Dirty Devil (82 Street Vandals Book 4), page 9
A split-second after I held out my hand, I recognized my mistake. He splashed the water everywhere as he broke the glass and the first jagged cut sliced into my arm. The pain was nothing against the shock. He yelled and I tried to get away from him as he deepened the cut and my blood raced down my arm.
“You son of a…” I tried to claw at him with my free hand to get away and he slashed the glass across my already burned palm and he shouted again.
There was a rush into the room. The blood was racing faster and I was getting lightheaded.
How fucking deep had he cut me?
Even as my vision tunneled, I tried to fight. Then my uncle said, “Stay with us, Princess. I can’t lose you again.”
Fuck that.
I’d rather go.
CHAPTER 11
LIAM
The king had been up my ass for days. It was like as soon as Emersyn vanished onto that plane, he’d known I had time on my hands. Or maybe he didn’t care if I had time or not. Probably the latter. At least I wasn’t alone in my pain. Adam had been summoned right alongside me, and seemed to be in the same mood I was. Ezra wasn’t present, but I didn’t worry about him. Of the two of them, Adam was probably the most lethal.
For the third time since we’d met each other in the car park and walked in, he checked his watch. As much as I wanted to be elsewhere, tracking down Emersyn or at least why she had left and who the hell Lainey was, I knew where the Sharpes lived. I knew where all of their properties were. At least all of those on the public records, and two I’d found that weren’t.
One was actually in her name, but I somehow doubted she bought a chalet in Switzerland. Probably the parents were just hiding assets in her name. It wouldn’t be the first time a wealthier parent did that. My own had done something similar and I’d tucked nest eggs away in Rome’s name.
If anything happened to me… well, I’d taken care of things for him. I didn’t want him to worry about his next meal or anything else. Still…
Her uncle had put the bounty out on her. He was the reason the goddamn bounty hunters had been all over the city. The asshole may have been trying to find her, but he put her in harm’s way. It told me he was probably also behind the photos sent to her. So, he’d used us as leverage.
Dislike filled me. Her uncle needed to learn now that he did not get to use us against her. While I understood the idea she’d left to protect us, I might spank her ass red for not telling us first. Freddie counted, but not enough. She’d called the one person she thought wouldn’t try to stop her.
Still, in the days since we’d made the discovery, Rome and I had been split on how to handle it. The fact we were so divided didn’t sit well with me. The only reason he hadn’t gone after her yet was because we weren’t sure which of their properties she was at. If we risked an incursion, there was a chance they’d close ranks around her.
Admit it. A nasty little voice inside of me whispered. You don’t want to get there and find out she did want to leave us, and she doesn’t want to come back.
I closed down that line of thought and leaned back against the wall. The fact we were meeting in the empty offices of Pocket Arc Financial said this was all business. We’d been summoned to offices only twice in my recollection.
“Goddammit.” Adam kicked a small trash can across the room and it chipped the drywall when it impacted. I spared him a look. While I sympathized with the agitation, he knew better. In fact, he was the one who told me to never reveal a weakness.
Ever.
When he glanced at me, I just raised my brows.
“Fuck off, O’Connell, what did you do?”
“Can’t fuck off and answer at the same time,” I told him with a wry smile and a half-shrug. The more restless he seemed, the calmer I became. Not revealing our cards was a part of the job. For Adam to be showing his hand this early, suggested there was more going on than I knew.
Yet.
With a dark glare, he took a step toward me. His hands curled into fists. A muscle in his cheek jumped and I swore I could almost hear the grinding of his teeth. Honestly, I wished he’d just go for it. Come at me.
I needed the fight.
I’d been avoiding the pits all week, while we tried to puzzle out what the hell was going on.
“Why are we here?” Adam asked, not moving beyond his single step.
I shrugged. “No clue. I got the call, same as you. Or at least I assume you got a call.”
Why else would he be in Braxton Harbor? He and Ezra both avoided the town. I preferred it that way, personally. This was my territory and I’d marked it as such. The other Royals had their own enterprises and assignments, none of which came through Braxton. I’d made damn sure of it.
He blew out a breath, then stalked away toward the window overlooking the city. With the exception of being ridiculously empty, the whole floor was set up just like any regular corporate office. Yes, you needed a keycard to get to this level. And no, no one else worked here, there were computers, desks, plants, a lobby waiting room, and even a fish tank.
The fish tank was fucking weird, cause the fish were all alive and clearly thriving so someone else came through here, but never when I was present. Not that I spent a lot of time in this corporate office. It was a front. A place to funnel money, to serve as a corporate distraction for activities we didn’t want anyone looking too closely at, and to host meetings like the one we didn’t appear to be having.
“Five fucking minutes more,” Adam snarled without looking at me. “Then I’m leaving.”
When the king called, you didn’t ignore him and you didn’t blow off his orders. Adam was the one who told me that all those years ago. The one chance to turn him down was when you were offered a place, after that? Well, it was your life. If that was how you wanted to waste it.
I’d never turned down a job. Never missed a call. I’d given them my blood, sweat, and time. The one time he’d demanded I throw a fight, I’d done that as well. I still had scars from that fight. It was the only time he’d ever asked it of me, and he’d never done it again.
