Chapter 18 – Grey
GREY
I pressed the ice pack to AJ’s thigh, and she sucked a breath in through her teeth, snatching my forearm to squeeze tightly.
“Shit, does it hurt that bad?” I asked, pulling back, but she pressed the ice harder into her skin, her hot hand pushing down on the top of mine.
“Just fucking cold,” she said, the words whistled through clenched teeth.
I knelt, holding the ice there for her, trying to get a better look at her face.
Alpha got a few good shots in, but she looked like she’d get away without too much facial damage.
The blow to her brow made it swell to cave-man proportions, but she was holding a smaller ice pack there, and I was sure the swelling would go down before the night was through. At least her eyes weren’t swollen shut.
The purple tint blooming on her jaw would hurt for a while, though. As though she knew what I was thinking, she opened her mouth to move her jaw in a slow circle, feeling out the injury.
“Anything that needs medical?—”
She shook her head before I could finish.
“I’m fine, Grey. I’ve had worse.”
I didn’t doubt it, but I hated to imagine it. I hated seeing her hurt like this and the idea that she had ever been hurt worse than this made my stomach turn. Made my thoughts tint red as though my brain was soaking in poison.
Rook wasn’t the only one who’d wanted to hop those fucking bars and rip Alpha’s head off.
I’d have done it happily if I didn’t think it would piss Ava Jade off to the point where she wanted to rip my head off.
If any of us had interrupted the match she would have taken it to mean that we thought she couldn’t handle it.
She wouldn’t have liked that.
I mean, fuck, she’d given Rook a damn good clock to the jaw for trying to haul her off Alpha, but I had a feeling that was done more blindly than anything.
The curtain flapped behind us, and Corvus and Rook stepped back into the private area.
The party still raged outside on the main floor, the Kings mingling with the Saints just like Diesel wanted.
The lawyers and bankers spending more money on drinks and games of cards at the tables in the other room.
Diesel hadn’t opened that room in a while. We must have really needed the extra coin right now. Nothing worse than dealing with drunk gambling addicts who’ve just lost all their fucking money. Not worth the trouble, he used to say. Apparently, he’d changed his mind.
“How is she?” Corvus asked me.
“I’m fine,” AJ answered before I could, and my stomach twisted. As much as I tried to forget it, I couldn’t help the guilt still gnawing at me.
It was my fault Corvus’ cover was blown.
But I couldn’t do what that fucker wanted.
I wouldn’t trade AJ’s life for my brother’s secret and he knew it.
He just wanted to fucking toy with me. I’d tried every night for days to trace those messages, but I was still coming up empty handed.
The only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that all it would take was one slip and I would have his dead ass in the palm of my hand.
There was no reason to tell the guys about the text messages if I didn’t have anything useful to offer. They were nothing but this guy trying to tear us apart from the inside.
Rook would have done the same.
Corvus would’ve done the same.
No matter how many times I told myself, it didn’t ease the hollowness picking away at my insides.
“Here,” Rook said, flopping down beside AJ on the bench with a glass of whiskey. “Have some, it’ll take the edge off.”
She eyed the whiskey like she might turn it down, but when Rook pushed it at her a second time, she took it, knocking it back in one swallow then grimacing and shaking her head.
Rook rubbed circles on her back. “There you go, Ghost. Better?”
She nodded.
He was going to turn her into a fucking alcoholic. We were going to need to talk about that.
Corvus scrutinized Ava Jade from where he stood, his light eyes roving over every mark, every scratch, every bruise, and getting darker with each one he found. “Dies wants to talk to us about?—”
“Boys,” Diesel said at that moment as he stepped through the curtain, counting through a massive stack of bills, pausing to lick his fingertips as he speedily walked his fingers through them, double checking his winnings.
“You bet on me,” Ava Jade said, not a question, but it was clear she was surprised.
“You really think I’d bet against one of my own?”
AJ flinched at that but said nothing, her cut-glass eyes falling to cut the cement floor instead of our father.
Diesel pocketed the bills, and I moved the ice pack to Ava Jade’s other thigh.
“Don’t tell me you boys didn’t bet on your girl?”
“’Course we did,” Corvus said, patting his breast pocket. A tiny smirk tugged at the edge of AJ’s mouth.
Diesel nodded and drew out his phone, the skin between his brows creasing. He turned the phone to us, displaying the time. “Time’s officially up for the Aces,” he said, digging in his front jacket pocket for a cigar. He patted his jeans pockets, frowning.
