by J Bree
“You wouldn’t have survived the Bay. Liam’s place was worse than this. Still is, we haven’t done a thing with it since we buried the asshole.”
Unacceptable. “Illi, add it to the list. We’ll take it out as well.”
Aodhan and Illi share a look but I ignore them as we get out to the back rooms, a large round table set up there and already half-filled with the other members of the Twelve. The loathing that Atticus throws at Illi and Aodhan is like a physical thing. It’s the first time I’ve seen him show any emotion at one of these meetings and all of the other members are taking note of it too.
I don’t give a fuck.
I take a seat and Aodhan sits down next to me. “I’ll have my phone back now, Crow.”
His eyes barely change when they flick to mine as he slides it across the table. He probably is counting this as another show of weakness at this table of important people but he’s putting value in them that they don’t deserve.
I could destroy them all right now if I wanted to.
“Coyote, we need to start this or we’ll be here all night. We’ve already been delayed,” Atticus snaps.
I look over and find Jackson staring at the wall of mugshots with a smirk. “There was no way I was gonna let you start without her here, like I’d be dumb enough to get on Beaumont’s bad side. I like my balls where they are, thanks, and rumor has it she’s fully trained with a knife compliments of the Wolf herself. No fucking thanks. Hey, where’s the guy from this pic, Boar? He looks fucking familiar.”
The wording is a little too close for a coincidence so I’d guess that he was watching the security cams of Atticus’ mansion as I took down Luca… which means there’s a camera in my bedroom.
Assholes.
The Boar glares at Jackson like he’d enjoy peeling the skin from his body but that might just be his relation to the Devil showing through. “None of your fucking business, asshole. The Queen is here so you can sit your ass down and get this over with.”
The vitriol that he uses to spit out my name is vicious but I guess he’s only decent to his blood and I am definitely not a Graves child.
The meeting is a boring one, full of turf arguments and whining over the Jackal’s assets. The Bear wants to take some over, as reparations for his businesses lost, and Atticus shuts that idea down quickly.
“Nothing is stopping you from picking your business back up, stick with what you’re good at.”
The Bear’s lip curls at him and Jackson bursts out laughing. “He can’t! No one fucking wants to pledge themselves to the guy who lost everything by choosing the wrong side. Where are all of your men, Bear? Ohhh that’s right, rotting in a federal prison.”
The Bear snarls back at him, “That wouldn’t be fucking there if the Wolf had’ve stopped being a fucking c—“
I interrupt him, “I’m assuming you’re about to say something that will end in the Butcher hacking your body to pieces and I’m wearing white so let me just stop you there. You lost everything because you got too full of yourself. You’re lucky you only lost your business and not your head like the other men and women who crossed us.”
The Bear stares at me and then slowly around the table at each of the other members, like he’s waiting for one of them to tell me to shut up.
Even in his rage at me being here, Atticus won’t say a word against me in this issue.
The Fox, the Tiger, the Ox… every last member remembers all too clearly what happens when you betray the Wolf or speak out against her. The finer details might still be concealed but it’s clear that speaking out against the Wolf gets you killed in the worst ways and there’s no one here today who is willing to risk that. At least, not so openly here in front of me and the Butcher.
“Let’s move on. Are there any other issues that need to be addressed?”
There’s silence around the table, mostly because everyone is still looking between the Bear and me, and then the Fox speaks up. “When are you gonna tell us all that you’re the one pushing the Jackal’s product, Crow? Isn’t that part of his empire that we vote on who gets it? Seems like you have your own rules for yourself and another set for the rest of us.”
It’s the most words I’ve ever heard the man speak. He looks like a washed-up rave rat with colorful tattoos over his face and neck. If I saw him at a party, I would think he was high and way too old to be out in the Bay but he’s the mastermind behind all of the parties on the docks, all of the must-be events that no Mounty would dare miss out on attending.
He’s the reason I had to attend in my lingerie junior year, the asshole.
Atticus stares him down with utter disdain. “If I had control of the Jackal’s product, I would destroy it. Do you have any idea how many people have died from his dirty batches? If I had to guess who was moving it, I’d say it’s you or the Bear so tread carefully.”
The Fox smirks. “Sure, sure. That’s the story you’re going with. I’m just saying, there’s a lotta suits in the Bay these days and all signs are pointing at you. Is the Wolf in on it too? She was always pretty anti-drugs so I’d be surprised. Are you a part of her little family or did I miss the memo?”
There’s a lot of shifting around in seats, everyone but Atticus and myself are uncomfortable at witnessing this.
Just because I’m sure he isn’t the dealer, doesn’t mean everyone else has the same conviction.
The Viper grunts under his breath and he spins the rings on the hand that still has all of the fingers. “This is what happens when do-gooders come to the Bay. The Crow fought to keep the skin auctions out of business, why would we believe he’s moving the drugs? Fuck, next minute he’ll be in my fucking bar tryna shut down my fights. Or will it be the parties, are you pissed enough at losing your girl to the Stag down at the docks that you’ll go after the Fox’s business?”
I roll my eyes at the snarling and arguing that explodes around the table.
