Epilogue

Damon

“Hey.” My whisper was intentionally extra low. I couldn’t stop the smile that covered my face.

With the long feather firmly held between my finger and thumb, I lightly grazed it over his face while he slept. His eyes remained closed at first in a deep sleep, but that would soon change. I swept the tip of the feather across his nose, back and forth, until he began to rouse.

When he tried to lift his hand to swat the foreign object away, his whole body jerked from the effort. But he was tied up. With extra rope. And extra knots. So he couldn’t move his arm.

That was when his eyes flew open.

“Hello, Marco. Did I wake you?”

“Damon? What the hell are you doing in my apartment? And why the fuck is this rope wrapped around me? How did you do this?”

“You’re my brother, and you know I love you. But there is a certain slight against me you have to atone for now. You know I can’t let it go—it’s a matter of pride and fairness. I’ve told you for years you sleep too hard, Marco. That’s dangerous in our line of work. Thankfully, it fits perfectly with my idea.”

“Damon. I swear to God. If you do what I think you’re planning…”

He didn’t have a threat strong enough to finish his thought. No matter. He could think about it later. He’d have plenty of time and nothing else to do.

“Let’s go, big brother.”

I stood him up, his arms tied together from his wrists to his elbows and his legs tied together from his ankles to his knees, and secured a gag over his mouth. My other brothers stepped out of the shadows, ready to help. We picked him up, carried him to the door, and set him in the hallway of his apartment building—naked—then locked the door to his apartment behind us. One of my brothers pounded on the neighbor’s door several times, leaving no doubt that someone waited in the hall.

We rushed down the stairs far enough to barely see over the landing. He ranted and raved behind the gag, jumping with both feet and hitting his door with all his weight, while we laughed our asses off. When we heard the click of lock opening on the apartment next door, we shushed each other and waited for the door to creak open.

At first, there was only a slit of an opening, barely ajar enough to look out. Then she caught a glimpse of his bare ass and miles of rope, and curiosity got the best of her. She stepped into the hallway, and we all held our breath. Marco hadn’t lied—she was gorgeous. And she couldn’t keep a straight face to save her life. She started laughing even harder than my brothers and I were.

“That must’ve been one hell of a party. My invitation must have gotten lost between your door and mine.” She leaned against the wall, not even attempting to untie Marco without an explanation.

He pushed his hands down in front of his junk as far as the ropes would allow and shook his head. The muffled sounds behind his muzzle amused her even more, but she stepped forward and removed it from his mouth.

“What was that?”

“There was no party, except the one my asshole brothers had at my expense.”

“Ah, siblings. Aren’t they great?” She cut her eyes over to the stairwell and caught us watching. Her smile widened, then she gave a conspiratorial wink. “Maybe you deserved this punishment. What’d you do to them?”

“Nothing compared to what I’m going to do when I get ahold of them. Uh, do you think you can untie me now?”

She hesitated for a moment, contemplating if she was ready for the joke to be over. He arched one eyebrow at her and she returned the gesture. No wonder he’d been so hot for this girl—she’d not only take his shit in stride, she’d serve it right back to him with a smile.

Game on, brother. Game on.