by KB Winters
Ruthless Sinner
Ashby Crime Family Romance Book 8
KB Winters
Copyright © 2021 by KB Winters and BookBoyfriends Publishing Inc
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by KB Winters
About Ruthless Sinner
She’s given up her dream of happily-ever-after until now.
Maureen
I’ve been in love with Jasper since the day I laid eyes on him.
Tall, dark and annoyingly handsome.
He’s going to break my heart. Again.
I wish I could tell him how I feel, but with his livelihood on the line and cut-throat family interfering, I can feel him pulling away.
And he's taking my heart with him.
Jasper
I don’t have time for love. Or babies.
Or a woman for more than a night.
Banging heads and taking names is what I do.
I’m determined to keep the family business running while our matriarch is knocking on death’s door.
Then Mo comes up pregnant. Is it a trap? That’s what my brothers tell me.
I want to believe I know Mo better than that.
She wouldn’t do that, would she?
My heart says otherwise. But I don't have time to find out. I'm already responsible for one family who's committed more sins than the devil himself - and if the business doesn't survive, he’ll come to collect.
Love a little spice with your crime? Ruthless Sinner delivers! One click this hot romantic suspense today!
This is the last book in the Ashby Crime Family Series! Better bring a cold glass of water and leave your panties at the door!
Prologue
Jasper ~ Before the Shooting
I looked out at the opening night crowd of wall-to-wall, sex-crazed bodies bumping and grinding ecstatically to the music, and visions of dollar signs danced in my head.
As much as I hated to admit it, Sadie was right.
The new and improved Lucky Lopez was a success. An unmitigated fucking success. All three floors were packed with horny men and women eager to watch the young and beautiful strip for cash.
Others came to bump and grind on the newly installed dance floor, and most were here to just get fucked up. Opening night had brought out damn near all the residents of the Green Zone, not to mention the people we’d done business with for years.
Yeah, Sadie did it. Again.
I never doubted her. Sadie wasn’t just my mother; she was my mentor, the woman who taught me everything I needed to know about running the Ashby Organization for decades to come. At her side, I’d learned how to negotiate deals out in the legit world and in the underworld. She taught me to understand the difference between being tough and being just plain mean.
Well, my father Colm also had a hand in that lesson. A heavy hand, usually balled into a fucking fist.
I shook off thoughts of my bastard of a father and pushed away from the desk inside the tiny office in the back of Lucky Lopez and made my way through the throngs of sweaty, drunk bodies to the bar.
“Velvet Fire. Make it a double,” I barked over the din to the bartender.
One of the new girls Sadie and Thomas hired, I didn’t know her name, flashed a toothy grin and shoved her tits out to great effect. She had a great pair of tits, big and meaty, more than a handful and best of all, they were perfectly round and full.
The Lucky Lopez t-shirt she wore was cut into a low vee, ripped and tied into a knot at the waist to show off her hot young body.
“Here ya go, Mr. Ashby.” It was a smart move, hiring hungry young college girls to sling drinks. They would bring in more cash which meant we could clean even more money.
“Thanks.” It might have been a smart business move, but I didn’t like having all these new people around. I didn’t know these people, which meant I couldn’t trust them. I didn’t know who was in their lives or who those people knew and loved, hated or owed money to, and that was why I was on edge as I walked through the club, sipping on some damn good whiskey.
“Jasper!” Hulu smiled at me over the crowd and waved me over to the perimeter of the dance floor. He was big as fuck, spent a few hours almost every day in the gym, which made him the perfect deterrent for people looking to cause trouble.
“What’s up?” I stood beside the overgrown man feeling like a child at six-foot-two.
“Lots of people here tonight.”
“Yep.”
Arms crossed, Hulu’s eyes never stopped moving, never stopped scanning the crowd or looking over his shoulder. “Confiscated lots of weapons.”
“What’s lots.”
“Enough that I sent Provo out to get some lockboxes. I think you need lockers if this is gonna be your clientele here.”
I arched a brow at him. “Clientele? I think you’ve been working the card games too long if you’re gonna sound like an asshole.”
Hulu chuckled and shrugged. “Between the players and Nessa, I’m definitely growing my vocabulary.”
“Lockers are a good idea but run it by Sadie. This is her baby now.”
“Got it.”
“Anything else?”
“Nope. I’m good.”
“Good.” I walked up the stairs that led to level two and ordered another drink from a server walking by before going in search of the woman of the hour. She was, of course, in the VIP area, looking proudly down at her hard work come to life.
“You don’t have to look so damn pleased with yourself, Ma.”
