Hannaford Prep: The Complete Series

by J Bree

  I take a minute or twenty to figure out how to stand before I go clean up then I burrow into the blankets on the bed, sore and used and fucking blissful. When Ash has finished his call to the others, to tell them we’re alive and safe, he digs around in the bed until he finds me, moving until he has me tucked into his chest where he wants me.

  “We have to get back. It’s not safe to be separated and Avery will lose her fucking mind if we don’t get back soon,” I mumble, but I don’t move away from him. My eyelids are too fucking heavy, I could pass out for a month.

  Ash kisses that little patch of my shoulder he loves so much and whispers back, “I’ll wake you up before dawn, Mounty. Get some sleep.”

  I think I try to argue with him but before the words fully form, I’m out.

  Chapter Ten

  I avoid Avery when we get back to Hannaford. I don't know how she found out about my other experiences, but I'm certain she doesn't know exactly what went down at the Ranch overnight. Harley, on the other hand, realizes the second he looks at me.

  He tucks me under his arm to walk me down to the dining hall for breakfast, Blaise messing around on his phone trailing behind us. Ash took an extra long run this morning and Avery had stayed behind to walk down with him later.

  It's ridiculous but I blush at Harley’s questioning look. He scoffs at me and says, “You might want to put something on that bite mark to cover it up unless you want the whole school talking."

  Dear lord, no thank you.

  I elbow him and ignore his snickering while Blaise roars with laughter behind us. When I shoot him a dark look he grins at me and says, “We’re just happy Ash can stop being a snarling, jealous, blue-balled asshole now.”

  Nope.

  I pull away from Harley, ignoring his grunt of annoyance at me and stalk off towards food. Their legs are ten miles longer than mine and they keep up with me easily, damn them, and by the time we get to the dining hall Harley manages to corral me so I’m back under his arm.

  Harley grabs us a tray and picks out our food without any need for input from me, even somehow managing to get sprinkles on my French toast. I grin at my toes while they laugh at my enthusiasm for my food, Harley even getting a good squeeze of my ass in, then we make our way over to our usual seats.

  We haven't spent much time eating in the dining hall this year but no matter how busy it is, our seats are always empty. Infamy does have some perks.

  The boys wedge me between them, spreading out so their legs are touching mine and their arms taking over my space as they set out our food. It should be annoying but it just makes me feel more fucking cherished than anything else.

  Maybe I’m turning into a fucking sap after all?

  “If the other two don’t get down here soon they’re going to be late for class. There’s no way Ash will get a higher score than me in calculus if he’s late,” Harley gloats, and Blaise groans under his breath.

  “Can the two of you lay off a bit? Who the fuck cares who gets second? The last thing the rest of us want to listen to is your bitching and snarling.”

  Harley stabs at his eggs and I nudge him gently, trying to stop the shitty mood from starting, “Maybe he’ll be a little less focussed on his studies since… Well, you know.”

  Blaise snickers, “You mean he’s going to stop studying at the time because he’s finally getting laid? Yeah, he’ll probably need your tutoring again.”

  Harley tips his head back and roars with laughter, so light and happy again that my chest aches to look at him. My phone buzzes in my pocket and I grab it, my heart dropping at Avery’s text.

  911. Boys room. Senior called Ash.

  I drop my cutlery and pass the message on, bolting up and out of the room without looking back. 911 means bad, life threatening. What if he’s here? What if he’s come to Hannaford to pick Avery up and take her? I need to call in for backup now if he is.

  I call Avery as I hit the first staircase, my leg screaming at me even as I ignore it completely.

  “Is he here?” I ask the second she picks up, and she whispers a quiet ‘no.’ He’s still talking to Ash in the background, I don’t know what the hell they could possibly have to chat about.

  I can’t hear it well enough to stay on the phone and listen in so I hang up, grit my teeth, and sprint the rest of the way back. I get a few mildly curious looks but mostly the other students all dive out of my way, as if being in my path is truly life threatening. Well, Good for them.

