by J Bree
“Well, maybe it’s time we reminded him that you’re Avery fucking Beaumont and you might have shown him your soft side because he meant something to you but that doesn’t make you any less of a ruthless, cutthroat dictator. Beat him in his own game because Aves, he has no fucking clue who he’s really dealing with.”
She smiles at me and hands me a towel. “None of these stupid boys do.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I hate the dress Avery has put me in but I have to admit, she knows her shit. I fit right in. The restaurant is flashy, overdone, and intimidating to stand in. If I didn’t already know half the waiters I’d be uncomfortable as fuck, but Joseph Beaumont has underestimated my reach.
I nod at the maître d' and he tips his head at me respectfully. Ash scoffs at me. “Is there anyone you don’t know in the Bay?”
I shrug and wait for him to take us to our seats. The Crow is already waiting for us in the lounge, sipping a malt whiskey, with Luca flanking him in a sharp suit. I sigh as Harley’s fists clench at his sides.
“Wolf.”
I shake my head at him and say, “Are we the Twelve today, or are we friends? I don’t make my friends call me the Wolf.”
Harley glares at Atticus like he wants to beat him bloody for everything that has ever happened to Ash and Avery while this man stood by and let it, and I grab his wrist gently to try to remind him of our conversation.
We win nothing here by being obvious in our dislike of this man.
“Forgive me, I’m not accustomed to seeing you as anything but the Wolf.” Atticus’s eyes flick over to Avery and the slow perusal of her outfit is the last straw for Harley.
“I’m going to bathe in your blood, you manipulative, spineless cunt,” he hisses and Blaise barely manages to grab him before he chokes the fucker out.
“Ha! There it is! There’s the impulsive Irishman in the kid. Can’t say I blame him, I’d slit your throat any day of the week for the shit you’ve pulled on our family,” says Illi, sauntering in behind us, looking as dangerous as ever in his suit.
I gape a little and then snap a photo on my phone, giggling at him like a little schoolgirl. I don’t even care about the danger we’re all facing in that second. Because Illi. In. A. Suit.
He smirks at me and shrugs. “You can’t get in here without one and I didn’t want to make a scene.”
Ash quirks an eyebrow at me and I laugh, “He didn’t even wear a suit to his wedding! It’s ridiculous to see him in one now. What the fuck did Odie say when she saw it?”
Illi cackles and when he steps up alongside Ash, I’m shocked to see them exchange a knowing, and respectful, nod. They stand like a wall between Avery and Atticus like they’ve become best friends without me noticing. When the fuck did that happen?
Atticus looks straight through them, unconcerned with their clear threat. “Avery-”
Her voice is glacial. “No, thank you. I’m quite fine where I am. Lips, I’m happy to wait for our table here with Illi.”
That’s my girl. I smirk and Illi catches on quickly, slinging himself in the chair next to her and slinging an arm over the back of her chair.
Neither Ash or Harley tense up in any way but Atticus stares down at the Butcher of the Bay like he’s planning on ripping that arm right the fuck off of him.
Illi winks at Atticus. “Odie has decided to embrace the polygamous lifestyle of our little club and she loves the little Ice Queen.”
Blaise snickers under his breath. Harley elbows him in the ribs but the smirk on his face gives him away.
I wait, fully prepared to dive into the fray to get Avery out safely if Atticus loses his damn head. Illi’s arms are loose and casual but I know he could tear Atticus in half in a split second without breaking a sweat.
The silence stretches on until finally, a waiter comes to direct us to our private table in the back. Illi jumps up and helps Avery to her feet like the perfect gentleman, guiding her over to walk with Ash behind me. Then he takes up the rear, watching everyone and ready to start swinging his cleaver the second things go south.
As we weave our way through the tables to the private area I glance back to Ash and raise an eyebrow at him. He knows what I’m asking and rolls his eyes at me.
“The night he called me to go find you, even after you told him not to, I decided he’s not so bad.”
