by Sam Crescent
Her mother hadn’t made it.
That was the curse of betraying the Monsters. There was no way out once you sank into that pool of despair, and my dad had done that, dragging us all down. There was no mercy.
In my old world, mercy was a weakness.
There was no way the Monsters would be seen as weak.
I waited, watching him. “Have you been sent here to finally kill me?”
“How scared you sound, Emily.”
I didn’t correct him. Emily was no longer my name.
“You’re still incredibly beautiful. You’ve lost a lot of weight.” His gaze moved toward where Ashley had walked. “But your friend, she has really blossomed into one hell of a lady, and I know for a fact she’s a virgin.”
“You leave her out of this.”
“You’d like that, would you? To leave her out of this. I’m still owed a virgin.”
“You got your empire. No one owes you anything.”
“Ah, but you see, just as quickly an empire can be created, it can also be taken. It’s been seven long years since you were last in Crude Hill. I can tell you now, girl, what was once there is not what’s there now.”
“It’s none of my concern.”
“But it is. People thought they had seen the real evil of this world. What they didn’t know was by taking you away, they would unleash hell as we know it. The Monsters’ Crew were tame before. Your boys, they are … let’s just say, I’m hiding out.”
I frowned. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Crude Hill has entered its darkest days yet. Pain and suffering come to many, and it’s your boys who have taken their fathers’ empire to the next level.”
“Are they dead?” I asked. Not that it mattered.
Earl shook his head. “They’re not dead, but I have a feeling they will regret what they unleashed. Their sons overthrew them, and now they are nothing more than shells. Only you can bring them back from this darkness.”
“That’s not my life anymore.”
“Life or not, if you love them, do you want them to face death without telling them once that you loved them?”
I opened my mouth but he stood up. “Tell your friend I said hello.”
“You leave her alone.”
He was suddenly in my face. “Don’t forget who you are, Emily. Just because you escaped my grasp doesn’t mean your friend will succeed. I want a virgin, and she looks way too tasty to ignore.”
In the next second, he was gone. Seconds later, Ashley returned from the bathroom, and I grabbed her hand, making my way out into the night. We had to get out of the nightclub. It was wrong of us to even go there. I knew that now. We’d fucked up, but I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
I had to get her to safety. It was my only priority.
Ashley didn’t stop me or question me as to why I was in such a hurry to get back to the safety of our home.
Earl was watching us, I just knew it, but what was more, I couldn’t prove it, which I hated. The first night I’d let my guard down and look what happened. I wasn’t going to make that mistake again.
Chapter Two
Emily
“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on?” Ashley asked.
I slammed our apartment door closed and flicked the lock into place. Normally, that was all I did, but today, I wasn’t in the mood, so one by one, I bolted the place up. We had the main lock, along with three bolts above, and four down, leading to the ground. Looking through the peephole, I checked to see if anyone watched us, but I couldn’t see anything.
“Now you’re scaring me, and that’s not funny. This isn’t fair.”
My heart raced. I heard the fear in Ashley’s voice and I knew it wasn’t nice of me to just act this way.
Taking a deep breath, I turned toward her. She had her arms folded across her breasts, her gaze focused on me, and I knew she was pissed. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
“I … yes, I want to.”
“Then what is the problem?” she asked.
Running fingers through my hair, I looked around at what we had. I fucking hated this. “While you went to the bathroom, something happened.”
“No shit. I already figured that out. You know, with us practically running back home. We didn’t call a taxi.” She leaned down, taking off her heels one by one. “It doesn’t take a genius to work out that you’ve got some serious issues, and now I’m pissed. My feet are killing me.”
“Earl Valentine.”
At the mention of his name, she went pale. “What?”
“That’s what happened. He … stopped by the booth.”
Gone were the anger and blame, replaced by concern. This was one of the reasons why I loved Ashley. She never, ever held a grudge. She was so damn sweet and I loved her so much. She was the sister I never had.
We’d been through hell together, and it looked like we were about to go through a hell of a lot more.
“He’s the guy your father sold you to, right?”
I nodded.
“What does he want?” she asked.
“I honestly don’t know. He told me that … they’d been more monsters than anything else. They’ve taken over from their dads and that they regret giving them the choice about me. I’m sorry. I … I didn’t want to ruin our night out. I was loving it.”
Ashley rushed toward me, cupping my face. “Don’t you worry about it. I mean it. I can’t believe you were on your own with that asshole and I wasn’t there.” She growled. “I’m pissed at myself now.”
I put a hand to my chest.
Within seconds, I was in her arms and she was stroking my hair. Panic rose. I hadn’t had a panic attack in so long. Ashley had learned long ago how to get me out of them, or at least to stop them from being worse than they needed to be. She’d been my lifeline.
“I’m here. I’ve got you. You’re safe. Nothing bad is going to happen.”
Even though I didn’t believe her, just being in the comfort of her arms, and listening to her, helped to stop the attack from building.
