To the End: Year Four (Hannaford Prep Book 4)

by J Bree

  Maybe.

  Chapter Eighteen

  We arrive at the ranch on Christmas Eve and I head straight to bed, ready to hate every fucking second of the day but fully aware that I’m not going to be left alone for a single second of it.

  Sometime after midnight, I come aware to the feel of Harley’s fingers brushing my hair away from the nape of my neck, dropping gentle kisses there as he goes. When I wriggle in place he whispers, “Shh,” into my ear and slips a necklace around my neck.

  My eyes pop open but the room is too dark to see anything.

  Blaise’s arms tighten around me, pulling me in and pressing me close, and I let myself fall back asleep.

  I’m woken again hours later to the smell of coffee being wafted under my nose and I smile before my eyes even open. Avery grins down at me, barely batting an eyelid at the jumble of naked limbs I’m cocooned in.

  I smile at her like she’s my freaking soulmate, because coffee, and she grins down at me, happier than I’ve seen her in weeks. I scramble out of the bed, carefully so I don’t wake Harley because he’s the only one who couldn’t sleep through an earthquake, and I slip a shirt on, whichever one is closest. When I step out of the room, trailing behind Avery I feel the weight of the necklace Harley had slipped on me and pull it out from my shirt to look at.

  I try not to get choked up but, seriously, is he trying to break my heart here?!

  Sitting in my palm is a tiny heart locket, identical to his mother’s one, so similar it’s only when I turn the locket over to read the inscription that I know he’s gotten me one of my own.

  Mine.

  To the end.

  I almost turn on my heel to go and jump on him but Avery snorts at my lovestruck face and I remember that we have plans.

  French-toast-with-sprinkles plans.

  We share the kitchen while I cook. I’m not great at French toast but this morning is for the two of us so I can’t drag Harley over to do it for me. Avery grins and chatters away, totally content in her new Christmas morning routine.

  I love it.

  When we have food and, most importantly, more coffee, we sit and solve all our problems, theoretically.

  “I still think if we go after the Jackal ourselves it should be in small teams. I know you say you could slip in and out easier without us but… you can’t go alone. Take Illi at least.” Avery argues. It’s an old argument, one we have every single planning session, so it almost feels like it’s a part of the routine.

  “I’ll get distracted if I have to watch Illi as well. It’s better if I go alone.”

  She shakes her head. “If we really are a democracy like you say, you will be outvoted seven-to-one every time. Or, well, maybe Diarmuid will side with you, he seems like the ass-kissing type. He’d probably do it just to try to drive a wedge between you and Illi.”

  I snort. “There is no driving a wedge between us, we’re as close as two people in a non-sexual relationship are. I’d kill and die for that man… I mean, I have. repeatedly.”

  Avery hums as she takes a sip. “You never have told me the full story of Odie’s… sale.”

  I shudder. “And I won’t. It’s too fucking… bad. Let’s just say the fact she can smile and laugh is a fucking miracle to me every damn time I see it. She’s… she’s a good person. One of the best.”

  Avery nods. “I agree. We’ve kept in touch, she worries about you a lot. I thought she might be jealous of how close you and Illi are, especially with how much we’ve needed him lately, but she always asks about you first.”

  I see the pleased look on her face. “That gets her in your good books, doesn’t it?”

  She rolls her eyes at me. “Well, obviously! You need more people looking out for you, lord knows you don’t care about yourself enough.”

  I scoff at her and wipe my mouth, sure I’ve dripped my syrupy goodness everywhere. “I care about myself! Everything I’ve done has been to get myself out, that kind of means I look out for myself a lot.”

  She smooths a hand down the front of her robe. “And yet the second you inducted Harley, you threw yourself in front of him at every chance. You risk yourself without thought the second one of us is in danger, so yes, I’m very happy there’s someone else out there who would attempt to rein you in a bit.”

  I roll my eyes but the sound of doors closing, feet stomping, and, well, bitching lets me know our planning session is over.

  It's time to endure Christmas.

  Avery grabs my hand and squeezes. “It’s like all of my hard work just gets wiped out. All of the joy and life sucked out of you in a split second.”