I shake my head. “Not so bad?”
Blaise laughs, his fingers dancing along my arm. “Star, he’s a part of our family now too. Maybe not our immediate family, but he’s like a distant cousin we hang out with at family reunions because everyone else sucks ass.”
Illi cackles at me, listen to our every word. “See kid? I’m the cool cousin you can’t wait to drink with.”
Harley snorts. “The cousin we call when we need a body to disappear. How useful.”
Avery giggles and says, “I’m just glad Ash approves. It’s nice that he’s no longer snarling at my choice in men.”
Atticus’s shoulders tense so badly even his expensive suit can’t hide it. To think I’ve been so wary of this man from the moment I met him and all along his weakness has been my dictator best friend with an icy gaze and a heart too fucking big for those she loves.
No matter what happens between them, I’ll back her.
Even if we have to add him to the list of people hunting us.
The waiter ushers us into the back room where Joseph Beaumont Senior is already seated at the table waiting for us.
“Who would have thought a slum slut from Mounts Bay could look so good in a dress? From Joey’s descriptions, I thought you must be hideous but I can see the appeal.”
His voice makes my skin crawl.
How the fuck did he convince a young Alice Arbour that he was human? He sounds like a fucking monster.
Atticus steps up next to me and pulls out a chair, gesturing for me to sit. Harley cuts him a look, then takes a seat to my right and Avery sits to my left. One by one, everyone sits on my side of the table, except Illi who takes up watch by the door, a knife dancing back and forth between his hands.
I’m tempted to get him to throw the fucking thing right into Senior’s throat.
“I don’t appreciate being summoned,” says Atticus, taking a napkin and laying it across his lap like he’s actually preparing to eat. There is no way I can stomach food right now. No fucking way.
“And why would I give a fuck what the useless third son of Crawford should want? Ah. But you’ve gone out and made a new name for yourself, haven’t you? The peasants of Mounts Bay don’t impress me and neither do their kings.”
I keep my mouth shut while I watch him.
Ash is right, he and Avery get their looks from this vile man. I suppose this is what Ash will look like in thirty years, but only if all of the humanity has been squeezed out of him. The difference between Ash and Senior is his soul, the same one he shares with Avery. I look at Senior and see nothing of his children in him. Not the twins anyway.
I see far too much of Joey.
I glance around, but the psycho fuck isn’t anywhere to be seen. I glance at Avery and she gives me the slightest shake of her head. Fuck.
“I’m not here to speak to the Crow. I want to talk to the little girl who thinks she can take my children from me.”
I glance back to Senior and stare him down, my gaze and my breathing as steady as always. He’s a monster, but he’s not the worst I’ve ever faced.
“I don’t think I can take them, I have taken them. I’m only here so you know for sure that they’re mine now. We can discuss terms, but nothing changes that fact.”
Senior’s eyes flick across my face and neck, the same way Joey’s do like he’s looking for my weak point. I don’t rise to the bait.
He leans back in his chair, flicking a wrist to summon himself a drink. “And what are you going to do if I don’t agree to your terms? I have plans for them both.”
I make a big show of staring down each of his bodyguards, all eight of them.
“I’d put money on my men over yours. Honestly? I’d put money on the Butcher taking care of the whole lot of them without any help.”
Senior raises his glass to his lips and smiles at me, chilling my blood with the cruel twist to his lips. “I own everyone. I own the police who will arrest you and the judge at your trial. I own the prison officers who will tuck you into bed every night and fondle you in the showers. I own your teachers and taxi drivers, and I own your friends. I think you’re underestimating me, little girl.”
I don’t let the trickle of fear running down my spine show. He may have reach, it might be widespread and tangled up in our lives, but I know he isn’t as powerful as he’s making out. Why else would he try to deal with the Devil?
My voice doesn’t waiver as I reply, “And I know you’re underestimating me.”
