House of Payne: Rude Read Online Free Page A

graceful wings.
    It was from the main landing that Sass’s voice had emanated, and when he caught sight of her, standing with the stained glass behind her while she rested a hand on a brass-topped post at the top of the stair railing, he once again froze at the sight of her.
    There his former foster sister was, in all her glory.
    She shouldn’t have looked elegant, with her dark hair in a messy topknot, wearing gray sweatpants and a purple shirt that fell off one bruised shoulder, but she did. Then again, as far back as he could remember there had always been a whisper of elegance around Sass. Not that “Sass” was her real name. That was merely what she answered to. Her real name, Sage Ambrosia Stone, never failed to make him snicker. That was a name for some dippy, high-as-a-kite flower child, or a wholesome, freckle-faced farm girl who ran through wheat fields on sunny days, or whatever the hell they did for fun in the country.
    Sass was none of those things.
    The cynicism in her dark espresso eyes was as hard as the urban world in which she grew up. She had the thickest dark brown hair he’d ever seen, and she usually wore it loose to hang in a long V down to the middle of her back. Her defined brows arched haughty and high over large, exotic eyes, the heavy-lidded, slanted shape of them hinting at an Eastern European genetic strain.
    But when she smiled, all the attention went to her wide, lush mouth. Unfortunately her smile was an exceedingly rare thing even at the best of times, and never when he was around. Sass voluntarily smiling at him would no doubt be the first sign of the Apocalypse.
    He moved to the bottom of the stairs. “Rule number one when engaging the enemy—use whatever’s available to gain the advantage, and achieve the objective. And while you’re not my enemy, I’ll always do whatever it takes to get my way.”
    The look she gave him told him that he was firmly listed in her books as The Enemy. “And what is it that you want to get your way on, exactly?”
    “I’m hungry, I want a decent breakfast, and I want to know how you’re doing. So I’m consolidating all of that into a single, efficient invite to take you out to eat.”
    “No, thank you. Don’t get lost on your way out.”
    He began to climb the stairs, his eyes never leaving hers. “Do I have to mention Anthony, Gino and Frankie again? Really?”
    “It’s amazing to me how siblings, raised under the same roof by the same parents, can be so different.” Her eyes were locked onto his as he ascended, and he was fine with that. Any man with a pulse would have been fine with having all that brooding, churned-up attention focused on him. “For instance, I like Anthony, Gino, Frankie and Izzi. And then there’s you.”
    “And then there’s me.” At last he topped the landing and loomed over her tiny, five-foot-nothing frame. Her pipsqueak size made him feel as big as the Hulk, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. “Your old pal Rude.”
    “You never gave a shit that we tagged you with the name Rude, did you?”
    “You kidding? I was fucking proud of it. Proof that dipshit sixteen-year-old boys don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground.” He would have grinned down at her except now that he was closer, he could see discoloration on the left side of her mouth and an obvious, painful looking fat lip he hadn’t been able to see due to the oxygen mask she’d had on the night before.
    That fucker had corked her good.
    Rage bloomed so hard, so fast it seized his lungs until the blood pounded in his ears. He held himself completely still, locking his muscles in place as he stared at that wounded lip, exercising a control that men like him needed so they didn’t kill everything that moved.
    Sass’s eyes narrowed as she watched him, and she shifted away as if she suddenly sensed his lethal vibe. “As you can see, I’m obviously not ready to go out.”
    “I can wait.” Trying to appear normal and not nearly as