytime I take it too far with him.

  "They'll be fine."

  "But why'd you do that? Is something off? Is it Cass?" The tenor of assumed guilt in her voice grates my nerves.

  I slam the bottle on the counter and turn on her. "Not discussing Cass with you." She's far too logical, and she'll rip this one apart if I tell her the truth.

  "I like her. She's good for you. Don't fuck it up."

  I hate when she gets up in my face like this. She has no idea what she's talking about.

  "I'm doing all I can to avoid fucking up what I have going with Cass."

  She walks over my kitchen counter and leans on her elbows. She's trying to make eye contact, but I won't do it. "I care about you." She softens her voice because her tough girl routine obviously didn't crack me. "If you're struggling, let's talk. Maybe I can help."

  I care about her too. From the beginning, it's been her and me fighting to survive. We don't talk about it much anymore, and this topic is all about the pain we escaped. It'll hurt her even mentioning his name. But I've been keeping her updated on my progress with Arthur. It's only fair in case something goes down, I don't want her to say I excluded her. "Arthur Morganstein invited Neil Ainsman to a party on Saturday."

  "Oh." She steps back and looks around like she's looking for an exit. Her eyes shut down. She's withdrawing from me as I expected.

  "Yeah. So you see why I don't want to discuss it with you." Because your eyes would remind me of the frightened girl I remember like they do now, and it would make me want to kill him even more.

  She walks past me to the fridge and takes out her own bottle of water. She twists the cap off like she's wringing his neck. "Don't go. He's not our problem anymore. We've both moved on. Ignore it."

  "I wish I could. I've tried, but there's this sick part of me that believes life is fair. That we deserve justice. That he needs to make it up to us." My logic sounds even weaker now that I have Cass. I have someone to live for. The obsessive quest for revenge is losing its glow and yet, it's always been a part of my life. It fuels me to fight. It colors all my thoughts and actions. It's who I am. But maybe I'm someone new now.

  "I know you feel that way but…"

  "What about the models who keep disappearing. Are they dead? What the hell is he doing to them? Cass could have been one of them." And my hatred for him is renewed. It's not about my back or Sutton's pain or my mom's death anymore. It's about him continuing to victimize people and walking away from it because he's rich.

  She nods. "I get it, but it's dangerous. I mean pretending to be someone else. Infiltrating his inner circle. Is that really necessary?"

  I pull out a chair and sit back with my legs wide. I exhausted myself taking all this out on my brothers' faces. Now I'm starting to feel a little guilty. Nah. They do it to me all the time. "I don't see another way. I'm guessing he invited Cass too, so I have to go in case she shows up there."

  "Jesus. What a mess." She sits down at my kitchen table next to me and wipes some crumbs off the wood. "I'm torn because I want to protect you, but I also feel like this might be the right time. Cass could be the reason. For her, you have to face this now. Think of how happy you'll be when it's over."

  I don't know if happy is the right word, but it would clear out a ton of garbage from my brain if Morganstein faced justice.

  "And you?"

  "I'll be happy too. Especially if you're not in prison or dead."

  "Sutton."

  "I'm kidding. You'll be fine."

  She says it'll all be fine, but I absolutely don't trust myself to hold back. I've lost control with two girls in the last year. It'll be impossible to avoid cutting up Arthur if I get the chance. "If I lose it and kill him…"

  She touches my forearm near my elbow, a place she knows I have scars. "His only advantage over you is mental. Don't give him that power."

  I nod. "Easy to say, harder to do."

  "I have faith in you, Knox. Arthur won't bring you down again." She still calls me Knox even though everyone else has totally accepted Cutter.

  It means a lot she believes in me. "No. I won't let him."

  "Exactly. So go to the party and nail him." She stands up and smiles, proud of herself that she solved this problem for me.

  "That's the plan."

  "And stop beating the hell out of your siblings."

  I laugh. She means Remy, but she'll never say it. "Okay, Sis."

  She leaves and I'm still sitting at my kitchen table when a text comes in from Cass.

  Cass: I need to tell you something.

  I wait a minute and she doesn't send anything so I call her up. "Tell me what?"

  She heaves a long, heavy sigh before she spits it out. "Giselle wants me to come to a party in Brentwood."

  I knew Arthur might do it but to hear he's targeting her sucks.

  "She also said she wants to discuss a makeup gig for a Virginia's Secret print shoot," she says sheepishly.

  All I can do is grunt. I know that means a lot to her. A high-profile client and all that. It means shit to me.

  "And I promised I'd run these kinds of things by you, but I've decided to go." Her voice gets stronger at the end like she's preparing for a battle.

  Rage flares in my chest like a match to kerosene. "He slipped you a roofie." I keep my voice low and steady. Yelling won't work with her just like it didn't work for Sutton a few minutes ago.

