Dirty Deadly & Mine (Marx Empire #1)

Chapter 1

Tyres squeal as I slam on the brakes, my car skidding before it stops, and I shove the gear into park, hurrying to get out. Frantically, I scan the scene, and my heart lurches.

Shit. This is bad.

“Asher!” I call as I run across the cobblestone road, sirens echoing in the distance as Asher pummels his mother’s scumbag boyfriend over and over on the sparse front lawn of his house. “Stop!”

“Mum! Hurry!” Ronan or Jude scream in a panic from somewhere off to the side.

I don’t know which of my twin sons that was, but it doesn’t matter right now, because their best mate, and the kid I’ve practically raised over the last eight years or more, is one swing away from killing Monty.

“Asher!” I scream, finally getting his attention as I leap over the upturned rubbish bin, his fist stopping mid-swing before his head darts in my direction.

The rage twisting his face makes him look older than his eighteen years as he heaves with raw fury. His normally light brown eyes are dark, nearly blown, and I stagger a little at the sight.

He doesn’t look like a child right now.

He looks like a man. A very terrifying man.

“Stop!” I demand, rushing closer, knowing he won’t hurt me.

Straightening as much as his tense muscles will allow, his lip curls as he shakes his head.

“She nearly died!” He stabs a finger down at Monty, who is practically lifeless on the grass by his feet. “That poison he peddles made her fucking overdose! AGAIN! If I hadn’t dropped by, she’d be dead right now!”

Sirens blare loudly behind me, tyres skidding from more than one vehicle, and I know everything is about to get worse.

Shit. There’s no getting him out of this.

Turning, I watch as police pile out of the three cars. Their guns are raised in an instant, pointing in our direction.

“Put it down!” one bobby yells, as I spin, wide eyed to see Asher has picked up a fucking crowbar.

“Asher, no!” I plead as his wild eyes meet mine.

“I can’t let him live. He’s been using her for over a year now, cutting his fucking drugs on the kitchen table.

He treats her like shit. Fucking beats her.

Probably rapes her.” He grits his teeth, dragging his gaze down to Monty, still lifeless on the ground.

“Killing him will be worth the punishment.”

“Put the weapon down or we’ll shoot!” an officer bellows, and a chill ripples up my spine.

Shit. They really will shoot him. I don’t care that I might catch a bullet in the process, I just care that he’s safe. Alive.

Quickly glancing over my shoulder, I see each officer stepping closer, their guns trained on Asher. On me.

“Mum! Help him!”

My eyes dart to my sons to see Jude crying, my beautiful seventeen-year-old boy terrified for his best mate.

Shit. I can’t let this happen. I don’t want my boys to witness their friend getting shot. Killed.

“Stop!” I cry out, lifting my hands as I turn to face the police officers. “Don’t hurt him. Please,” I beg, shaking my head frantically. “Just wait a minute.”

“Ma’am, step away and let us do our job!” a bobby barks, but I shake my head, my hands trembling as I hold them up in a silent plea.

I feel so far out of my depth right now considering the things I do in the dead of night. Things that would terrify the meanest of men, yet right now, I’m nothing but a scared mum, desperate to keep safe the boy she thinks of as a son.

“Please, just wait. He’ll put it down,” I plead, before glancing over my shoulder to Asher. “Won't you?”

“No,” Asher mutters, his eyes locking with mine.

“Asher, yes. Please,” I beg, turning with my arms outstretched, trying to block him from the authorities to protect him as best I can.

“Think about this. If you kill him, who’s going to look after your mum?

You’ll go to prison for the rest of your life, but this…

” I nod down to Monty. “We can hire a good lawyer, and you’ll be out in a few years. ”

“I can’t afford a fucking lawyer, Ms Bennett. You know that.”

“And you know I’ll do everything to help, Asher.” I take a step closer even as the police yell for me to step away. “I’ll pay for the lawyer. You know I’ll do anything to protect you.”

Asher’s gaze darts over my shoulder, taking in the scene, and all the guns pointed at us right now. And then his eyes snap back to mine.

“Anything…” he asks, his brows shooting high as worry flickers over his expression. “Like risking getting shot by the cops?”

“Yes.” I breathe, fighting back a sob. “That’s what mums do.” My lips lift in the smallest smile, hoping he remembers how much I care about him. How I’ve been fighting for him for years.

