Breaker, Serena, and I all shared a look before Nixon sighed and said, “We have to wait for everyone else anyway.”
“What for?” Serena asked.
Nixon gulped and then, “Funeral preparations.”
Shit.
In an instant, I was up and making my way over to Ash. He looked like complete shit, both eyes were swollen, one almost completely shut, thanks to my right hook, his body had a few bruises near his shoulder, and his knuckles had dried blood on them. He must have crashed on the couch without bothering to take a shower last night.
“Bro…” Breaker sat on the floor next to him. “You smell like shit.”
“Go away.” Ash covered his face with his hands. “Please.”
“Can’t do that, cousin.” Serena helped Ash to his elbows then scooted underneath him, cradling his head in her lap. “What do you need? What’s going to make you feel better right now?”
“Death.”
“Other than death,” I snapped. The last thing I needed was to lose him too; the last thing he needed was to lose someone else.
When did things get so messed up?
And how the hell were we going to survive, not just Claire’s death? But mine if it came to that? How?
The thought haunted me the entire morning as the bosses came over to make arrangements. It was a steady stream of black suits coming in and going out of the house.
And Ash refused to get up.
At one point, Tank finally found his way into the living room. Breaker offered to share some clothes with him and show him where the showers were.
Tank didn’t know it yet, but he was in this, part of this now, so him going home and having a normal life now?
Probably not in the cards.
But we’d let him choose, we always did.
“I loved her.” Ash’s voice was so broken. “It wasn’t supposed to end this way.”
“It’s not the end.” Serena kept rubbing his hair back from his forehead in soothing strokes. “You have to live for her. What would she want you to do? Waste away?”
I’d seen Ash angry.
I’d seen him hurt.
But I’d never seen the sort of pain twisting his features like I did now, it was uncomfortably raw like he was broken and could never be fixed.
He opened his mouth, but nothing came out, and then he finally confessed something I didn’t see coming.
“She was pregnant.” A sob escaped his throat, and then it was like he couldn’t stop talking. “We were fighting so much because she was terrified to bring up a baby in this lifestyle. That’s why she wanted the normal, that’s why she pushed it. She had no clue the thing she fucking pushed was going to end up getting her killed.” Eyes wild, he gripped me by the shirt and pleaded. “Please, I can’t live like this, I can’t. Don’t make me—”
His eyes rolled to the back of his head before he could finish, and when I looked up, it was to see Nikolai with a needle protruding from Ash’s neck.
“The hell!” I roared, jumping to my feet.
Nikolai sighed. “Let him rest.” His eyes were lifeless. “He’s been through a lot.”
“Did you know?” Serena asked.
Nikolai nodded. “His dad’s on his way.”
“You think angry Chase Abandonato is going to help the situation? Are you insane?” I would protect Ash even if it meant from his own father.
“He needs his family right now, and the only people in this room who know what it’s like to love and lose are Sergio and Chase, and I think it should be his own father who helps him heal… if he can at all.”
With that, Nikolai walked away.
Tears streamed down Serena’s cheeks as she whispered. “I can’t imagine, Junior, we can’t—”
I gripped her hand. I knew what she was saying. We couldn’t let that be us. We needed to be careful. But more than that. We needed each other.
“Let him sleep,” I whispered, helping her out from under his lap.
And without thinking, I wrapped an arm around Serena and pulled her against my chest, because it was as natural as breathing.
Unfortunately, it was the worst timing in the world, because that was about the time Chase came around the corner, his gaze flickering from her to me and back again, calculated, cool.
He walked right up to us and whispered, “I hope like hell you two know what you’re doing.”
“Says the man who told his son to break us up,” I sneered under my breath. “Forgive me for not feeling very grateful right now.”
“You should be.” Chase’s eyes were sad. “I was trying to save your lives.”
“Don’t fight,” Serena whispered. “Ash needs you.”
Chase’s stance tensed. He was a lethal son of a bitch who was barely restrained by the rage he kept in his soul, the revenge that lurked beneath the surface where his heart should be. “I would take it from him if I could.”
“I know,” Serena answered. “And do me a favor?”
“Anything.” Serena had every single boss wrapped around her little finger, didn’t she?
“Don’t tell my dad.” She touched his arm. “Ash needs you.” Her lower lip trembled as she flicked a glance at me. “But, I need him.”
“Fuck.” Chase bit down on his lip. “This conversation never happened, all right?”
“Right,” I agreed.
Chase held out his hand.
I shook it, wondering what the hell he was doing, and then I realized as Serena’s eyes filled with more tears.
He was giving the blessing… her father wouldn’t.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Serena
We’d all gravitated toward the gym downstairs, maybe because the upstairs was filled with too much grief. From the minute Claire’s mom arrived, she didn’t stop crying, which made me suddenly thankful that Ash was out.
We’d grabbed his limp ass body and brought him downstairs, worried that he would wake up in shock and shoot something.
Phoenix and Bee decided to cut their trip short and were already en route so they could attend the funeral in two days.
Being strong for Ash was one thing, being strong for all the younger cousins that we’d all but shoved into the theater room, not to mention my little sister… was harder.