  I make it to our rooms and manage to get the key in on my first try. The door swings open right as Senior says, “When I’m done getting rid of her, I’ll come find your pretty little girlfriend. I think she would look rather stunning strapped against my table. Have you fuck her like that yet, son? Have you laid her out and forced her to take you, bleeding and screaming? There’s nothing quite like it. I think I’ll enjoy watching the slum cunt bleed all over my cock.”

  I try to control my breathing as I roll my eyes and step in, toeing out of my shoes to try to stop my leg from hurting quite so badly, and then I stalk over to the phone. I’m going to hang up on the useless stream of bullshit but Ash stops me. His fingers are cold as he wraps them around my wrist, stopping me from grabbing the phone and ending this stream of fucking bullshit. I give him a hard look but he shakes his head, even as a tremble of contained rage runs down his arm. He’s close to the edge, right at his breaking point, but there’s something he needs.

  “What the fuck are you doing working with the Jackal? Lowering yourself to common criminals? You won’t be able to hide behind high society if you’re too busy hiding behind the Jackal’s skirts like a terrified child.”

  Avery stares down at the phone like she can somehow force her father to reveal all of his secrets and his plans, just by directing her loathing there, but Ash watches me.

  Senior laughs and I try not to cringe away from the sound. “You’ve forgotten your lessons, boy. The cattle in the working class do the work, that’s what they’re bred for, why should I go looking for your little slum queen when I can get someone else to do it for me? You spent too long fawning after your sister, I’ve been too lenient. It’s time you remember who you belong to.”

  The phone beeps as Senior hangs up and my eyes stay glued to Ash’s.

  And then all of hell breaks loose.

  Ash loses his goddamn mind.

  I’ve seen him get pissy before, I've seen him be overprotective and beat men until they have to be scraped off of the floor, but I've never seen the tornado that is a truly enraged Ash.

  Avery watches, with a passive stance but calculating eyes as he destroys the boys’ room. I stand next to her, leaning against the far wall where we’re out of his destructive path, as the two of us watch him smash the furniture to pieces as if they were nothing. I’m kinda glad classes are on and there’s no way he can get into a fight; pretty sure whoever he went up against right now would die. He’s now leaving blood on everything he touches from the steady stream coming out of his knuckles.

  As the damage bill slowly gets higher and higher I lean in to murmur to Avery, the disgust dripping in my voice, "It's pretty clear to me that money means absolutely fucking nothing to you people."

  Avery rolls her eyes at me. "Lips, I don't think you’ve grasped just how much money you now have either. Between the dirty money we first invested, your earnings from the bet, and Harley paying you back with interest you probably don't need to work a day in your life either. You certainly won’t need to at the rate that you spend money."

  I narrow my eyes at her, no longer concerned with the bloody state of Ash’s hands. "What the hell do you mean he paid me back with interest? What the fuck are you doing letting him pay me back at all, let alone with fucking interest?"

  Avery shrugs as she tries to smother a smile. “You know I'm not getting involved in your relationship issues and I'm definitely counting this as a relationship issue. Take it up with him.“

  I scoff at her but any witty remark I could c
ome up with is interrupted by the door opening and Harley and Blaise walking in. Harley has my abandoned breakfast tucked under his arm but I don’t have it in me to feel warm and fuzzy about him caring for me like that. I’m too worried about the state Ash is in.

  "Fuck me. What's your dad done now?" asks Blaise, and Avery gives him a look that would strip the skin off a grown man.

  "You know better than to call that man my dad. Senior called, he wanted to discuss my sale. He made it clear to Ash that he intends on doing whatever necessary to hand me over to Morningstar. He also threatened Lips, so naturally the best course of action is to give this disgusting pit of a room a fresh start. A completely rational reaction.”

  I raise an eyebrow at her, assuming she’s being sarcastic and, well, glass houses, but then I realize she’s being deadly fucking serious. Right. I had always thought her cleaning after shit goes down was a germaphobe thing not a Beaumont Bullshit thing. I stare at her for another second and then turn back to the mess that Ash is in. We all watch him in silence for another minute, then Harley and Blaise share a look, nodding at each other.