  "This would be a huge level up for my career. I won't eat or drink while I'm there. Just network and get out." She's talking fast, probably trying to talk herself into it.

  My hands twitch. All I can see is her on the floor in her red wig, her sexy Elvira outfit, looking for an escape hatch in the carpet at Morganstein's place. If I were really Neil Ainsman and I had weaker morals, I could've done whatever I wanted with her, even kill her. Morganstein would add her beautiful body to his collection of dead models.

  I can't speak. I need… Looking around for a knife, my gaze stops
on the hatchets on my wall. Hatchets. They're there for this reason. To keep me from the knives. I end the call and slam my phone on the table.

  "Fuck."

  I march over to the wall and pull the hatchets from their mounts. Stepping back, I heave one as hard as I can into the wall. It sticks in the wood with a thunk. Satisfying. I throw the rest and do it again. Three reps of hatchets later, I'm still furious she would put herself out there like that, but I'm not going to cut myself. Who needs knives when I have hatchets? I'll take this one out on the wall.

  My phone rings and it's her. It's too soon. She needs to give me more time. Like five thousand more rounds of hatchets in a wall and two more black and blue brothers. But I answer it because I'm so lost to this girl, I'd never let her call go unanswered.

  "Cutter," her voice pleads with me to talk to her. She wants to talk? Okay. Fine.

  "I won't put up with this shit," I spit out. I'm still mad as hell.

  "What does that mean?" she asks.

  "I won't stand for it."

  "You won't stand for it? I ran it by you like I promised to do. I didn't promise to follow whatever you say."

  Why can't she see that I love her so much, this is non-negotiable? Of course I haven't told her that I love her. She's still thinking we're living separate lives. Her career down there, mine up here. She's still thinking there's a chance she might not come back when there's no chance in hell I'm losing her. I told her I wanted her to move up here. Did she not understand? If she's dead, we can't have any of that. "You go, we're done."

  "What?"

  "If you accept that invite, we're done."

  "Are you kidding?"

  "Not kidding."

  I stay quiet while she snorts and growls. This is what it's come to. She has to make a choice.

  "I don't like you saying that and what it implies."

  "It implies you're still doing stupid shit."

  "Hey!"

  "That's why I didn't want to start this with you. I knew you'd do stupid shit."

  "Supporting my career isn't stupid."

  "It is when you're using Morganstein to advance it."

  "Why do you hate him so much? Why would you make such a crazy ultimatum that you'd dump me if I go to a party? Do you know him?"

  I will never tell her the truth. "No."

  "Really? Because all signs are pointing to the fact he's your father. Are you saying he's not the one who put the scars on your back? Is that what you're saying? Tell me the truth now or we're over."

  I can't do that. I can own it yet. I can't say that man is my bio dad because that makes it true. It brings him back into my life and gives him power over me. "He's not my bio dad." I'm lying to her. I know it. I will tell her someday, but right now while her life is at stake, and I'm gripping a hatchet in my palm is not the right time.

  "Here's our problem, Cutter. We're facing something, talking about it, and you won't tell me the truth." Her voice breaks like she's starting to cry. That punches me in the gut. I don't want to be the reason she cries. God, why can't I just tell her the truth? I'm fucking this all up.

  "The problem is I'm telling you not to do something and you're doing it anyway."

  I can't fucking believe she'd choose Morganstein over me. Doesn't she love me like I love her? Am I not the center of her universe like she is mine? Because if I was, she'd never even give his offer a second glance.

  Of course she doesn't know the truth that he's my sperm donor. She doesn't know I love her, and I'm too messed up in the head to spit it all out right now.

  She grunts and ends the call. Now we've both hung up on each other.

  Five minutes later, a text comes through from her.

  Cass: You know what? You're not my type after all. Bye.

  Fuck.

  Chapter 21 Juliet

  Saturday night, Neil Ainsman walks into Arthur's party amped up and ready to go. My hair is short, beard gone, brown contacts in place, tailored suit. I'm him as far as anyone here is concerned.

  I haven't talked to Cass since Monday night, but I'm hoping she saw the light and decided not to come. If she didn't, and she's here, I'm prepared. I'll protect her from him no matter what. He'll never touch her.

  And when tonight is over and I have her in my arms again, I'll tell her everything I should've said on the phone. Yes, he's my sperm donor, and I was too ashamed to admit it. And yes, I love her down to my balls, and I want her to be mine forever.

  After stalking around his mansion for ten minutes and not finding her, I spot Arthur outside on the lawn. He's talking to a young brunette woman when I walk up. Very young. Like barely legal young. A helicopter is lit up behind them on a big pad at the top of the hill. It's clear he's trying to impress her with his wealth.

  When he sees me approach, he smiles. This is good. It means he doesn't suspect me. "Neil! Good to see you. Glad you could make it. This is Juliet."

