by Ruby Wolff
To top all that, I'm still nowhere close to finding Alice.
"Angel—"
"I don't want to hear it, Pike," I snap before he can start in on how business is falling apart, or that I need to go home.
I hear the door open, but I don't bother to look at who it is. I don't care.
"Angel," my dad says. He sighs when I continue to stare up at the ceiling. "You can't stay here."
"Why not?" I argue.
"You need to go home," he yells.
His tone enrages me and wakes the devil inside me. The devil has been quietly listening to them, saying the same thing, but now he's just pissed off.
I get off my chair in a rush. "Home! I don't even know where the fuck my home is anymore. She’s out there somewhere," I shout at Pike and my dad.
They’ve been telling me all week to go home, but Alice is my home. Without her, where the fuck am I meant to go? There’s part of me that has to laugh at that. The devil can't live without his girl. Never thought that day would come.
Pike and my dad just stare at me as I grab another painkiller. These fucking wounds are killing me. You’d think after a week of just sitting in my office, they’d stop hurting, but no. They hurt, and they make sure I know about it, too.
"Our city is getting worse. Families are worried. Mums are crying because their sons are getting into gun crime…" Pike stops the moment I look at him.
"Then why are you not fixing it?" I demand. They need to do things without me there. It could easily have been me dead and not Elijah. What would they have done then? I wish every day that it had been me, and not him.
"Because he's not you," my dad says. "The city thinks their king has fallen. How about you show them he hasn’t?"
I fall back into my chair as I let my dad’s words settle over me. They think their king has fallen. Maybe he has.
"Are you planning on seeing Gwen?" my dad asks.
I close my eyes for a moment. I still can't face Gwen. How can I face her knowing I broke a promise? She lost her husband because of me.
"I can't," I whisper. No one says anything as I take a painkiller, then grab more whiskey. "Has Ben been to the hotel?"
I got one of our men to sit outside the hotel and let me know if Ben turns up, or if anyone seems off going in. I told him to look out for any girls going in too, hoping Ben's girl shows up.
"No, but the moment he does, I’ll let you know."
I turn my head, opening my eyes and looking at Pike.
"Angel, you need to show people that you're still here, that Elijah's death has made you stronger."
My eyes move to the door as it begins to open, and I quickly stand up as Gwen walks in.
"May I have a word with Angel, please?” She turns to my dad and Pike.
As they both make their way out of the office, I make my way around the desk and pull out a chair for Gwen. I sit down in front of her, not able to look her in the eyes.
"I wanted to come over, but—“
"Angel, you can at least look at me," Gwen interrupts. Her hands cup my face and lift my head until I’m looking at her. "This wasn’t your fault, Angel. You took two bullets to protect your brother. You've always protected him. Maybe it was time for him to protect you." Her voice cracks a little, and I take her hand in mine, squeezing it gently as I hold my emotions together. "Angel, you can't keep blaming yourself for Elijah's death."
I shake my head because no matter what she says, I will. I lost my best man that night. "Gwen, I promised to protect him." I stop as she lets out a small laugh that makes me look at her.
"The night before, Elijah and I spoke. I knew when I married Elijah that one day, this might happen. We both prayed it wouldn't, but if we knew it might. That night, Elijah said you’ve sacrificed a lot for this family. From a young age, you took a lot on. Then you took the blame and went to prison. Elijah told me then that it was his turn to protect his little brother." Gwen stops and starts to cry. I pull her in for a hug. "Angel, Elijah loved you more than anyone else. Sometimes, I thought he loved you more than me. You two had this unbreakable bond. He was going to protect you, no matter what."
"Protecting me cost him his life." I wipe the tears from her cheeks.
"It did, but if for one moment Elijah thought I wasn't going to be looked after by you, he wouldn't have done it." Gwen rests her hand softly on my cheek. "He knew you well enough to know that you would’ve done everything to save him. That's why he wrote this." She takes an envelope out of her bag and hands it to me. "You once told everyone that the devil was once an angel. Don't let them take your wings. Let the devil's wings spread."
Gwen stands up, and I can't stop staring at the letter in my hands. She kisses the top of my head, then leaves.
I grab my glass and drink the last of the whiskey as I play with the letter in my hands. Elijah was always one for making sure everything was written down. Ripping the envelope open, I take the letter out.
Angel,
If you're reading this, two things have happened. I'm dead, and you’re blaming yourself.
I'm going to keep this short. My death is not your fault. The life we live, death is just a part of it, and always will be.
I know you’ll look after Gwen and my child. I have no doubt about it. So, you be the father figure for my son. You be the shoulder for Gwen. More than anything, I want you to be the man you are.
Don't let the other families see you weak. Wake that devil up and fight for what's ours because I know that you're sitting in your office blaming everything on yourself. So, time to get out there and show them who the king and devil of London is.
I’ll always be there for you when you need me because brothers don't let each other wander in the dark alone.
Elijah
I fold the letter and put in on the desk. Walking back around the desk, I grab my jacket and leave the office. Pike stands at the bottom of the stairs with a smile on his face.
“Where're we going?" he asks as I holster my gun.
