Fall and Rise of the King (Kings Duet)
Page 11
“That’ll be nice. I haven’t seen Gwen all week,” Alice says, and watches Drew as she walks over to Vinny.
My gaze moves to Warren, and he gives me that look.
“I think the devil has more important things to worry about than me,” Warren snaps.
It makes Alice laugh for the first time since all of this happened. The smile on my face is huge, and I don’t even care who sees it right now. I look over at Vinny, who’s smiling as he watches her. I might be getting my queen back.
“I’m heading to the shower.” I turn to Uncle Ronnie. “Are you staying?”
“If you’re paying, I’m staying.” He glances at Alice and winks. I shake my head at him.
I give Alice a kiss, then make my way up to the shower. Maybe a night where we not talk business is what we all need right now. I know Alice needs that, and I think I do too.
***
Sitting on the sofa with Alice cuddled up next to me, I smile. The family are all sitting together. It’s one of those bittersweet moments. I'm thankful that in this life we live, we’ve only lost a handful of people. We still miss those who aren’t here.
Elijah not being here is hard. It’s hard knowing he’ll never be here with us. He was my shoulder to lean on when I needed someone to talk to. He would've told me what the best move is for me right now. Now, I’m here trying to work it out with my dad and Warren, and I value their opinion, but they both know Elijah would've been the one I listened to.
My gaze moves over each member of the family, and I see my dad looking at me. He knows what I’m thinking without me even having to tell him. He gives me a small nod to tell me everything will be fine, and we'll eventually be okay again.
Drew stands up when the doorbell rings. “I’ll get it.”
I look at Warren and gesture for him to go get the door.
“Drew, sit down. It could be anyone.” Warren says and gets up, as well as Vinny from his place behind me.
My gaze moves with them both as they walk towards the door. My hand automatically moves to my holster as I peer at the man at the door. The moment Vinny’s hand leaves his gun, which is in the waistband of his trousers against his back, mine moves away, too, and my body relaxes.
“I’ll get the drinks,” Ellie says as she walks out.
“When’s your next appointment, Gwen?” Alice asks her, and I look over at her.
She has about three months to go. She spoke to me about names one day, and I told her whichever name she chooses will be the right one. No-one’s going to say any different to her.
“Two weeks, and if everything looks good, it’ll be the last one at the hospital. Then, it’ll be back to the normal midwife check-ups. Or in our case, the Doc check-ups,” Gwen says as she looks at me.
I have no idea why she thinks she can moan about it. The doc comes to the house, which is the safest place for her. I’ve lost my brother. I’m not about to lose my nephew.
I leave Alice and Gwen to talk, and walk over to Dad and Uncle Ronnie.
Before I can say anything, my dad gives me a look. “No work tonight. You said no work, so keep moving,” he says, and without saying another word, I go help Warren and Vinny with the food.
Filling my glass up with whiskey, I down it as I watch Alice talking to Ellie and Gwen. I look over at Vinny when he comes to stand next to me.
“She’ll get there. My girl’s a fighter,” Vinny says as we make our way into the sitting room.
I see Pike on the phone. As he looks at me, I already know it’s not good.
“Craig wants to talk to you.” He hands me the phone.
“Hello.” I sit down next to Alice.
“Just wanted to let you know that someone came to the bar—”
“Anyone get hurt?” I interrupt. The fuckers keep trying to get to the bar, knowing I’m not there. They can’t get close to my house, but the bar is open to the public.
“No. We got to them before they could do anything. They're in the basement now, but I think maybe another bouncer would help, at least until you’re here.”
I know this is a lot for Craig to do alone at the bar. Warren’s been going here and there, and so has Dad, but during nights, he’s alone.
“I'll talk to Pike, but at the moment, the answer is no. I'll talk to Warren and see if he can be there in the evening when I’m normally there, but I'll let you know tomorrow,” I tell him. I don’t want to hire anyone right now. We don’t really know who we can trust. Any family can train a man for a job.
