by J Bree
The grin that lights up her face is fucking unreal. I love it. Harley catches my eye and I give him a nod.
“I’ll walk you down. Too much bad shit has happened lately, I’m not letting anything happen to the baby of the family,” he says, and Poe grins so fucking wide my heart clenches. This kid needs a family. She needs people loving her. Well, I’m up for it.
I watch them both walk out and then I heave myself up so I can peer out of the window to look out over the car park. There’s a heap of motorcycles and bikers loitering, but I make an educated guess at which one this Rue guy is. He’s pacing, twitchy and pissed off, and that makes me twitchy and pissed off.
He looks like a fully grown man, and my baby sister is in love with the fucker.
“I say we gut him. Too late to take care of Atticus, but let’s not ever let that happen again,” Ash murmurs in my ear, and I shiver.
“Agreed. I don’t like him.”
Blaise snorts at the two of us from the chair he’s still firmly planted in, though he does stare at the pacing biker with as much interest as we have. “You haven’t even met him yet. She’s not going to be happy about you guys even lightly maiming the guys she’s sweet on.”
I grit my teeth. “Fine. All we need to do is tell Nate about him and then we’re golden. Job done.”
I glance back to the carpark. Harley has an arm slung over Posey’s shoulders as they come out of the hospital and into our view. My heart clenches, I’m so fucking happy they get along, and then I see exactly what he’s doing when Rue’s pacing slams to a holt, his spine snapping straight as he gets an eyeful of my golden god cuddling up with my baby sister.
It’s fucking perfect.
Blaise freaking cackles and hoots like an idiot, but Ash just glares down at the biker like he’s planning on dismembering him before Nate gets the chance to.
Not long after Poe leaves, I decide I can’t fucking stand being in the hospital for a second longer. I tell Ash I want to leave and there’s something in my voice that lets him know I mean business.
We’re being discharged thirty minutes later.
Nate watches me emerge from the bathroom wrapped firmly in Harley’s arms and I do my best not to blush like an idiot. I clear my throat and Harley, noticing all of the attention we’re getting, props me up against the bed and takes a step back to let Nate say whatever it is he needs to say.
“I’ll head out to keep an eye on you and Poe tonight. Call me, Wolf. I’ll come whenever you need. I mean it, you will call me from here out.”
I nod and feel freaking emotional as hell at him leaving. He watches me closely and then holds out his arms. Holy shit, he wants a hug?
“Poe taught me sisters need hugs,” he grumbles, and I step into his arms.
“Maybe normal sisters do, but I’m fucking broken,” I say, but I enjoy the hug anyway. How different would my life have been if he’d have found me a little sooner? Before Matteo became the Jackal, before the war in Mounts Bay started?
No. I would never have met my guys. Ash and Avery would be dead at Senior’s hands. Harley would be killed by the O’Cronins. Blaise would be… dead too, suicide or alcohol probably. No. If everything I’ve been through, fought, and conquered got us here then it’s worth it. And now if anything happens again, well.
We have the Devil on our side.
“You know you can call me too, right? If you need anything, or Poe, just call and I’ll be there.”
He gives me a look, like I’m a mystery or something. “You don’t owe me anything, Lips. You don’t have to pay me back for protecting you.”
I shake my head at him. “Well, here’s another lesson for you from a sister; family means ride or die. You’re not only my blood, you’ve been voted into my family, my inner circle. That means call me, anywhere, anytime, for anything, and I won’t be the only one to show up. My whole fucking family will.”
Nate nods and pauses for a second before saying, “Posey tell you about the biker she’s been making eyes at?”
Ah fuck. Apparently, Poe hasn’t done such a great job of hiding her feelings for Rue after all. I nod hesitantly.
“He makes a move on her before she’s eighteen and he’s dead. You with me on that?”
I sigh. “Yeah, I am but I should warn you that I promised her I’d help her to convince you not to kill him when the time comes.”