Sadie turned slowly at the sound of my voice, a knowing smile on her face. “I know I don’t have to, but I am pleased. Look at this. Just fucking look.”
“Yeah, I see it. And I never doubted that you could do it. That was never a fucking question. I just didn’t think it was necessary.”
“And that’s why I’m so pleased. Look around. We don’t just have gangsters and investment bankers in here spending their money tonight, Jasper. That guy right there runs the corner market, and I’m pretty sure I saw his girlfriend head up to see the male dancers.”
“Your point?”
“My point, smartass, is that it isn’t just big money dollars flowing into this place. It’s all the money. People in the Green Zone now have money to spend, and they’re spending it with us.”
I nodded reluctantly, willing to give her that. “Makes it easier to clean the cash.” I didn’t bother reminding her that more cash put a bigger target on the place for robbery,
even if it was an Ashby joint.
Sadie glowered at me; her green eyes narrowed to a slit in a look I’d seen bring grown-ass men to their knees. As her son, I grew up on the receiving end of that look a lot. It barely fazed me.
“What the fuck is going on, Jasper? This is a big night for all of us. It’s bad enough Calvin isn’t here. You could at least pretend to be happy with the outcome.”
I shrugged off her angry question and the reminder that Calvin hadn’t shown up to celebrate the re-opening. “You want to run things again? Say so.”
“You run the shit, Jasper. You run it all. I’m just the face of the business, but no one is confused about who’s in charge, so I don’t know why the fuck you are.”
I sighed at her words because she was right, and she knew I knew it, but we were Irish, and we were Ashby’s. Arguing and fighting were second nature to us. But this was her big night, and she was my mother.
“So, you and Thomas?” The last thing I wanted to think about was my mother dating or falling in love or fucking anyone. But at least Thomas was no stranger, and his loyalty wasn’t in question.
I indulged them in an apple cider toast to their success and hid a smile when Sadie, the toughest bitch in Nevada, paled at the notion of going out to talk to the press.
“Do I have to?”
“Yes.” Thomas and I answered at the same time. She rolled her eyes.
“Fine. Let’s go.” After dealing with Agent Beck of the FBI, Sadie was a little camera shy, and that was a good thing. She was the face of the organization, of the family, but the press brought too much attention.
“Wait.” Thomas’ grip tightened around Sadie. “I spotted the ginger bitch in the club. She’s small and can get around virtually unnoticed, but I spotted her a few times.”
I let out a low growl, annoyed because Beck was more trouble than she was worth. After everything that went down with the undercover priest and Bonnie, putting a bullet in her wasn’t an option. Although I thought about it often. I nodded and set down the champagne flute. “I’m on it.”
Addison Beck was smart. She was also a goddamn pain in my ass. Unfortunately, she had a lot of hate for the Ashby family, which meant we were all targets. The legitimate business as well as the drugs, guns, whores, and everything else at risk because of her.
I wanted to just tell her the truth about her father, Jack, but Sadie thought we should find another way to get rid of her. Can’t kill her and can’t tell her the truth, so what the fuck else is left?
I spotted those red curls at the bar, pink lips wrapped around a straw as she pretended she wasn’t a cop, that she wasn’t trying to find some way to catch us up in her web. I made my way over.
Pop. Pop.
Two shots rang out. I froze a split second before I started in the other direction, walking before I remembered Sadie was outside, and my legs kicked into a full run.
“What the fuck was that?” I asked Evan who was on the door tonight, but I kept going before he could answer.
I saw some shit that made the blood drain from my face. Blood streaming down the side of Sadie’s face, her eyes lifeless as her knees buckled. Thomas held her in his arms, a devastated expression on his face.
Sadie had been shot.
“What the fuck?” Terry appeared at my side, chest heaving, eyes wide when they landed on Sadie. “Where did the shots come from?” He directed his question at Thomas.
Thomas shrugged. His eyes never left Sadie’s for one moment. “From the right, likely from the top of one of those buildings. Come on, babe. You’re tougher than this. No fucking bullet is going to take you out.”
“Ma!” Virgil barreled out of the club and straight to Sadie and Thomas, angry tears in his eyes. “What the fuck happened? Who the fuck did this?”
“I’ll find out,” I promised. “You and Terry follow the ambulance. Thomas will ride with her.” I turned to Evan, who stood with his fists clenched, an intimidating glare in his eyes. “You and Hulu clear this motherfucker out. No one but family and employees inside.”
Evan nodded and got busy obeying my orders.
I made my way back inside as soon as the ambulance took off, with the two men I trusted above all others to make sure she arrived safely at the hospital. I ran into Agent Beck first.