Still… all this time later, as far as I’d come and I was no closer than when I’d been in school. Maybe it was time to cut our losses with this project. I knew the layout of the operation. I knew the names and the places. I had a lot of information. I could do a lot of damage.
My phone vibrated with the arrival of a text. Adam’s must have too, because he pulled it out of his pocket.
Two words on the screen.
Conference Room.
Adam strode ahead of me and through the doors into the main offices. I trailed him, more interested by the second at his level of agitation. Something was going on with him and he needed backup. Maybe I should send a message to Ezra.
The door to the conference room slammed back with a crash. Those doors were weighted.
“Man,” I said, keeping my voice down. From the moment we arrived there was a high percentage chance we were under surveillance. This loss of “cool” was not like Adam at all. “Dial it back.”
He didn’t glance in my direction much less say anything. As soon as I cleared the door to the conference room with its oblong table, six chairs and an eighty-inch plus screen on the wall, the screen flashed on, then went blue for a moment, before resolving into the shape of a man.
No distinguishable features were visible. In fact, despite the screen’s incredible clarity and high definition, the man was one unrelieved shadow.
“Gentlemen,” the king said. I’d know that voice anywhere. “Thank you for joining me today.”
Not that he’d given us a choice. Adam mirrored my stance on the opposite side of the table. We both stood, arms folded, staring at the screen. “Your Majesty,” I said when Adam made no move to say a word and inclined my head. The fact I had to chew over those words in every single interaction did not make them more palatable. “What can we do for you today?”
If I’d thought the question would distract him from the fact Adam glared at the screen, I was mistaken. Instead of answering my question, the man leaned back in his seat and rested a hand against his jaw as though thinking.
“Is there a problem, Reed?”
“You’ve had me in Braxton Harbor for three days.”
Three days? I didn’t look at him.
“And?” the king replied. “You go where I want you, when I want you there.”
A flash of movement I barely caught from the corner of my eye was the only indication that Adam had curled his fingers into a fist. “Of course,” he said. “Your Majesty.”
Glass probably tasted better than those words. No amount of even attempting a bow would soften the bitterness in his tone. “You seem to be having a problem, Reed.”
“No,” Adam said, the word stilted. “I am simply not used to forced idleness.”
“Forced idleness?” The figure on the screen chuckled, but the sound was not remotely humorous or entertained. “Don’t waste my time, Reed.” Any pretense of amusement vanished. “You and your little friend think you can work a separate game and that I won’t find out about it?”
The curl of unease and apprehension from earlier redoubled. Adam stiffened at his tone. What the fuck had those guys done?
“What, precisely, is it you think we’ve done?” If anything, the belligerence in his tone doubled. I’d give Adam this, he had balls. But then, I’d known that from the beginning. Ezra was the more personable of the two, but Adam would get his hands dirty if he deemed it necessary.
“I’d have care with your tone,” the king warned him.
“Then you might consider starting to take care with your own.” Adam was as far from cowed as one could be. “You didn’t recruit me for my manners, but for my name, my connections, and my money.”
“And because of this, you think you have leverage? Special privileges?”
“I don’t think I have shit, I just know I’m not going to keep kissing your ass while you hide in the shadows and we do all the dirty work. You wanted me here. I’m here. You want me polite and respectful? You start demonstrating the same.”
“Or what?”
“Or I walk.”
“Mr. Reed, you are aware of the rules. You were aware when you agreed to them.”
“I’m also aware that you need me a hell of a lot more than I need you.”
The gauntlet had been thrown down. Whatever the king had done to earn Adam’s ire, I didn’t want to imagine. He’d once tried to leverage Rome’s safety in an attempt to hold his life over me. It had taken a few bloody encounters for him to get the message. My loyalty wouldn’t be bought that way.
Nor would I tolerate a single threat made against my brother. Whatever leverage he had over Adam—or was that it? Had he lost his leverage over him? That would make Adam very much a wildcard.
And a wildcard could be put to my advantage.
Maybe.
“You’re quiet, O’Connell.”
“This conversation has nothing to do with me.” Impersonal and polite. “I was merely waiting to find out why you wanted me here.”
Adam didn’t even spare me a look. Then again, if he’d wanted me to back his play, he should have said something earlier. But I wouldn’t have looked to him for assistance either. That wasn’t the relationship we had. The fact Ezra had warned me not that long ago had been an aberration, not the norm. None of the Royals were tight. Gang or not, they feasted on each other’s failures, not successes.
“Interesting. You have no comment on the situation?”
Right. “Do you want me to comment on it?”
The shadowy figure shifted, leaning back in his chair. As it was the closest I’d ever come to seeing the “man” himself, I tracked every visible twitch. Not that he gave many clues. “You didn’t achieve the rank of Bishop by being so careful, now did you?”
I snorted. “I’m not a bishop.” I was only a knight.
“Ah, but that is where you are wrong, O’Connell.”
It was the first I was hearing of it, but I didn’t leap to the bait.
“In fact, that is exactly why you are here.”
