Cash: A Dark Romance (Saint and Sinners Book 2)

by Ruby Vincent

  “Three... minutes.”

  “Cool. Want crackers too?”

  “Cash sent you to take care of me.” The heart-splintering conversation I tried to block out came back. “You’re a Merchant.”

  “Yes and yes.”

  “Why are you letting me see your face?”

  “You’re the boss’s girl. You’re good.”

  The reply struck my stomach, doubling me over like a physical blow. I was anything but the boss’s girl. Not Cash’s. Not Saint’s. Not Mercer’s or Brutal’s. One night and one red-faced scheming employee, I lost all of them.

  “Whoa,” Lucky said. “Are you in pain?”

  “Yes! Why the fuck do people bother with love? It’s got to be the stupidest, illogical lie spread on a wave of mass hysteria. Who puts themselves through this on purpose!”

  Lucky backed out of the room. “Three minutes,” he muttered. “Got it.”

  I sunk in the sheets, staining the white with tears.

  I made the right choice. I made the right choice. I made the only choice.

  Gianna and my father would confirm the decision.

  Gianna and I had come too far and risked too much to make enemies out of the Merchants. That people looked at us and saw a chef and a hotel employee were our masks. As for my father, telling him I gave up the men I loved in the hunt for Kieran wouldn’t garner an ounce of sympathy. He warned me of this. Made me promise I’d give up the fight and live for myself. An “I told you so” from Dad would just about finish me off.

  So, what now?

  My best lead to Kieran shot me in an alleyway, and the bullet wasn’t signed with his name or address. Killian dumped and locked me in a Harlow high-rise. Saint and the guys will look for me unaware one of their own is erasing the tracks. I couldn’t call my father or best friend for help. I couldn’t call anyone.

  I let Killian walk out the door to conceal my secrets.

  What did it get me?

  The horrid question echoed through my mind. Whispering wetness down my cheeks. Stoking flames of misery into depression.

  What did it get you, Adeline?

  Nothing. And no one.

  Chapter Ten

  Cash

  “Are you at the club?”

  “I’m looking at it,” I confirmed.

  “The Kings are short of casino venues due to the fires,” said La Roche. “Enzo put together that the ones spared were attached to populated clubs or restaurants. His plan now is to invest in both, so the Kings can make use of their underground facilities. The arsonist won’t get a chance to try again.”

  I observed the two-story mass of brick, paint, and neon lights. Infinity Nightclub rose from a renovated warehouse removed from Harlow’s party street. I passed by it twice the night before—driving through the burrow unable to return to the place she was, or the bed lingering with her smell.

  “A simplistic plan,” I said. “Buildings can be evacuated before they’re blown up.”

  “Touché. Although, I do not suggest that approach. Lorenzo must tell you where the ledger is first.”

  “I will do my part, Richard. You do yours.”

  “My part is the easiest of the arrangement. Enzo insists we invest jointly in the venture. I told him I’d need to tour the club and speak to the previous owners. It’s simply a matter of telling him the date and time that meeting will take place, and sending him to the club to meet you and the Merchants instead.”

  “I’m not a Merchant.” My standard, unwavering reply. I would not give confirmation to his hunch. “Though, it flatters that you associate their ingenious quick thinking with Vega to me.”

  “I’ve no time for this. Just tell me the Merchants will be ready,” he said. “This Saturday. Noon.”

  “They will.”

  “And, Killian.” La Roche’s voice dropped several degrees. “Do not think of betraying me. That ledger is mine. If the thought crosses to keep it and use the information within to bend me to your services, it’s you I will come for. The Merchants will find themselves short a leader or a servant. May not matter to them which, but it will to you. I hope that provides incentive to ensure the ledger makes its way into my hands.”

  The threat passed through my ear, stirred no emotion, and went out.

  “Saturday. Noon,” I said. “Goodbye, Richard.”

  I hung up.

  Starting the car, I drove out of the lot and turned right for the expressway.

  It wasn’t deliberate I passed by her building. It wasn’t intended to slow, look up the glaring glint of windows, and seek out the one as hers.

