“Shut up,” I snarled. “We’re not doing it again.”
He laughed low in his throat. “Chicken shit.”
“I’m not afraid of you,” I hissed.
“Maybe not, but you are afraid of the big, bad Fox,” he taunted. “Do you think he’d show you the same courtesy as he did Chase? Or is fucking his girl a worse crime than trying to get rid of her?” He tutted under his breath and my chest knotted. “He might really pull the trigger this time.”
“Fuck. You,” I snarled.
“Is that an offer? I don’t have any cash on me right now, but I’ll owe you a blowjob after you’ve made me come, deal?”
It took every ounce of restraint I had not to attack him as I forced my gaze onto the road and tried to concentrate.
“Out of interest, how much do you charge per hour?” he asked and I tried to tune him out. “I just need to know so I can save up my pennies for next time. Or do you charge per sexual act? Do you do special offers? Buy two hand jobs get one free? Can I give the free one to a friend?”
“Shut up, Maverick,” I snarled, failing at ignoring him as he talked continuously in my ear.
“Rogue’s really clocking up the hours, huh? She must owe you a fortune,” he said and I knew he was baiting me but I couldn’t rise to it right now. Shawn could show up at any second and I couldn’t be busy beating Maverick’s head in when he did. “I suppose her pussy is payment enough though. It’s so fucking tight, isn’t it? Do you think we could both fit inside her at the same time?”
“Maverick,” I snapped in as quiet a voice as I could manage. “If you don’t shut your mouth, I’ll shut it permanently.”
“Like with a needle and thread? That’d take some time. Shawn might show up by then, and you wouldn’t wanna be distracted.” He chuckled and my hand tightened on my gun.
“If I’m distracted and Shawn manages to get past us because of it, that’s on you. And Rogue is at the clubhouse, so if you care about her at all then stop talking,” I demanded and he fell quiet. At least he did for two seconds, then he started talking again.
“I just need a date and time for the next fuck fest, I have a busy schedule so you might wanna book me in,” he whispered.
I said nothing so he took out my phone and started adding his contact information under the name Tyrannosaurus Cock. Then he flicked the camera on, wrapped an arm around my shoulders and tugged up his ski mask as he snapped a photo of us using the night vision. I lunged for the phone, but he held it away as he sent the photo to Fox with the caption Me and Rick are getting frisky in the woods. Wanna join? P.S. Bring the unicorn.
He passed my phone back to me and I sighed as it started blowing up with anxious messages from Fox. I sent him one back to say I had the situation under control then pocketed it, figuring there was nothing more I could do to calm him down right now. Fox hadn’t spoken about Maverick since we’d all worked to dig at The Dollhouse wreckage for day after day, hunting for Chase. Eventually, the police had forced us to leave and Maverick had looked as broken as I felt about that before getting on his motorbike and driving away. Fox and I had loaded Chase’s bike into his truck and driven it home; it had felt like carrying a coffin back to the house and I couldn’t bear seeing it every time I went down to the garage, but I hadn’t covered it up. The pain was a reminder of him, and I didn’t wanna forget him, so I just let it hurt.
Silence fell at last and we waited there in the dark as an owl hooted somewhere out in the trees and I listened intently for sounds of an approaching car.
“Would you rather be a dog with no legs or a bird with no wings?” Maverick whispered and it caught me so off guard I almost cracked a smile. But not quite.
I forced my lips to remain flat and didn’t answer, so he elbowed me and for a moment I was reminded of playing this game with him when we were kids. It was a favourite of all of ours and we’d try to come up with the most ludicrous ‘would you rather’ questions that we could to make each other laugh. I’d often played it with Chase whenever we’d been out on a job together and the memories of that had my heart tugging sharp enough to make it bleed.
“A bird with no wings,” I murmured. “A legless dog can’t go anywhere.”
“It can if you throw it hard enough,” he whispered and my head snapped around at those words as a surprised laugh escaped me.
He didn’t look at me, but I could see the smirk in his eyes. It was something of a catchphrase for us when playing this game, and whenever one of us had the chance to say it we’d always cracked up like it was the funniest thing in the world.
