by Lucy Smoke
follows behind me, and together, the two of us crawl beneath the covers,
completely naked.
A masculine arm slips around my middle and drags me back against a
wide chest. His lips touch my shoulder and he blows over my skin, the feel of
his hot breath making my anger dim just the slightest bit. Just enough for a
new emotion to rise. Lust. My thighs tighten. I want to turn over and climb
on top of him and forget the horrors of the last twenty-four hours, but I meant
it when I told him I was tired. Even though my mind is fully ready for him to
slip deep inside of me, my body refuses to move.
“Why won’t you take the pain meds?” he asks in the quiet of our
bedroom.
I release a breath. “Patricia’s a drug addict,” I tell him. “I don’t want to
be.”
“Taking pain pills when you need them doesn’t make you an addict,
baby,” he replies, tightening his hold. It’s as if he needs the physical reminder
that I’m here. His body curls around me, encasing mine and bringing me
further into the warmth of his chest.
“I know,” I say. “But…” My words drift off. It’s easy enough to say that I
trust Dean Carter. That I … like him. More than like him. That I think I
fucking love this man and even if he fucking dies, there will never be another
for me. That’s all easy in comparison to letting him inside my head.
Something that Rylie once said to me slips into my mind, though.
You are so fucking damaged, aren’t you?
Damaged. Rotted out from the inside. Braxton calls me a savage, but the
reality isn’t that I’m better or stronger than anyone else. It’s not that I’m all
powerful or even a badass. Sure I know how to fight. Thanks to Micki, I
know how to fight better than most amateurs. The only reason I am the way
that I am is because I’ve had to be. Others got choices, I never did. It was
either do or die for me. It always has been. I’ve been alone for so long that I
don’t know how to be with someone. And that scares the shit out of me
because, for the first time in my life, I want to be.
“Ava? Baby?” Dean’s whisper isn’t pressing, just curious. His hold hasn’t
loosened.
My lips part and I force the words out. “Jumping is one thing,” I say.
“The rush of adrenaline feels natural—it is natural.” Feeling the adrenaline
flooding my system has always been my way of coping, of keeping control.
Even though I bring it on myself, it’s still something my body automatically
provides. “Pain pills—drugs—I can’t, Dean. I know it won’t make me an
addict to do it once, but I’m constantly afraid that even if I do, one time
won’t be enough for me. It never was for her.”
I close my eyes and sink further into his embrace and the bed as soon as
the words are out, and I hope like hell he takes my explanation and doesn’t
press for more. I honestly don’t know if I have any more to give. Dean cups
my abdomen and strokes a thumb over my skin as he leans up and presses a
kiss to the side of my throat. “Okay, baby,” he whispers. “I understand.”
My lips twist and morph and without thought, I turn in his arms and
shove my chest against his, reaching up to twine my arms around his neck.
“We have to kill them,” I say, my words slurring as my tiredness becomes
overwhelming.
His hand cups the back of my head, and when he replies, it’s more of a
rumble against my body than actual words. Still, they reach my ears. “We
will,” he promises. “We’ll fucking kill them, baby. I swear it to you.”
And with that, I finally pass the fuck out.
6
AVALON
"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU MEAN YOU CAN'T FIND HER?" I STARE AT RYLIE IN
a combination of irritation and shock.
"I mean…" She chews on her lower lip and turns back to her laptop,
hitting a few keys that bring up a screen full of documents that I can't
understand, "that she's gone completely off the grid. She has to be—it's the
only explanation. There's no movement on any of her accounts or cards. I've
put some alerts on her family too, but turns out they regularly go months
without contacting each other. Did you know that her mom and stepdad spent
their last Christmas in the Caymans? Her records indicate she was here.
Alone."
I don't care to hear how poor, unloved Corina has never spent a holiday
with family. As far as I’m concerned, she’s lost the right to any such
compassion or sympathy. No, she’s beyond that now. She’s completely lost
her mind. She’s become so obsessed with Luc that she let herself be led by
the hand straight into the Devil’s den, and then she made a deal. That deal of
hers hasn’t cost her anything yet, though. It cost me everything, and now I
intend to pay it back with interest. No, I don't care about her problems at all.
What I care about is finding her and making her tell me who hired her before
I kill her.
"There has to be something," Dean insists.
Rylie shoots him a dark look out of the corner of her eye—a testament to
how far she's come in the few short months I've known her. She'd been the
first to warn me away from the Sick Boys, her fear of them obvious. Now,
she seems to have grown some sort of spine. When her eyes slide away from
Dean to the man stationed behind him, I have to wonder if there’s something
I’m not seeing. As she returns her attention to the screen, I glance back at
Abel, mildly curious to see him staring at the back of her head almost as
intently as Dean is.
