My Ex Husband The Alpha His Brother The Rogue novel Chapter 49

Chapter 49

55 vouchers

I blanch. My head whips around fast enough, I’m sure to get a whiplash. I stare at Kael, mouth agape. “You did what?!” I whisper–yell.

I can’t have heard him right. I want to believe I didn’t.

Kael can’t be serious. I don’t like Sarah either. I mean, who does? But did that mean I have ever considered murder?!

No. Not even once.

It is simply out of order. I know it shouldn’t surprise me, because in hindsight, out of order is Kael’s specialty.

Kael looks completely unfazed. “Something I should have done a long time ago.”

He says it like he’s just speaking about the weather. And not about killing his brother’s wife.

I still can’t believe my ears. The fall wasn’t even that high, but Kael is practically fuming.

“Kael…call it off.” I say in a slow, but firm tone. “Now.”

“No.” He replies simply, crossing his arms over his chest. “I don’t like her. I can’t stand her and I refuse to tolerate her.”

What’s with this attitude? I’m the one who fell. Not him. What about that couldn’t he grasp?

“She’s Cameron’s wife!” I hiss in exasperation. “You can’t just decide to get rid of someone just because you don’t like them. That’s bullshit.”

Kael shrugs. “I can.”

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say when dealing with Kael.

My mouth opens and closes again, but I still can’t find the words. Kael is an extremely adamant man. He doesn’t take anyone’s word but his own.

I want to believe this is just a joke, but I know better.

Kael plays cruel mind games like a daily hobby, but he doesn’t joke. Back in Ridgeway, Kael had also taken care of many annoyances.

He’d only said a word about it and in just a few days, they would be all over the news, missing or dead.

Each time, he gets it done cleanly and no one can trace it back to him. His deep ties to the mafia affords him the methods and the means.

He doesn’t shy away from getting his hands dirty. Kael thrives on it. He lives for it.

If I didn’t already know he was once a Blackwood, I might have thought he was always a rogue. A man who

18:51 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 49

lives for the thrill of the kill.

Killing Sarah? It’s not even the most depraved thing this man has done.

4

IX 65 vouchers

“Hurting Sarah will mean becoming an enemy of the Blackwood Pack. She’s the Luna of Blackwood for fuck’s sake.” I say in a serious tone. “Your Granddad will come after you, and so will Cameron. You only just got your banishment lifted, do you really want to go back to the way things were?”

I’m grasping at straws now. Reasoning with Kael has always been fighting a losing battle. But maybe if I myself in the equation… maybe if I remind him exactly what this is that we have going on.

put

It’s a contract. It’s temporary. It will eventually come to an end. At the rate Cameron was going, that end is already in sight.

And this means we will soon return to being strangers. As we should have always been. While we each have our parts to play in this contract, there are some sacrifices that are unreasonable to make.

Not over something this temporary.

Kael shrugs. “It won’t be the first time.”

He’s been banished before. It’s not even a threat to him anymore.

“Would it be worth it?” I ask, my tone quiet.

Kael frowns visibly. His eyes narrow in displeasure. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

I hesitate, but for only a moment. “If you’re banished again because of me, Kael. Would it be worth it?”

Kael stares at me. For a long moment, he doesn’t speak. But his eyes flash with what I can only conclude is

annoyance.

Finally, he shakes his head slightly. “If you weren’t in a hospital bed Laila, I would have shown you… just how stupid that question is.” He half–growls.

Something about his tone sounds more like a promise, than a statement. My heart drops, my pulse accelerates against my will. Not in fear…in a reluctant burst of desire only Kael can trigger.

This man is sinful. I know just how much. I’ve seen just how much. Yet somehow, he stirs something in me that I can’t even recognize,

A primal urge… it’s unlike anything I’ve been taught to be.

“Worth it?” Kael asks, his brows furrowing almost threateningly. “From the moment you signed my contract, Laila, you and Liam became mine to protect.”

He draws closer till he’s right by my bed, gazing down at me with eyes that scream of dark and delightful things I don’t want to know.

“Mine.” He enunciates like he doesn’t trust that I understand the meaning.

18:51 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 49

Maybe I don’t. Maybe I don’t know yet what it means…or feels like to belong to Kael

18 56 vouchers

Kael leans down, placing both hands on either side of the pillow, caging me in. His scent floods my senses. Musk, tobacco and something inherently male.

I’m wrapped up in a cast. I can’t move if I wanted to, yet he has to be the predator that he is,

Stalking… intimidating…

And me? I think I’m the prey.

Disastrously… absolutely.

He grunts beneath his breath, his breath brushes over me like a feather light touch… unintentional, but just as dangerous as the man himself is.

“I’m not a man of many virtues, Laila. I know it…you know it. Heck, the entire continent knows it.”

I exhale. Sharply. My breath trembles. My heart thudding, within me. “What… What are you trying to say?”

Kael growls in frustration. A low, animalistic sound that rumbles deep in his throat,

“Listen, Laila… Everything I want from you… everything I want to do to you, none of it is kind, or proper…o slow…” His voice drops an octave, to a low, raspy almost growl,

He swallows hard, his adam’s apple bobbing. My eyes trail the movement… the traitorous balls just won’t stay

put.

“Hell, you’re in a hospital bed, hair frazzled and arm in a cast. You look like a damn wreck, still…still I’m thinking of all the ways I can bend you over and wreck you, me…us…heart, mind, and body…” He trails off, his eyes searching mine.

“Even now… even when you’re pinning over my sorry excuse of a brother. This wasn’t the agreement, Laila…

“I didn’t ask you to get into my head… and yet you did. And so you must be punished. His breathing is ragged and heavy now. Strained with the weight of urges held back at bay.

“I’ll be damned if I let someone else get to you first. You’re mine to make, or break… only mine.”

Then he leans in,

My lips part in a shaky exhale, my heart thuds louder,

And just then, his lips claim mine.

18:51 Mon, Oct 13

Chapter 50