  I shrug and give her a wry grin. “Sorry. I just hate this fucking day. It’s getting easier but I still fucking loathe it.”

  Harley rounds the corner and grins when he sees me, kissing Avery’s cheek sweetly before grabbing my face and drawing me in for a blisteringly hot kiss. Avery snorts at us both and gets up to organize food for the guys. Harley only lets me go when Blaise punches his arm, snarking each other out.

  “It’s Christmas, stop fighting over Lips like she’s a joint gift, it’s gross.” Avery snaps, and I laugh at the looks they give her.

  I kiss Blaise with the same fire I’d given Harley, it’s only fair, and he groans into the kiss, pulling me into his body to grind on me right here in the freaking dining room. I’m dumb enough to let him.

  “Avery will cancel Christmas if you fuck the Mounty on the table, Morrison. I’m sure Lips is secretly hoping for that so fight your urges.” Ash drawls, and I break away from Blaise to grin at him, twisting in Blaise’s arms. He doesn’t care, only rubs his morning wood against my ass instead.

  “Bah humbug.”

  Ash smirks at me and draws me in for his Christmas morning kiss, leaning in so I’m squished between them both. Yum.

  “Your Christmas present is on our bed. I didn’t think Avery would want to watch you open it.” He says as he nibbles his way down my neck, more bites than kisses. I can’t freaking breathe when he does that.

  Blaise grunts when I arch into him. “Mines up there too, but for less pervy reasons.”

  Nope, still can’t think like this. Harley comes out of the kitchen with a plate piled high, and snaps, “Don’t fucking ruin Christmas by setting Floss off. Get off her.”

  I shoot him a look and he only quirks an eyebrow at me, waving a tub of cherry ice cream at me like it’ll make up for the whole day.

  I mean, it will, but he doesn’t need to know that.

  We enjoy breakfast together. I enjoy watching the pure, unadulterated satisfaction on Avery’s face as she fusses over the guys, handing out presents and pouring coffee. She loves every freaking second of the day and that alone makes it worth getting up for.

  Sometime after lunch, a full spread with Turkey and all the trimmings because Avery is nothing but a perfectionist, I’m lying half on the couch in the reception room and half on Harley when a car pulls up. I groan, sure it’s Illi and Odie here to celebrate this god awful day, but Harley tenses as he cranes his head up to check the car out.

  “Who the fuck is that?” He hisses, sliding out from under me and stalking over to the door.

  “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” He snaps and opens the door to the Stag.

  I sit up and see them staring at each other, Harley looking like he wants to rip the Stag’s face off. Avery scoffs from the armchair she’s perched in. Ash and Blaise are watching shitty Christmas movies and getting wasted in the theatre room.

  “Merry Christmas, cousin. I was hoping we could have a chat, nothing too serious.”

  I shoot Avery a look. What the fuck is going on now?

  Harley holds the door, his arm is blocking the Stag’s path and looks over his shoulder at me. I shrug. What can it hurt?

  “You know it's polite to call ahead.” Avery says in her sweetly poisonous voice, and he gives her the famous charming O’Cronin grin. It’s a sight to see and Avery jerks back in her seat. Huh.

  “I knew Harley would
tell me to fuck off if I tried, better to come in person so he can tell I’m sincere.”

  Avery quirks an eyebrow. “And are you sincere? I thought the last O’Cronin with a soul died in front of his son years ago.”

  The Stag grimaces, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Look, I know you all think we’re shit. I’ll take that, Liam and the rest were shit. But I’m not. There’s a lot of us who live by a very different code and now that I’ve taken over, the code is going to be the family way.”

  Harley sits next to me again, rubbing the soft organic, fair-trade cotton of my new yoga pants Avery bought me, because nothing makes that girl happier than spending too much fucking money on clothes for me.

  The Stag watches this interaction with shrewd eyes. “This is a family conversation, not business. Can we do this alone?”

  Harley shakes his head. “Lips and Avery are family, Stag.”

  I sigh. “We can go.”

