“Long time, no see,” Creed greets playfully as she frantically fans her misty eyes.
“Oh, fuck, get it together,” she mutters to herself, making the other two females in the room chuckle. “Shit,” she laughs. “It’s good to see you boys again.Bothof you.” She turns her eyes to me, too many emotions battling for dominance in her expression. “Collins,” she whispers, “It’s…it’s so fucking nice to get to meet you in person,”
It’s clear she’s met the boys before, and I’m curious about the story there. I can’t help but smile back, despite feeling a little out of place. These girls are all staring at me like they know me, and I don’t have a clue as to who they are outside of being married to these crime lords…or whatever you call them.
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I reply nervously, letting out a breathy, uncomfortable chuckle as I nod and tuck an errant, messy curl behind my ear. Riley just tucks me a little tighter into his side, and Creed drops a chaste kiss to the top of my head.
“Alright,” Callan drawls from across the room, crossing his arms over his broad chest. I notice his Scottish accent is thicker than Lachlan’s. “You girls can fawn over the wee lass later, business first.”
“Business first,” Genevieve mocks with a whisper and hops from the barstool. Callan just rolls his eyes but bends to meet her halfway for a kiss while Lachlan chuckles and Camdan looks…annoyed. Ayla, Cori, and Millie follow suit, Millie telling me she’ll come to get me once the men are done talking business, before their hushed whispers follow them from the room.
“So,” Lachlan says, taking a seat at one of the newly vacated barstools around the island. He looks to Creed, who nods, then to Riley and me. We sit in the three chairs directly across from him. “What is your goal here? Guy is dead, and we can easily keep it buried.”
“Is it understood that you want to…dig him up—figuratively, so to speak—just to burn everything he is to the ground?” Callan jumps in, and my heart rate kicks up a notch. I can feel a nervous sweat breaking out along my skin.Was this a terrible idea?
His expression is unreadable, but there’s no denying the spark in his eyes at the prospect of causing mayhem in one form or another.
Creed and Riley are silent next to me, and a quick glance at them just to see their eyes on me tells me that they’re all giving me control. They’re askingmewhatIwant to do.
Well, fuck me.
Clearing my throat, as if it will do me any good, I nod. “Yes.” Of course it comes out as a ragged whisper. “He’s not a good man.” I laugh bitterly, running a hand through my hair. “Never,everwas. His wife ran pretty early on and left me alone with him. Though I’m certain that she’s the one who initially wanted me—a kid to foster, that is.”
Riley stiffens next to me, and he gets this tight, far-away look in his eyes. I know that Guy had said things to him, but the bits and pieces of whatever he’d confessed are all hazy. I didn’t need, nor want, to know the details. I’d already lived them as a teenager, and went through something a million times worse.
I place my hand on his warm thigh, and he settles a little.
The brothers across from me are listening so intently, and now it’s gotmefidgeting and plucking at an errant, frayed string attached to Riley’s jeans.
“To be honest, I kept to myself as much as I could. But it was impossible to escape his cruelty. I got lucky when he approved my getting a job, so I worked when I could just to stay away from him. I’m not even sure what he did for a living, but I know he was important and the shitty community around me fucking adored him. Meanwhile, I suffered alone because I had nobody to lean on. Nobody to help me. So when I had enough money scraped together, I freed myself, but, well…you see how that turned out.” I laugh bitterly. I suck in a breath, feeling pissed off and annoyed all over again, at just how much he’d fooled everyone around him. Creed visibly flinches at my words. I don’t mean for it to sound like a jab at him, but it doesn’t negate the truth of it all. Not wanting him to feel guilty over it, I place my free hand on top of his to stop him from clenching his fists together.
Wedging my fingers between his, I say, “I know somebody reported him missing recently, but I don’t—I don’t wantanybodytomisshim. I want the world to hate him. To villainize him for what he’s done before, eventually forgetting that he ever existed.”
Creed leans into me to wipe the tears away that I hadn’t even realized had fallen as Camdan of all people passes a napkin across the island for me to dab my eyes. Asher looks like he either wants to puke or kill someone while he processes my words.
“Sounds like you know what you want,” Camdan drawls on a heavy breath, leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him. “And you’re coming here…”
“To make sure the McTavish family isn’t implicated when we go public with their story,” Asher clarifies, sitting back in his chair. “We know you’re capable of covering your own tracks, but we won’t run the risk of anyone sniffing around.”
“We’re capable of doing more than covering?—”
“You need a story that tracks. One that tells the truth but will lead to the discovery of Guy’s death.” Camdan’s words are low and gruff, and they garner all of our attention. A slow, uneasy grin pulls at his lips, and it’s got all four of us—Asher included—squirming in our seats.
Lachlan’s eyes round as he takes in his brother.
“No,” he barks, shooting to stand. “Fuck no. We’re not hiring that fucking lunatic again, Camdan.” He swipes a hand through his blonde strands. “You can fuck off with that shite.”
“It’s not like he’d make a mess, the bloke is already dead, Lachlan.”
“Who the fuck are we talking about?” Creed asks, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Besides, I know he’d agree to such a job. He’s…” He waves a massive hand around in the air in a loose gesture. “Invested.”
“Invested?” Riley queries quietly, his fingers running nervously along the back of my hand on his thigh.
“In you,” Camdan answers bluntly.
“Who?And what do you mean he’s invested? In us? Like…in our band?”