It’s going to be a long night.
As much as I want to go home with Aodhan, the O’Cronin compound doesn’t have the security that even my mansion has and there’s no way he can come home with me tonight. The favor Lips had called in has come up with three new leads on who the hell is stalking me and leaving the photos. Illi is meeting up with one of his contacts about one of the leads while Aodhan will be heading down the coast to meet with another.
Jack will be staying close in case I need anything in the short term which is very helpful now I’ve planned out the rest of my evening.
We leave the Twelve meeting together where nothing was achieved except to know that the fractures from the Jackal’s betrayal are only getting bigger.
Aodhan climbs into the Butcher’s car with us as they drive me back to the Crow’s mansion for safe keeping. He’s not happy about the plan but I’d discussed it with Illi and we’re both sure enough about Atticus’ intentions and their ability to get me out of there that I’m fine with taking the security of the mansion for the night.
Atticus will be too angry at me ignoring his demands to skip the meeting to bother me, I’m sure, so it’s the perfect time to get some work done.
The only problem is that the moment I slide into the passenger seat my phone rings with an unknown number.
Illi frowns at me when I turn the music off but the moment the phone reaches my ear the fake honeyed tones of Amanda Donnelley greet me, “A perfect little birdie, playing a game much too far out of her league.”
The sound of her voice is like nails on a blackboard to me now but I’m nothing if not an expert at hiding my irritation from people beneath me. “I’m sure you’ve built your business up from the ground by passing gossip around from all of your whoring but some of us have more worthwhile things to do than sitting around passing off insults like it’s a useful way to spend our time. Is there something of value you have to say or just a general call of idle threats and posturing?”
She’s just as good as I am at playing the mind games needed to wage these kinds of war. She giggles d
own the phone to me and I know for sure it’s a calculated move because of the careful tone of it. She’s trying to irritate me into making a wrong move here, I have no doubt she has something up her sleeve from her tryst with Senior.
That’s her game plan.
Like it or not, we’re women playing in a man’s world and one of the reasons I chose not to date a lot in high school is because perceptions of women in our society are deeply rooted in our gender and sex. I hate it, I hate the double standard, but there’s only so much that I can do about it.
Does it make me a monster to use those stupid, patriarchal standards to tear this woman down? Probably.
Is that going to stop me?
Absolutely not.
My family relies on me. I’m the fixer, I sort out anything that shows up on our doorstep that might risk our safety. I play the political games in the upper society and Lips handles the criminal underworld.
There’s nothing I wouldn’t do to keep us all safe.
“I thought you were planning on building your empire out of Crawford’s ashes? Every day I see him alive the more that I know you’re a weak-willed little girl, too caught up in her feelings to do what is required to dominate in our world. You’ll end up in chains at his feet like the others.”
I scoff at her. “You expect me to believe that Crawford is just like the rest of his family? We’ve known each other since we were children, you’ve missed the mark on that one.”
She giggles down the line at me again and I start to think that maybe she was dropped on her head as a child or maybe that Columbian father of hers slipped too much coke in her baby bottles to shut her up and it’s ruined her brain because there’s definitely something unhinged in her.
“You’ve strayed too far from home, little bird. You might need to call your brother home to rescue you.”
She hangs up on me and I slide my phone back into my pocket. The car stays silent for half a breath and then Illi drawls, “What did the slimy cunt want this time? Did she finally muster the courage to ask you out? She’s fucking gagging for it.”
I shudder and throw him a dirty look. “Don’t even joke about it. She’s trying to bait me into turning on Atticus, the entire Crawford family ignored him for so long and now they’ve opened their eyes up to the empire he’s built.”
Illi shrugs at me. “So they’re doing the usual bullshit and hitting him where it hurts him most… typical that you’re the one who’s gotta hurt for him.”
Aodhan leans forward from the backseat and snaps, “Except she isn’t gonna get hurt because it’s not up to Atticus to protect Queenie. It’s on all of us and I’m not going to sit back and play games with these silver-spoon assholes. I’m fucking finding them and taking them out, we’re not waiting around like last time.”
Illi grunts in agreement, clearly impressed at his initiative, and says, “Lemme deal with Crawford, Queenie. I have you covered.”
When we arrive back at the manor, Atticus and Luca are already there waiting for us. Aodhan gets out first and helps me out of the car, snarling at the first of Atticus’ men to approach him to get the fuck away from me. I ignore the looks I get from the entire staff as Aodhan pulls me into his arms.
“Gimme two days to find this guy, Queenie. Two days and I’ll have the fucker buried and we can go back to sleeping in that big old princess bed of yours.”
I snort at him and pull him down to kiss me, completely unrepentant of our audience… right up until Illi interrupts us.
He opens the car door and climbs out to lean against the roof of the car, looking all sorts of dangerous and at ease. “The Wolf called, she just wanted me to remind you that she’s more than happy to use every resource at her disposal to get Avery out of this building if you try your bullshit again. Her brother is in town, y’know. He stopped in to keep an eye on shit for her.”
Aodhan’s arms tighten around me. With his back to Atticus he mouths to me, “Brother?”
I can’t tell him.
