by Sam Crescent
“Fuck,” Gael said. “Damn, he didn’t last now, did he?” He stood up, wiping the blood on his jeans.
Gone were the suits that had once been the symbol of good business. We only played the part for all our legal shit, but we paid good men to keep an eye on that. There was a time we’d have enjoyed running the businesses, playing both sides. Ever since Emily was taken from us, we’d only been content in the darkness. There was no room for light in our lives.
“He would have lasted if you showed any kind of control,” I said, draining the last of my whiskey. This was damn good stuff, but I wanted more.
“Oh, really, and you think you’ve got better control?” he asked.
“I know I do because I get to entertain myself for a lot longer than you.” I raised my brow as he came toward me.
We could fight. We were our only real competition. No one had been able to best us, and we’d killed one too many soldiers. When we beat the shit out of each other, our only agreement was no killing blows. It was a rush to hold back on one another.
There were times, though, I knew Gael and I wanted to kill Vadik and River. They had gotten a taste of her. They’d felt her tight cunt and knew how perfect she was. What did we get? Nothing. A few stolen kisses and the chance to watch. Nothing of any real importance. It pissed me off. Even as we’d taken over from our fathers, we all knew they still held the power and control over Emily’s life. Even if we were to kill everyone we knew associated with them, more would randomly appear. We were fucked no matter which way we worked it.
Emily’s life hung in the balance and none of us were willing to take that risk. Least of all, me.
“I guess you were always too quick. Never savoring anything,” I said, trying to goad Gael.
“Not tonight,” River said, pulling his blade from the man on the floor.
“Don’t even think to tell me what to do.” I swallowed my drink and stared at River, daring him to push me.
Of course, he would. Why not? He knew how angry I was. They all did. Most of my life I’d been lied to. We’d finally found a woman to complete us and what happened? Yeah, she was taken away from us.
I’d tried to find ways around it, but so far, all I’d come up with was nothing. No way of making this right.
I wanted Emily. I craved her. She was in my blood. My need was focused only on her.
“You want to do this again?”
Some of the new scars on my body were the result of fighting River. I’d made him use those blades in our fight. Feeling them hurt my skin gave me such a rush. He looked at me now, bored.
After I threw my empty glass toward him, he stepped out of the way.
Silence filled the air.
Tension mounted.
“Not tonight,” River said.
“I don’t give a flying fuck what you want.”
“You think I don’t know what tonight is?” River asked, shouting back. He’d started to turn his back on me after I’d thrown the glass, but now I had his attention again. “We all know what tonight is.”
“Fuck you.”
“It’s her birthday.”
I shook my head, not wanting to talk about it.
“You want to fight and blame me, go ahead. It doesn’t change the fact we all fucked up.”
“Would she even want us now?” Vadik asked, making us all pause.
I turned toward him. He held a glass between his fingers, staring into his drink. He looked a little lost. His obsession was still in place. I’d seen the haven he’d created. The shrine he devoted to Emily. The pictures he constantly drew to make her memory feel more alive. I’d even seen a couple of drawings of her naked. It made me wonder if they were true to memory.
“What the fuck did you say?” Gael asked.
Vadik laughed, downing his drink. Like the other glass, he threw it onto the floor. We had cleaners to come and take care of our messes. I hadn’t cleaned up a single thing in years. It was beneath me.
“You think she’d want to be here after everything we’ve done?” Vadik looked at all of us. “When we had her, we were small fishes in a shark tank.”
“Now we’re the sharks,” River said.
“No, we’re the pieces of shit that pull the sharks out of the ocean and torture them,” Vadik said. “Look at us. We use women. We kill people for fun. Yet, no matter what we do, we cannot find a way to bring her back. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re trying to find our woman for us all.” He sighed. “Me, I wouldn’t take me back.”
“Fuck this shit!” I turned on my heel, about to walk out of the room, but came to a stop when I saw a man in an expensive suit, looking mightily smug. I recognized him and instantly, I wanted to kill him.
I charged toward him, landing a blow, to which he laughed. We went down and as I straddled him, he grabbed my arms and shoved me back. As I got to my feet, Gael, Vadik, and River surrounded me. All four of us united together against our enemy. I was ready to fuck him up.
“Earl Valentine,” Vadik said, spitting the word out.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gael asked.
River already had a knife out and was ready to strike. “Just say one more word and I’ll gut you.”
Earl looked at each one of us and laughed.
He was the first person to ever dare laugh at us. I looked at my guys and waited. We’d all be perfectly happy killing this fucker. He’d struck a deal with our fathers, and when we took over, that agreement had been severed.
My hand clenched into a fist. I craved to feel his bones break at my touch. It would be totally satisfying.
He sighed and glanced at the mess we’d made on the floor.
“They weren’t wrong about you. So very uncivilized.” He tutted. “You know, I figured you would take offense to my arrangement with your fathers. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted a virgin pussy, but they tripled my fortune with taking my shipments of product.”
To the outside world, Earl Valentine appeared to be an upstanding citizen. He had multiple empires in shipping and media. However, what people didn’t know was he was also in the trafficking business. He made dirty deals on the sale of human flesh.