Nate nods and looks over my shoulder at the guys. “Once she’s old enough I don’t care. I’m not her fuckin’ jailer. Though, bikers are known for being whoring, abusive, spineless cunts so if he so much as looks sideways at her I’m going to blood-eagle him and enjoy every fucking second of it.”
Blood-eagle?
I’m not sure I even want to know what that is, but I nod. “I’ll help you if that happens. Whatever it is, I’ll help just so long as it’s for the right reasons. I don’t want to push Poe away by trying to be too overprotective. The girl needs to live.”
And I’ll keep telling myself that until it sticks, because I’m still firmly in favor of killing Rue right the fuck now. Avery smiles at me like she knows the words nearly fucking killed me to get out and Ash looks at me like I’ve betrayed him, goddammit.
We all walk down together and then Nate leaves in a car that has Harley fucking drooling. I have no clue what type it is but apparently it’s fucking good.
I leave the hospital in one of Ash’s Ferraris so doped up on pain meds I ramble and cackle like a fucking loon. It would be way more embarrassing if Ash wasn’t shooting me all of these little looks and biting his lip like I’m fucking delicious or something.
“You are delicious. I’m going to get you home and spread you out. It’s been way too fucking long since I’ve tasted that pussy.”
Avery gags in the backseat.
Right.
I forgot she was in the car as well.
“Oh, I know you’ve forgotten all about me, Mounty. I’ll forgive you because of the blood loss. Just this once.”
I fucking love her.
“I love you too, Mounty.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
The ranch feels different now we’re not just hiding out here.
It still feels like home, but it’s not the secretive hiding place it was before. I take a few weeks to heal up in bed and it’s fucking amazing to do that without worrying about being attacked. We get a lot of takeout delivered. Illi and Odie come over for dinner a few nights a week, and when Jackson and Viola find out about it, they tag along too. I unpack my bags and find places for my things to live in. I get the overwhelming sense of belonging here and it takes me a week or two to come to terms with that.
I still sleep with my knife but it’s not the first thing I grab when I wake up in the middle of the night anymore.
Avery still isn’t sleeping. She’s still my perfectly snarky, evil genius best friend but there’s shadows in her now that weren’t there before. I hate it, I hate that she still doesn’t want to talk about what happened in that room with the Jackal, but I don’t push her. I just spend a shit-load of time with her and guard her fiercely.
It’s why her announcement at family dinner shocks the shit out of me.
Illi, Jackson, and my guys are talking about car parts, and Odie has roped me into a conversation about college I’m still not ready to have while Viola smirks, when Avery clears her throat delicately.
The talking stops instantly.
“I know Morrison has been talking about doing a tour and the assumption is that I’ll be tagging along. I just wanted to let you all know that I’ll be staying here. I have some remodels being done on the ranch that I need to be here for.” She says, and then she takes a sip of her wine like she hasn’t just ruined dinner.
Ash’s eyes narrow at her. “Why would you need to stay behind? You’ve had the rest of the place done while we were at school.”
Avery’s back straightens. Good lord, here we go. “I don’t have to ask your permission, Ash, I’m not going. This place is secure, Senior and
the Jackal are dead, Illi is here if anything happens. I’ll be perfectly fine.”
Harley and I share a look while Ash grips his knife like a psycho. I hold up a hand. “She’s right, she’ll be safe here and she’s been forced into a constant security detail for years. I’ll miss the absolute hell out of you, Aves, but I also get it.”
Illi tips his head at me like I’ve made the right call and I grin at him. “You’ll call if you need me to come home.”
He laughs. “Kid, you won’t have to come home because if anyone gets close to her, I’ll sell their body parts on the black market. I hear kidneys are going for a good price these days.”
Jackson and Harley both snicker at the look Viola gives Illi but nothing can distract Ash from his temper tantrum.
