by J Bree
“Right. So I need you to be obvious about it. If you want to prove you’re going to be loyal and one of mine I want the entire fucking state to know that they could catch a bullet between the eyes at any second from the best sniper in the country if they cross me.”
Diarmuid’s eyes narrow at me and I stare him down. Harley steps up until he’s at my side and close enough that if his uncle tries something stupid, like pulling one of his guns on me, he can take him out before he can pull the trigger. I’m not worried. Diarmuid will never be a trusted member of our family, even if he does prove his ‘loyalty’. He’s only ever looked out for himself. He might be pissed about his father killing his brother but he didn’t come looking for that revenge until Harley was old enough, and big enough, to do the dangerous work himself.
I don’t trust this man.
“Fine. I’ll start shooting every Tom, Dick, and fuckin’ Harry that so much as whispers your name wrong. At what point does this get me in?” He says, standing and straightening his jacket and running his fingers through his mussed, shoulder length hair.
I shrug at him, nonchalant. “Impress me.”
He snorts, then gives me a ridiculous and very obviously mocking bow, then leaves through the door. Harley watches his every step and doesn’t relax until the door clicks shut behind him.
“He’s not being inducted.” He says, and I shake my head.
“No. He’s not. But he can lighten Illi’s workload for a while until we know if there’s another reason he’s coming to us.”
I wait until family dinner before telling the rest of the guys about our midnight visitor.
Avery immediately gets on her phone and orders bars for the windows in both our rooms and I kick myself for not thinking about it sooner. Blaise gets on Harley’s case about his fucked up family and Ash ends up snapping at them both to cut their shit out.
“The real problem here is what the hell is going on in the Bay.” He says, and I nod.
“It’s war. The Coyote warned us, and now more of the Twelve are choosing sides. We have the Crow, because he will never side with the Jackal so as long as we toe the line we have him. The Coyote and the Boar have both refused the Jackal. I need to find out where the others fall.”
Ash snorts. “We’re not toeing the line though, are we? Sending the O’Cronin dickhead after the Jackal’s minions is a move against another member.”
I smirk and shrug. “What the Crow doesn’t know won’t hurt him. Or us.”
Avery sighs and stabs at her curry with extra force. “If we’re turning this into a business meeting then I think you should all know that Annabelle is amping up her slander campaign and I’m having to clean up after the disgusting gold-digging whore. She’s gone to every member of the school board about your relationship and said that she doesn’t want Lips slandering the good name of Hannaford by… participating in orgies.”
Blaise chuckles under his breath. “Are you three having orgies without me? I thought we discussed this, all for one and one for all.”
I slap a hand over my face to try and hide my blush while Avery screeches like she’s been stabbed.
“It’s not fucking funny.” Harley snaps, and Blaise flicks a pea from his curry at him.
“It’s called lightening the mood, asshole. What can we do about Annabelle that Avery isn’t already doing?”
Avery cuts through them both before they can start fighting again. “Kill her. I vote we just get rid of her.”
I blanch and gape at her. I mean, I knew she was a bloodthirsty dictator but I kind of thought I’d have to convince her to let me kill Annabelle. Well, I assume I’m the one killing her. I doubt anyone else will put their hands up for the task.
“We talked about this. She’s a dumb slut. We can’t just run around killing dumb sluts.” Harley says and takes a swig of his beer. I narrow my eyes at him and he grins sheepishly.
Ash looks between us both but I can tell he’s uncomfortable. “I’m with Harley. If we kill her we’re as bad as Joey and Senior.”
I shrug and look at Avery, but she too busy rolling her eyes. “And of course Blaise will side with you and majority rules. I’ll just keep running around after her when we have a permanent solution at hand that we ignore.”
I bump her shoulder with mine. “I’ll gut her for you the second she looks sideways at you. Or tries to touch one of the guys.”
Avery huffs. “And what about you? I want her in the ground so she stops spreading bullshit about you.”