“We’re good?” Ashley asked.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. Wow, I thought you were going to lose yourself.” Ashely kissed my head. “I’m going to make you dinner. It’s still your birthday and that asshole isn’t ruining it for you.”
“He knows where we are.” I felt like I needed to remind her of what the hell was going on.
“I get that, but he’s part of the past. It doesn’t matter what he says or does. He’s not going to ruin our lives. We’ve got each other, Em. That’s all that matters.”
“We’re Amelia and Harper, remember?”
“I know you’re panicking, but stop it. It’s not right. None of this is going to help us. You know this. We all know this.”
I ran a hand down my face. “Fine. Fine.”
“Good. You know I’m right.”
I didn’t know at all. I had no idea what made her right or not. The truth was all I knew was how scary this was. After all this time, I didn’t for a second think I would have to deal with my past.
If it had been Caleb, River, Gael, or Vadik, that would have been different. They were a past I’d wanted. I’d lost them before I’d even realized they were gone.
Kicking off my shoes, I followed Ashley into the kitchen and sat at the island in the center as she rummaged around, looking for ingredients to use. One of her favorite things to eat was pasta and she went out of her way to make a different sauce each time.
Today, it looked like we were going with a garlic and pepper sauce. It was watching Ashley like this that I wished we didn’t have the risk of someone trying to find and kill us. Ashley would have made one hell of a cook. As it was, she’d given up all her dreams for this. She had a wonderful personality as well. People would adore her.
If there was ever one thing I could give my friend, it would be something like this.
Ashley humme
d as she filled a saucepan with water and placed it on the stove. I just watched. This was what I did. I’d never make it as a cook, while Ashley, she was superb. I’d gotten really lucky with her as a friend.
“Thank you,” I said.
She turned toward me. “What for?”
“For being the best friend anyone could ever ask for. For being you. You could have left me a long time ago.”
She giggled. “Don’t be silly. This is your birthday and I won’t have you talking like that. It’s not fun. This is supposed to be fun.” She turned her back to me. “I don’t care who this man is, he’s not going to spoil this for us. It has taken us too damn long to find any semblance of happiness, okay? Don’t let them win.”
I took a deep breath. “I wish I was so confident.”
“Look, I get that this is bad news for both of us. It’s not what we wanted, but there is nothing we can do about it. He’s rich, right?”
I nodded.
“Then let’s hope he gets bored with the risk of what kind of hell he can bring to us, and move on. What do you say?” Ashley offered me a smile. “And the next time he turns up, keep him around and I’ll gut him myself.” She held a knife up. “And you know how deadly I can be with a knife.”
I laughed. There wasn’t much else I could do. “Cook for me, woman,” I said.
Ashley winked at me but went back to slicing the garlic. Her hand moved so rapidly but not once did she take off her fingers. I couldn’t tear my gaze away. She was so expert.
Once she’d finished with all the garlic, she grabbed another pan. This was magic in the kitchen.
She poured enough olive oil in the pan to coat the bottom, probably more than I ever would use normally. This was what made her food so good. She wasn’t afraid of the ingredients.
Before putting the oil on the heat, she added in all the garlic, then put the heat on low. The water for the pasta had come to a boil.
Again, so much salt, it made me wonder if she was trying to turn me into a fish. After that, she moved back to her pot with the garlic. Lots of black pepper was added, and she quickly rushed to the cupboard to grab another spice.
I didn’t see what this one was.
There was a time I’d catch her talking to herself, or pretending there was a camera watching her. This was how I knew her dream. When she didn’t think I was around, she’d still do it, and it made me sad to think of everything she’d lost.
Before I knew what was happening, she’d drained the pasta, poured it into the other pot. More work was happening but her back was to me.
Within a matter of minutes, with plates piled high, we moved to our sofa, sat down with the food and forks, and ate.
“I had hoped tonight would be wonderful for you,” she said.
“It was. There was nothing you could do.”
She sighed. “Doesn’t help, though, does it? It drives me crazy that after all this time, all it takes is one appearance from a guy, and we’re panicking.”
I took a bite of my pasta and closed my eyes. “This is really good.”
“This is your way of avoiding the subject.”
“This is my way of dealing.”
Ashely moved so she faced me. “Okay, you now have my full attention. I’m right here. Tell me what you want to tell me. I know there’s something on your mind.”
I kept facing forward. There was nothing to discuss, not really.
“Em, I know you. We’ve done this so often. Don’t try to fool me.”
“It’s nothing.”
“I mean it.”
“Okay, fine.” I turned to look at her. “I’m curious, okay. We all know they were a pain in the ass when we were in high school, but now, aren’t you a little curious?” I asked.
“As to how bad they got?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t know. I do try to not think about everything that happened back then. I always felt it was easier.”
I groaned. “You’re right. So totally right.”
“It doesn’t make me right, Em. You know that. They were yours. All four of them.” She frowned. “It still seems weird to think of four guys belonging to you. I know this wasn’t easy for them, but they gave you up because they loved you.”
