Checkmate

by Lindsey Powell

  I won’t be sorry to see them get their comeuppance. They have pissed off plenty of people over the years, but they always managed to either talk their way out of it, or they put an end to the fuckers that wanted to take them out. This time though they won’t get a chance to end the woman coming after them. Paige knows what she is doing, and I have her back. They won’t be getting out of this alive.

  Paige moves onto the property, slipping through the half-open gate. I follow, my eyes trained on anything and everything. I have been built for this, to hunt, to keep myself safe, to rid the world of a few more assholes.

  We move across the driveway, our feet moving quickly but quietly. I’m astounded that Paige can move so swiftly in those heels. Heels that would feel fucking great wrapped around the back of my neck whilst my tongue is buried inside of her.

  Paige moves to the front door, stopping on the left whilst I take up residence on the right. She looks at me and gives a nod of her head before she moves in front of the door and kicks the fucker open. One kick is all it takes for the door to swing and bang into the wall behind it.

  “What the hell?” I hear shouted from inside.

  Paige smirks and just stands there, waiting for the Morgan’s to come and greet her. I stay hidden for the time being. My entrance will come in the next few minutes.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I hear one of them say, pretty sure that it’s Larry.

  “Good evening, boys,” Paige says in a sickly sweet voice. “I do hope that I’m not interrupting anything?”

  “Damn fucking right you’re interrupting,” Clive shouts back. His voice is more distinctive than the other two of the brothers.

  “Now, now, Clive, no need to be so hostile,” Paige says, a smile on her face. “And no need to point the gun at me. I’m just here for a friendly chat.”

  “Friendly chat my ass,” Larry says.

  “Why are you here? And how the fuck did you find us?” Clive asks.

  “So many questions and not even an offer of a cup of tea,” Paige answers. She’s playing with them, cat and mouse.

  “Don’t try and be fucking cute, Paige,” Larry says.

  “Cute? You’re calling me cute?” Paige laughs wickedly. “Oh, Larry, you should know by now that I am anything but cute.”

  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t put a bullet in your head right fucking now,” Larry shouts and this is my cue to come out of the shadows.

  I step up behind Paige and take in the look of shock on Larry and Clive’s faces.

  “I don’t think that would be a very good idea,” I say, and I wish I had a fucking camera so that I could look back and laugh at their expressions.

  “Joey Valentine,” Larry says. “What are you doing here, and with her?” he says, his distaste for Paige showing in his tone.

  I move to stand beside her. “You don’t get to ask me questions, ever,” I say with finality. Larry has the good sense to shut his mouth. “And put the fucking gun down whilst you’re keeping your mouth shut.”

  Larry looks to Clive and I see him gulp. He knows that they are screwed right now. The Morgan brothers made a pact with my father years ago to stay the fuck away from anything related to Valentine business. The fact that my dad took out theirs showed them how serious he was. Of course they tried to exact a revenge plan, but of course it failed, and they were given a choice by my father to either stay away or he was going to make sure that everyone in the underworld would fuck them up so badly that they would wish that they were dead. He tortured them for a few days before they were given a choice, so they were fully aware of what would lie ahead for them.

  They chose the first option. I upheld my father’s wishes to leave them be. He always said that they would never cross me, and now that I am on their doorstep, they look like rabbits caught in the headlights. I don’t kill men just for the sake of it, I only ever do it with a reason, but I’ll make an exception for these wankers.

  “Shall we start again, boys?” Paige says, and I can hear the smugness in her tone. They both look at her, waiting for her next words. “Good evening, fuckers,” she says as she walks into the house. “Follow me.” She walks past them and into a room on the left. They both look at me like little lost sheep.

  “You heard the lady, get fucking moving,” I bark at them. They scurry into the room after Paige and I follow, kicking the front door shut before I do.

  When I enter the room that Paige went in, my nose screws up at the acrid smell. My eyes sweep the room and take in the dark green walls, shitty brown floor, and navy blue chairs with various rips in the fabric.