  Blaring horns mocked me. “Move the fuck on, Killian. She’s not looking for you.”

  I heeded them, stomping on the pedal.

  Out of Harlow I drove, getting on the express and taking it to Rockchapel. The sun was beginning to set by the time I arrived at the club.

  I parked curbside to wait some more—the clock ticking down the hours it’d been since I’d eaten or slept.

  It was a weeknight. Half the usual crowd wasn’t out tonight, but this half was who I needed. No early morning alarms, shits to give, or affiliations you’d share with mother.

  A pack of guys bypassed the line. The bandanas on their hips serving as identification.

  I took off, driving my car away from temptation. I walked back and was waved in by the guards. Red bandanas were easy to find.

  The mass of bodies was thinner tonight. I pushed through them, forging a path. I kept going till the velvet rope held me back.

  “Hey!”

  A few of the Blood Brothers looked up, pulling faces at the random man daring to speak to them.

  “What the fuck do you want?” asked the man seated at the end of the booth. He had a piercing through his bottom lip and dagger tattoos where eyebrows should be.

  I slid a glance toward the bathroom. “I’m surprised they opened this place up so soon after that shitstain Ivan was smeared on the bathroom floor.”

  He jumped up. “What did you say?!”

  “I said,” I shouted louder. “I’m surprised they reopened this place after that bitch Ivan got what was coming to him! Did you hear me that time?”

  Half were on their feet now. The others were dropping their grins and drinks, picking up on the mood shift.

  Dagger Brows lifted his shirt, revealing the knife poking out of his hip.

  Nothing.

  No fear. No panic. My heart pumped evenly in my chest. I pressed my palm to it to feel a reaction—satisfy I was still capable of them.

  He got in my face.

  “You don’t seem to know who you’re talking to, homie. Turn around and walk out of here while you can make it to the door.”

  “What are you going to do? Stab yourself trying to fight me? Get yourself blown up?” I barked a laugh. “The Blood Brothers are weak! You’ve been getting your asses handed—”

  His punch smashed my jaw, snapping my head around. I had time to stop it, and made no move to. He unsheathed his knife. The next strike aimed for my gut.

  I grabbed his wrist, wrenching it behind his back till his scream confirmed the break.

  “Ahh!” The knife slipped through limp fingers. I kicked him at his incoming friends.

  He took three down. They dropped on the table, tipping it over, and showered the platform with alcohol and glass. The last five standing jumped me.

  I didn’t register the hit that broke my nose. The knee strike that felled me elicited screams from dancers running from the fight. For me it didn’t bat my eye. Disappearing under their boots, I felt nothing. What Adeline Redgrave awakened, hadn’t been put back under ice. It had been rubbed out completely.

  And then I felt something.

  Relief.

  The last remnants of Killian Hunt were gone. Cash would not make this mistake again.

  He wouldn’t love. He could not give what didn’t exist.

  “That’s enough,” I said through bleeding lips.

  “The fuck it is!” The b
anger hefted his foot, poised to stomp my face. “You—”

  I wrenched out my gun and blew through his boot.

  Screams ripped through the club. The music cut off, giving sound to the stampede of clubbers, and the howling banger they trampled to get out the door.

  I mixed in with the chaos, ducked into the street, and was gone.

  SINJIN LOOKED OUT FROM the ruins of his room. He hunched on the edge of his bed, shuffling and reshuffling his deck.

  “What happened to you?” he drawled.

  “Kieran.”

  The cards showered the floor. “What?”

  “It worked.” I motioned to my busted nose and lip. “Kieran sent a message in the form of eight guys beating my face in.”

  “How do you know it was Kieran?”

  “They reminded me of our agreement that I stay straight. Kieran knows we went to La Roche. Either I get the Merchants to back off, or the next time they put a bullet through my skull.”

  “Kieran knew about a deal we haven’t fucking made yet?”

