Chapter 19
IVY
What the actual fuck?
Seb frowns, thinking the same.
Stephanie checks her freshly manicured black nails with pointed tips. “I like this colour, but maybe I’ll go for red next time. What do you think?”
“Kill him?” I question. “But you love him.”
“Love?” Stephanie cackles and shakes her head. “I don’t love him. If I did, do you think I’d have fucked my marks before killing them?”
Seb and Freddie exchange a glance that says this chick is fully batshit. She’s a Praying Mantis. I watched firsthand as she lulled men into a false sense of security and fucked them before slitting their throats. I thought she did it for fun or because of a raging sex addiction, but there must have been more to it.
Stephanie reads their shocked expressions, which makes her laugh harder. “Come on, don’t tell me you’re prudes.” She points at Seb. “I know you like fucking in the back of limos.”
Seb’s jaw tenses as he mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath.
“Alaric is a means to an end,” Stephanie explains. “He’s an obstacle in my way. He started the Killers Club, but I’m the one who grew the business and took it to the next level. I was responsible for agent recruitment, setting up teams, and liaising with our clients. Alaric’s the frontman who throws his weight around, but he has no substance. Without me, he’d be nothing.”
My head spins. “So you’ve been using him?”
She considers my question. “Maybe not at first,” she replies. “I thought I loved him at the start. He helped me get away from a bad situation, but then I wanted more. The years went by, and our relationship grew stale. I’ve been waiting, biding my time, and putting in the groundwork until now. We’re finally ready.”
“And that’s why you want our help?” Seb asks.
“Killing him isn’t a small task,” she says. “I don’t expect you to help for free. My earlier offer stands. I still want you all to work for the Killers Club under its new management.”
“I’ll never work for you,” I hiss. “You’re poison.”
“Maybe,” she says with a casual shrug. “But I’m a poison you want on your side.”
“You still didn’t answer my earlier question,” I say. “If you want to take over from Alaric, fine. But why did you have to keep us apart? We’re sisters!”
Daisy sighs, running her hand through her hair in exasperation. She must already know the answer.
“Ivy—younger Ivy—was a problem no one expected,” Stephanie explains. “But her birth had some benefits.”
“Benefits?” I ask incredulously.
Ivy was a fucking child, not a negotiation tool. Doesn’t she remember how Ivy was conceived and the hell Daisy went through?
“Alaric sees Ivy as a valuable asset,” Daisy says coldly.
My eyes widen in surprise.
“We couldn’t have you two reuniting and compromising our plans. Alaric thought it was best that you didn’t know about each other. It made you more malleable,” Stephanie says. “You have to admit, your thirst for revenge definitely helped with your missions.”
“So, you baited me?” My blood boils. “You lied to make us more ruthless?”
It’s sickening. They treated us like fighting dogs, breeding us for the slaughter. We were pawns in their twisted game.
“You make it sound so dramatic,” Stephanie dismisses. “But the lies were necessary.”
“Did the rest of the club know?” I ask, thinking about the others in my pod. “What about the Tweedle twins and Jonathon?”
“No,” Stephanie says. “Only me and Alaric. Keeping you apart was part of a bigger plan.”
My cheeks flush with fury as I struggle to contain myself.
“When Spencer found out about his slip-up, he was quick to want to keep Ivy’s birth a secret, which is why he bankrolled the club,” she says. “He gives us cash in exchange for us keeping his child and your murder a secret.”
“But he knows I’m not dead now,” I say.
“Great job there.” Stephanie scowls. “You almost blew everything I’ve been working so hard for over some silly revenge quest. I’ve kept Spencer quiet for now, but it won’t be long until it gets back to Alaric and he learns the truth.”
If Alaric finds out what she’s planning, that’d be an instant death sentence for Stephanie, no matter how much he claims to love her.
“So everything was always about the money?” I step forward. Bram follows, sensing my thirst for destruction. “Daisy and I could have pretended that we didn’t know each other. We could have worked together. There was no reason to lie!”