Just thinking of what this fucker could have done to our girl made my skin crawl. He wanted a virgin, but that deal had come off the table. Instead, our fathers had used his fleet and reputation to help transport guns and drugs, not to mention embezzling money, cleaning it.
They had all become rich, and with every day that passed, and each dollar earned, we had grown even more hostile.
“We’ve already told you the deal is completely off the table,” I said.
Gael took a step toward the man.
He had the audacity to move toward our whiskey. Our really expensive brand. He poured himself a glass in one of the few remaining glasses we hadn’t smashed. I’d lost count of the number of glasses and bottles we had to replace.
Gael wasn’t a whiskey man. He preferred vodka.
Me, I just wanted to numb every single part of me. It helped me to sleep. A cranky me was not a good image.
Staring at this man, I saw blood. I wanted to sever every single limb I could get my hands on. He was everything I hated and even more. There would be no loss at his death.
“I have an agreement I think you would all be more than willing to be part of,” Earl said.
I folded my arms and burst out laughing. “You think there is something I’d want from you?”
He reached into his pocket, and we all tensed. However, Earl only had his cell phone. It showed a video, which he pressed play to, and we saw Ashley and Emily.
I couldn’t tear my gaze away. They were in a nightclub and it looked like they didn’t have a clue they were being filmed. I didn’t care about Ashley. The only person to hold my interest was the blonde. So beautiful. She’d lost way too much weight and even though she wore a little makeup, I saw the tiredness on her face.
Emily.
She needed us.
The video came to
a stop.
“She is such a beautiful woman now. Ripe for the taking.”
“You piece of fucking shit,” River said, about to charge forward. As one, Gael, Vadik, and I stopped him.
Earl stared at us, the silence mounting with every passing second. “I don’t appreciate being attacked.”
“Tell us what you want and then get the fuck out,” Gael said.
“Simple. I can make it so you can have Emily. I know what your fathers did. The men they’ve got tailing her, waiting for the sign to kill. I know everything.”
“If you knew everything, why didn’t you come to us before now?” I asked.
“Simple, there wasn’t anything I wanted. Now, there is.”
“You’re not getting Emily.”
“Oh, please, she’s spoiled goods. When I made a deal with Crane, I didn’t leave any error for him. I wanted a virgin. An untouched woman. Emily has you four and I have no wish to follow you.”
I stared at him, waiting, wondering what he could want.
“Anyway, it took some maneuvering, but I was able to discover her friend. Curves, as I like to call her. She hasn’t had a boyfriend, isn’t serious about anyone, and she’s a virgin.”
“How do you know that? They’re in a city and could be screwing men every night,” Gael said.
Just the thought of other men sniffing around our woman filled me with rage.
Earl smiled. “I have my means.”
“You want Ashley?”
“Yes.”
“Clearly something’s going in here we’re not privy to. Why don’t you cut the crap and tell us what the deal is?”
Again, another smirk, which pissed me off. I didn’t like to be at anyone’s mercy and from the look of my friends, they didn’t want to either. I was angry. I wanted to hurt someone, anyone.
“I give you Emily, and I’m taking Ashley. I want her indefinitely, which means I won’t have you invading my time with her. She will belong to me. All of me. That is it. Simple.”
“Hold on,” Vadik said. “Let me get this straight. We get Emily, you have Ashley, and so long as we agree to leave you alone, we get our girl. No danger to her life.”
“Exactly.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to accept.
“We need to think about this,” Gael said.
Now that did surprise me. Out of all of us, why would Gael want to think about this? I looked at him.
“Then, gentlemen, my offer lasts until the end of the evening, which is an hour away. I will go find myself something to eat. The kitchen is still this way?”
None of us went to stop him as he left the room.
Chapter Three
Gael
“How did that fucker make it from England to here?” River asked.
“Time-zone difference,” I said. “Plus, he owns a private jet. It’s not like he has to concern himself with canceled flights.”
I ran a hand down my face, trying to clear my mind, which had fogged up from the moment Earl had entered our home. We all shared this place. The other three houses had been torn down and remained as ruins and reminders to all those who attempted to cross us.
I knew the nightmare we’d turned this place into. We’d created our own little playground. To a lot of people, our fathers’ reign was filled with peace, while ours were riddled with terror.
“We are agreeing to this,” Caleb said.
“I don’t see what the deal is,” River said. “We all want this.”
Vadik agreed.
I was the fucked-up one. The mess. The person who struck first and asked questions later. After Emily had been taken from us, I’d been sent to get one of our minions. He was a bookkeeper, but he’d been investigated and found to be stealing from us. I’d stabbed him in the head, carried his body through the street, and when I dumped him in front of our fathers, they’d shouted questions at me. I’d grabbed him and used him as a puppet. It was the last time they had sent me to go find answers.
The pain of losing something so precious to me. It had stuck and I couldn’t help it. Hurting people was my salvation.
