Chapter 5
Chapter Five
Chelsea
"It appears to me you lied," Jones said, dark eyes on me as I appeared in the light from his vehicle. "Miss Miller seems to be very much right here."
"Doctor Miller," I corrected.
"So she does," Ramsey agreed.
"You can’t have her," Storm growled. "You might as well get back in your car and fuck off right now."
Jones clicked his tongue. "Storm Keller. Is that any way to talk to the new owner of the Dusk Bay Smashers?"
Storm did a double take. "Bullshit. You don't own the team. Even if you did, you're not taking my woman."
"Our woman," Atlas said.
"Argue another time," Jay told them.
"You don't own the Smashers," Ramsey said.
Without taking his eyes off me, Jones smiled. "Not yet, but soon. I look forward to replacing all of you."
Frost snorted derisively. "Good luck with that. First of all, we don't believe you're getting your hands on the team. Secondly, the team is winning with us. Unless you want to lose."
"You're not the only, or even the best, players in the country," Jones sneered. "If you behave, I might let you stay. I can give… Doctor Miller her job back."
"Why would you do that?" I asked. Clearly he wanted something in return. I suspected the price would be too high for me to pay. My soul, perhaps? My body, definitely.
"Why would I not want the best working for me?" he asked.
"You just said you want to trade us out," Frost said.
Jones' gaze slid to him. "Who said anything about trading you? I said I wanted to replace you."
"I think he means he plans to kill us," Storm said. He sounded unimpressed.
"You know, I think you're right," Frost said. "I find that even more objectionable. Also unlikely. I don't know if you know anything about football, but usually if one team has more guys on the field than the other, they tend to win. It's called a numbers advantage. Have you heard of it?"
Jones glared at him, his eyes narrowed.
I thought back to the last time I saw him in Flirts, watching me disappear into a room with Storm and Dallas. He gave me the creeps then. That hadn't changed one bit.
What would I have done if he approached me back then? I would have had Divina's support to tell him no, but would he have come after me like this if I had?
Back then, I wasn't surrounded by six muscular rugby players. I would have been a much easier target. Why hadn't he made his move then? I supposed because people would have noticed me not turning up to work. Now, they wouldn't give a shit. I had no work to turn up to.
"I'm sure you're also well aware that a professional team, even with a numbers advantage, would destroy an amateur one," Jones said. "Do any of you even know how to use a gun?"
"I do," I said. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now."
"Because you want to return to the Smashers," he said.
"I'm your only chance of doing that. Once the sale is finalised, I'll tell the press the report they published was all a pack of lies.
They got you mixed up with someone else.
You can get on with your life, treating the players.
I'll even make sure you replace Doctor Stuart when he retires. "
"You're not thinking about doing that, are you?" Dallas asked frantically.
"Of course she's not," Storm snapped. "Get a grip."
"What would you want in return?" I called out.
"You," he said. "That's all. You can get on with your life, more or less. The one thing that would change is you’d be mine. I'm a reasonable man. Also a very rich one. I can give you everything you want and need."
"As long as I'm your fuck toy," I stated.
He responded with a brief laugh at the back of his throat. "If you want to put it like that, yes. Surely that would be better than being a fuck toy for six meat heads?" He gestured around to the guys.
"Rude," Frost remarked. "Anyway, Chelsea is not a toy. She loves us and we love her, right, Chels?"
I thought back to when Storm and I met. He told me then that I was his fuck toy. That I belonged to him and would do what he told me to do.
At the time, I hadn't minded, Now, the memory, and hearing it from Jones, hit hard.
For so long, that was all I was. All I saw myself as. Just a body for men to stare at and fuck. I'd loved every minute of it, but right now I felt pared down to nothing but an object.
Dallas pulled me closer, trembling hand still gripping my wrist. "Chels? You're not a fuck toy. You're a fucking goddess. We all worship you, body, heart and mind. I won't let anyone treat you differently." He was almost begging now. Pleading for me to stay with him.
"Me either," Jay said. "Can I kill this prick now?" He waved his gun in the general direction of Jones.
"Same question," Frost said. "I know you love working for the team, but you're not going to let yourself be used by him, right?"
"Of course she's not," Storm snapped. "What sort of dumbass question is that?"
"Judging by the look on her face, a reasonable one," Jones said. "She can come with me willingly, or over all of your dead bodies." He nodded and his minions stepped in closer, guns pointed at us.
"You're still out—" Frost stopped mid-sentence as several other minions stepped out of the cars behind Jones'. "Fuck."
Jones chuckled. "You were saying? It seems to me that I have the numbers advantage. Assuming you can count past six."
"This guy is starting to piss me off," Storm growled. "For one thing, there's eight of us, dickhead. In case you can't count that high."
"That doesn't change the fact there are now a twelve well-trained guns aimed at you," Jones said without flinching.