  “La Roche helped him with that.” I slid down the frame, letting it prop me up as I dropped to the floor. “He leveraged our interest for better terms with Enzo. Didn’t feel an ounce of guilt for it when I called him up either.”

  Sinjin rose, eyes shadowed. “That’s fine. We would’ve killed him eventually.”

  “Eventually,” I agreed. “But today he’s done us a favor.

  “We found Kieran, Sinjin. It’s Lorenzo Bianchi.”

  A slow smile curled into his cheeks. “Even better.”

  ADELINE

  “Can’t.”

  I peeled puffy eyes open, landing on the table loaded down with trays, bowls, and cups. What Lucky lacked in caution... he also lacked in cleanliness.

  “Got a job from the boss. He’ll kill me if I cut out early.”

  Rising up, I set my feet on the floor. An ache pounded my side as I stood. But if it hurt less than the day before. Or the day before that, I hadn’t let on.

  “It’s an easy gig. Heat up food. Dump pills next to the bowl. Replace bandages. Nah. Yes. Shit, yeah, I want to come over.”

  I cracked open the door. Lucky leaned on the kitchen counter, watching the microwave countdown while he talked on his cell.

  “What time you going out?” Pause. “Give me an hour, baby. I’ll get it in her fast, then I’ll be in you.”

  I cringed. Does my kind really fall for lines like that?

  Lucky lit on me entering the kitchen.

  “Gotta go.” He shoved the phone in his back pocket. “What are you doing out of bed? Do you need something?”

  I stopped in front of him, and smashed the tray on his temple. Lucky dropped like a sack. Raising the tray high, I bashed him again to be sure.

  Lucky wouldn’t see Baby in an hour. He was in for a good, long nap.

  I patted his pockets, removing two sets of keys, the phone, and his wallet.

  “Hello? Who is this?”

  “Gianna.”

  “Addy!” The shout pierced my eardrum. “Where the hell have you been?”

  “I got shot. My boyfriend locked me in a penthouse prison, and then he dumped me.” I took Lucky’s cash and credit cards. The empty wallet I dropped on his chest. “I’m somewhere in Harlow. Can you pick me up?”

  “Addy, I was out the fucking door at ‘penthouse prison.’ Are you okay?”

  “I will be.” I tried both keys in the lock. “I’ve made a decision.”

  “To do what exactly?”

  “Something I’ll regret.”

  CASH

  “You what?”

  “She came out of nowhere, boss,” Lucky moaned. “Next thing I fucking knew, I was lying on the floor with a bleeding head.”

  “I told you not to bring a phone inside!”

  My voice went up a pitch. As did my pulse.

  Anger. Irritation. All feelings I closed in that apartment with Adeline.

  Looks like they broke the fuck out too.

  “How was I supposed to know she’d bash my head in for it? You didn’t say those were anti-psychotic meds,” he growled.

  “Who the fuck do you think you’re talking to?”

  “Sorry, boss,” Lucky said quickly, and in a more suitable tone. “I’ll find her. She couldn’t have gotten far.”

  “You’ve done enough.”

  I hung up.

  My hand fisted on the cell. With enough strength, I’d break it. And I wouldn’t have to make the call.

  It was Friday evening. Tomorrow, we stormed Infinity and picked up the ledger’s new owner. For years I waited. For longer Sinjin waited. For decades my parents waited. Kieran was my focus now. Forgetting that a second time would be disastrous.

  One hundred percent.

  I dialed Lucky’s number. It picked up on the second ring.

  “Hello, toy boy.”

  Crack.

  “Redgrave.”

  “I was wondering how long it’d take you to call,” she mused. “It’s been eight hours. Those love taps knocked Lucky out cold.”

  “Where are you?” I crossed the room, locking my door. “I’m surprised you didn’t come back. Tell Sinjin what I did.”

  “I figured we should talk first.”

  “There’s nothing left for us to talk about.”

  “We can do this at your place or mine. The choice is yours.”

  Silence stretched between us.

  “Where are you?” I repeated.

  “You know where I am, Erik.”