I grin at her. “Aw. That’s why you’re my favorite.”
When classes start after winter break, I bury myself in homework again. I finish all of the readings for our literature class, the workbooks for math, and I blitz past Harley in our history class. I even offer to do his half of the assignments so he has less on his plate and can spend more time with me.
The look he gives me would kill a lesser person.
I shrug at his pissy attitude and focus on Blaise’s tutoring instead. I don’t want to sound like a smug-ass-bitch but my smolderingly hot rock god is in the top half of all of our classes thanks to our study sessions. I stand firm on my rules, no fooling around until everything is done, and that motivates him like nothing else.
The nights we run out of time before Avery arrives home I go to bed cranky and frustrated. The only thing that helps is knowing Harley will climb in later with his wandering hands.
I wake on Friday to find him still fast asleep next to me. He always wakes before me, he has swim practice and never shirks any of his responsibilities. I frown and deliberate over waking him but the dark circles under his eyes worry me enough to leave him.
Avery makes us both coffees, moving as quietly as she can, and I shoot her an appreciative look. She shrugs and joins me in the bathroom as we get ready for classes.
“He needs to drop the study sessions. The cougar skank is working him too hard.” She murmurs, and I try not to let the fury in my blood take over.
Working him hard.
I’ll fucking stab the bitch.
Avery cackles at me, running her fingers through her hair even though it’s already perfect. I scowl at her but with the toothbrush in my mouth I just look stupid.
The bathroom door opens and Harley blinks at us both, his eyes bloodshot and bleary.
“You could fucking knock, you Neanderthal.” Avery snaps, but he just shrugs.
He kisses her cheek as he passes by her, then cups my cheeks as he kisses me. When he moves to the toilet I shove Avery out of the bathroom so he can get ready in peace. He’s so fucking tired I might stab someone on his behalf today.
I hope Annabelle pisses me off and it’s her blood on my knife.
Avery heads out for our classes but I wait for Harley to finish up. He takes twice as long in the shower and I make the decision that he’s taking the day off. He can sleep in my bed all day.
He stumbles out of the bathroom in his uniform and I point at the bed with a stern look.
“In. Now. Don’t argue with me, Arbour.”
He smirks lecherously but the yawn that takes over his face destroys any chances of flirting his way out of this. He pulls his tie off, smirking again, then I watch and drool while he strips down to his boxers.
Fuck, temptation has a name and it’s Harley fucking Arbour.
“I need to get to class but you’re sleeping today. I’m not asking.” I say, but the raspiness of my voice ruins the stern words. He walks over to me, his eyes burning my skin with the intensity of his gaze, and I gulp.
“I’m fine, babe. I wouldn’t mind spending the day in bed with you though.”
I gulp again and shove him into the bed, my hands lingering a little on him by accident. Totally an accident.
I tuck him in, ignoring the looks he gives me even as my cheeks flame, and I kiss him softly. “We need to sort Miss Vivienne out next. I’m finishing the bitch and getting you back.”
He smirks. “Whatever you do, make sure I’m there to see it.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
The whispers that follow me only get worse now Annabelle is campaigning.
If I spot her in the hallways she scurries off like a fucking cockroach because she knows I’ll break her in half if she so much as opens her mouth in front of me.
Avery watches her every move, waiting for an opening to destroy her. I try my best to forget about her. As long as she’s not trying to touch one of the guys she’s not my problem.
Weeks later, I wake to Blaise stroking my hair away from my face, whispering sweet words into my ear until I’m shivering and reaching for him.
“My brother was born this morning and my mom called me. She wants me to go see her, I think she’s fighting with Dad over it. I’ll be back in a few days, Star.”
I blink up at him and then press my lips to his gently, a sweet kiss to say all the things I can’t speak out loud to him; I’m sorry, I’m worried, I hope you’re okay… I love you.
“It’ll be fine, Star. I just didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye. I’ll text you when I land.” He murmurs against my lips, his fingers still stroking away like he knows the anxiety that’s curling in my gut.