  “Sit,” Paige tells them both and they do so, against their will. “Where’s Bobby?” she asks.

  “Not telling,” Larry answers. Before anyone can say another word, Paige walks the few feet to him and socks him straight across the cheek.

  “Argh,” he says as his head flies to the side. I see Clive reach for his gun, but before I can tell him to put it the fuck away, Paige reaches across, one hand going around his throat and the other knocking the gun out of his hand. I wait by the doorway because we still don’t know where Bobby is at this moment in time, but I have to admit that Paige exudes nothing but control right now.

  “Get off of me, you crazy bitch,” Clive splutters. I see Paige tighten her grip on his throat and then her knee is firmly planted between his legs. The roar of pain he lets out is quite satisfying.

  Larry looks like he’s about to try and have a go, but Paige soon has her gun pointing in his face with her free hand whilst still locking her fingers around Clive’s throat.

  “Don’t be fucking stupid, Larry,” she warns him, her tone ice cold.

  Larry looks indecisive for a few seconds, but quickly seems to realise that Paige isn’t fucking around.

  “I asked you a question and I expect you to answer it,” she says, her eyes blazing with fury, but I know that this is just the start. This is just Paige getting warmed up. If I were a lesser man, my dick would be hard as rock right now, but luckily for me, I’ve been in this game for a long time and can control myself.

  “He went for a walk,” Clive says with a snarl across his face. Paige takes a moment to look at me, and I take that as a cue to intervene.

  “Answer the fucking question, Clive, unless you would prefer to have it beaten out of you,” I say.

  “Pfft, you think that your threat of using me as a punching bag is going to get me to talk? Come on, Joey, you’re not new to this, and you know damn well that particular threat isn’t going to work,” Clive says, trying to act like the big man.

  Paige lets out an evil laugh before she punches him in the face. His nose starts to spurt blood everywhere and his howl of pain echoes off of the walls.

  Larry looks like he is about to jump out of his seat, so I calmly walk over and place my gun against his head, still making sure I have a view of the door, just in case Bobby makes himself known.

  No words are exchanged as Larry gives me a filthy look before training his eyes back on Paige.

  “Okay, Clive, you wanna do this the hard way?” Paige says.

  “Is there any other way?” he goads her.

  She chuckles, and fuck does it make me want to pick her up and take her back to my place, to my bed, to a place she never should have left.

  “Oh, Clive,” she says with a shake of her head. “I thought that we had come to an agreement when our meeting ended the other day.” She tuts a few times before continuing. “Fuck where Bobby is, we’ll find him soon enough. You already know why I’ve come here.”

  “Miles got what was coming to him,” Larry bites out and Clive shoots him a look.

  Paige turns her attention to Larry, releasing her grip on Clive’s throat and moving back a few steps.

  “Do you think so?”

  “You bet I fucking do,” Larry replies. He’s a stupid, stupid man. All he is doing is stoking the beast. I push my gun into his head, nudging him, making him grunt.

  “You
thought that you could come onto my private property and get away with stabbing one of my boys?” Paige says, and her voice has taken on a new edge. Low, dark and full of danger. Come on, baby, show me what you got.

  “He deserved it,” Larry reiterates.

  “All because your sister couldn’t keep her loose legs shut,” Paige retorts, and that is when all hell breaks loose. Clive lunges at Paige, Larry tries to knock the gun out of my hand but very quickly finds out that was a big mistake. I grab the fucker round the throat and pull him up from his seat, surging forwards, pushing him towards the wall. I pin him in place and squeeze my fingers tighter and tighter. Larry grabs my hand with both of his and tries to pull me off, but he’s no match for me. I can see the fight leaving his eyes as he squirms like the fucking worm that he is. His foot connects with my shin, causing me to flinch slightly, but I soon recover and go to work on his face. Punch after punch, the blood flying everywhere.