  Juliet waves hello to me. Her eyes are half-closed, and she's holding a glass of champagne exactly like the laced one Cass drank at the last party.

  Juliet is his victim for tonight.

  Arthur places his palm on my back and guides me away from Juliet. Every fighting instinct I have wants me to spin and knock this fucker out for touching my back, but I can't. I imagine handcuffs around my wrists, and I'm able to control it.

  He ducks his chin and speaks to me conspiratorily. "How did it go with the girl I introduced you to last time? What was her name?"

  The imaginary handcuffs I'm wearing dig into my skin. Fuck him for bringing her up. "You mean Cass?" It's hard as hell to keep my voice from shaking, but I hear my mom's advice in my head.

  Stay calm. Play it cool. Fake it till you make it.

  "Yes, Cass. She was a beauty. Did you like her?"

  "I liked her, but she passed out on me in the room." I'm testing him to see if he was eavesdropping on our interaction via a camera or listening device at the last party.

  "Oh, that's too bad." He doesn't sound sincere at all. "You still could've had some fun though." He winks at me.

  Disgusting. Fun with a passed out girl? Like I should have raped her after the roofie knocked her out? He's also implying he knows we didn't have sex before she passed out. I need to keep him on this topic, so I swallow the bile in my throat and play along. "How do you know I didn't?"

  He licks his bottom lip and assesses me. "Did you now? I could swear I saw you leave with her?"

  That's it. He was watching us. No one saw me leave with her. Definitely not him. As angry as it makes me he's watching, I'm glad I have his attention. It's my key to getting close to him.

  "She's here tonight if you want to give her a second chance." He arches his neck to peer back into the party, looking for her. My girl. He's looking for my girl.

  "She's here?" I feign disinterest but there's no other soul in the world I'm more interested in than Cass.

  He nods. "Looks hot too. Cute little number. Why don't we ask Giselle to fetch her, and we'll take the helicopter out to my island, have some drinks, and come back? A little private party."

  "You own an island?" Who the hell is rich enough to own an island?

  "Little Santa Rosa, just off the coast. Give me just a minute to set it up." He starts to walk away from me.

  "I don't think…"

  He turns back and interrupts my protest. "C'mon, Neil. Didn't get it last time, we'll try again tonight. If you don't want Cass, you can have Juliet, and I'll take Cass." He does a criss-cross motion with his hands that implies the girls are interchangeable.

  My blood boils hearing her name on his lips like that. As much as I want to nail him, I don't want Cass anywhere near him, his helicopter, or his damn island. "No. Not interested."

  "Of course you are. There's Giselle. Excuse me for a second." He walks over to Giselle and leaves me alone with Juliet.

  "So you're Neil Ainsman?" she asks.

  I nod, but I don't feel like talking to her. Cass is here somewhere. My pulse pounds at the thought
of seeing her again. My eyes scan every inch of the interior, looking for a sign.

  Nothing.

  After a minute, a girl with red hair wearing a long silver dress walks through the patio door to the backyard.

  It's Cass.

  She's talking to Giselle, luckily no drink in her hand.

  The dress she's wearing hangs off her delicate shoulders and two slits up to her hip show off her long legs. The fabric hugs her curves and brushes the floor. She's a stunning creature, too rare and beautiful for this place.

  She sees me with Juliet, sets her jaw, and walks straight to us. Her eyes cut to Juliet, who is not even paying attention to Cass. She's staring off toward the pool. "Giselle says you're taking a girl to Arthur's island."

  "Arthur says he's taking you to his island," I reply to her. She's as guilty as me.

  We break our glaring contest when Arthur jogs back outside. "C'mon, everyone. Get on." His eyes light with excitement. He loves this shit, showing off his helicopter and his island, swapping girls with celebrities. I give him an admiring look like I'm impressed because that's what he wants to see. Truth is he's a sociopath with no compassion or humanity at all.

  Cass shoots me a scowl and struts over to the helicopter pad. Her heels getting stuck in the grass makes her vindictive march less effective. I would laugh if I wasn't terrified for her life right now.

  Before following her, I shoot out a quick text to my dad.

  Me: Little Santa Rosa Island. Be ready to move.

  Foster: On it. You okay?

  Me: Yes. On my way there via helo with AM and Cass. Not sure what to expect.

  Foster: I'll call Remy.

  Remy runs a charter helicopter business in Monterey. I don't want the entire family packing up and flying to an island if nothing is going to happen.

  Me: Tell him to stand by. I'll let you know if I need you.

  Foster: Will do. Be safe.

  Tucking my phone in my pants pocket, I walk across the grass and climb in. Arthur points to a seat in front of Cass, next to Juliet.

  The heat from Cass's eyes burns into the back of my head.

  I punch out an angry text.