He lifts a shoulder at me and then fixes his gaze on Ash. The sadistic gleam to his eyes lights something in my blood and I damn near climb over the table and slit his throat myself.
“Where is your brother? I told you to bring him with you.”
I mentally call dibs on killing him.
Ash stares at him, unflinching, and my heart nearly bursts with pride. “How should I know? He’s not my responsibility.”
Senior’s eyes narrow a fraction. “Your time fucking slum pussy has made you forget yourself, boy.”
Avery’s leg tenses against mine and I tuck my hand in hers under the table.
“I will never set foot in your house again. I will never live by your rules again. I will never babysit Joey and cover for his deranged games again,” Ash hisses, leaning forward slightly. Illi rumbles happily under his breath by the door, reminding us all that he’s watching and prepared to spill blood.
Hmm, more than prepared. Itching to bleed them all out.
The anger leaks out of Senior’s face as he replies, “You could be so much more than your brother. I look at you and see every inch of myself, all the bloodlust and rage. If only you weren’t corrupted by the little cunt in the womb, maybe then you’d be a man.”
I roll my eyes and clasp my hands in front of myself on the table, drawing his gaze back to me. I’m done with this little show of power. I want to go home and plan how I’m going to climb the walls of Beaumont Manor and gut this fuck in his sleep, nice and quietly, where none of his bought police force can save him.
“I’m leaving now. I was hoping for a more productive dinner meeting but if all we’re going to do is boast about whose dick does more damage then I’m leaving.”
Senior flicks his wrist again and the waiters start to bring out the first course of dinner. “You can leave if you want, little girl, but Avery isn’t going anywhere. I’ve secured a buyer for her and the exchange is being made on her birthday.”
Buyer?
Exchange?!
Over my dead fucking body.
I open my mouth to tell the sadistic fuck that when the waiter moves to place my plate in front of me. Only it’s not a plate.
It’s a cardboard box.
With my full name on it.
No one at the table speaks. Harley hasn’t noticed the box, he’s too busy trying to contain the rage pumping through his bloodstream and clouding his brain. Avery’s skin is beyond white, a thin sheen of sweat covering her forehead, but she’s now looking at the box.
Why would Senior be giving me this?
Has he been sending the heads all along? Why? I look up at him but he’s staring at the box with the smallest of lines between his brow. So not from him. Fuck.
The Crow doesn’t look away from Senior either.
I pick up the steak knife and slit the box open. The smell is less putrid, the head clearly a far more recent kill than the last two.
I lift the flaps and find that for the first time there’s a note sitting on top of the head. I grab it first, stupidly because I should grab gloves from Illi first in case we can lift some prints, but my brain isn’t working properly at all. The words are written in large cursive letters and a chill races down my spine.
No one touches my blood.
Fuck. Who the hell else have I pissed off?! I think back over the people I’ve taken out but there’s been too many to narrow it down at all. Fuck.
Avery stops breathing next to me, her lungs just ceasing to work.
I look down and my heart jumps into my throat as I stare down into the vacant, lifeless eyes of Joseph Beaumont Jr.
Joey is dead.
Fuck.
Chapter Forty
EXTRA SNIPPET FROM MAKE YOUR MOVE
BLAISE
“I need to pee but I can’t move but I don’t want to pee myself.”
Fuck, keeping a straight face is almost impossible but I don’t want to piss her off or get stabbed for laughing at her while she’s this… vulnerable. “It’s okay, Mounty. I’ll help you over to the bathroom.”
I hoist her up into my arms and laugh at the way she kind of flails about before she gets comfortable, her arms looping around my neck. Her mouth starts running about how much ice cream Avery has been feeding her and I have to shut that shit down fast. She weighs practically nothing and I’m all for the extra roundness her ass has these days.
“Calm down, there’s no way I’m dropping you. I’ll get you on the toilet.”
The gasp out of her is hilarious. “You are not watching me pee, Morrison. Nope. That’s- nope.”
