by Franca Storm
"It will do your father good to manage without me for a while. He's going to have to learn sooner than he realizes."
"You're divorcing him?"
She gave an unaffected shrug. "It's time," was all she said.
"Why?" After all these years of putting up with him, why was she choosing now to do it?
"He's driven both my sons away." She stepped closer, emotion actually showing on her face, which was a major rarity. "I have a granddaughter I've never known."
Oh shit. "You know?"
"Although it's not always apparent, I am far more than a mere socialite. I have a network of resources that I have been cultivating over the years. A particular aspect includes a team of exceptional private investigators. I've known for a while."
"Why haven't you said anything to Matt?"
"Evidently, he's not ready for me to be a part of her life. As a parent, myself, I respect his decision. He is just doing what he feels is best to protect his little girl. Matt was quite right when he claimed our world is toxic. Perhaps, if I am no longer linked to what he fears, I will no longer be seen as a threat and lumped in with your father."
That was a huge move for her. It was a hell of a revelation.
But, fuck, I needed to keep focus. The mission had to take precedence. People were counting on me. Too many people for me to screw it up, or get pulled off course.
I eyed my phone, noting that Haywire was just a couple of miles out now. "Mom, why are you here?" I pressed, needing a fast, uncomplicated answer.
"What's happening?"
"Happening?"
"Please, Luke. I'm asked to add four last-minute names to the guestlist for today's event, one of them your girlfriend, another a friend from your club. Then Matt also begs for an invite for himself and that maniac, Patrick Walsh? I may be a lot of things, but stupid isn't one of them."
Time to level with her. "I'm here to protect Matt. Obviously, I couldn't walk in myself, given my status in the family and Dad's hostility toward me, so Sky and Anarchy went in my stead. Walsh forced Matt to bring him. We believe something is gonna go down at the party."
"Walsh is planning to hurt Matt?"
"To leverage him to seal some life-changing business deals with the most powerful contacts in the Reilly dynasty, maybe even Dad, himself. There's also a wildcard headed here right now."
"Oh my God," she gasped. "I… what can I do to help?"
"Nothing. It's being handled."
"I can't just standby while both of my boys are at risk."
"Then stand aside. Let me do what I need to. That will help. Facilitate my covert access into the mansion." I eyed my phone. "Two minutes."
I waited with bated breath for her answer, feeling the weight of every goddamn second ticking by.
And then she nodded. "Come with me."
26
~Skylar~
WHAT THE HELL?
This garden party was like a convention for misogynistic assholes.
Sure, as a woman making her way up the proverbial ladder in the business world, I'd encountered my fair share of sexist shitheads. But this was something else. There wasn't a single businesswoman here. On top of that, I'd deflected countless lewd stares over the last couple of hours. Whenever I'd actually had to engage with any of the guests, they'd immediately assumed I was merely inconsequential eye candy on Anarchy's arm and completely dismissed me. Urgh. What decade had I been transported back to here?
It was pathetic. Sad and pathetic. Disturbing on many levels also. I hadn't been sure how much longer I could maintain a polite, unaffected demeanor, but then I'd spotted Patrick striding into the gardens in that overly-confident way of his.
Game on.
Anarchy grabbed another hors d'oeuvre off a tray being wielded by one of the waitstaff and stuffed it in his mouth. He'd been doing it a lot. It seemed he was stress-eating. Everyone had their coping mechanisms. I'd been clicking my nails together like crazy. "Damn," he said, when he'd finished chewing. "These puff pastries are fucking ace. You got any idea what they are?"
"You're better off not knowing." He'd freak if he knew what they were actually made of.
His eyes widened. "Fuck. Snails? It's snail meat, yeah?"
I grinned. "Not exactly."
"What does that—shit." Something caught his eye, interrupting his freak out.
I followed his line of sight to see Clay Reilly walking back into the mansion and Patrick not far behind, dragging Matt with him.