  Harley’s hand clamps down. “No.”

  The Stag, Aodhan, shrugs. “I’d always heard you were difficult, Wolf. Too hard to speak to, guarded by the Jackal, bloodthirsty and cold. I thought my cousin was insane for leaving the family for you but now I see the charm.”

  I roll my eyes because I know exactly how that is going to go down with Harley.

  He reaches over to grab me by the hips and he lifts me easily from the couch and into his lap. His hands stay firmly fixed to my hips, like a brand, and his voice is dripping with poison when he says, “Are you here to try to fuck my girlfriend? I’ve killed people for less, cousin.”

  Aodhan scoffs are the way Harley spits the word cousin at him and I ready myself for the fight that’s inevitably going to happen.

  Instead, he leans back in the chair and shrugs. “I get it, she’s your girl and our family history says I’m the biggest fucking danger in the room to her. That’s why I’m here. You haven’t taken up my offer of help and I want to clear some shit up so you know where we stand.”

  Hm. I slide off of Harley’s lap and I’m a little shocked when he doesn’t argue with me over it. His eyes are intense on Aodhan, even as he threads his fingers through mine.

  Avery’s phone rings and she steps out. Some of the tension in Aodhan eases.

  “You have three minutes to convince me.”

  Aodhan’s eyes grow intense. “Your Ma isn’t the only woman who has been hurt by the family. I would have left years ago but I have younger siblings. I decided that instead of abandoning them, I’d fucking fix it for them. Our family is supposed to be strong, rich, unshakable but under Liam’s guidance it’s just a fucking mess. I’ve cleaned house.”

  He rubs a hand over the back of his neck and blows out a breath. “Look, all of our uncles have been dealt with. Most of our aunts were already dead, there’s only two left. I’m doing my fucking best. I don’t want you coming back and taking over because the family needs direction and trust, you don’t have that for any of us. I’m here because I need the Wolf to vouch for me with the Boar so I can get the businesses back on track. None of us can go legit, it’s not in our blood. Being the Stag means I can get us back to where we’re not worried about putting food on the tables again. If you don’t want to help me, that’s fine. I just thought I’d make you aware of what’s really going on here.”

  Fuck.

  Harley stares at him for a second, his eyes intense, and then he looks at me. “What happens if you vouch for him and he fucks us over?”

  I shrug. “I can handle it. I have more than enough favors to get us through… pretty much anything.”

  Harley’s jaw clenches like it always does when I mention the favors but he nods. “What work are you going to do? Have you inducted the whole family already?”

  Aodhan blows out a breath. “I’ve got the entire family inducted, and there’s eight of us old enough to work. I was a bit worried that wouldn’t be enough but I guess the Wolf has proven you can do it alone and still make it, as long as you have enough connections.”

  He leans forward in his seat, and I finally see some sort of resemblance between the cousins, the fierce determination they both have. “I’m not asking for a handout. I’m telling you I’m going to do whatever it takes to make things right and keep my family safe. Part of that is fixing things with Harley. If you offered to vouch for me in exchange for me never speaking to him again, I wouldn’t take it. I couldn’t help him when we were kids, but I can now and I’m going to.”

  I hold his eyes with mine for a second longer and then I nod. “If Harley wants me to, I’ll speak to the Boar for you.”

  Harley squints at his cousin for a second longer. “You kill them all yourself? All of the uncles?”

  Aodhan grimaces and shrugs. “Jack helped. They did the same to his girl as they did to your Ma, he hasn’t been right since. I’m trying to keep him stable but… he might not make it through this.”

  Harley winces. “Amara? They took her?”

  Aodhan nods. “Killed herself before Jack could get to her. Liam decided he was getting weak about her because he’d taken on a legitimate job to get an apartment for her.”

  He moves to stare at his toes for a second then he grits out between his teeth, “She was pregnant. Jack was just trying to keep her safe from our family and the Bay. She lost the baby when they attacked her. Jack’s not right.”

  I don’t know who Jack is to Harley, where on the family tree he lies, but the wheeze that comes out of Harley makes my chest hurt. I slip my hand onto his knee and squeeze, trying to offer him some sort of reassurance though I know it all feels so fucking trivial.