“If you could come to the bar for a bit one night, it’d help set everyone at ease. I think the staff need to know you’re still here,” Craig says.
I look over at Pike for a moment as he watches me. “I'll let you know in the morning.” I end the call and throw Pike his phone back. “The bar got hit again. No-one’s hurt. Craig and the team got to them before anything could happen. Warren, you go tomorrow. He has them in the basement.” My Gaze shifts to Natasha. “How long are you here for?” I ask.
“As long as you need me to be,” she says.
I nod, happy with that answer. “You can go with Warren and have some fun.” I look back over at Pike, and he nods, knowing I'll tell him the rest once we're alone. I give my dad the same look. I put my arm around Alice's shoulder. “What do you to want to eat?”
“Pizza, please.”
Leaning over, I grab a plate and dish out two slices of pizza and some noodles for her. “I'd like the plate finished, please,” I say as I hand it to her. I get a plate for myself and fill it up with food. If I don’t eat, she won’t eat.
Taking the whiskey from Vinny, I drink a bit of it and place it on the table. I look over my shoulder as Alice taps my arm.
“Can you put this on the table please?” She hands me her wine.
I sit down and I lean back, listening to the conversation Uncle Ronnie and Warren are having.
“I’m sure that was Grandad,” Warren says, and I start laughing.
Uncle Ronnie and Grandad both told this story very differently, and whoever told it made sure they were the big guy in it.
It’s the story of when a family tried to take London from them. My grandad told us it was him who risked his life and jumped in front of the bullets to save Uncle Ronnie, and Uncle Ronnie says it was him, and that’s how he lost the eye. It’s only been the last few years that dad finally told us the truth about how he lost the eye, saying it was him. In my eyes, that's a brave thing to do, but it’s always a story they fight over. I suppose things changed for the family after that war. We became more feared by others. We also got a lot more respect. It's the war that put us at the top—The Kings of London.
“Yeah, well, he's not here to fight me on it so, for now, it happened my way,” Uncle Ronnie says.
I look over at Dad and laugh.
“Fine, it happened your way,” Dad says, and we all agree.
I look over at Alice, who’s finally eating. Having everyone around seems to have relaxed her enough to forget about everything. She seems calm as she talks and listens to everyone.
Leaning back on the sofa, my head relaxes into the soft material. My eyes begin to feel heavy, and I know my body’s telling me to sleep, but my mind says there’s work to do.
I quickly open my eyes when my phone starts vibrating in my pocket. Digging it out, I see Ben’s name flashing. I answer the call and quickly say, “One moment.” I don’t want Alice to know who it is. I look over at Pike, Warren, and Vinny, and gesture for them to follow me out. Turning to Alice, I say, “It’s just a quick call, promise.” I lean down and give her a quick kiss.
“I’m so close to falling asleep,” she whispers against my lips.
I wink at her. “I promise, the moment you sleep all night, I will too,” I whisper back.
Stepping away, we head for my office. “Here.” once the door’s closed, I put him on speaker. “Everyone’s here.”
“Harvey’s back in the Midlands, but he wants to be out again soon. He knows you hav
e men waiting for him. Mitch told him to get out of England until he has a plan.” Ben stops for a moment, and I hear a woman in the background.
“Are you in London?” Vinny asks him.
“No, but I will be in a few weeks. Their trafficking ring seems to be getting bigger in this short space of time, and I’m in charge of the London trucks.” Ben goes silent for a moment, which makes me look at Vinny. Something’s happening over there that has Ben on edge.
“Ben—”
“It’s nothing,” he says, cutting Vinny off, but we all know that it isn’t. “Families are coming here, asking for protection from the Frost family. Harvey threw them all under the fucking bus, showing Angel who was bidding on Alice. So, not only do the Midlands have Angel looking for blood, but others too now,” Ben explains.
“Harvey… Do you know where he's going next?”