I made a move to head over there, but Anarchy stepped into my path. "Hold up." He tapped his earpiece to make contact with D. A second later, he nodded to let me know it'd connected. "Deviant, looks like Walsh is making his move. He's got Clay in his sights. Matt is possible collateral damage and—what? You are?" Anarchy stopped short and spun around. "Where? I don't see you anywhere? Oh, shit. How? She did? Well, fuck me. Okay. You got it."
"What did he say?" I asked, my urgency building.
"Walsh is making his move. Haywire's just shown up. Deviant has an idea." His expression was sober and more than a little unnerving. "If you're up for it."
"Tell me."
***
There!
Swallowing hard and bracing myself, I stepped into the fray, cutting Eddie off, just before he reached the entrance doors to the Reilly estate. I saw the two security guards stationed there on high alert, relax at me running interference and stopping Eddie from doing what I knew would've been some brutal crap to them, in order to force his way into the mansion.
Pulling up short, Eddie looked stunned by my sudden appearance in his path. "Sky? What the fuck? How?"
As articulate as ever.
"We need to talk."
"What? Now you wanna talk? I'm right in the middle of something real big."
"I know."
His eyes narrowed. "How's that? You fucking with me, kitten?"
I held up my hand. "You mean, how you decided to fuck with me outside my nightclub? For Patrick Walsh and the Hounds of Fury?"
"It was just a distraction. I never hurt you."
"Yeah, well, if this whole thing drags on much longer, I'm sure that will be forthcoming."
"How do you know what's going on?"
I remembered D's improvised plan and fed Eddie what we'd agreed, "Iron Kings filled me in. After you came at me, they looked into the situation, into you."
"Why would they care? You hired them for one night of protection for your opening party."
"Wrong. You should have done your research. I'm a protected business asset of Iron Kings."
He took an uneasy step back. "Fuck, that's why Python had me locked up. It weren't just about me acting wild and reckless without club permission." He shook his head to himself. "It's way more than that."
"Patrick Walsh knew that, Eddie. He knows me. We did business together in the past and we even had a fling."
"Nah, he woulda told me."
"Why would he? It would just complicate things for him. This way, he's able to use you to do his dirty work and play you for a fool. Him and the Fury."
His eyes flashed, his rage rising with every passing second. "You know where in this place he's at?"
"Yes."
He stepped closer, making me tense.
But then, he just held out his hand for a shake. "You point me his way, then you ain't gotta worry about nothing more from me."
"A truce?"
He nodded.
"All right," I said, reaching out and shaking his hand. "Deal."
27
~Deviant~
"WALSH!"
The fucker stopped short, forcing Matt to jolt hard against him. He didn't release his grip on him. I'd watched him drag him along for the last while. It'd been a bitch to hang back and let it continue on. But I'd had to. I'd had to wait for the right opportunity to engage.
Walsh had pulled him through the house searching for my father. But he was hidden, completely out of sight. I'd left him with Mom. They were safe with Anarchy. The rest o
f the guests, not so much. Despite their sins, I couldn't risk a violent altercation around a bunch of civilians. It would blow back on all of us. So, I'd waited until Walsh had burst out of the side door off of the kitchen.
He'd brought Matt outside to have words, to make him explain himself, explain why Dad was nowhere to be found. He'd clearly realized he'd been set up.
Damn fucking straight, he had. And that was just the beginning. It was about to get a whole lot worse for him.
I just needed to stall for a bit.
"So, this is a setup?" he bellowed at Matt. "You had no intention of letting me even meet with Clay? You brought your big bro in to deal with your mess?" He fisted his hand in Matt's dress shirt and jerked him toward him. "You've made a big fucking mistake."
"Back the fuck down!" I yelled, pulling my gun, flipping off the safety and taking aim.
Walsh's gaze shot to mine. But it wasn't fear that I saw looking back at me.
It was hunger. He wanted blood.