  “Grab him, I’ll grab the bourbon to mellow him the fuck out,” Harley says, and Blaise grunts at him.

  “Star can grab the bourbon, you grab his other arm. I’m not getting knocked out before we even get in the ring,” he argues, and I head for the bar, skirting around the mess, because I'm absolutely onboard with the plan to get Ash drunk.

  I’m pretty sure if we don’t get him wasted before we put him in the ring he will kill someone. If only he were climbing in there with one of our many enemies and not the members of our family.

  Blaise and Harley tackle Ash and get him sort of under control, though he cusses them both out viciously. I hear a few pained grunts. Avery announces she’ll stay put, telling us she will clean it up and meet us down there later. I nod as I follow the boys out the door, knowing already that she wouldn't want to watch Ash beat the rage out of his system.

  Harley and Blaise manage to drag him down towards the gym without too much trouble, probably because classes are in and there are no other students walking the halls, because I'm fairly certain if we had bumped into anyone and they so much has looked at Ash he would have beaten the life out of them.

  When we get to the gym the guys finally let him go and he turns to me to grab the bottle of bourbon. His eyes still look crazed but I'm relieved to see he still looks human. I'm not sure what I would do if they were empty like Joey’s always were, even before he was a head in a box.

  He cracks the bottle open and takes deep gulps straight from it. Harley winces, and then tries to wrestle it off of him before he drowns himself.

  "You can't get in the ring if you can't fucking stand."

  Ash levels his icy eyes on Harley and says, “And you won't walk out of the ring if I haven't had something to drink."

  Fuck.

  I moved to stand between them and I press the palm to each of their chests but they just keep glaring at each other over my head. I’m going to have to pull out the big guns to distract them.

  "Maybe I should get in the ring with Ash. Just until he calms down enough."

  All three of them look at me like I've lost my fucking mind. Fuck that.

  I cross my arms and peg Ash with a look. "I hate to say it, but you won't be the most dangerous thing I've ever faced. Get in the ring and I’ll teach you some shit.”

  He shakes his head at me, and strips out of his clothes. I'm about to snap at him for trying to use a secret weapon against me when I noticed that Blaise has their training bag slung over his shoulder and yeah, maybe it would be for the best if Ash isn’t wearing his uniform for this. I don’t look back at him until he has the obscenely short shorts on and he’s winding the tape onto his hands.

  Harley looks relieved that Ash seems to be in a clear enough state of mind to go through these motions. I think we would be in a lot more danger if he had just thrown himself into the ring. The room takes a breath.

  The other two change into their sparring clothes as well and I do my best not to drool now that the pressing danger has passed. Blaise throws himself down on the mat and tugs me until I'm in his lap. Just as Ash and Harley step up the door to the gym opens and three of the Crow’s men walk in.

  Oh fuck.

  Ash turns and takes the sight of them in. Blaise groans under his breath and presses his lips behind my ear as he whispers, “That's it, someone's gonna die today."

  I struggle out of his lap and stand to face the men. The smiles slowly slide off of their faces and their heads dip at me with respect. I hope Ash is paying attention and decides to let this go.

  "We were just coming down here to train, we could join you if you want some fresh blood?" the bigger of the three guys says.

  I open my mouth but, of course, Ash interrupts me. “Get in then, dickhead.”

  Harley huffs but he steps out without a word and the bigger of the three men strips out of his shirt. I keep my eyes on them all, not trusting them one fucking bit.

  Blaise twirls a strand of my hair around his finger and I glance over my shoulder at him to find him and Harley flanking me the way they do at the meetings. They both look ready to pounce, whether in my defense or for their own need for blood I don’t think they care.

  I wonder if they'll ever grow out of this?