“Your turn,” he muttered and I wondered why he was trying to play this game with me right now. The familiarity of it was too enticing to ignore though and it wasn’t like I couldn’t watch the road at the same time.
“Would you rather be invisible or be able to fly?”
“Invisible,” he said instantly. “Then I could walk into Harlequin House and kill you all in your sleep. Bang, bang, bang,” he mimed firing his gun and my heart sank as I stared at the road with a scowl, fully reminded that we were enemies and this little ceasefire we had right now was entirely to do with Rogue. Without her, he’d be turning that gun on me and making sure my brains decorated the trees.
“Don’t pout about it, J,” Maverick growled. “That’s what this’ll all come to in the end.”
“I’m not sure what I ever did to you to make you wanna kill me, Maverick.”
He remained quiet for a few beats before he answered. “You didn’t fight for Rogue while I was gone. You may have continued writing to me in prison and I’m sure you cried to Luther about trying to get me out, but that all pales to nothing when I think about you abandoning her.”
“You don’t know anything,” I bit at him. “I tried every chance I got to find her, we all did. But Luther was…” I trailed off, unsure what the point even was of trying to explain this to him. He didn’t care, he wasn’t going to hear it. He’d made his mind up about me and my boys a long time ago.
“What?” he grunted.
“It doesn’t matter,” I murmured. “It won’t change anything.”
“How do you know unless you say it, Johnny James?” he pushed and I rolled my eyes.
“After we initiated, Luther had eyes on us constantly,” I said. “He expected us to go looking for her, so he had his men surrounding us. He got Chase and I to move into Harlequin House with Fox and we couldn’t even take a shit without Luther knowing about it. By the time he let us breathe a little, Rogue was already gone. She ran away from Fox’s aunt’s house and buried herself so we’d never find her. We spent the last ten years hunting for her, Fox even put out photos online with paid goddamn advertising to try and find her. But she didn’t want to be found, Maverick, she hated us. I think a part of her will always hate us.”
Maverick thought on those words for a long moment. “I would have found her,” he said assuredly.
“Keep telling yourself that,” I gritted out. “You don’t know shit. You think we didn’t try everything? You think you really could have done anything more than we already did?”
“Yeah, I do,” he said stubbornly and I just shook my head at him.
“Look I’m sorry for whatever happened to you in prison, I’m sorry if you feel like we abandoned you, but I’m not sorry for not trying harder to find Rogue. Because there isn’t a single thing more we could have done, and eventually we had to accept that she didn’t want to be found or else she would have come home. And while you were suffering in prison, we were suffering out here in our own version of it.”
“You were a free man,” he said icily.
“Since when?” I scoffed. “I’m a Harlequin, Rick, I’m not free. But that’s life. You pick your chains and in the end, those are the ones I chose. Because I may have to do things that tarnish my soul sometimes, but I also have a home, I have Fox and Ch-” I cut myself off, grief tearing down the centre of me as I missed my brother so fiercely that it cut me to shreds.
I turned away from Maverick, not wanting him to see any of the pain in my eyes. I slid my finger onto the trigger of my gun, wishing Shawn would show his face so I could start shattering bones. That motherfucker was responsible for Chase’s death, so it was going to take everything I had not to kill him on sight. Rogue deserved that kill and I wanted to watch as she planted a bullet between his eyes, but there was no rule that said I couldn’t rip off a few of his limbs first.
Maverick remained quiet but his arm pressed to mine and for a moment it felt like we were sharing in the agony of our lost brother, but I wasn’t sure that was true. Maverick may have cared for Rogue, but I’d seen his hatred for the rest of us as clear as day. Still, he’d stayed to dig in the ruins after Rogue had been found, so maybe some piece of him had wanted to find Chase alive. I hoped so. Because the idea that Maverick was lost forever had always haunted me. He still felt this bond to us on some level, but I didn’t know how deep it ran anymore or if it would make any difference in the end. Maybe one day I really would end up bloody at his feet. But he’d saved Fox’s life while the building was collapsing too – not that either of them seemed inclined to acknowledge that in any way. I’d seen it with my own two eyes though and it meant something. I just wasn’t sure what yet.
