Kings of Anarchy (Brutal Boys of Everlake Prep #3) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,28

Tonight I'll show you just how generous I can be when I want to. But right now, we need to run."

I lifted her back down from the dresser, straightening her dress and wiping some smeared red lipstick from the side of her mouth as she wiped some from my lips in return.

As soon as we looked near enough to respectable, we hurried for the door and I quickly tied my topknot into place before sweeping her off of her feet and tossing her over my shoulder so that we could go faster without her stilettos slowing us down. Saint had really been onto something with those shoes though. They were high as fuck with red soles which I wanted to look at while I bent her over and drove her to ruin beneath me. That shit would definitely be happening tonight.

Tatum gave me half assed protests as I jogged down the stairs with her slung over my shoulder and I slapped her ass to tell her off as I kept going all the way to the huge dining room at the back of the house.

I placed her on her feet just as we reached the doors and tugged her inside where a huge oak table ran the full length of the enormous space. It looked like Christmas had thrown up in here; there were two tall trees at either end of the table and the fireplace roared with fancy ass stockings hanging around it. The table itself was laid out with red and gold place settings and bits of holly and shit looking all fancy. I would have made a derisive comment, but Tatum looked like she kinda loved it, so I decided to rein in the asshole in me for once.

Liam caught my eye from the head of the table where two empty seats sat waiting and inclined his head towards them. Of course all of my eight uncles would be here with their wives and I spotted my parents too, though they only waved at me from the far end of the table in acknowledgment of my presence. It might have seemed odd to some people, but I really had no relationship with my parents anymore. I’d been raised by nannies for the most part and had spent more time with Liam and my uncles than them once I was old enough to learn the joy of the family trades. I was just a means to an end for them, the heir they’d been required to provide and they were just DNA donors to me. I wasn’t going to cry myself to sleep over it. I’d cut myself off from them after I’d been forced to initiate at Royaume D’élite and unlike Liam, they didn’t have enough sway over me to force me back into the fold with them.

A few of my cousins had been invited as well, but there weren't many who had made enough of a name for themselves to get an invite. Let alone a plus one. Couple that with the fact that I was being offered pride of place at Liam's side and I basically had a whole table full of O'Briens shooting me less than subtle death glares.

That should have been terrifying, but I'd long since stopped giving a shit about the ire of my extended family. Because the truth was, we all lived and died by Liam's command around here, so even my uncle Niall who was a total psychopath, wouldn't do shit to me unless Liam ordered it. But the way they were looking at Tatum made my hackles rise. We might have had an unspoken law about never hurting our own family in any permanent way, but she wasn't family. Partners were always fair game until they married in. Which meant my cousins and uncles could do whatever the fuck they wanted to her and Liam wouldn't raise a single finger to stop them. If I wanted to keep her safe, then that was all on me. Luckily enough, I knew I was the strongest son of a bitch here so I was confident I could do it if I had to. But I definitely wouldn't be letting her out of my sight.

We took our seats, settling into the cloud of smoke which hovered over the table from my chain-smoking relatives and I leaned back in my chair as Martha and the other staff appeared with the food and began laying it all out on the table.

I noticed the seat