  DARKNESS CREPT IN, rushing to fill the corners my flashlight invaded. A glow slipped under the door partway through the hall.

  I paused grabbing the knob.

  This could be a trap.

  I gripped my hilt. I didn’t know this woman, or what she was capable of. Why should I expect what she’s never given me?

  “Killian? Is that you?”

  Crack.

  My hand fell to my side. The door swung open, revealing no one.

  “Ade—” No. There she is.

  A crown of auburn waves rose over the seat. She didn’t shift at my arrival.

  “I’m here,” I announced for no reason. “Say what you have to say.”

  “I killed Tara Duncan.”

  I felt that crack. My armor buckled in the strike of her confession, forcing a flash of true shock that was gone before she turned to look at me.

  She frowned. “What happened to you?”

  “I can’t possibly think of anything less fucking important.”

  Adeline smiled, laughing softly, and the second blow was struck. “No, I guess not. This is the part where I explain.”

  I moved closer—stopping short of the ledge I draped her over.

  “Why?” I asked.

  She dropped her gaze in the dim glow of the sconces. She was quiet for so long, I assumed she changed her mind.

  “When I was ten, my mother figured out I was her best bargaining chip for an easy score—”

  “Adeline, you don’t have to go through this again.”

  “I do,” she said. “Please, just let me get this out.”

  I nodded.

  “There were six men in total... who raped me on a regular basis,” she said. “My life was an endless carousel of pain until my dad rescued me.”

  She gestured for me to sit. I did.

  “When he found out what those strung-out pieces of human garbage did to me, he couldn’t let it go, and going to the police wasn’t an option.” She stopped and took a breath. “Time for another truth. I’m more comfortable with gangsters than I admitted. I’ve loved one my whole life.”

  “Your father.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “He used to be an enforcer for a gang called the Lords. You’ve probably never heard of them.”

  I shook my head.

  “The history doesn’t really matter. I’m only telling you this, so you understand why my father would accept only one type of vengeance.”

  “He killed them.”<
br />
  “No, Killian,” she said. “I killed them.”

  “You? But...” I trailed off. Adeline was right. This wasn’t a story I should interrupt.

  “I was thirteen. I had nightmares every night. I slept in a room with half a dozen locks, and wet my bed rather than leave to use the bathroom. And the whole time, Daddy was working to help me. To give me my power back. ‘You may not be able to stop people from hurting you, but you can ensure they never do it again.’”

  “He said that to me as we stood over the bound and gagged man who took my virginity.” She lifted her palms. “I still remember his hands so big over mine, hiding the tiny fist he wrapped around the hilt.”

  A tear splashed on her palm. I wiped it away, lacing through her cold fingers.

  “That day I went to see my dad, we talked as we always did. And we were open as we always were—unaware we were secretly recorded by Tara Duncan.

  “She threatened me, Killian. One hundred grand or she’d tell the world my father and I were killers. You can’t understand the fear that crippled me at the thought of people finding out what was done to me.” Her voice was barely above a rasp. “Somehow so much worse than them knowing what I’d done in return. I couldn’t stomach it... but still, I refused.”

  She peered in my eyes. “I said no. I wouldn’t pay her a fucking cent, and she couldn’t bluff me into changing my mind.”

  “She proved she was serious.”

  “Duncan f-forced my father to swallow those pills. She almost killed him!” Wetness dripped furiously down her cheeks. “I went to see him—frail and broken in that hospital bed—and again he told me what to do.”

  “Why didn’t you come to us?” I couldn’t resist asking. “Did you think we wouldn’t help? I chased down a fucking car thief pimp for a cut on your forehead. A blackmailing attempted murderer wouldn’t have gotten off with a lighter sentence.”

  She made a noise in her throat. “Is that how it works? I give you a name and you rush off to kill them. You wouldn’t have asked me why?”

  My silence spoke volumes.

  “Exactly,” she said. “No one knows what I did to those men. Not even Gianna. It’s a secret I buried deep to give me any chance of having a normal life. I didn’t want Tara Duncan to happen. I didn’t want you to see me as you do now.