"Time to pay O'Reilly a visit," I say. I take a step and notice everyone looking at me. Ignoring them, I walk out of the bar. "Call Warren," I tell Pike as I get into the car.
Elijah and Gwen are both right. My city is taking a beating from families who think they can crush my family. It's about time I start showing them that Angel Frost is still here, and London is my city.
As much as I want to tear the country apart looking for Alice, I can’t. Alice is with Vinny. I know he’ll die before he lets anything happen to her. I have someone waiting for Ben to show up at the hotel, too. I’ll find her. I'm not stopping, and Warren will make the first move. I want to find Drew as well. She knows where Alice is, and I plan on getting some answers from her.
"Are you—"
"I want people to know we're back. We kill O'Reilly's men—he stays alive. Are the drugs back on the street?" I ask. I don't want him asking how much of me is back since I don't know the answer yet.
One thing’s for sure… I'm getting my streets back, and the Young family will die for killing my brother.
"Yeah, we've started burning them again. The guns have been going out, and the fights have been getting bigger. Craig’s doing a good job there," Pike says as we stop outside Elijah and Warren's club.
"Keep burning them. The Midlands are going to regret coming after Alice," I say.
The Midlands are about to get hit. I just don't know how to play that game yet. My chess game has just become a lot fucking bigger. I still don't know who I'm playing with, and it seems like the families have got together to bring us down. Every family that has crossed us will die for doing so, too.
“I'll let them all know," Pike replies.
I watch Warren walking over to the car. I get out and stand in front of him. "Find Drew. I don't really care what you have to do to find her, just find her," I command. He looks behind me to Pike. "Ready to shed some blood?"
The smile on his face right now is answer enough. I know Warren needs this just as much as I
do.
"Young?" he asks as we sit back in the car.
"O'Reilly. The Young family will get theirs too. First, we get our town back," I say as I light up a cigarette. There’s a lot to do. Get Sinwick back, get London back, kill the Young family, kill the Midlands, and most importantly, find my queen.
***
As we pull up to the strip club, I turn to Warren and Pike. "No one shoot until we're in the office," I say. I step out of the car and walk toward the club with them close behind.
We stop when one of the guards moves to stand in front of me. Pike taps my shoulder three times, letting me know there are three armed men in the front.
"What do you want, Frost?" the guard asks.
I look at the girls walking over to us. "O'Reilly," I say as I look back over at him. Without another word, he leaves and makes his way to the office.
I hear one of the girls talking to Warren. Pike walks up next to me, pushing the girl standing in front of me out of the way.
"We heard you're single and—"
"I wouldn't listen to everything you hear about me," I cut her off. I don't want to know what people are saying about me, and I don't care either. I look over at her with a hard stare. "There are certain things you might want to believe," I say. My voice comes out hard this time, and I can't help but smile as fear spreads across her face. It's nice to know that even though I've been away for a while, people still fear me.
"He said he has a meeting and can't see you." The guard says as he comes to stand in front of me.
I look over at Pike, knowing there’s only one way I'm getting to the back office. I didn't want to fire outside, but for some reason, they think I'm here for fun. Well, that's about to change.
Bang!
The guard in front of me screams as Pike shoots him in the knee. He pushes him to the floor as Warren shoots the other two guys in the club. I take my gun out as we enter the office, and before they get the chance to pull their guns on us, Pike and Warren shoot them. I continue on to find O'Reilly.
"Now, I don't want to kill you,” I say when I find him. “I'm here for you to pass a message on to the families that are too scared to show their faces." I stop in front of him. "Tell them the drugs and guns stop, or more of your men will die. Your drugs will keep burning, and the guns… I'll take them all." I bring my gun up level with his shoulder. "Tell them I’ll bring hell along with me, so I can make sure they all die by my hand.” In that small moment, I see a glimpse of fear spark in his eyes. I want everyone to know that things are about to change, and I'm not backing down this time.
With that said, we leave the club. I look over at Warren and Pike. "Ben showed up at the hotel," Pike says.
I give him a nod, then look over at Warren.
“I'll see what I can find about where Drew is. Can I get her dad in the basement so I can scare him or something?" Warren asks as I take his cigarette off him.
"I don't care what you do," I say as we all get in the car. Right now, I'm more than happy to beat the living daylight out of him so he’ll talk.
After talking to Ben, I go straight to the office to work on what my next move is on the Young and Midlands family.
***
As we park up outside the hotel, Pike asks, "You want me to come with you?"
"Yes. Otherwise, I might end up killing him to get some answers," I say as we get out of the car and head straight into the hotel. "In the past three weeks, how much has really been fucked up?” I've tried to stay away from that conversation, but to fix things I need to know how bad things really are. I need to know what things to focus on first.
"Guns and fights are good. Nothing to worry about there. It's more the people we made promises to. The families have been trying to take over London. That's what we have to fix," Pike says. We stop outside the door. “We'll take control back, and we'll get Alice," he says as he knocks on the door.
As the door begins to open, Pike pushes his way through. Ben lowers his gun as soon as he recognizes him.
"I was wondering how long you were going to live in your self-pity." Ben looks at me, and the side of my lip curls up into a barely there smile.