We all made the agreement not to speak about him outside of those of us who already know about Nate unless it’s absolutely necessary and I don’t think this casual threat is worth freaking Aodhan completely out… not without speaking to Lips about it first.
I trust Aodhan completely, and he might have been voted into the family, but this isn’t just about Lips. It’s about Poe’s safety and she’s barely fifteen.
I shake my head just a little bit and murmur, “I’ll… I’ll have to tell you later.”
He frowns a little but nods, giving me one last kiss and then he pulls away from me to turn and glare at Atticus again.
I’m glad he doesn’t try to walk me over, I’m not a possession to be passed between them, and I walk toward the front door. Atticus looks down at me like he wants to strangle me and Luca’s lip is still curled at the sight of Illi grinning out on the driveway.
“Thank you for letting me stay even after I assaulted your best bodyguard. Luca, I hope I didn’t hurt you,” I say, in my sweetest voice that I’m sure is killing them both.
Atticus gestures at his front door with one hand. “My home is always open to you, Avery, I hope this time you value your life enough to stay here where you’re safe.”
I straighten my blazer and walk up the front steps, enjoying the looks each of Atticus’ staff give me as I pass them. All it took was one little maneuver and they’re all now completely aware that I’m not messing around.
As I get to the door, I hear Illi call out behind me, “Oh, and Luca? Make her feel shit about the Jackal again and I’ll feed you to the cannibals, piece by piece. Nothing would make me happier than knowing they were digesting you and shitting you out.”
Chapter Twenty-Five
The fortress that Atticus lives in is practically impenetrable.
It was built with that exact purpose thanks to the Jackal’s many attempts to assassinate his fellow member of the Twelve and on paper it is completely structurally impossible to get in or out of it without being seen and stopped, one way or another.
That problem is that I was raised in the Beaumont Manor.
I know exactly how filthy rich men think and I know a secret passage opening when I see one. Ash and I used to use the servants’ passages all the time growing up even though we risked death if Joey or Senior caught us.
Ash slept in my bed more often than his own after Mom died.
He was terrified that Senior would come to kill me next and even after we moved to boarding school he’d come and sleep in with me just to be sure I was safe.
He calls me most nights he’s gone now too.
I thought that the distance would be good for him, that it would help him to fully believe that we’re safe now, but he’s still borderline neurotic about my safety.
I love him for it and I think if he were traveling with anyone other than Lips Anderson, the Wolf of Mounts Bay and a girl who’s been obsessed with him for far longer than she’d ever care to admit, I’d be just as bad.
She walked into Senior’s murder room to die for us both.
I’d trust her with so much more than my twin’s life at this point. My life would’ve been so much easier if we’d both been lesbians and I could have married her by now.
I sometimes think we’re the real high school sweethearts of the family but I would never say that to any of the guys.
They whine too much.
So even after Atticus leaves me in the formal living room like some fainting, pathetic maiden I pull my phone out and text the only other person I’m sure would know about the passages.
Jackson.
Which service hall will get me out? I have somewhere I need to be.
I inspect the hemline of my skirt while I wait for the little cretin to get back to me. He’s not my favorite tool thanks to his betrayal of Lips to Nate. It doesn’t matter to me at all that Nate was looking for information to protect his sister, Jackson couldn’t have really known that he was on our side.
He didn’t breathe
a word to us until after Nate saved Lips’ life.
Not once, even when the heads began cropping up and we’d called all of the meetings with the Twelve.
Lips and I agreed that it didn’t get him kicked out of the family but it definitely has him on my watch list. I’m not sure he realizes he has a strike against his name but all it’s going to take is the slightest thing and Illi can carve him to pieces for us.
It would be a shame.
His computer skills are unmatched.
I’ve got eyes on you. Go to the wood paneling behind you, take two lefts and then straight until you get to the end door. Text me when you’re there and I’ll override the sensors there so he doesn’t get an alert.
I’m quiet and careful to not be seen by any of Atticus’ men but in under a minute I’m walking down a pitch-black hallway with the light of my phone, my heels slipped off and, in my hands, so my feet can be silent on the concrete floor.
Jackson’s directions are perfect and I find myself climbing out of storm bunker onto the next street over from the fortress-like mansion, in a small patch of trees that hide the exit perfectly.
When I get back out to the road Jack is already there waiting for me, the engine running and the lights off so he’s less visible, and when I slide into the passenger seat, he tips his head at me in greeting before taking off. Watching him drive is like watching Harley behind the wheel, the smooth actions of someone who truly loves the muscle car they’re in total control of.
Other than saying hi, he doesn’t speak and I get the whole drive over to the Coyote’s bunker to work through the information I have. It’s a nice change of pace and I’m grateful for it.
Viola looks happier than she ever did at Hannaford.
She opens the door to the bunker with a grin, her eyes squinting a little like she hasn’t seen sunlight for months. Her hair is longer, the streaks in it a vibrant pink now and her nose piercing has been changed to a ring. She’s wearing one of Jackson’s band tee’s that’s hanging down past her knees and a long pair of socks just like Lips does when she’s feeling self-conscious about her scars.