“You’ve never cared about being stuck with us before, you’ve always preferred to have us all together. You bought this fucking house to fit us all in comfortably. You’re already talking about where you’re going to put Posey’s room for when she comes to stay. Fuck, you’ve been looking into how the fuck we can adopt her. What’s the real fucking reason Avery?” he hisses, and I slip my hand into hers under the table. I fucking hate it when they fight and doing it now, in front of everyone, is only going to end in blood.
“I’m not leaving him,” she snaps back, and there it is; the same fight I’ve been listening to for the entire freaking year.
Ash throws his cutlery down onto the table and leans forward in his chair. “You are not staying behind with that gutless fuck Crawford and—”
Avery interrupts. “I’m not talking about Atticus, I’m not leaving Aodhan.”
Well, fuck me.
Fuck me sideways and eight times on a Sunday, what the hell does that mean?
The whole table just kind of sits there in silence while we figure out what the actual fuck to say to that. Harley recovers first.
“He’s fine, Floss. I spoke to him this morning, he’s alive and getting back into the swing of things.”
She nods. “I know. I’m going to visit him tomorrow, we’ve been talking. I would just rather not leave him right now while we’re both still… recovering.”
Right, what the actual fuck happened in that room? What the hell is going on, I need some fucking answers. I give her hand a little squeeze and she smiles at me but it’s a little forced.
Now I don’t want to go on tour either.
Illi and Blaise manage to steer the conversation back to safer topics and we get through the rest of dinner. Avery insists on scrubbing all of the dishes herself by hand, fuck the two dishwashers her kitchen has apparently, and I walk everyone out.
Illi and Odie are busy telling Viola a long-winded story when Jackson stops by the door with me. I tense, waiting for his usual snarky teasing bullshit but he gives me a wry grin instead.
“So… the Devil is in your pocket now too? You’re a very popular young lady. Must be all the self-sacrifice. You’re pretty fucking quick to throw yourself in front of bullets for people.”
I give him a look. No one outside of the hospital room has been told about Nate, I was fucking clear with my family, so unless Atticus has told him… how the fuck does he know?
He grins at me. “I told you, I wiped your name from existence. He had to get it from someone who already knew it.”
My mind blanks out with rage and I just stare at the fucker for a second.
“You knew? You gave it to him?” I snap when I finally remember how to speak, and Jackson rolls his eyes at me.
“Look, if the Devil shows up at my door, you’d best fucking believe I’m going to tell that motherfucker whatever the fuck he wants to know. Besides, he’s your brother right? He was helping you out by killing people for you? I thought you’d forgive me for telling him your name. You’re welcome, Starbright.”
I don’t even think about it, my knife is just suddenly in my hand and I flick it open and press it to his femoral artery because it’s the closest and the one all guys freak about. “Don’t. You. Ever. Fucking. Call. Me. That.”
Jackson swallows, his eyes wide as he slowly nods his head.
I press just a little harder for a second and then calmly say, “You’re lucky you’re family and that the Devil is my blood, otherwise I’d kill you. To be clear, you ever rat me or any other member of our family out again and you’ll beg for me to kill you once I’m through with you.”
He nods again, a little jerk of his head, and says, “You know, I really do see the family resemblance.”
I slip the knife back into my pocket and bare my teeth at him in a savage grin. “You have no idea.”
Avery won’t talk to me about what’s going on with her.
She tells me she’s not ready yet, that she has to figure it all out in her own head first before we can talk about it, but it’s all slowly eating me up inside. I have to bite my cheek and remind myself that this isn’t about me, it’s about her and if she needs time then fuck it, I need to give her time.
Even if it’s killing me.
I make it down to the sitting room in time to see her and Harley off as they leave to go see Aodhan. If I weren’t completely certain she still loves Atticus I’d think she was dressing up for Harley’s cousin because she looks fucking devastating in her long Chanel coat. You can’t tell if she’s wearing a dress or not underneath and the long stretch of her legs will probably cause Harley all sorts of trouble for the night because men are going to come running. She’s wearing one of her new pairs of Louboutins, the ones Blaise had gotten her for Christmas, and the slash of red lipstick and perfectly styled curls completes the look and tells me for sure that this girl is on the warpath of some kind. Whether she’s dressing to impress or she’s just trying to get some of herself back, I don’t know but I love it.