"Where is she?" I ask as I walk further into the room. I take a quick look at the girl with him. "Is she safe?" I turn back around to Ben.
"Vinny calls me when he needs to talk, but other than that we don't contact each other." He stops talking for a moment, and I watch him move around the room. "As for being safe… At the moment, she's not safe anywhere. Your family has enough enemies for them all to work together to give Harvey the girl Angel Frost is in love with. He's promised them something special will happen to her when he gets her. Before you ask, none of the Midlands but Harvey knows what that is."
My blood boils inside. Just the thought of him being in the same room as her makes me sick.
"Tell me where Harvey is and I'll kill him," I demand. That'll give me pleasure like no other death has.
"He's out looking for Alice. I've been assigned to you to make sure she doesn't come back here. What Harvey is doing, no one knows. Bruce is pissed off that he's doing all this alone. Mitch is calling him every day trying to find out where he is. All Harvey told the family was that this is the closest he has got to Alice, and he will get her."
As I look into Ben's eyes, I see the worry in them. I can see that he’s sickened by the thought of what Harvey will do to her, and that's not helping me. "The last I spoke to Vinny, Stuart and I thought it was best Alice know what Harvey is like, what things he’s said he’ll do to her because right now, Harvey’s a step ahead of everyone, and—"
I grab his neck and push him against the wall hard. "Tell Vinny to call me. I'll make sure they don't come close to her." The rage burns through my body like a volcano erupting, and the only thing I care about is killing Harvey.
"I’ve heard the stories. The devil lives inside his soul. His eyes will burn you when he's awake. But, seeing it for myself… I can see why so many fear you, Angel." I loosen my grip on his neck and take a step back from him. "Angel, I hate that this day has come, but don’t forget one thing. We kept Alice safe for nearly fourteen years. She dates you for three months, and the Midlands find her." Ben walks over to the door. "Now, it’s time for you leave. It might be hurting you to not have Alice next to you, but it's killing me to wait for that call from Vinny to say they have her. For the first time, I'm out of the loop, and the only person who knows what's happening is Harvey. And we know he's a fucking psycho," he says.
I stand there for a moment as I replay parts of the conversation, trying to work out what he's trying to say to me.
"If you talk to them, and they need something…"
"Angel, be with your family. Vinny will die protecting her. I just hope we don't lose them both." He walks away from the open door and stands in front of me. "I'm sorry about Elijah," he says before walking away from me.
Pike stands next to me and pulls me out of the room. Ben was saying strange things, but he wasn't saying it straight to me, either. Leaning on the car, I try to figure out what he meant—what was he trying to tell me.
"What do you think he meant about three months with me, and she was found?" I ask him.
I know my head hasn't really been in the best place during the last few weeks, but that didn't sound right to me. There was a hidden meaning behind it.
"I think he just wants someone to blame for Alice being in danger right now. Seems like they can't protect her and, for some reason, they won't come here either," Pike says.
Why can't they come here? They must know I wouldn't let anything happen to her. She's the only woman I've ever been in love with. I won't let anything happen to her. At the moment, I'm happy to lock her in a fucking room until the Midlands are all dead.
Chapter 4
Alice
I stare out of the front window of the car and watch all the cars driving past. I only turn my head a little to the right to look at Vinny eating his burger.
I told Vinny this week
that he needs to talk to Ben and Uncle Stuart. This running around is crazy. They seem to find us everywhere we go, and it doesn't seem like it's going to stop, either. Either we get more help from people we know, or something terrible will happen.
Vinny said Ben and Uncle Stuart thought it was best for them to sit me down and tell me about Harvey. That conversation is stuck in my head, and won't be leaving anytime soon.
"Alice, we need to talk."
I turn towards Vinny. He's been on the phone to Uncle Stuart for a long time now. Handing me a beer, he sits on the chair next to me.
"I've told the others that Harvey’s finding us every time we hide. I have no idea how he's doing it. Ben said no one in the Midlands knows his plan. Mitch and Bruce have left him to it, and he's to only call when he gets you." Vinny stops and starts playing with the label on the bottle.
"Vinny…"
"Alice, you know I'll protect you until my last breath, but I need you to know that might happen. If it does, you run. You run, and don't look back. Don't stop to care for me... Just run." His words are laced with hurt, disappointment, worry. "We've kept a lot of things about Harvey hidden from you, but Ben thinks it's best that—"
"Vinny, it's okay. Even though you all protect me, I knew that maybe one day they’d get the upper hand." I lean forward and take his hand in mine. There was always a part of me that thought maybe the Midlands would win, and I always promised myself I'd fight everything they sent my way. No matter how much pain I was in, I'd fight before I let him do anything to me.
"Ben said only Harvey knows the big plan for you. He's keeping it very tight to his chest. They think maybe Angel has got a man on the inside, so he won't tell anyone. If they get you, we’re blind, even Ben." Vinny stares back down at his beer bottle. "Harvey is a very sick man. He will beat you, ra…" Vinny clears his throat, "rape you, sell you, marry you… He’ll do anything and everything. Alice, if they take you and I'm still breathing, I'll find you. I promise I'll find you."