I need to get past my worries about being away from them, but with the threats we have nipping at our heels I just want us all together and watching each other’s backs.
“Come home the second it gets bad, Blaise.” I whisper back, and he shrugs, nodding a fraction but in that distracted way that tells me he’s already preparing to be in his father’s presence again.
When Avery and I meet Ash and Harley for breakfast in the dining hall Ash is in a foul mood.
I quirk an eyebrow at Harley and he scoffs at me. “Isn’t it obvious? His boyfriend is gone so he’s pouting.”
The look Ash gives him is so fucking cutting, I’m surprised Harley doesn’t actually bleed from it.
“He’s just gone home to meet his replacement sibling at his mother’s demands but the woman is so fucking spineless that the second his father starts his bullshit she’ll cave and send him away. Sorry for being concerned he’s going to come home in a pine fucking box.”
I swallow roughly and Avery sighs. “Can you not freak Lips out? She gets twitchy the second one of you are in trouble and I don’t feel like making a cross-country trip on the fly. I never pack what I need under those sorts of pressures.”
I try to focus in my classes but my mind keeps wandering away. I’m so far ahead it doesn’t matter but I know it freaks Harley out when I space out. He keeps touching me, just little brushes of his fingers on mine, to try to pull me back into the real world but nothing works. Those three words keep circulating in my head: pine fucking box.
I decide it’s an ice cream for dinner sort of day and Avery brews me a perfect cup of coffee, perching on the couch with me while she texts Atticus. Their flirting has been taken to the next level, constant and consuming. The little smiles and giggles she gives her phone make me so freaking happy but just as terrified.
What if he’s a dick? Or a rapist too? What if he hates me and I have to pretend to like him? Ugh. When I say this to Avery she laughs at me.
“Don’t be stupid, Lips. He has no choice but to love you. You’re nonnegotiable.”
I sip my coffee with a little smile as Ash stomps through the door and gives me a look that spells fucking trouble.
“What now?” I groan, and he grabs the remote and flicks through the channels until he lands on a news station.
There’s Blaise standing outside a hospital in New York with his dad at a press conference. He looks fucking miserable and the smug satisfaction on his dad’s face makes my jaw hurt from clenching so fucking hard.
“My son was born in the early hours of this morning. He’s healthy and my wife is now resting in the capable hands of the hospital staff.”
Even his voice pisses me off. I cut a look to Ash and he murmurs, “Wait, he’s about to sign his own fucking death warrant.”
My eyes snap back to the screen.
“Yes, we’ve made the decision to remove Blaise from the family business and trust. He is old enough now that he can make his own decisions on these matters. He has a… flourishing career ahead of him in the music industry and the Kora board has moved to sever all ties to him.”
Sever all ties to him?
This dickhead has just publicly announced he’s disowning his fucking kid?
“I’m going to gut that motherfucker.” I snap and Ash nods at me.
“Only if you get to him first.”
Blaise texts to say he has business meetings all week with his agent about the new album he’s been putting off releasing. I tell him he has seven days to get his ass home before Ash and I charter a flight to come drag him ourselves. He sends me a bunch of hearts and laughing emojis.
I’m not joking. Ash texts him the same thing and I think he finally gets that we’re dead fucking serious. Five days later, while I’m alone in my room after classes, a little lost without our tutoring sessions my door opens and Blaise stumbles in, drunk off of his ass. I groan under my breath as I move straight to him.
“I think I need a lie down, Star. Just give me a minute. I need - I need a minute.” He slurs and I get him over to my bed.
A man walks in behind him, but I ignore him as I help Blaise strip down to his boxers then tuck him into my bed. I rummage around in the kitchen until I can find a bucket to leave on the floor for him. I pray he doesn’t need it.
The man is so quiet I almost forget he’s there until he says in a lecherous tone, “So you’re the pussy he’s tied himself to then? I was hoping it would be the little dark-haired one, the icy bitch. She would be fun to have on tour.”