In the next second, he thrust Matt away from him.
"Go!" I yelled, as my brother staggered back. He nodded frantically, then hightailed it back through the side door into the house, slamming it shut behind him.
Walsh smirked at me. "Stop with the posturing. I know there's no way your club would authorize you to put me down in such a permanent way. Not with my connections to the Hounds of Fury."
"A non-fatal wound can cause a fuck of a lot of damage. And pain."
"But you're not gonna go that route, are you? We've got some shit to work out. I'm sure you've been dying to throw down with me." He stepped closer. "I've come after your little brother. I've had your girl. That's gotta burn, right? And a bullet just isn't personal enough." He flicked open his suit jacket, then shucked it off his shoulders, letting it fall onto the dirt path around the side of the house. "So, come on then. What's it gonna be, Deviant?" he pushed, discarding his cufflinks and shoving his shirtsleeves up to his elbows. "You wanna take your shot?"
Motherfucker!
Flipping the safety back on, I shoved my gun back in my holster.
And then I ran at him.
Slamming into him, I used the jarring impact and his weight against him to throw him over my shoulder, onto the grass.
I needed him further away from the house.
He fell hard, but surprised the fuck out of me when he used the momentum to roll and get back to his feet in one fluid movement. He saw my reaction and laughed. "Yeah, I warned Sky that I'd picked up some skills since we'd last seen each other."
If he thought that was enough to deter me, he had another thing coming. I'd been trained by the best. Plus, I had a shitload of hate I was ready to unload on the asshole. Bottling up so much stress, rage, and pain throughout this mission had been a bitch of a thing. I was ready to unleash.
He threw a right hook at my jaw, but I brought my arm down, deflecting it and kicking him back with a hefty boot to his gut.
Laughing maniacally, he caught his balance, then raised his fists. "I see I was right about that anger. Tell me, what are you more pissed about? What I did to your brother? Or, what I've done with Sky?"
"Shut the fuck up!"
He threw another punch and I blocked it.
But he was ready with another this time.
They came hard and rapid-fire then.
We met each other blow for blow, neither getting a hit in against the other. He was reading my patterns, just as I was doing with him.
Then, he swept his leg at mine.
I saw it coming in time and jumped back, avoiding his attempt to rip me off my feet.
The next thing I knew, he was coming at me with a long knee strike, managing to hit me in my solar plexus. It had me grunting and choking, winding me. Moving quickly, he used my momentary disorientation to grab fistfuls of my long hair and use it as leverage to yank my head down, right into a brutal knee to the face.
I slammed my hands up and out, breaking his hold on my hair, not without strands of it ripping out in the process. As I spat out the blood that filled my mouth from his knee strike, he kicked me back, then spun and jabbed me in the back of the skull with his elbow.
"Dirty fucking fighter," I muttered.
"It's survival," he snarled, as he fisted his hand in my t-shirt and jerked me close.
Victory flashed in his eyes.
I spat out another mouthful of blood onto his dress shirt.
He snarled and tightened his grip. "For a biker, you fight way too clean. What's the matter, you got some kind of stupid-ass moral code getting in the way? Come on, I thought you wanted a balls-out, brutal fight here. Nothing left in the tank?"
As he rambled on and on, he kept involuntarily shifting his weight, moving out of the strong stance he needed to keep a hold on me.
It was all I needed.
With a roar, I thrust all my weight forward, driving him into a nearby tree trunk.
He choked as he jarred against it brutally, the wind knocked out of him.
His eyes widened as I snatched his wrists locked on my t-shirt and pried them off me. His arms shook with his strain to maintain his resistance. My brute strength overcame his and he cried out as I snapped one of his wrists in the struggle.
He screamed as I used my hold on his injured wrist to spin him around and drive him face-first into the tree trunk again. As he grunted and cursed me out, I fisted his hair at the roots and yanked his head back. Growling at his ear, I told him, "Never goad a man already on the fucking edge." Arrogant motherfucker.