  The guy looks at me before he steps up and I jerk my head in the direction of the ring, giving him my approval. He nods and grabs the tape from Harley’s outstretched hand, the two of the staring each other down. It’s hard not to roll my eyes. I shouldn’t, the guys are behaving exactly as the Wolf’s men should, but I know this is about their protective natures about me and about Avery, not about their positions in my… fuck, my gang.

  I take a seat on the mats again, giving Blaise a curt shake of my head when he tries to pull me back into his lap. Harley takes a seat next to us both and watches the Crow’s men carefully.

  “First blood?” the guy asks, and Ash smirks at him with the absolute arrogance of a rich kid that knows how to kill.

  “Tap out or knock out, nothing less.”

  Oh fuck.

  I don’t expect it to last long, and it doesn’t. Ash is ruthless, deadly, and fucking insane. It takes me a second to recognize what it is that I’m watching but then it clicks in my brain; Ash has no fear. He’s not afraid of taking a hit or the pain that comes with it. He moves as if death means nothing to him.

  Senior and Joey really have broken something in him.

  Harley jumps up to pull Ash off of the guy once it’s clear he’s out, and the other two guys scrape their friend up and throw him down next to us on the mats.

  The larger of the two left takes his turn and the last guy starts to pour water on the unconscious guy’s head.

  “He’s good. Where’d a little rich boy learn to fight like that?”

  I ignore the question, I don’t need friends, but Harley scoffs at him. “You wouldn’t survive what he has, dickhead.”

  The guy shrugs. “Just trying to be friendly. We’re all on the same side, why not try to get along?”

  Blaise strokes a hand down my leg in an obviously suggestive way. I sigh at him but let him go. He has to shit stir, it’s in his fucking blood to do it, so why not let him have his fun.

  “Is the Crow your family? You fucking him? Do you make him scream your name, does he have you on your knees for him? We’re not on the same anything. You’re owned. You signed away your life to a fucking crime lord just so you can, what, wear cheap suits and carry guns? You’re nothing.”

  The guy bristles, wincing a little as Ash gets his friend on the ground and just starts whaling in on him. “You think you’re better than me because you’re fucking the Wolf? When she’s done with you she’ll just slit your throats and be done with it. I know better than to climb into bed with a member of the Twelve.”

  Harley smirks and pushes my hair off of my shoulder, rubbing at the little patch of skin peeking out from my button-
up shirt. I smile at him and then speak, fuck the consequences, “I get it. You needed to eat so you sold your soul and now you’re expendable, replaceable, nameless, and nothing. That’s what you made yourself when you became one of the Crow’s men. I could have done the same with the Jackal a lifetime ago but instead I crawled my way out of hell. So shut your fucking mouth and get ready to be beaten down because Ash Beaumont is going to own your fucking ass.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The Crow stands at our bedroom door, two of his men standing behind him, scowling at us all like we’re disobedient children.

  Ash ignores him entirely but he holds the ice to his hands after Avery snarls at him for attempting to move it. Harley stands a step in front of them both, as if his body is a shield and he can protect them both from this man and his influence of them, and Blaise lounges on the bed as if there’s nothing to worry about.

  I sip my coffee at the table and do my best to ignore them all. Ok, not ignore them, but I pretend I’m not listening to the whole episode because it’s not strictly Twelve business so it’s none of my concern. Avery will tell me if she needs backup.

  “If you’re going to put my men out of commission could you at least call me before? I could have sent in expendable suits,” Atticus says, and Ash scoffs at him.

  “We’re going back to escorting Avery everywhere if that’s the protection you’re offering us. Not a single one of those men lasted longer than a minute in the ring. If Jackal comes down here himself we’re fucked.”

  It’s a very good point and I tilt my head as I sip at my coffee again.

  Atticus doesn’t rise to the bait, his anger at Ash’s words tightly contained. “They all know not to harm you, they wouldn’t walk into the ring with any real intentions of bringing you harm.”

  Oh dear.

  I turn to watch them and sure enough, Ash’s shoulders are so rigid I can see the fine tremble. I give Blaise a look and he huffs at me.