A scream spiralled into the air from somewhere to the west and my breath snagged in my throat. I snatched my phone out of my pocket, calling the other team and a beat later Santiago answered, breathing heavily. “Under…attack,” he said, sounding in pain.
“Hang on,” I gasped. “We’re coming.” I whistled to my team and they hurried toward us.
“No – no please!” Santiago wailed but the sound turned to gargles and he fell quiet as more screams sounded in the background.
My stomach knotted as a deep voice spoke down the line. “Well hello, sunshine,” Shawn purred. “Your men are in an itty bitty situation over here, are you coming to the rescue?”
“Fuck you,” I snarled. “You’re dead tonight.”
“I hardly think so,” he laughed. “I’m alive and kicking and your king and his son’s blood is gonna rain from the sky by the time I’m done. Tell me, Johnny James, do you think you can reach the clubhouse before I do, so you have a chance to say goodbye?”
I cut the call, already running as I dialled Fox’s number, my pulse thundering in my head.
“JJ?” Fox answered. “What’s happening? Is Maverick still with-”
“Shawn’s attacked the western team,” I blurted. “He’s heading for the clubhouse, keep Rogue safe and prepare the men.”
“Fuck,” he cursed. “Get back here. Now.”
“On it.” I hung up, tearing along as Maverick caught up with me, powering his arms back and forth like he was trying to outpace me, but there was no chance of that.
My family were in trouble and I was going to be right there when our enemies arrived, ready to fight to the death to protect them. I wasn’t going to lose any more of them to Shawn Mackenzie.
Tonight, we ended this and got vengeance for our boy.
T he clubhouse was dark, all lights switched off to make sure the Dead Dogs couldn't see any of us inside as every Harlequin in the place took cover around the windows and held weapons ready to fire.
I stood with Fox, my pulse racing as we sheltered behind a thick beam which ran to the right of the largest window in the place. His left hand pressed to the wall beside my head as he boxed me in against it, my spine flush with the bricks and his chest brushing mine.
He held a Glock in his other hand and had another gun hanging from his belt.
"I don't like this," some guy murmured from his position crouched beneath the window frame as we all waited.
Luther was to our left, his gaze fixed on the view beyond the open doors as he held his own gun ready.
"Here, wildcat," he murmured, drawing my attention from the window and I bit my bottom lip as I accepted the pistol he was holding out for me.
The weight was familiar now and after practicing with JJ every day for the last month, I was confident in my aim. Shawn wouldn't get away from me this time.
Fox growled like a fucking dog as he shifted his weight, penning me in against the wall even tighter.
"She won't need that until the end when he's trussed up at her feet and waiting for her to finish him," he hissed.
"So you'd leave her unarmed and unprotected until then?" Luther asked, arching a brow at his son.
"I'm right here. She has more protection than anyone else in this place. And I won't let a single thing happen to her. But with a weapon of her own she's unpredictable. She'll probably try and run off and pull some crazy stunt like last time."
I choked down the desire to snap at him, to remind him that I was a fully capable woman and that my crazy stunts had equalled my survival up until this date. Then I reached out to touch his arm instead, feeling the tension in his posture as my fingers ran over the solid muscle of his flexed bicep.
"I'm not going anywhere, Fox," I promised him. "So long as you don't try to cut me out of this, I promise I'll stand by you. I won't leave your side for a single second. Kay?"
Fox dropped his gaze to meet mine, blowing out a slow breath as he nodded and eased back a little to give me some room to breathe.
"I can't lose you too, hummingbird," he murmured, the pain we all felt over Chase creeping into the space between us and I nodded, squeezing his arm a little where I held it.
The sound of a gunshot broke through the silence and suddenly the whole place was carnage.
Glass shattered, men yelled and bullets tore through the sky in every direction.