  “You know,” I start as I stop punching him for a few to ask him something that I think I already know the answer to. “I do have a question for you, Larry.”

  “Oh yeah?” he says, spitting some blood from his mouth onto the floor.

  “You sent that guy to my office and got him to say that it was Paige, didn’t you?”

  “What guy?” he says.

  “Don’t try and be a smart-ass, Larry, just answer the fucking question,” I say as I push my arm on his neck, cutting off a little of his air supply.

  “If you keep pushing your arm on my neck, then I won’t be able to give you a fucking answer.” His face is getting paler by the second.

  “Then answer faster,” I retort.

  A few seconds more pass by before he squeals like a pig.

  “Yeah, that’s right, it was us. That was our way of saying fuck you, Valentine,” Larry spits out before I sock him square in his mouth. He drops to the floor like a sack of shit as the blow I landed on him knocks him out cold. I turn around to see Clive knocking Paige on her ass and it lights a fucking ferocity within me that I didn’t even know existed. I’m a ruthless bastard at the best of times, but right now I want to kill Clive with my bare hands just for touching her.

  I walk the few feet to where they are and grab Clive like a fucking rag doll, tossing him across the room. He lands with a thud on the other side of the room, going limp.

  The only sounds left to be heard are those of mine and Paige’s deep breaths.

  I turn to look at her as she gets up, wiping the corner of her mouth with her hand.

  “You okay?” I ask her, seeing that her bottom lip has been split open slightly.

  “I’m good,” she says, stony-faced.

  I pull my phone out of my pocket and call Raymond. He answers before the first ring has even cut off.

  “Ray, did you get Grace?” I ask him.

  “Yes,” he confirms.

  “Good. Send Nate and Pascal to round things up here.”

  “Sure thing, Joey,” Raymond replies, and I cut the call.

  “Why did you do that?” Paige says, walking towards me with a questioning look on her face.

  “Do what? Call Raymond?”

  “No. Why did you intervene?”

  “Are you serious?”

  “Yes, Joey, I am.” She stands there, her arms folded across her chest, and looking every inch the fucking woman of my dreams.

  I turn my body so that I am completely facing her. I still have my gun in my hand and I click the safety on before placing it in the waistband of my jeans.

  “Joey,” she says again when I still haven’t answered her.

  “What do you want me to say, Paige?”

  “I want you to answer my question.”

  “Isn’t it obvious why I intervened?” I ask, wondering what it is she wants to hear.

  “Not really.”

  “Oh, come on, Paige, as if I was going to stand here and let him hurt you,” I tell her, finding it fucking ridiculous that she is even asking me this question.

  “I had it under control.”

  “I never thought for a second that you didn’t, but I saw you fall to the floor and I jumped in on instinct.”

  “Instinct,” she repeats my words. “So, instinct had you fucking up the plan?”

  “I think it’s fairly obvious that the plan didn’t follow what we had discussed from the moment that Clive lunged at you,” I tell her.

  “I could have handled him, Joey,” she says, her eyes narrowing slightly and her voice going lower.

  I take a step towards her, unsure of what the fuck I am doing, but whatever it is, I want to carry on.

  “I don’t see the big deal,” I say with a shrug of my shoulders.

  “You wouldn’t,” she replies, exasperated.

  “Then enlighten me, Paige,” I say, my head tilting to the side and my feet still moving towards her.

  “I don’t need you to save me, Joey,” she says as I get within two steps of her.

  “I never said you did.” One more step.

  “I’m not some damsel in distress, and I’m not yours to save,” she says, the determination slipping from her voice.

  I’m one step away from her, one step away from ending the tension between us and opening up a whole other can of worms. Is the can of worms worth it? It appears so as I take that last step towards her. We’re toe to toe, chest to chest, my hands cupping her face.

  “You’ve always been mine, Paige, but somewhere along the line you forgot,” I say before I place my lips on hers and do what I have wanted to do ever since I saw her walk into the party that she threw to reveal herself.