  “Liam deserved a much more painful death.” He finally mutters, and Aodhan nods.

  “He did but I had to get him out of the way before he did something to you. He was already in talks with the Jackal over the entire thing.”

  Fucking Liam O’Cronin. “Do you know where the treacherous fuck is buried? I feel the need to dig him up and piss on him.”

  Harley roars with laughter, pulling me into his side and kissing the top of my head. “You wouldn’t. You bitch me out for taking my morning piss while you’re in the shower.”

  I blush, goddammit. “Fine, I’ll get Blaise to do it for me. He’d fucking love that shit.”

  * * *

  I’m trying to enjoy my last night at the Ranch, half-naked making out with Harley in my giant bed, when the car pulls up outside. When we hear the crunching noise of tires on the gravel driveway, we both freeze. Then the front door opens and slams, and I scramble out of Harley’s lap to find out who the fuck is interrupting our break now.

  I don’t get to the window before the yelling starts.

  “If you think you can just show up here and demand to see her, you’re more of a fucking idiot than I thought.” hisses Ash, and it’s pretty clear who it is.

  Harley groans behind me. “Why the fuck is that dickhead here? Has he got a fucking brain?”

  There’s a quiet knock and then Avery breezes into my room, scoffing at Harley’s shirtless state. I’m wearing it, so she can’t see whether or not I’m wearing underwear, thank fuck.

  “I need you to get Ash back in here so I can talk to Atticus by myself. He has… that information I told you about.”

  Ugh.

  Right.

  The information about the Boar and his dirty biker world, to see if there’s a chance that’s where my DNA has come from. Harley’s eyes narrow at us both, unhappy we’re keeping secrets, but I just nod at her.

  “I mean, I’ll try to get him back inside but you know as well as I do Ash Beaumont kinda does whatever the hell he wants, consequences be fucked.” I say, and she arches an eyebrow at me.

  “Just text him for a booty call. I’m sure Harley will take one for the team and step out while you keep him busy.”

  I blush so bad and Harley must be in a mood about being interrupted because he snarks back at her, “What’s the point in the orgy sized bed if we don’t use it for one? You can’t be that naive about what happ
ens in here, Floss.”

  Kill me now.

  I give him a glare and grab Avery’s arm to pull her out of the room and downstairs before she guts her cousin. I’m too freaking tempted to let her.

  I forget I have no pants on until we’re both out the door and Atticus raises his eyebrows at the sight of me. Ash’s head whips around to see who’s interrupting their screaming match and his eyes darken as they take in my obviously tousled state.

  “For fuck’s sake.” He snaps and stalks over, covering me from Atticus’s view and I roll my eyes at him.

  “Please, he’s so fucking obsessed with Aves he wouldn’t give a shit about my ugly legs.” I mumble when he glares at me and nudges me back into the house.

  “A fucking monk would be tempted by your legs. Now get the fuck back upstairs and let me deal with that asshole.”

  I grab his arm and tug him through the door with me, shooting Avery a look. “She’s a big girl, she can fight her own battles.”

  Ash sneers at me but I just roll my eyes at him. Fucking arrogant assholes.

  I get him back up to our room, snarling and pissy, and he joins Harley by the window.

  “I called Morrison. He’s down there in case Atticus tries anything.” Harley says, pulling a shirt back over his head. I roll my eyes at them both and then, fuck it, I join them.

  Avery’s back is so goddamn straight Atticus must be saying some bullshit to her.

  “Can I shoot him? I feel like I should shoot the dick.” Harley mutters, and Ash snorts.

  “Do us all a favor and shoot him in the dick. That will solve everything.”

  I roll my eyes at them again. “She’s stronger than us all, she’s got this under control.”

  Atticus takes a step forward and Ash tenses, probably fucking planning on jumping out the window to her rescue, but then Atticus holds out a manilla file and a small, beautifully wrapped box.

  “The fuck is that?” Harley snaps, and I swear I’m going to strain my fucking eyeballs at this rate.