“It was a risk we were not willing to take,” she says.
“So Spencer bankrolls the club in exchange for your silence, and you kept them apart so they’d be killers,” Seb summarises. “But there’s one thing I don’t understand.” He turns to Daisy. “Why do you let him see your child?”
If looks could turn a person to stone, Seb would be a statue.
“Do you think I’d let him if I had a choice?” Daisy hisses.
“What did you do?” I ask Stephanie, knowing she’ll have played a part in this.
“Don’t look at me this time!” Stephanie holds her hands up to plead innocence. “That little twist was Alaric’s idea.”
“Alaric doesn’t just want Spencer’s money,” Daisy says. “He wants to ensure the future of the club. Ivy is Spencer’s sole heir. She will inherit everything when he dies. The only reason Spencer agreed to that is if he got…” She cringes like someone is prising her toenails off. “Custody rights.”
“Fuck,” I groan, desperate to give her a massive hug.
“But we’ve never left her unprotected with him,” Daisy says fiercely, like a lioness protecting her cub. “Hale and I are always close by. Maria supervises her constantly, and I send her in wearing a hidden camera to watch her every move.”
“We’d never let anyone hurt her,” Hale says.
“And no one in Spencer’s circles knows she exists, apart from Maria,” Stephanie says. “The rest of his security team thinks she’s a distant family member, and he only sees her once every few months. The custody request came after we presented him with the DNA test results to prove she was his daughter.”
There have been so many times when I wanted to storm over to Spencer’s mansion and end him, but Alaric stopped me. Now I see why. He was protecting Spencer and himself.
“Why does he even want to see her?” I ask.
He’s hardly the paternal type and never showed an interest in having children when we were together.
“Because he’s a sick fuck,” Hale says. That’s one thing we both agree on. “He likes to pretend to care about her.”
“Spencer isn’t capable of love,” I say.
It’s bad enough to know what those savages subjected her to, but to know Spencer was part of that violation makes it worse. I invited him into our lives. I mentally shake myself, not allowing myself to dwell when we have other pressing matters to address.
“Why can’t you kill him and let Ivy inherit everything?” I ask. “Surely, that would be easier?”
“Don’t you think we thought of that?” Hale questions gruffly.
“Spencer isn’t that stupid,” Daisy says. “There are stipulations in place about the circumstances of his death. He’s covered himself.”
“He and Alaric have become good pals,” Stephanie says.
“Son of a bitch,” I curse.
I think about the countless nights when Alaric comforted me and promised I’d get my revenge one day. He convinced me it was better to wait until I could complete my list, but he was only buying himself more time.
“If there was any other way, he’d already be dead,” Daisy says. “Alaric made it clear that if the club’s income is threatened or if anything happens to Spencer, he’ll kill all three of us.”
“I’d like to see him try,” Hale says.
Daisy pats his arm to calm him. Despite Hale’s best intentions, we all know the Killers Club have enough resources to make the three of them disappear. Alaric wouldn’t think twice about murdering a child. He has no limits.
“Where does this leave us now?” Seb asks. “What do you want us to do?”
“I’ve been working on my plan for years,” Stephanie says. “If Alaric dies, I take over, and we’re all free from his spell.”
“This has always been about power for you,” I say. “You’re hungry for it.”
Stephanie has used her beauty and charm to wheedle her way to the top of the food chain. If I wasn’t so mightily pissed off, the lengths she’s gone to would almost be impressive.
“I am,” she replies. “And you’re all going to help me get what I want.”
“If we don’t want to work for you, what’s in it for us?” Seb asks.
“Aside from money and immunity from the best group of assassins in the world?” She giggles. “I’ll throw in Alaric’s head.”
“You can mount it on your wall, thanks,” I say.
“Maybe I will,” she purrs. “I can imagine he’d look fetching above a fireplace.”