I’d even hurt women. I’d lured them into my bed, taken their clothes, seen what dirty shit they wanted to do, filmed them, and destroyed them.
I hadn’t slept with a woman. I hadn’t allowed a woman to go down on me, nor to go anywhere near me. I know Caleb had. But I couldn’t do it. River hadn’t as well. Vadik kissed and teased, but I was the one who didn’t go that far.
Staring at my friends now, my brothers in pain and pleasure, I couldn’t believe I was the voice of reason. “Are you all fucking stupid?” I asked.
“Be careful,” Caleb said.
I laughed. He’d broken my arm a couple of years ago during one of our many spars. The physical pain had been a welcome relief. It hadn’t stopped me from starting fights.
“Emily is our woman and we know who she would protect with her life,” I said. “If we give him Ashley, we will lose our woman.”
“Not if we negotiate her life properly,” River said.
I wanted Emily back, but I didn’t want her to hate us. “If you make this deal with him, we will be fighting for her love.”
“I don’t care,” Vadik said. “I need her back. We’ll deal with the Ashley angle. She’s had our girl for seven years. It’s time we got her back, and if making a deal with that beast is what we’ve got to do, then so be it. We’ll make it right eventually. Besides, Ashley owes us big time. I’m not going to talk about this. As far as I’m concerned, the deal has already been struck!”
He turned on his heel and left, Caleb following right after him, leaving me with River.
“I thought you were willing to do whatever it takes to get her back,” River said.
I looked at him. He had several scars on his face. Some of them self-inflicted, others from fighting.
“I would.”
“Then this is a done deal. Until we can find out a way to make it right, Emily will be ours.”
He didn’t give me chance to respond.
I stared at the man on the ground and tutted. “We’re about to fuck up as badly as you. Hopefully, this time, she won’t kill us.” Whistling to myself, I followed my boys into the kitchen.
Earl had already started to eat his sandwich. “Damn good cheese you have here. I need to know your supplier.”
“Cut the crap. Before we agree, we have a few conditions.”
He burst out laughing. “You think you’re in a position to be giving me conditions?” he asked.
“This isn’t funny,” Caleb said.
“I’m offering you the chance of a lifetime and this is all the thanks I get?” Earl rolled his eyes.
“You can’t kill her,” I said. This had to be number one for Ashley. If she was to die, it would kill Emily, I just knew it.
Earl chuckled. “I want to take her cherry not kill her.”
“We know the games you play,” Vadik said.
“No, you know the women I sell. I’ve never killed a woman.”
“No one can kill her. Ashley has to stay alive.”
“You know I can just take this girl.”
“And we’d fight you because we’d do that for Emily,” I said.
Earl looked at me. “I thought you were the crazy one.”
“Emily loves her. They’re still together even after all this time. There is no fighting that.”
He sighed. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s the only arrangement we’ll make,” Caleb said.
Earl stared at us. Seconds passed.
“Fine. Ashley will stay alive. I have no plans to kill her. But, and this is the big but, you will entertain Emily while I get her. She belongs to me. I want time with her alone, away from prying eyes.”
“Emily will want to see her.” I had to make sure Emily got what she wanted.
Earl ran a hand down his face and shook his head. “I get six months with Ashley before any visiting.”
“A month,�
� I said.
Caleb sent me a sharp look. They clearly hadn’t seen the connection between Emily and Ashley, but I had. I knew what was at stake. They could all take the credit, but I had to make sure she was taken care of.
“Not a chance. Five.”
“Two.”
“Four,” Earl said.
I stared at him.
“Two, and you get to bring her here and leave when you want.”
“Even if Ashley tries to convince you to let her go, you will make sure she leaves with me,” Earl said.
“If she wants to leave you, then you should think about the women you keep,” Caleb said.
“Deal,” Earl said. “Now, I don’t like to wait around. I want Ashley and I want her now. Let’s go and fetch our women, boys.”
****
Emily
“You’re nervous,” Ashley said.
We’d met up for coffee at a nice café. I’d decided to sit outside while she went to order for us. She returned with coffee and doughnuts. I nibbled on a piece of a doughnut, not really impressed with the texture of it in my mouth. It was a little cakey for my liking.
“I’m fine.”
“Emily, stop lying to me. You think I haven’t noticed the change in you? I have. I can see it, and I bet everyone else can as well. This isn’t good for you.”
I let out a sigh. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. Tell me what is wrong,” she said.
When I was sure everyone around us wasn’t assassins or Earl’s buddies, I turned back to Ashley. “Do you ever get the sense you’re being watched?”
“Is this some paranormal stuff? Like ghosts?”
“No, not like that.”
“I need you to elaborate, Em.”
“Like people are watching us. Familiar faces that are always there.”
“We have work colleagues, and we’ve been living here for seven years. I’m sure we’re going to experience that.” She frowned. “I don’t understand what the problem is.”
I dropped my hands to the table, spreading out my fingers. “I don’t know. Ugh. Ever since Earl came, I’ve felt it.” I ran my fingers through my hair, feeling the hairs stand on end. There was also a twist in my gut I didn’t like. Not one bit.