"You might take out one or two, but none of you will walk away.
Not unless Chelsea comes with me right now.
If she does, I'll let all of you go. I'm sure it won't take you long to find another pussy to fuck.
I'm surprised you shared at all, much less for this long. I won't be sharing her with anyone."
"Chelsea," Dallas pleaded again. "Please don't."
"What choice do I have?" I whispered. "If I don't go with him, all of you will be dead. He'll take me anyway."
"I'd rather be dead," he whispered.
"He's right," I said. "You'll find someone else. Forget all about me and get on with your lives."
"With you working for the team?" Frost asked, looking confused.
"I won't go back there," I said.
I knew how this would really go down. None of them would ever see me again. Not at the stadium, not at a game, nowhere. I'd never see any of their faces again, for as long as I lived. These were our last moments together.
They had to be. I couldn't let them be killed for me. Not when they had lives to live.
"You can't be serious?" Storm snarled. "There's no fucking way you're going with him. Let him kill us, if he can. I'm not letting this happen."
"It doesn't seem to me like you have a choice," Jones said easily. "She's made hers. Be a good boy and respect it."
Storm let out a bark-laugh so loud, I flinched. "I haven't been a good boy yet and I don't intend to start trying. Eat shit, asshole." He raised his gun and aimed it at Jones.
"Wait." Ramsey trotted down the front steps of the cottage to stand approximately between us and Jones. "I'm sure we can end this without bloodshed."
"I prefer bloodshed," Storm said. His hand was unwavering, still aiming carefully.
"Ramsey is right," I said. "No one needs to die here today."
"I'm okay with this asshole leaving right now," Storm said.
"Me too." Atlas raised his own gun and aimed it at the cartel leader.
Jones rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Atlas Underwood. I have to admit, you did a good job of pretending to be on their side. Even I was convinced for a while there.” He started to clap slowly.
"This is going to be quite the blow to the Brantley family.
You would have been a valuable asset for them.
What a shame you're loyal to me instead.”
I stared at Atlas at the same time Storm said, "What the fuck?”
Jones continued. "You can stop pretending now. You and Jayden Lang there. You've done a commendable job infiltrating these… people. I need you back with me now."
"First our intelligence, now our humanity," Frost grumbled.
"This asshole really knows how to insult people.
" He held his own gun loosely in his hand.
Ready, but not entirely certain which direction to aim it.
He clearly didn't want to accept that Atlas was working for Jones, any more than I did.
It made no sense, but at the same time it made too much sense.
My heart was cracking right down the middle. Atlas and Jay used all of us. Right from the start, everything they said was a lie. To think I trusted them, gave myself to them. Right now, I wanted to throw up on their shoes. Or shoot them both in the head.
"Not insulting, just stating facts," Jones said, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil in my mind.
"Thanks, boss." Atlas lowered the gun.
Jay looked over at him sharply, but didn't protest.
"I might even reconsider sharing Chelsea,” Jones said smoothly. “She seems to like both of you."
My stomach turned harder.
Frost looked white as a sheet. He stared at Jay and Atlas like he'd never seen either of them before. He didn't even try to hide his hurt. They might as well rip his heart out and stomp all over it.
If that was a lie, what else was? I was starting to question everything I thought I knew.
Atlas glanced over at Jay and nodded. "It’s about time. I'm sick of pretending to like these dickheads." He stepped away from us and turned to aim his gun at Storm's face.
After a moment, Jay followed him.
"What the fuck?" Frost gaped at them. "You can't be fucking serious?"
Jay looked pained, but Atlas turned his gaze to me and jerked his head towards Jones' car. "Let's go."
"No," Dallas groaned. "Please."
"He could be useful, boss," Atlas said over his shoulder. "He was the one who killed India."
"Bring him then," Jones said after a few moments of contemplation.
Dallas looked from me to Storm, to Atlas and back to me. "Wherever she goes, I go."
"You fucking suck," Frost told him. He was starting to look defeated. His shoulders slumped, gun still hanging from his fingers.
Storm shook his head. "This isn't happening."
"It's happening," Atlas told him. "Chelsea." His face was a mask, cold and expressionless. He barely looked like the man I knew. Thought I knew. This man was a complete stranger. Worse than a stranger. He was the enemy. He had been all along. What else had he done to us? What had Jay done to us?
I didn’t want to look at either of them. All this time, they'd been working for the other side, pretending to be with us? Pretending to care about me? Had I really been that stupid? Yes, apparently I had. Stupid, blind and in love with someone who didn't give a shit about me.
My heart ached like hell. I clung on to Dallas while I stepped over to the car and slipped into the back seat.
Dallas crowded in beside me, sitting as close as he could. Jay sat on the other side, keeping a safer distance.
I glanced out the window at Frost's devastated face, as he stood between Ramsey and Storm, Max Stanley behind them, watching us drive away.