“Dies,” Rook said and flipped him a lighter.
Dies caught it, a little off balance from his injury, and lit the cigar, blowing a cloud of sweet smelling gray smoke into the room.
“What’s the plan?” Corvus asked.
“We’ll meet at the warehouse to go over the plan. I’m going to need some time to round up the others and our new friends. You boys go ahead and open ’er up, but watch your asses. I’ll be sending Axel, Pinkie, and Crowley right after you in case you run into trouble.”
We all nodded and Diesel set his sights on Ava Jade. “Good fight,” he said. “Wish it could’ve gone to a third round, but… I’m impressed.”
She squinted at him, maybe trying to judge if he were fucking with her. He wasn’t, but she needed to figure that out for herself. Our father gave credit where it was due. Usually .
Diesel’s gaze snagged on Corvus before he spun to leave. He lifted a hand in the air making a circular motion. “Get a move on, boys, I want the Aces folded by this time tomorrow.”
Ava Jade sighed.
“We can take you back to the nest on the way,” I offered. “You should rest.”
Her face scrunched up at that and she looked at me like I had shit on my fucking face. “Fuck no. Your pops would love that.”
“It doesn’t matter what he thinks,” Corvus said, and I wished he would take his own advice.
But despite our protests AJ was still shaking her head. “ I’m fine,” she all but growled. “I’m coming with you.”
She pushed my hands away and dropped the ice pack from her head to the bench, pushing to her feet to grab the clothes she came in, pulling them on right over top of her sweat-dampened shorts and sports bra. Her fingers fumbled to buckle on her knife belt and attach it to the garter on her thigh.
I put a hand atop hers, and though she stared daggers at me, she let me finish buckling it up for her, shivering when I brushed my fingertips up her thigh. I grinned at her, and she looked knowingly down at me.
“You are a fucking queen, you know that, right?” I found myself saying, wrapping my hands around her waist as I stood.
“About time you noticed,” she said, her voice laced with heavy sarcasm.
I pushed her hair away from her face and bent my head down to kiss the top of hers, smelling her cheap shampoo. I’d come to love that smell.
Corvus cleared his throat, and I pulled away.
“We should get moving,” Corv said. “We’re the only ones with the code to get in, and if Pinkie and the others get there before us they’re going to be pissed it isn’t open yet.”
Ava Jade nodded, doing her best to hide a slight limp as she walked up to Corvus and he fell into step beside her, an arm reflexively going up behind her, palm hovering protectively over her lower back without actually touching her.
“There you are,” the guy from earlier, Drake, said, lifting his glass to Ava Jade. “Nicely done up there.”
She tipped her head in thanks. I didn’t like the way she smiled at him.
“Back up, man,” I barked. “We have places to be.”
Drake lifted his hands, backing up a step. “Sorry, man. Just wanted to congratulate the winner. Glad I put my money on you, Ava Jade.”
Over his shoulder, I noticed the other guy, the one Ava Jade said gave her the creeps. The fucker who matched the description Becca gave of her booty-call boyfriend. He, too, seemed to have bet on Ava Jade and was lifting a stack of bills from an envelope with a wicked grin on his mouth.
His head jerked up, sensing my eyes on him, and he stuffed the money back in the envelope, flashing me a set of perfect teeth before turning away to head in the direction of the bar.
I boxed Ava Jade in on her other side and Rook trailed behind us, growling at anyone else who looked like they might interrupt our procession out of the club.
AJ’s knuckles turned white as she gripped the railing, hauling herself up the stairs and out of the noise and heat of the club. When the door opened, she couldn’t get through it fast enough, tipping her head up to breathe in deeply through her nose, staring up at the waning moon.
My ears rang in the sudden quiet, and I flipped up the collar of my jacket at the chill in the air. “You guys want to wait here? I’ll bring the Rover around.”
I didn’t want her to have to walk all the way around the lot if she didn’t have to.
Rook lit up a cigarette, nodding.
“Stop,” Ava Jade said and something in her tone made my skin prickle.
She stared up at the building across the street, tipping her head to one side. I followed her line of sight and cursed.
“ Get the fuck down! ” Corvus roared, slamming his body into Ava Jade’s, sending her down to the pavement just as the echo of the shot broke the sound barrier and the round embedded itself in the wall behind them.
My gun was out in an instant and Rook roared as a gang of men rounded the building and rushed us.
He sped straight ahead, zigzagging as the ten men fired at him, taking a bullet to his leg before he drew his own guns, firing wildly.