"Listen, I'm doing all I can, but unless you have some sort of homing
beacon, there’s no telling when she’ll pop up. I’m good, but some people are
better. If she’s got the money, she can stay hidden for years. I have a feeling
she's probably going to be off the grid for a while. She's laying low and I
don't freaking blame her; she probably knows what you're planning to do to
her."
"Kill her," I state.
"Ahh!" Rylie shouts and then shoves her fingers in her ears. "No! No!
No! I hear nothing. I know nothing. I'm just being paid to trace suspicious
accounts. I don't know whose name is on them or why you want to track them
down!" She turns and glares at me. "I know nothing," she snaps. "Get that
right. Don't tell me anything. I don't care, and I don't want to know.”
"Noted." I deadpan, turning away. This still doesn't solve the issue of
finding Corina.
Brax lifts his head and looks at me. "What do you want to do?" he asks.
I can feel Dean's eyes on me; the weight of his stare is heavy. "We need
to go see Luc," I say. A low growl fills the room, and I roll my eyes before
turning to the source. "Dean."
He curses, glaring at me. "I don't like this."
I know that. It doesn't take a genius to figure it out. I glance at Rylie, who
watches all of this with wary consideration. "Let's head out," I say instead of
responding to him. "We'll talk more at the house. Rylie"—Her head jerks up
and her eyes meet mine—"keep us updated. Your contact is Abel. Let him
know if you find anything."
An automatic scowl darken
s her expression before she bites out a quick,
"Fine," and whirls around to her screen again.
When I turn towards the door, Abel raises an eyebrow at me before
shaking his head. Whatever they've got going on is none of my business and
it's obvious she's uncomfortable around him, but unless she does something
to betray us, he won't hurt her. She'll just have to get used to it.
I snag Dean's wrist on my way out the door and he follows willingly
enough. That is, until we get to the stairwell when he pulls me up short and
lets Abel and Braxton head down before us. I half expect him to lay down
some sort of ridiculous rule about staying the hell away from Luc Kincaid.
He hates the man enough, but that's because he doesn't see what a great asset
Luc can be. Luc and Dean, for all of their faults and rivalry, are very similar.
Rich, powerful, and proud men with axes to grind and loads of daddy issues.
Dean surprises me though.
He lets out a breath as he cages me against the wall on the first landing.
"What are you thinking?" he asks.
My head cranes back until I can see his expression fully. His eyes are
centered, focused. His lips are turned down and it's obvious he's not happy,
but he's not out of control either. Dean is leashed—a great powerful beast of a
man holding himself back and waiting for my answer. It makes me fall in
love with him a little bit more.
"Corina wants Luc," I say. "When she had me captive, she said she did it
all for him. She hated you because he hates you. She's in love with him—to
an obsessive degree."
He blows out a breath and rocks back on his heels, putting a hand to the
back of his neck and rolling it. "That's fucked up."
Yeah, it is. Luc is, after all, her cousin. Then again, it's only a relationship
by marriage.
"You think he can really help us get to her?" he asks after a moment of
silence.
"I think it's our best bet for now," I reply.
He nods. "Things are going to get more complicated, baby."
I tilt my head. "What do you mean by that?"
"I mean, we've got other shit to consider too. Football season is starting
back up in the Fall. Abel, Brax, and I have training this summer. Your
graduation is next week—"
Blowing out a breath, I wave a hand through the air. "Don't worry about
that. I'm not going."
Dean frowns at me. "Why not?"
"Because it doesn't matter to me," I say. "Graduating high school isn't a
big accomplishment. Hundreds of thousands of kids graduate high school;
doing so doesn't mean I'll do anything grand with my life. I like to save the
celebrations for big things."
"It is a big thing..." His words drift off, but I catch his meaning.
Graduating high school is big for kids like me. Kids no one expects to do
anything with their life, much less graduate.
I scrub a hand down my face, my shoulder twinging slightly with the
effort. It's only been a week since we left the hospital and though I'm on the
mend, I'm still not at a hundred percent yet. That irritates me almost as much
as Corina being on the loose. "It's not to me," I tell him. "I'm more concerned
with finding Corina."
He stares at me for a moment, as if trying to read into my mind to
determine if my words are genuine or not. Then, finally, he lets it go with a
nod of acknowledgment. "Fine, I'll make sure your certificate is mailed to the
house though. I've already contacted Bairns."
"And Luc?" I prompt.
He grits his teeth. "I still don't know if he can be trusted," he says. "I want
to do some surveillance on him first."
I press my lips together, considering that. "Fine," I concede. "But I'm
coming with."
"Only if you stay your ass in the car," he shoots back. I shrug and turn
away, heading down the stairs. "Ava!" he calls after me. The hard thump of
his boots hit the steps as he follows behind me. Just as I hit the bottom floor,
he reaches out and snags my elbow, jerking me around. "Promise me."