“Mitch is fighting for him to go to Europe for a few weeks until he sorts this out here. I'll let you know who wins that fight. Are you stopping the trafficking? It makes me sick seeing all the girls in the back of the truck,” Ben says angrily.
Now we know what the reason for him being on edge is. The girls.
“Tell Vinny the time and place, and we'll stop it. Ben, maybe it’s time—”
“I have to go.” The line goes dead, and the four of us just look at each other.
“Something has him rattled,” Warren says.
“I’ll talk to Stuart, see if he can get him to talk. Alice does not find out about him being like this, understand?” Vinny asks, and we all agree. She finally smiled tonight. I’m not messing that up.
“Right. Let’s get out there and have a nice meal. Tomorrow is a new day and back to business,” I tell them all.
I’m not sure if Harvey possibly running to Europe will mess my plan up or not, but I know for sure that arsehole will only die by my hands, and my hands only.
Chapter 16
Alice
I stare at the H scar on my stomach. Every night, I try to put this all behind me, but then I see the scar when I get out of the shower. It’s a constant reminder of what he did to me, a reminder of how he touched me.
The moment Angel's touching me, I forget everything and can pretend nothing happened to me.
I know what he's doing. I know he's out for vengeance. I understand it all, but I’d just like to lie next to him in bed and sleep a full night without waking up to nightmares of Harvey touching me. Angel comes to bed, but I don’t think he sleeps. The moment I’m asleep, I know he leaves and continues to work down the list.
“Alice, are you okay?” Drew shouts from the bedroom. She’s been here every day since I got back.
If Angel's with me at night, she sleeps in the spare room, but if he's out, she's with me. I can’t sleep alone. My body tenses up too much to even think about sleeping.
“Yeah, I’m coming,” I call back to her. I get dressed, walk out to the bathroom, and glance over at the clock. Uncle Stuart was going to call me today. Angel said I can use his office to talk to him. I collapse on the bed next to Drew. “What's happening with Warren?”
She lost it with him the other night, and part of me that thinks Warren needs to make a choice. Drew, or no Drew.
“He said he’s not sleeping with anyone else,” she says and shrugs her shoulder.
“I’m not taking sides because you know I'll always take yours, but I believe him. He’s here all the time. He doesn’t leave unless Angel tells him.” I look over at her, compassion in my gaze.
Angel even told Warren to close his club until things have settled. He doesn’t want anyone getting hurt because of this. Amy got hurt at the bar, and he won’t make that mistake again. The bar has more men now, but there isn’t anyone Angel trusts enough to look after Warren and Elijah’s bar. The girls are still getting paid every week, though. Angel said to pay them so they don’t lose out on money, and once the club opens up again, the girls have all said they’ll be back.
“Yeah, I know. It’s not that. I just want him to say he wants to be with me.” She turns onto her stomach. “I’ve told him that once the dust settles, he has to make a decision.”
“It’s a little crazy at the moment.” I look over at the clock again.
“How are you doing?” Drew asks.
“Better. One day at a time.” I smile, and so does she. “Shall we see what our family has been up too?” I ask as I get off the bed. With Drew next to me, we make our way down to Angel’s office. I’ve not seen him this morning, and that only means one thing. He’s in the basement.
I see Robert in the kitchen as we head to the office. He walks over to us when we enter the kitchen. It’s only been in the last week that I’ve been comfortable with everyone hugging me again. I know they won't hurt me. It was just in my head that I thought they would.
“You think you can get your man to sleep for a bit?” Robert gives me a kiss on the cheek, then smiles at me.
“I would if he ever came up for long enough,” I say, which makes him laugh. “Where is he?”
“In the office with the others, but he said you can go straight in.” Robert walks along with us into the office.
He’s been amazing to me through all of this. He spoke to me one night about Elijah and how he thinks Angel's still blaming himself, and I agreed with him.
Walking in behind Robert, I see Angel with his back to everyone on the phone. I don’t hear anything, but it looks like he's the one listening to what's being said.