  Her hands find my waist and I kiss her harder until our tongues are meeting one another, tasting one another, devouring one another.

  Her fingers dig into my hips as her body presses against mine. I tilt her head back a little more and move my hand to the nape of her neck, gripping her gently.

  Her fingers slide their way beneath my top and trail over my abs. We’re both lost in the moment, lost to each other, when a shout from the front door breaks us from our bubble.

  “Boss?” I hear Nate say and Paige and I spring apart at the sudden intrusion. She touches her lips and I hold her gaze for a second before Nate and Pascal walk in and take a look at the Morgan brothers lying on the floor.

  “You want them taken to the usual place, boss?” Nate says, and I simply nod at him.

  “Keep a look out for Bobby,” I tell them. “They wouldn’t give up where he was,” I say as I look at the two pieces of trash currently being dragged across the floor.

  “Sure thing, boss,” Nate replies.

  Within minutes they have the Morgan brothers removed from the room, leaving me alone with Paige.

  “We need to get going,” she says as she walks past me and heads for the door. “Oh, and I want to know where the usual place is that you keep the assholes that you need to interrogate. Those brothers are all mine,” she says before disappearing from sight.

  So, I guess we’re back to business then. For now.

  Chapter Twenty

  Paige

  I’m an idiot. A total fucking idiot. Why did I let Joey kiss me? What the hell was I thinking?

  The questions roll around my mind as I make my way back to Joey’s car. I shouldn’t even be getting in the damn car with him, but I stupidly decided to ride with him and not bring my own car. His idea of course, but then I never envisioned that our evening would end up with Clive and Larry still being alive, Bobby nowhere to be fucking found, and Joey and I kissing.

  I open the car door, get in and slam the fucker shut. I am beyond pissed off with myself. I let my guard down, let Joey see a vulnerability in me. Motherfucking bollocks.

  Joey appears a moment later, walking towards the car, looking every inch the handsome devil that he is.

  When he gets in I turn to look out of the window. The quicker this car ride goes, the better. I need to get myself together and get back to being the heartless bitch that I made myself into.
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  Joey starts the car and reverses down the road. The other guys have all gone. I already know that my boys have got Grace, it was part of the plan. Grace is being taken back to my place, and her and Trevor will stay at mine for as long as it takes for them not to be a target. They wouldn’t still be a target had we found out where the fuck Bobby was.

  I swear, when I find out where he is, he’s going to wish that he had stayed hidden. I know that tonight didn’t go quite as planned, but I am going to enjoy torturing the shit out of Larry and Clive.

  “Hey,” I say as Joey takes a sharp left turn. “What are you doing?”

  He’s racing down the one track road. If we meet another car then it’s going to be our funeral. I’m not scared of a little speed, but I am pissed off that we’re not going back to his headquarters.

  “Joey, where the fuck are we going?” I say, my voice louder than before. He remains quiet, his jaw tight. When it becomes apparent that he isn’t going to divulge anything, I slam my hand against the dashboard and then sit back in my seat, letting out a loud huff. I’m not worried about him hurting me, and even if he wanted to do that, I would give him a good fucking fight. No, what I’m worried about is whether he wants to talk about what just happened.

  I don’t allow myself to get caught up in ridiculous girly feelings. You get burned bad enough, you don’t want to go back for more.

  A wall approaches us fast, and Joey shows no signs of slowing down. Maybe he’s testing me? Trying to gage how easily I scare? Fucking waste of his time. I won’t show weakness. I’ve already done that by kissing him, so I’ll be damned if I’m going to show him another chink in my armour.

  The wall gets closer, and I don’t see anywhere to turn off. My heartbeat accelerates, my left hand gripping the side of my seat. My right hand remains on my thigh, flat and unquivering. My face is schooled, showing no emotion, but inside I’m wondering when the fuck he’s going to slow this car down.