The thump of heavy, rapid footsteps caught my attention and I turned just in time to see my stalling was over.
Haywire hurtled through the brush, ripped Walsh from my hold, and wrestled him to the ground. "Piece of shit! You used me! Made a fool outta me!"
They went at it hard, brutally beating on one another.
"Haywire, stop!" Walsh cried out, as he punched him across the side of the face, making him fall back enough to get out from under him. As he scrambled out and stumbled to his feet, he told him, "You're still gonna get what you want. Just fucking chill!"
"I'm gonna be marked by Iron Kings and Lone Outlaws, you fuck! You shoulda told me!"
"Then you never would've done what I told you. For all I knew, you would've gone to Sky with your balls in your hands and taken her side."
Haywire roared, then ran at him again, but he was all rage and no strategy, so it was easy for Walsh to kick him away.
The sound of heels clacking in the distance had me shooting a glance over my shoulder.
My heart leapt into my throat when I saw it was Sky.
"What are you doing here? Where's Anarchy?"
"He's fine. He's with your parents and Matt, keeping everybody safe." Her eyes darted to the brutal fight in the distance. They'd made their way much further away from the house now, right at the edge of the forest. "Your plan worked. Playing our enemies against one another."
"Almost."
She frowned. "What does that mean?"
"Head back to the bike. I'm good here. I'll be along in a few."
"D, what's going on?"
The sharp sound of a gun cocking jolted me back to the fight.
Haywire stood over a fallen Walsh, his gun trained on him.
"Oh my God," Sky breathed.
She started forward, but I threw my arm out, blocking her way.
I watched Haywire's eyes darken as he went to that headspace, the place in the depths of a dark, fractured soul that could rationalize taking a life.
And then he did just that, firing a bullet through Walsh's temple.
Instant kill.
Sky gasped. "This wasn't the plan."
"It was my plan."
She shook her head. "It wasn't supposed to go this far."
"It had to."
"Luke."
"I saw an opportunity and I took it. Now it's all over. And you'll remain free."
"You knew?"
"That you'd be indebted to The Electi if you to
ok either of their offers to deal with Walsh? Yeah, I had a damned good idea. I wasn't going to let that asshole ruin everything you've worked for. I wasn't going to let him ruin the lives of anyone I care about. And now he can't."
"You basically killed a man, do you get that?"
I took her hand and started to lead her away from the area. "We need to get out of here."
"Did you hear me?" she pressed, as we hurried along.
I tapped my earpiece and connected with Anarchy. "Tell Spartan to deploy the damage control he had on standby. It's done."
"Got it."
We disconnected and Sky was still eyeing me incredulously. It was obvious she was in shock. It was exactly why I hadn't wanted her right fucking here when it'd gone down. But she just couldn't sit even a single moment out of a mission.
"Luke!" she hissed.
Jesus Christ. I took a moment, stopped, and looked her right in the eye, as I said all there was to say on the matter, "I did what I had to do."
It was as simple and as complicated as that.
28
~Deviant~
HARD CHOICES.
That mission had been chocked full of them. I'd handled it and found a way through that had protected everybody I cared about. But it hadn't come without consequences.
As Spartan closed his office door and took a seat in his leather desk chair, I couldn't tell how things were going to go with this debriefing he'd called me in for. The guy was so damn difficult to read.
"How's your brother and his family settling in?"
"It's an adjustment, for sure, but they'll get there. He's just happy they're all finally safe, that they no longer have to look over their shoulders. Once they're properly sorted, I think they'll be content."
After what had happened at the garden party, we'd had to get Matt out of there quickly. So, we'd brought him, Rosie, and Christina to a vacant apartment in Ridgefield and put them up there until more longer-term arrangements could be made like settling into a nice, permanent home here. First, Matt needed time to rethink what he wanted to do, or be, to get his career back on track.