Violet and Izzy came downstairs with us, and Breaker begrudgingly let his younger brother King join us even though King seemed to be really into whoever he was texting. The guy was in his senior year of high school, and let’s just say he left nothing but broken hearts in his wake.
“Girlfriend?” I teased, ruffling his golden tipped hair as he smacked my hand out of the way. “Let me see!”
“First off.” He very gently patted his mess of curls down. “And second, I don’t do girlfriends; they’re too clingy.”
“Ew.” Breaker was sitting next to him, tossing a football in the air. “Please don’t list your sexcapades for us, little bro, plus there’s only room for one slayer in this family.”
“Both of you.” I shook my head. “Disgusting.”
“But, we’re so pretty.” Breaker winked and then licked his plump lower lip. I hoped to God he’d get saddled with a girl even more power-hungry than me; it would be insanely gratifying watching someone put him in his place.
Junior was holding vigil next to Ash while Izzy and Violet tended to his bloody hands.
They weren’t as close to Claire as I had been, but it didn’t matter. In their eyes, they hadn’t just lost their future sister in law—they had lost their future niece or nephew.
I didn’t ask how far along she was because part of me didn’t want to know; I was afraid it would break me even more, make it more real. She hadn’t looked like she’d been putting on weight, so I assumed she was in her first trimester.
We’d all decided that we needed to make something for Ash to remember the baby by as well, Violet and Izzy said they would be on it once they got all the blood off of him.
“You know what bothers me?” Tank looked
completely different in Breaker’s skinny jeans and black hoody. He’d been good looking but now was more so. Even more, he looked like he belonged. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or worried. Undercover FBI didn’t often work well with our families, just ask Junior’s dad how that ended.
“What bothers you?” I said since nobody answered him.
“It’s probably nothing, but all the De Lange kids that we know of are now at Eagle Elite, but that doesn’t explain the University. When I dug, I couldn’t find anything traceable, and neither could your guy Sergio. Someone made a cash offer on the school, offered scholarships to several of the De Lange kids, but nobody can trace it. I guess I’m just wondering what we do in the meantime.”
“We wait.” Junior was first to speak. “And we watch our backs like always.”
“Sounds safe,” Breaker grumbled under his breath.
Tank frowned. “If we wait, someone else could die.”
“We wait.” Junior moved to his feet. “We have no choice but to be on the defensive, especially since we don’t know enough about the offense.” Junior’s eyes flashed as he pulled his Glock from his jeans and pointed it at Tank’s head.
Power radiated from Junior’s body as the white Henley wrapped tightly around his muscled body, paired with tight ripped jeans and black combat boots that somehow looked more rocker than anything and I was in heaven, licking my lips, waiting for him to get this over with so I could take him into my mouth.
“Whoa!” Tank held up his hands. “What the hell?”
“We need you to stay undercover.” Junior sighed like he was bored. “That much is obvious, but we also need you to swear fealty to the Family.”
“Now?” Tank’s panicked look did nothing but annoy me.
“No, dipshit.” I yawned. “Tomorrow. Can we pencil you in at three?”
Junior smirked. “You scared Tank?”
“No.” His hands stopped shaking as he stared Junior down. “Just tell me what I need to do.”
Junior scratched his chin with the barrel of the gun. Cockiness and arrogance oozed from him. Breaker and King slowly got up and grabbed their own guns then moved behind Tank, standing watch like guards while Junior spoke. “Denounce the De Lange Family line, and blood must be spilled to prove you’ll bleed for the Family, for any one of us. The only way out of this is death; the only way in is sacrifice.” He held up his gun again. “So, you get a choice. Leg or shoulder?”
Tank slowly stood and then ground out, “Shoulder.”
“Good choice,” Breaker said behind him.
“Really?” King shrugged. “I think the leg shot has a better chance of skimming because of Junior’s aim.”
“Oh, right.” Breaker snickered. “His aim is shit, Tank; I’d pray he doesn’t accidentally hit your heart.”
“Are you shitting me right now?” Tank roared just as Chase, Phoenix, my dad, Sergio, Dante, Andrei, Nikolai, and Tex made their way into the basement.
Most of them were in black trousers with their white shirts rolled up past their forearms like they were ready to get dirty. So many tattoos swirled on arms and hands and necks that I had to just shake my head and look away.
Junior was catching up, so were Ash and Breaker.
But I think Chase took the cake for the amount of ink covering his body.
My dad probably came in second.
I nodded in his direction and earned a wink back as the bosses waited for Junior to finish.
We hadn’t planned for them to watch this. It was just necessary, and I knew Junior would get it done before the funeral.
“He’s lying,” I finally said. “Junior’s a crack shot.”
Junior’s face broke out into a cruel smile. “She only says that because she wants me.”
“In your dreams, asshole,” I spat.
The bosses just chuckled. They were used to our verbal sparring.
“Leg, I changed my mind, shoot my leg.” Tank stuttered over his words while Junior lowered the gun.
“Ah, man.” Breaker winced. “That’s gonna hurt like a son of a bitch, right, Dad?”