“Harley’s going to take me to visit Aodhan and Jack, and I think Illi will meet us there too. He said he has business there tonight but I’m sure he’s just playing mother hen for you,” she murmurs as I very carefully hug her, I don’t want to ruin all of her hard work or pull at my newly healed skin.
“I’m a little jumpy about you heading back into the Bay. I’m actually surprised Ash didn’t insist on going as well.”
She leans back so I can see the eye roll. “He did. I told him to fuck off.”
I wince. It’s never a good thing when Avery drops the F-bomb and I feel like it’s all I hear out of her these days. “I’ll try to keep him busy so he doesn’t text you the whole time. Call me if you need anything.”
She smirks at me as Harley jogs down the steps looking fucking edible in a pair of jeans and a tight white tee. Yum.
“You should fuck him, might cheer the arrogant dick up a bit. You’ve probably healed up enough to do it if you take it easy,” Avery snarks, and I choke on my own damn tongue.
“Since when do you wanna weigh in on our sex lives? Especially Ash’s?” Harley asks, eyebrows nearly in his damn hairline.
Avery tucks her arm in his and slides her phone into her pocket delicately. “Lips and I talk about it all the time, we just choose to do it away from you idiots. Besides, Lips loves me and wants me to be happy. Ash mellowing out a bit would make me very happy. Fuck him for me, Mounty.”
I turn on my heel and leave them to it. I’m not exactly embarrassed but yeah, I totally don’t need to be thinking about Ash’s dick and drooling in front of his twin freaking sister, especially after the few weeks I’ve gone without sex on doctors orders to heal up. Avery and Harley both laugh at me as they leave but, fuck it, that’s not unusual and I’m glad Avery sounds happy for once. This year has been fucking hell on that girl.
I wander around the ranch looking for Ash but the asshole must be hiding. I find Blaise swimming in the pool so I sit on the edge and dangle my legs in, my toes skimming the heated water.
“You should hop in,” Blaise drawls, looking like a fucking dream with the water sliding down his chest in tiny rivulets.
I shake my head. “I don’t want to tire myself out, I’m
just barely getting around as it is. I’d rather just watch you.”
He smirks and swims over to me, his arms arching through the air and, lord help me, there’s something about the colors and patterns of his tattoos that pull me in.
“You look lost, Star.”
I shiver. “I can’t find Ash. Do you know where he’s hiding?”
He pulls himself out of the water using only the strength in his arms and my panties just fucking combust for him. He grins at me like he knows all about the inner workings of my brain and I pull a face back at him.
“He’s hiding on the balcony in our room, smoking a joint and being a morbid dick. What do you need him for?”
I wrinkle my nose. “I’m supposed to be finding and fucking him for Avery.”
Blaise tips his head back and roars with laughter. “That lucky dick, using his sister to get laid. If I start pouting and throwing tantrums will you fuck me too, Star?”
I groan at him and he pulls me up and into his arms, sitting on one of the poolside lounge chairs, ignoring the fact that he’s getting me wet and I don’t see a freaking towel anywhere. I’m pretty sure this chair is the same one we kissed on, right before he carried me to his room and fucked me for the first time.
I hum under my breath happily at the memory.
We lay there quietly and I let my eyes slip shut, content to just be there with him, relaxing and carefree as if we’re just normal eighteen year olds who haven’t just been through hell together.
“Well isn’t this just fucking cozy.”
I glance up to find Ash scowling and broody, a glass of bourbon dangling from one hand. He looks like the spoiled rich asshole I truly thought he was when I first laid eyes on him. Okay, he kinda is exactly that, but he’s also mine.
“Your sister is trying to get you laid. I’m calling that a party foul and against the rules,” Blaise snarks, and I groan at him. He laughs and folds me into his chest.