I roll my eyes. He can be such a drama queen. "I promise I won't put
myself in danger," I tell him. "Is that good enough for you?"
Dark brown eyes narrow on my face. As if sensing that's the most
concession he'll get out of me, he finally acquiesces and releases my arm.
"Oh, before I forget," he says a moment later as he slings his arm over my
shoulders and leads me towards the exit, "even if you don't go to your
graduation, Braxton and Abel are throwing you a party."
I stop dead in the doorway and turn to look up at him in shock. His lips
are twitching with amusement but he refuses to look at me. Dean's arm slips
lower around my back as he nudges me out onto the sidewalk to the waiting
SUV.
"They wouldn't," I say as I look from him to the two men waiting in the
vehicle in front of us.
A short chuckle escapes him. "They already have," he replies. "Don't
worry, it's not for another week or so; you should be all healed up by then."
Great. I'll be healed up just in time to kill two dumbass nosy
motherfuckers.
My irritation can't sustain(?) itself though. Even as Dean leads me
towards the back, I can't help but mutter out a response. "I fucking hate
parties."
Dean’s chuckle turns into a laugh and I decide adding another couple of
names to my murder list isn’t such a bad idea.
7
DEAN
AVALON IS PASSED OUT AGAINST MY SIDE WHEN MY PHONE GOES OFF IN THE
middle of the night. Carefully, so as not to wake her, I withdraw my arms
from around her body and slip out from beneath the covers. I grab the phone,
but I don't answer until I'm out in the hallway.
"Speak," I order the second I press the green button.
Troy Rodriguez's voice comes through. "We've got tabs on the older
woman," he tells me.
I blow out a breath, glancing over my shoulder at the closed bedroom
door before making my way further down the hall and away from Avalon.
She doesn't need to know about this—not yet. "What about the other one?" I
demand.
"No, I'm sorry. There's no hint of the younger female you asked us to
locate."
A curse slips from my lips as I enter one of the offices on the second
floor. Corina is proving to be far more elusive than any of us expected which
tells me one thing, she's got some heavy-handed backers. Patricia Manning,
however, appears to be all on her own.
"What do you want me to do with her?" Troy asks.
I consider the question. I have no doubt Avalon will want to deal with her
mother in her own way, and though a part of me wants to just handle it for
her, if she ever found out my balls would be in serious trouble. One might
think I’d feel emasculated by the fact that I've let one little woman tie me up
so fucking much, but I don’t. It's a two-way street. Avalon is mine as much as
I'm hers.
"Don't approach just yet," I tell him. "I just want you to watch her. Keep
her from disappearing again. I'll let you know if anything changes."
There's a moment of quiet on the other end of the line. It lingers for so
long that
I pull the cell away from my ear to make sure I haven't lost the
connection. When I put it back, Troy speaks.
"Do you know what you're doing here, man?"
I inhale sharply. Troy's never questioned me before. He's been my trainer
—as well as Abel’s and Braxton's—for years. He's loyal to us, and he's made
no qualms about making that clear. Were it anyone else questioning me, I'd
quietly relieve them of duty and move onto a new worker bee, but Troy is no
drone. He's as solid as they come. So, if he's asking, then that must mean I'm
losing my touch.
Carefully, I pose my next question with an even tone. "Why do you ask?"
"You're tracking down a college girl and a drug addict," he states. "I'm
not sure what you've gotten yourself into, but I have a feeling it has
something to do with that girl the boys mentioned. I just need to ask if this is
more danger than it's worth. What is she worth to you?"
That answer is simple. Avalon is worth everything. She's worth the moon
and the stars. The sun and the sky. She's worth my death and my afterlife. If
she asked for my beating heart right out of my goddamn chest just so she
could live another day, I'd give it to her without a second thought. Avalon,
however, is not that type of person. She'd never ask me for anything simply
to gain. I think about the box I have stashed away in our bedroom. The one
that I know if she ever finds, she'll run so hard and so fast, she'll leave burn
marks behind.
"I'm going to marry her, Troy," I say. "So, yeah, she's worth the danger.
And don't underestimate the girl and the addict," I tell him. "They're much
more than they appear and they're not to be trusted. If you can find the man as
well, I'd appreciate it."
On the other end of the line, Troy blows out a breath. "Shit." I can just
picture his face, scrunched up with discomfort. "I guess … ah …
congratulations are in order?"
I chuckle, turning and crossing an arm over my chest as I lean against the
desk in the center of the office. "I gotta convince her first," I tell him.
"I'm sure she'll come around," Troy replies. "They always do for you. If
she doesn't, just throw some money around. Let her know she'll be taken care
of."
My chuckle turns into an outright laugh. "That won't work on this one.
The way I take care of her is tracking down all of the people that hurt her."