I tried to peek out the window and take a shot of my own, but Fox flattened me against the wall, a snarl on his face as he leaned out and returned fire.
Luther started bellowing orders for his men to focus on Shawn and there was a flurry of movement as someone shouted back saying they'd just seen him approaching from the west road and that everyone who had been positioned that way was dead.
"JJ," I gasped, trying to shove my way past Fox as the gun in my hand weighed me down with thoughts of what I needed to do with it.
“He was to the east,” Fox growled. “He’s fine.”
I knew that made sense on some level, but he was still out there and Shawn was so close. Within reach. And that dark, angry, raging part of me hungered for the blood he owed me more furiously than I could have imagined. “Come on.”
I managed to scramble towards the door, but I lurched back with a scream as a bullet tore through the wood.
A Harlequin roared in pain as he was hit in the shoulder and two of the other gang members grabbed him and started hauling him away from the doorway.
Luther stepped out of cover with a manic smile lighting his face as he stood his ground and fired with two pistols at once, emptying them before jumping back away from the door just as return fire ripped through the wood.
Fox grabbed my arm and hauled me back towards him, boxing me in against the wall again as he continued to shoot out of the broken window into the darkness beyond.
His gun rang empty and I snatched a magazine from his belt, reloading it for him as he ejected the empty one to the floor.
Fox caught my eye with half a smile which quickly dissolved into a frown as he returned his attention to shooting outside again. His muscles were bulging with tension and heat poured from his body into mine as he shielded me. It would have been insanely hot if it wasn’t for our current situation - or maybe that was what was making it even hotter.
"Hold your fire!" Shawn's voice bellowed above the clamour of gunshots and I sucked in a sharp breath as my grip on my pistol tightened. "Or your pretty boy here gets a whole lot less pretty."
It seemed like every Harlequin in the clubhouse was holding their breath and fear twisted my heart, shredding it to ribbons in my chest even before I managed to lean far enough over to see who he held as his hostage.
Blood pissed down the side of JJ's face, soaking into his white shirt
and making the most horrifying sense of inevitability wash through my skin. Shawn stood at his back, a gun pressed firmly to his temple and a grin on his face which said he knew how valuable the piece he was holding was.
"What do you want?!" Fox roared, his entire body seeming to radiate fury as he pressed his chest to mine and flattened me against the wall like he thought I might just run out there at any moment. And maybe I would.
"What a question. There are just so many answers to it, too," Shawn said, shoving the gun against JJ's temple even harder. "I mean, how far back are we going here? 'Cause I coulda done with a few more warm hugs from my pa. And if I'm being totally honest with ya - I'm kinda hungry right now, so a burger wouldn't go amiss. I'd also like a pretty little beachside town with some lovely warehouses to store all kinds of merchandise for me and my business associates. I'd love a boat. Nothing practical - one of those fancy things that rich people have for shits and giggles. A nice hat wouldn't be a bad shout either. But most of all...I'd say I'd like to feel the wash of this asshole's brains splattering all over my face as I pull the trigger and break your little Harlequin heart all over again."
"Stop!" I screamed, lurching towards the window as Shawn took a step back and smacked the barrel of his pistol against the back of JJ's skull. "Shawn, don't - he's-"
Fox roared something unintelligible as he leapt on me, taking me out and sending the two of us rolling across the glass covered floor just as gunshots rang in my ears and bullets tore through the space where I'd just been standing.
"Hold your fucking fire!" Shawn bellowed outside and the gunfire came to an abrupt end as I found myself pinned beneath Fox with slivers of glass digging into my skin and so much fear in my heart that I was certain I was going to be torn apart by it. "I just thought of something I want more than all of that. I want my girl back. I want that tight ass and those perky tits and that pouty fucking mouth which was just made to take my cock. I want her on her knees and begging for my forgiveness. And in return, I'll up and leave. Pack up my shit and get outa town. We can have peace, your boy here can have life, and I can have my little woman back warming my bed where she belongs. How 'bout that?"
Carnival Hill (The Harlequin Crew Book 3) Page 7