I can’t decide who is more evil: Stephanie or Alaric, and which of them I’d rather have as the Killers Club’s leader.
Stephanie must sense my shift as she rises and approaches me.
“I am sorry I couldn’t tell you about your sister,” she says. Her words sound believable, reminding me of my old friend when she held her psychopathic urges at bay. “But I will make it right.”
After everything we’ve been through, I can’t believe a word she says. On the one hand, I don’t want to give her the power and control she desperately craves. But, if we agreed, it might help keep Daisy and her family safe.
“I’ll help you for Daisy’s sake,” I say. “But I can’t speak on behalf of the Dukes.”
Stephanie arches an eyebrow. Contrary to whatever she thinks is going on between us, the Dukes and I aren’t one entity.
“What’s it going to be, Freddie?”
“That’s not for me to decide,” Freddie replies. “This is Seb’s decision to make.”
“Well, well, well…” Stephanie whirls around while Seb draws himself up to full height and crosses his arms to appear intimidating. Stephanie has eaten men like him for breakfast, so she doesn’t blink at his menacing expression. “It looks like you’ve finally got your seat on the throne. What’s your decision, Prince Charming? Are the Dukes going into battle with us?”
“This could be another of your games,” Seb says. “How are we to know you’re not playing us?”
“You’re still alive, aren’t you?” She smiles. “Don’t think that’s an accident.”
“If we help, we’ll get immunity and freedom. The Dukes, both Ivy’s, and Daisy,” he says. “For good.”
“Consider it done,” she says. “After I get full control, I don’t see myself sticking around in the UK for long. I plan to return to Italy, and someone else can handle operations here. I’ll have wine, vineyards, and our mafia friends to keep me busy—what more could a girl want?” She holds out her hand for him to shake. “Do we have a deal?”
Seb looks at it for a few seconds, then shakes it. “Done.”
At that moment, Ivy screams from the other room. Hale launches himself across the suite like an animal possessed and leaps over the sofa in one jump. Daisy and I follow close behind him. When we walk in, my hands fly to my mouth in surprise, and a laugh escapes my lips.
Callen is on all fours, and Ivy has climbed onto his back. She’s pretending he’s a horse, yanking his long hair and using it as reigns. She squeals happily as he bucks and makes a horsey noise, almost causing her to slip off, but stops just in time to catch her.
“Again!” she demands. “Again!”
Hale isn’t having it. He grabs her and hauls her into his arms. Callen returns to two legs, running his hands through his hair, trying to appear cool and regain some of his street cred.
“That’s not fair,” Ivy argues. “I want to go again! Daddy Hale, please!”
“You’ve played enough games for today,” he says firmly.
“But we’ve had so much fun,” she says. “We built a blanket fort, then Cally?—”
Bram snickers at the new nickname. I guess Callen doesn’t seem scary when you have a dad like Hale.
“Cally made up the coolest story about a princess and a dragon and they?—”
“It’s time we leave, Ivy,” Daisy says.
“Can I see Cally another day?” she asks. “Please!”
Daisy purses her lips begrudgingly. “Maybe.”
Callen waves at her sheepishly. “See you around, kid.”
We all file out to find Stephanie and Seb wrapping up their conversation.
“We’ll see you in a few days,” she says, wiggling her fingers in farewell. “We’ll be in touch.”
As the three of them pass, I can’t stop myself from reaching out and grabbing Daisy’s arm. She winces like I’ve burned her, causing me to drop my hold instantly.
“Can we talk?” I ask. “Please.”
“We have to go,” she says, then offers me the tiniest hint of a smile. “Maybe another time.”
I nod, stepping back while Bram’s hand rests on the small of my back. I can’t push her. She’s not ready yet, but the ghost of a smile gives me something I haven’t felt in a long time. Hope.
Maybe we could rebuild our relationship one day. I’d like to be part of their little family and get to know my niece. But, for now, we have to remove the major obstacle standing in our way.
Alaric.