Tex grinned. “Might even get lucky and hit some bone.”
“What the hell is wrong with you people?” Tank roared. “Just get it over wi—”
Junior shot him in the leg, and then fired off another shot in the shoulder, then put his gun away while Tank bellowed and writhed in pain on the ground.
Money exchanged hands between the bosses.
I rolled my eyes. “What were you betting on?”
Chase grinned. “If he screamed.”
“I had a hundred on him crying.” Tex sighed while he handed Andrei his cash.
I noticed Nikolai standing in the background watching with amusement before his eyes flickered to a resting Ash in the corner next to a completely unfazed Izzy and Violet.
I knew that look.
It meant that he was going to wake up soon.
It meant we had to talk about it.
It meant they were going to tell Ash about the funeral.
It meant, as it always did when one of our own has fallen that he had to give Claire’s eulogy.
I was pissed for him, hurt, so hurt that I wanted to hurt someone else, so when Tank groaned on the floor, I kicked him in the back and then leaned down. “Relax, you could be dead, plus Sergio and Nikolai can fix your booboos.”
The bosses slowly moved around the room; a hush fell over everyone as Chase pulled off his shirt and tossed it on the ground. “Who’s first?”
“Me.” Andrei’s grin was pure evil.
And just like that, money exchanged hands again.
I slowly snuck out of the room and prayed that Junior saw me do it, that Junior would follow—because while my dad was sparring in the ring—I wanted to spar with Junior in bed, or maybe even against the wall, I didn’t care.
I just needed him.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Junior
I watched her slip out the door and go upstairs. I looked over my shoulder to make sure all the bosses were busy watching the fight, and then I slowly made my way to the basement door.
Right when I was almost home free, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
Shit, slowly I turned around; it was Breaker and King.
“What’s up, guys?”
They exchanged looks, and then Breaker whispered, “Need us to cover for you?”
I exhaled in relief. “If anyone asks, she had a headache and went to lay down.”
“Ohhh, a headache, nice one.” King smiled. “And your dick is like her Advil or what?”
“Look, you either help me or you don’t, I’m still going up those stairs.” My chest heaved as a frenzy washed over me, the crippling feeling of needing another hit of Serena was almost my undoing.
“We’ve got you.” Breaker said softly. “Please just don’t die, no sex is worth that.”
“It’s not just sex,” I snapped, feeling my blood boil beneath my skin. “I fucking love her.”
“Well, shit.” King paled. “Just don’t get caught. I don’t want to plan another funeral.”
Worth it, my heart pumped while I nodded and then took the stairs two at a time until I was running down the hall in anticipation of her taste.
Her door was shut. I knocked. “Serena?”
“You alone?” She asked through the door.
“Yeah.”
“Come in, then lock the door.”
I quickly opened the door, shut it and locked it, then turned around and nearly died of a heart attack.
She was completely naked except for the ever-present knife strapped to her thigh, her hair was down covering both of her breasts and hanging almost to her waist.
I’d never wanted to pull someone’s hair so desperately in my entire existence. I wanted to wrap it around my fist and tug until her eyes burned with tears, until she screamed my name.
Her lips pressed into a wide smile as she put her hands on her hips, her black fingernails stark against her whit
e skin. “Wanna spar?”
“Hmm…” I sauntered over to her and ran a fingertip down her arm, then looked behind her. Something flickered near her shelf. “Hold that thought.”
I went over and grabbed the sparkly silver crown, the same one she’d worn when she’d won prom queen. I’d been so pissed that her dad even let her go that I crashed it even though I’d already graduated.
I’ll never forget the look on her face when they set the crown on her head; it wasn’t an expression of excitement or even happiness; it was weariness, and I knew why.
That crown was her reality.
And that crown—was fucking heavy.
I lifted it off the bookcase and brought it over to her, then very gently placed it on her head. “Your majesty.”
With trembling hands, I gripped her hips and moved to my knees. Then I drew a heavy breath, glanced up at her, and whispered, “With my mouth—I worship.”
And without hesitation. I, a mere servant. Feasted.
She held onto my head for balance, but I needed to taste more of her, I needed my tongue to slide deeper, I wanted my mouth coated in everything that was my queen.
Her hips bucked against me as I held her in place, and then, irritated that I wasn’t getting the perfect angle to quench my hunger, I stood, picked her up by the ass and tossed her backward onto the bed.
She bounced up, and her crown slipped sideways, but her eyes locked onto me, refusing to let go.
I crawled onto the bed, wordlessly gripping her thighs and pulling them over my shoulders while she went limp and gave in, her eyes hooded with lust.
“Watch me,” I hissed. “Watch me claim you with my mouth.”
A little whimper escaped from between her parted lips as I lowered my head, bowing to her, loving her, giving her every dark, twisted piece of my soul that I had left.
Her taste was my poison.
My addiction.
My soon to be benediction.
And I would never have enough.
Her fingers twisted in my hair as I sucked, and when her body went completely rigid, I abruptly stopped.
“Junior.,” She shook her head back and forth. “Why? Why’d you stop?”
Ruthless Princess Page 20