“If I find out you had anything at all to do with this, I’ll fucking kill you myself.” That was a promise I intended to keep, especially if my mother didn’t make it out of the hospital.
For now, I would burn this whole damn desert down to find the person who shot my mother.
Chapter One
Jasper – Two Weeks Later
Two goddamn weeks had passed, and I was no closer to finding out who shot Sadie and put her in the hospital, leaving her in a fucking coma.
Two long weeks of talking to doctors and nurses, sitting aimlessly by her bedside, silently begging her to wake up like I was some teary-eyed little kid. To say nothing of non-stop boots on the ground to find out who was behind the hit. And none of it amounted to shit.
Not one fucking lead. Not yet.
An hour before closing, I was still in my office at Midnight Mass, trying to figure out which of our many enemies had put a bullet in Sadie’s head.
Technically, according to the doctors, it wasn’t just a graze, but a deep one that could cause lasting memory problems. Luckily for her, I wouldn’t forget this, not until I had the culprit strapped to thousands of volts of electricity.
A knock sounded at the door, and my eyes automatically went to the clock on my phone. It was after two in the morning, almost closing time for the pub. “What?”
The door opened, and Maureen, my best waitress, stepped in, her blue eyes filled with concern, her big tits on full display as always.
“Hey, Jasper. How are you holding up?”
I shrugged at the question I’d been asked too many fucking times over the past two weeks. What was the right answer? I wasn’t fine; that much was sure, but I didn’t do weakness, and I didn’t do vulnerability, not even for someone I’d known for years.
“I’m fine, Mo. As good as can be expected under the circumstances.”
She nodded. She’d lost her mother at an early age, leaving Mo at the mercy of a sick fuck of a father, whom she fled years ago. “I get that. I brought you a drink. Two drinks,” she said and set a bottle of water on my desk right beside three fingers of Velvet Fire.
“Thanks.” I took a few big gulps of water and let my eyes focus on the distraction that was Maureen Caffrey. She was as sexy as they came, and she knew it.
Silky strawberry blond hair and eyes she called turquoise, the colors so vibrant against her pale Irish skin it was difficult not to stop and look at her.
Maybe it was her giant natural big tits she had no problem showing off or the slender waist punctuated with a diamond winking from her belly button. Or maybe it was the full sleeve of tats on her right arm that said she wasn’t just hot; she was tough.
A cock-hardening combination that made me lick my lips.
“Better?” she purred.
I looked up at Mo’s knowing smirk and nodded. “Much.”
“Good. Holler if you need anything else. You know where I’ll be.” Her full lips parted into a smile as she backed away toward the door.
“Mo.”
“Yeah?”
“Come here.” She shook her head because Mo was many things, easy being one of her best traits, but she was nobody’s pushover.
“Mo.”
She flipped her hair behind her and arched a brow. “What is it, Jasper? Or should I call you Mr. Ashby since I’m still on the clock?”
I stood and slowly walked around the desk until I was less than a foot away, towering over her now. Heat flared in her eyes, and my cock twitched to life. “I do love it when you remember I’m the boss.”
Mo rolled her eyes and let out a short laugh. “As if I could forget who signs my paycheck.”
“Is that the only reason you remember my name?
”
Something flashed in her eyes, and Mo licked her lips. “You know the answer to that, Jasper.” Whatever had been in her eyes disappeared quickly, and she took a step closer until her tits brushed against my chest. Her hard nipples pressed into me. “It’s all right, Jas, if you need a distraction.”
I needed a distraction. Badly. It wasn’t just what happened to Sadie; it was what it meant for me. This was the first time I was fully in charge, without Sadie to consult with, without her encyclopedic knowledge of the business. Stress was a motherfucker, and I needed the exact distraction Mo offered.
“Thank fuck,” I growled and pulled her body flush against mine, grabbing her ass so she could feel my cock growing harder by the second.
“You’re already hard,” she panted. “Too bad.”
I smiled and looked down at the erection tenting my pants. “It’s all right if you want to give him a little kiss.”
She licked her lips and smiled as she dropped to her knees. “Just a little kiss?” Her hands moved swiftly, unfastening my belt, the button on my pants, and then the zipper. Mo was the perfect cock tease, and when she fisted me in her hand, I growled. Her lips pressed to the head of my cock, and she made a kissing noise.
“Mo,” I growled again. I liked a tease as much as the next man, but that’s not what I wanted or needed.
“What do you want, Jasper?”
“Suck me off.”
She smiled and wrapped her lips around my cock, taking it inch by inch until her tongue swiped my balls. A laugh escaped when I groaned, and she did it again and again, taking my cock as deep as she could until her eyes watered.