My spine snaps straight and I look over at the fucking perverted dickhead. “Excuse me?”
He smirks at me, stepping towards me with a swagger like he thinks I’m into forty year old guys with thinning hair and dopey, drugged up eyes.
“I heard you like to be passed around. I would’ve preferred the other pussy but I’ll take yours.”
I look down at Blaise but he’s passed out. I’m guessing this is his agent, David Fyre. I don’t want to fuck up his career by killing the dickhead but I’m also never going to accept being spoken to like this. I also know for a fact Blaise would lose his fucking mind if he was sober enough to hear it.
I palm my knife. “I’m assuming you’re the agent. You have ten seconds to get out of this room before I remove you myself. I’m only asking once.”
The smirk on his disgusting face only gets bigger as he takes another step forward and the gods smile on me because the sound of the door unlocking stops him in his tracks.
Ash storms in and stops when he gets a look at the expression on my face and my hand in my pocket. His eyes cut to the agent and his lip curls.
“Fyre. You should leave.” He says, cold and no-nonsense.
The fucker tips his head at him like they’re such good friends and leaves with a little sleazy wave in my direction. Ash opens his mouth and I cut him the fuck off.
“I will never stand in the same room as that man again without stabbing him. I’m not going on tour with him. Firm pass. Avery is never allowed in his presence again. Nonnegotiable.”
Blaise mumbles in his sleep and rolls, groaning. Ash throws a pillow at his head as he steps up to me. “What did he say to you? I’ll go and deal with him now.”
I shake my head. “Blaise can decide what to do with the sleazy pervert. Just leave it. Why are you in a shit mood?”
He grabs my wrist and tugs me until I’m in his arms, pressed against the hard lines of him. I tell my treacherous knees that they shouldn’t be quivering now I’ve spent this much time around the asshole but he’s too fucking hot to be real sometimes and the possessive way he just moves me where he wants me does something to my insides.
Also my panties fucking disintegrate but I swear I’m running out of them being around these guys.
“You’re sleeping in my bed. Not tonight n
ow that idiot is home and wasted, but tomorrow. I’m done waiting and if any little fuck starts talking about you being in there I’ll gut them.”
I wake the next morning to three large boxes at our door labeled, ‘not heads’ in Illi’s scrawling handwriting.
I snort and text him to tell him he’s an idiot.
I don’t bother opening them, I already know exactly what they are. Blaise groans like he’s being murdered and Avery snarks at him, though she’s a little more gentle about it than she normally is. I make him coffee and nudge him towards the bathroom to get him moving. He’s already missed a week of classes and I don’t need him falling behind just because his father is a fucking asshole.
After classes I drag everyone back to the room. I hand the boxes for the guys over and they open them to find Illi has decked them out for murder. Ghost guns, knives, holsters, and a promise to teach them all how to use them effectively over the summer break.
Blaise’s eyes are still bloodshot and bleary as he mumbles, “Fuck. We are a gang now right? This definitely means we’re a gang.”
I consider stabbing him just a little. He cackles at me like he knows exactly what I’m thinking, the asshole.
Harley pulls a holster out of his box and adjusts it until it sits over his shoulders nicely, then he rolls his shoulders back like he’s testing the feel of it. “These are good. Comfortable and lightweight. We should be able to wear them under a jacket without the sheep noticing.”
I smile at him and knock his shoulder with mine, teasing him, “Are you good enough with a gun to be carrying all the time? Maybe you should wait for your lessons.”
“Get me a rifle and a scope and I can hit a beer bottle lid a half mile away with wind resistance.” Harley shrugs, and I gape at him.
That’s pretty fucking good.
“Maybe we should be getting you to take the Jackal out from a distance. I feel like now we’re building a fucking tactical team when I was supposed to be coming to school to get away from that life.” I mumble, and Avery tilts her head at me.