I scoff at her, gently lowering her to the ground in the bathroom. There’s nothing for her to hold onto but she frowns at me when I try to help her out.
“I can shut my eyes if you’re that worried, Star.”
The nickname slips out but she doesn’t notice it yet.
She pouts. “There’s absolutely no fucking way, Morrison.”
I leave her to it, laughing at her talking to herself and then when I hear the flush and the scuffing sounds of her hobbling around again I step back in.
“Oh. He’s still here.”
I chuckle and brace her hips as she washes her hands. “I’m not going anywhere, Star. You’re stuck with me now.”
Her leg starts to wobble again and I lift her up a little to get her weight off of it.
“What the hell does that even mean? I’ve ruined everything.”
This again. I could fucking kill Arbour for how he reacted this morning, the dick. I try not to sounds pissed though, I don’t think she could take it with the way her mouth is running right now. “You haven’t, Star. Look, we all agreed to share you. That means you’re not getting away from us that easy. What ever it takes, we’re keeping you.”
I see her brain melt a little more and I swing her back up into my arms, walking back over to the bed and sitting down with her in my lap. She hums happily under her breath, wriggling and rocking her hips until I grab them to steady her.
The dopey, loved-up grin on her face is adorable. Fuck, I never thought I’d be calling the Mounty adorable but here we are. She starts stroking my chest, and I’m struggling not to get hard at the grinding she’s absently doing on my dick.
I’m not a total asshole, I’m not going to fuck her while she’s high like this but fuck is she tempting.
I try to distract myself by recording her and sending it to Harley, a little payback for his fuck up this morning, but she’s too fucking hot. The rocking has me as hard as a fucking stone underneath that ass of hers.
“If both of his hands are on my hips then that hand must belong to me.”
I try not to burst out laughing at her. “Yes, that’s your hand.”
Her eyes widen and I see the hazy sort of panic take over her. Fuck, after everything we’ve said to her for the last two years no wonder she’s freaked out about touching me.
Fuck, I want her touching me.
I lean forward to whisper against her lips, “You can touch me wherever you want, little Star.”
I swear I see her brain break.
I’m about to just say fuck it and spread her out on the sheets, strip her naked and taste eve
ry fucking inch of her skin when the door flings open and Harley storms into the room. Great.
He’s pissed the fuck off for something different.
“Morrison, if I find out you’ve laid a single fucking finger on her while she’s been high, I’ll gut you.”
To The End
Prologue
Blaise
Star looks down at the box and I don’t have to be psychic to know whose head is in the fucking thing. She looks like it’s the worst possible choice and her face is blank before her eyes flick back up to the deranged serial killer at the table.
Joey is dead.
I can’t say I’m sorry to see that psychotic fuck go but as Senior’s eyes bore into my girl I kinda wish Joey was still breathing. How the fuck do we get out of this?
Harley knocks my leg under the table and I dip my chin a fraction so he knows he’s got my attention. He traces an ‘A’ on the table in front of him, an old signal we’ve used a million times before.
He’s telling me to get Avery the hell out of here and for the first time I’m torn. She’s not cut out for when shit goes south like this, not physically at least. Someday that girl is going to dance on a big stage and have pompous rich dickheads falling at her feet. She can’t afford to be injured.
More than that, we can’t afford for Ash to see his sister hurt.
I’m fairly certain Ash is more dangerous than Senior, one-on-one. It’s the damn statement about the cops that has me worried. What the fuck is Star going to do?
It’s only that I’m watching her so closely that I see her pass her phone to Avery under the table, and Floss’ face stays carefully blank and her fingers move swiftly across the screen by memory alone.
“How much do you owe your buyer? Now that you can’t deliver?” Lips says, her voice so fucking flat and bored I’m impressed.
The serial killer just ignores her, cutting his steak up into tiny pieces with surgeon-like precision. He takes his time, waiting until he has a piece speared on his fork before answering her. “What’s in the box, little girl? Who is delivering parcels to you during my time?”