Adam shifted his weight and even as aware of him as I was, I didn’t dare look away from the screen. Alarm bells went off in my head. This situation was about to go from bad to worse.
“Is that so?” I kept the inquiry careful. Guarded.
“Yes, to move up, the knight must take bishop you see, and Mr. Reed has decided he no longer needs us.”
Fuck. My. Life.
“And you know the rules,” he said, steepling his hands together. For a split second, they were out of the shadow and I could make out a ring on his right hand. Not much definition, but it was a heavy ring. “Execute, Mr. Reed, Mr. O’Connell, and take his place as Bishop.”
CLASH
MILO
I didn’t say a word when I checked out where they were going to be. The next show was clear across the country. But I could make the drive in a couple of days. I’d get there the same day they did. Gas money and a few hundred dollars socked away for a rainy day. Her birthday was coming up. Well, the birthday she celebrated anyway. And I wanted to see her. I was also being selfish as fuck.
For the first time in a long time, I didn’t care. I just—needed the break. A break from everything. I needed to see her and have a breather. Leaving a note for the guys, I told them I’d be back in a few days. It was better to slip away unseen or someone would take it upon themselves to follow me. Or just climb in the car.
Once on the highway, I exhaled a long breath. The agitation in my blood cooled. The tension in my spine unknotted. Music cranked, the cool wind blowing through the windows, and my foot on the accelerator as I left Braxton Harbor in the rearview mirror. I didn’t run away. Didn’t think I was now. Just—this damn urge to see her. I trusted my instincts. When I ignored my gut, bad shit happened.
With every mile I put on the car, I relaxed more. This was the right call. The guys would be fine for a few days. They could handle it. If they didn’t—well, I’d deal with it when I got back. The drive took just under two days, a little over thirty-seven hours, including a four hour nap I took in the car at a rest stop.
I made it to Orlando in time to see her walking into the hotel. It was pure luck that I guessed the right one. Well, luck and the fact I knew their troupe had used that hotel before. She looked dead on her feet. The bitch walking with her looked like a bitch. I didn’t know who the cunt was—wait—yes, I did. The chaperone. Okay, maybe a chaperone should look like someone smashed her face with a brick to create that expression.
Still…not a fan.
I followed them inside, made a show of checking the wall with all its pamphlets of local attractions while they checked in. Ivy looked so damn tired, but then it was still early and they’d been traveling.
“Since the venue is tied up with the riggers,” she said while they waited on the hotel desk clerk to sort out their rooms—multiple. So, Ivy had her own room. How—lonely. Then again, maybe she wanted privacy. Having grown up with the guys all sharing the same room most of the time, I craved personal space, but it could also be too damn quiet. “I’ll just do stretches and use the gym here.”
The chaperone nodded. “Do not go down to the gym without me.”
Ivy rolled her eyes.
I bit back a smile. I swore she gave the woman a look that just radiated “bite me.” Kind of bratty, but I appreciated it. Rules were there to chafe, but also to protect. Or so Ms Stephanie often reminded us. The rules were also there to be bent carefully with just the right amount of pressure.
Pre-law had given me a lot of insight on that one.
As soon as they had their rooms and keycards, I made a note of which floor and let them disappear into the elevators, before I asked the clerk about whether they had a room available. Unfortunately, my plans had been blown at the last minute and the girl behind the desk blushed when I smiled at her.
I got a room on the same floor with Ivy and the clerk’s phone number. Maybe I’d make this a vacation of my own. She said she’d be off the clock at three. Good to know. She also worked nights sometimes. Even better. The credit card I used wasn’t the best idea, since it was for emergencies only. But I’d make do for now.
Instead of going straight up to a room, I went out to move my car and grab a bag. The hotel nightly fee included parking—thank fuck. Even with Sarah Jane’s discount, it was still pricey. On my way back through the lobby, I winked at her on my way past. Her smile grew and mine might have made an appearance as I stepped into the elevator.
Getting laid hadn’t been the original plan, but what the hell. It was still really early. I was just stepping off the elevator when the battle axe said, “Stay in the room, order room service, and catch up on your assignments from the tutor. You have my number.” Then she was bustling up the hall.
“Whatever,” Ivy called after her and the door slammed. I sidestepped the woman as she got to the elevator. She was on the phone before the doors opened.
Our gazes met briefly as she said, “Yes, three days—it’s about time I had a break from the brat.” Her look practically screamed fuck off as she jabbed the elevator button and the doors closed behind her.
What. A. Bitch.
She was just leaving Ivy here? Alone?
Irritated as fuck, I made my way to my room, which was just up the hall from hers. I glanced at her door, probably staring a little too long. We weren’t directly across from each other, more caddy cornered. But when I checked through the viewfinder, I could see her door.
Well, the desire to be here fueling my blood made sense. The cunt and I were going to have words. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath. Violence needed to serve a purpose. Carelessness was one thing. The woman was a chaperone, not a caretaker. She probably saw nothing wrong with leaving Ivy secured in a hotel room.
She was almost twelve by her standards, with Emersyn’s birthday the following week. Even if she didn’t look much older than eight. I was here. Here I would fucking stay, the guard dog at the goddamn door.