I lean in to hug Vinny, and he kisses the top of my head. “You look better today.” He looks down at me.
“That’s because I am. You look like shit.” I start laughing, and Vinny just shakes his head at me.
I look towards Angel as he puts the phone down and walks over to me. “The computer's all set up and ready. Morning, beautiful.” He leans in and gives me a hard kiss.
“Morning. Are you staying?” I ask.
“I'll let you talk privately. I’ll just be outside.” Drew says.
I have no idea what he sees in my eyes, but Angel’s eyes darken for a moment—just a split second.
“Once you're finished, I'll meet you upstairs,” he says to me, gives me another kiss, then leaves the office.
I turn to Vinny. “Are you staying?”
“I want to talk to them, too, and see how Julie's doing,” he says to me as he walks over to the computer to call them. I see Drew sitting on the chair, looking at the books on the shelves.
I make my way over to Vinny and sit in the chair as the ringtone begins.
“There she is. You look so much better,” Uncle Stuart says with a big smile.
“I am. How are you?” I ask.
“So much better now that I’ve seen you. Vinny, you look like shit.”
I look up and see Vinny shaking his head. “It’s been busy here,” he says.
“I can tell. Ben said it’s busy on his end, too,” Uncle Stuart replies.
I look back at the screen.
I spoke to Ben last night and again begged him to leave. He sounded different, tired, but his main focus is the mole. He promised he’d leave the moment the mole's uncovered. I believe him. He's had enough now, and I can’t wait for him to be with us and to be safe.
“Trust me, Uncle Stuart, Angel's given them all jobs, and I’ve told Vinny he doesn’t need to do them. He can get back to being as simple as life will let him—”
“And I’ve told you, I’m helping Angel with everything he wants me to until that asshole's dead,” Vinny interrupts.
“How's Becky?” I ask Uncle Stuart, changing the subject.
Vinny likes her a lot. I know that as soon as this is over, he'll go to America to be with her if Uncle Stuart doesn’t stop him again.
“She's good. She was asking about you and Vinny. Before you ask, Lisa told me to let Becky make up her own mind and date who she wants,” he says. Vinny walks away when Angel pops his head into the office. “So, I'll let them be together if they both want to.”
“I think Aunt Lisa's a wise woman,” I say, making him laugh.
Uncle Stuart stops laughing and stares at me for a moment. “I’m proud of you. You know that, don’t you?”
“I love you, Uncle Stuart.”
“I love you too, sweet pea.”
I give him a smile and see Vinny walking back in. “By the look on Vinny’s face, I think he wants to talk to you. Can we talk again this weekend?” I ask Uncle Stuart.
“I'll talk to you every day, even if it's night. I'll always answer.” Uncle Stuart blows me a kiss, and I start laughing. He’ll never change.
I say goodbye to him, and I look over at Vinny. I want to make sure everything's okay. I have to know Ben's still safe. Vinny nods, and I return it, relieved. The family have always told each other everything; we don’t keep secrets. I’m starting to feel like I’m losing Vinny to Angel, and that he’ll always live by Angel’s rules.
I tell Drew I’m meeting Angel in the bedroom and that I'll chat with her later. She says that’s fine since she was going to get a few things from her house to bring back with her anyway. As she starts walking out of the house, I hear Warren call her name, making me look over my shoulder at them. She’s smiling, so that’s a plus, I guess.
When I reach the bedroom, Angel's coming out of the bathroom. He’s just come out the shower by the looks of it. His hair's all wet.
He gives me a wink as he puts his clothes on. I walk over to him, and he wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer.
“Lie down with me,” he says into my hair.
I look up at him and see the tiredness in his eyes. It looks as though the sleepless nights have caught up with him.
As we get into bed, Angel pulls the covers over us. “Right now, all I want to do is hold you.” He pulls me closer to him, my head resting on his chest. I listen to the beat of his heart, and it’s music to my ears. He kisses the top of my head. “I love you.”