But then… his eyes harden and his jaw ticks.

“You’re not my mum.”

“No, but I still care for you like a son, Asher. You know that.”

“Ash! Listen to her!” Ronan yells over the cops still demanding I step away.

“Asher, please. Jude and Ronan need you. Your mum needs you. Put the crowbar down. Surrender yourself and leave the rest to me.”

“What about you?” Asher asks, the tension starting to ease from his shoulders. “Do you need me?”

Me? He wants to know about me?

I frown at his question, but find myself nodding. “Of course.”

For a long moment, he just stares at me, his brown eyes scanning mine like he’s looking for something.

“I’m not worth the bother,” he whispers, his voice cracking with emotion he’s clearly trying to hold back.

Tears instantly glaze my eyes, burning as I stare back at him, and for a moment, the young man he’s grown into flickers away, leaving behind a young boy.

It’s the boy my sons brought home one day after school, looking far too thin, his clothes a size too small and covered in dirt.

He smelled like he needed three baths and had that look about him that screams troublemaker.

Yet he smiled timidly up at me as Jude introduced him. Gave me a nod and called me ma’am, which I quickly shut down, and then had the courtesy to remove his shoes, placing them neatly by the door.

He didn’t know that I noticed the bruises on his ribs later that evening when he agreed to take a shower and peeled off his shirt as I set the water temperature right.

He didn’t notice that every meal I fed him was twice as large as the ones I fed my sons, which eventually helped put more meat on his bones.

And he didn’t know that the clothes I kept buying for my sons, accidentally getting a size bigger, were really for him, so I wouldn’t make him feel like a charity case, allowing him to think he was simply borrowing their clothes.

I’ve tried to make him feel wanted. Loved. But I guess at the end of the day, a child craves that attention from their parents, something I’m all too aware of.

It’s not his fault he was dealt a shit hand by the way of parents. Sometimes I think fate sent him and his mother here to Hedgwick all those years ago so I could take care of him. If they had stayed in London, I have no doubt he’d be dead by now.

“Asher, don’t say that.” A tear pops from my eye as I lurch forward, cupping his face in my trembling hands.

“You are worth the bother. You’re worth so much, Asher Scott, and don’t you dare think otherwise.

” More tears spill from my eyes, and finally, his match mine, pooling with tears.

“Please surrender, Asher. Go into police custody, keep quiet, and I’ll arrange legal representation. Let me help you.”

I can see the struggle waging a war inside his head, his eyes dancing between mine as he heaves under the weight of his emotions.

“Will you… watch over my mum while I’m away?”

“Of course.” I nod, finally feeling the fight leave his body as his shoulders drop.

“Will you visit me… in prison?”

“Absolutely.” I nod. “Just try to stop me.” I smile through my tears, and he nods before the clang of the crowbar bouncing off the grass and landing on the path breaks through the bubble I didn’t realise we were in.

Slowly, Asher takes a step back, causing my hands to fall from his face, and he glances over my shoulder, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows.

For a fleeting moment, I see fear flicker over his expression before those brown eyes dart back to me.

“Any chance for one of those ripper hugs you give before I get dragged away?” he whispers, and a sob bursts from my lips as I lunge forward, throwing my arms around his neck and squeezing him tight.

His hands slide to my back, and I can feel his breath against my skin as he buries his head in the crook of my neck, like he wants to hide there, trusting that I’ll keep him safe.

Dammit, I wish I could. He deserves better than this.

“Step away, now!” a bobby yells, and Asher’s hold on me loosens.

“Love you, Lil.” He breathes against my ear, his words taking me by surprise as he pulls back, raising his hands in the air.

Our tear-filled eyes meet, and he offers me a hint of a smile before he takes a step aside and turns his gaze to the police.

“I’m surrendering!” he calls, and voices yell from all directions as they scream demands at him, the sound of heavy feet pounding our way.

Asher’s words, the deep baritone of his voice sounding more like man than boy, run through my head. He’s never told me he loves me before, but I guess emotions are high, and even though he has a mother, I’ve been more of a mother to him than her.

I stagger back as the police swarm in, rough hands dragging me away as they shove Asher face first to the ground, his eyes never leaving mine.