“Yeah, right.” I snorted. “They got what they wanted and passed me up.”
“You told me everything that happened. There’s four of them and you slept with two. Working on your theory, they all had to have been with you, to pass you up.”
I sighed. “That’s not helping.”
“They did this to protect you. I don’t think that’s anything to be afraid of.”
“What if they’re here?”
“In London?”
“Yeah.”
“Not possible.” Ashley slurped up some of her pasta.
“Why?”
“If they had been here, you’d have known about it. They wouldn’t have been able to stay away from you. If they ever come to London, you’ll be the first person to know about it.” She winked at me. “I remember the way they all looked at you. It was like you were the sunshine and they gravitated toward you. One day, I hope someone looks at me like that, but I doubt I will ever allow myself to fall in love with someone.”
This made me pause as I watched her. “Why?”
“Why what?”
“Why won’t you give love a chance?”
“Come on, Em. Think about it. I can never allow myself to fall in love with a guy.”
“And again, I’m wondering why the hell not.” I wasn’t being stupid.
“You’re being stubborn.”
“Hello, I’m not the one who’s thinking of never being with a guy.”
Ashely put her food down. It was only half eaten. She held her hand up. “First, you don’t even look at men. You turn down dates when you have no reason to. Second, if you love someone with all of your heart and soul, then you’ve got to be honest with them. The person I fall in love with, I already have to lie to them, Em. I’m not me. The me that I am is with you. Everything else, it’s all a lie.”
“You’re not lying.”
“I guess you don’t understand.”
“I do,” I said. “I just want what is best for you, that’s all.”
My friend reached out, taking my hand. “And I love you for it. I do. But I’m a realist. I know there are going to be sacrifices to keep us safe. This is the risk we took. I’m glad I did because I love you. You’re the best friend and sister I always dreamed about. I’m not going to let anyone or anything come between us. We’ve got this.”
I put my food down and threw myself at my best friend, holding her close. “You’re the best present anyone could ever want. I love you so much.”
We held each other for several minutes.
“Now, I’m starving. You don’t think after all of that touchy-feely crap I wouldn’t eat. I need food and I need it now.”
I laughed along with her, just thankful she was in my life. If the four monsters from my past got anything right, it was bringing her with me to take care of me, and for that, I couldn’t hate them.
****
Caleb
Back in Crude Hill
The sound of screams filled the air. There was a time the sounds bothered me, whereas now, I loved it. They made me feel, and that, nowadays was more important than anything else.
“Please, I beg you, please.”
Getting up from my seat, I held the whiskey in my hand as I watched Gael and River each take a turn slicing into the man. He was a cop, one who had been working both sides. He thought to tame us monsters. He’d once worked for our parents, being the perfect little mole within the force. We’d long taken over and people needed to realize our parents were like Santa Claus. We were anything but. We were the real deal. People feared us more than they ever did our fathers. It was kind of funny when I thought about it.
The man bled, and Vadik chuckled, drawing my attention. He had a girl sitting in his lap. More important, it wa
s the cop’s daughter. She was twenty years old, but she knew where real loyalty was. When she heard what her father had tried to do, frame us and bring the real law to our town, she’d come directly to us. Like all good minions, she was rewarded. This girl would have the mark of the Monsters. She’d be untouchable. It was rare for us to give our symbol to a girl, to anyone.
It was so hard to find loyalty in this day and age.
River stepped back, unzipped his fly, and began to piss all over the cop, who tried to swing out of the way.
His blood painted our floor so beautifully.
Gael did the same, and I heard a feminine squeal. Turning toward Vadik, I saw him kiss our guest, his hand cupping her tit. I waited, wondering what he would do. When he was done kissing her, and the girl in question had her legs spread, Vadik removed her from his lap and sent her on her merry way.
There would be no fucking tonight. There hadn’t been any fucking in a long time.
We’d all tried, though.
Emily’s memory was just too damn strong. She was in our blood.
Her presence was gone, long gone, but we all still craved her more than anything else.
Gael, seeing that Vadik still struggled, attacked our man again, this time, stabbing him repeatedly. With his anger, he rarely was easy to rein in, not that I wanted to. Our fathers had given us all an ultimatum, and well, that had been their mistake.
I smiled when I thought of my father, all of our fathers. They had believed we were controllable. Their biggest mistake was taking the one person who could keep us in line. Rather than bring her back, they’d stood their ground. They were old fools. Now at the ripe age of twenty-five, we’d taken their empire from them.
They were all still alive. We couldn’t exactly kill them, at least not yet. The fun was in showing each one how much they had fucked up. The mistakes they’d made. This town once had been a town for enemies to walk freely with the risk. Now, it was no more than a bloodbath.
We didn’t allow them to hide their true colors. We didn’t play pretend.
Nightmares were not confined to the dead of night.
It was real. Every single day.
“He’s dead,” I said, bored. This was the problem with letting Gael play. He always took it way too far, and look what happened. Our fun was gone for the day.