Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
Frost
“Where are we going?” I caught up with Chelsea and Dallas before they could get into her car. He looked like his usual, sullen self, but she looked pensive. It wasn’t difficult to figure out why. Because of that, I decided to invite myself along.
I sensed another presence behind me before Storm spoke.
“Same question.” He stood beside me and rested his elbow on my shoulder like he was pretending to be casual. From a distance, it would look like we were having a pleasant chat. Close up, none of us were fooled. The air was laced with tension.
Chelsea glanced over at us, some of the tension leaving her body. She jangled the keys in her hand. “We’re going on a field trip. You boys want to tag along?”
“If we’re not intruding,” I said at the same time as Storm said, “Yes.”
Dallas looked like he thought we were very much intruding.
Before he could say anything, Chelsea put her hand on his arm.
“They should come too. This involves all of us.” She caught my eye and gave me a slight nod.
I half wanted to turn and walk away right now, but curiosity and the fact these people were my family, forced my feet forward to climb into the back of the car.
Storm looked annoyed at having to sit in the back, but he got as close to me as possible. “You sure about this?” he said in my ear.
“More than I should be,” I replied.
I wasn’t exactly sure where Chelsea was taking us, but I made a few educated guesses. I sat back to enjoy the ride, grooving along to Ice Blue Roses playing through the car speakers. “I love this song.”
“You act like we’re going on a road trip,” Storm said.
I grinned. “Aren’t we? We have a car, us and good music. What more could anyone want?” I knew what I wanted, but I didn’t dare to hope. That might be too much when it came to introducing Dallas to the real Dusk Bay. I was still slightly horrified at myself, but I was ready to embrace that part of me. As long as I stayed within the right boundaries, I could feed my darkest needs. And do it with a smile.
“At least she didn’t invite Atlas,” he grumbled.
“He might be meeting us there,” I said lightly. I couldn’t help trying to stir him up a little bit. He knew as well as I did that if Chelsea wanted to get involved with him too, that’s what would happen. None of us would try to stop it.
Storm grunted. He muttered something that sounded like ‘asshole,’ but it didn’t seem to be directed at me.
I had an idea of how to bring the two together, but that would have to wait until after this. I made a note to speak to Chelsea about it. Although, I had no doubt she’d agree. The better we all got along with each other, the better it was for her. We’d all do anything for her, so why not stop hating on Atlas?
Chelsea pulled the car up in front of a nondescript building on the edge of Dusk Bay. The facade was dark, almost oppressive, like a modern Gothic building.
“What is this place?” Dallas asked.
“You’ll see,” Chelsea said. She shot us all a dazzling smile before climbing out of the car and heading towards the front door of the building.
I exchanged confused looks with Storm, but hurried to follow her.
We caught up with her as a man in a dark suit opened the door and looked appraisingly at all four of us. His gaze lingered on Chelsea, but the air of danger around him suggested it was better to let it go. This time.
This wasn’t someone I could strangle and leave for someone else to deal with. I suspected if I tried anything, I’d be the one lying dead. I couldn’t see a weapon, but I was almost certain he had one.
“Welcome, Miss Miller,” he finally said. He stood aside and nodded for us to enter.
I hesitated, but Chelsea lifted her chin and stepped inside like she owned the place. If she thought it was safe to enter, I guessed it was. Hoped it was.
We walked down a short corridor and into an opulent room that made my jaw drop.
The walls and leather furniture were black, as were the sleek tables that took up much of the space. Gold light fittings hung from the ceiling, dripping with crystals. Even the floors, a dark hardwood, looked expensive.
Those weren’t even the most expensive looking things in the room. Several men and women sat around the tables. Their clothes alone would have fed a small country for a year. In track pants and a Smashers hoodie, I felt underdressed.
“I think we just stepped into the nineteen twenties,” Storm said.
“Chelsea!” A dark-haired woman a handful of years older than her hopped up from a chair and hurried over to give Chelsea a hug. “I haven’t seen you in ages.”
“Daze!” Chelsea hugged her back. “I was hoping you’d be here.”
“Where else would I be on a Tuesday?” Daze asked. “Mina is here too. Come and sit with us.” She glanced appraisingly at us.
“Guys, this is Daisy LaSalle,” Chelsea introduced. “Daze, this is Storm Keller, Dallas Gregory and Daniel Frost.”
“My friends call me Frost.” I offered Daze my hand.
She eyed it for a moment before she shook it. “It’s nice to meet you, Frost. And you too,” she said to the other guys. She hooked her arm through Chelsea’s and led her over to a table. “What brings all of you here today?”
A dainty, dark-haired woman sat at a table in the corner, a dark-haired man beside her. He had a similar air to Ice, and the man at the door. A smile hovered around the corners of his lips, but he looked like he could pull out a knife and slash open a throat without blinking.
“Gianni.” He leaned over the table to shake my hand. “This is Mina.”
Mina nodded, but kept her hands in her lap. She gave me the impression she was watching everything and absorbing it for future reference. If I was going to be intimidated by anyone in this room, it would be her.
Ironic, given she was at least half my size. I’d lived long enough to know not to underestimate a woman. And in this place? Even more so.
“Storm and Frost have recently been introduced to the real Dusk Bay,” Chelsea was saying as she slid into a chair beside Daze. “I thought this would be a good way to show Dallas.”
Dallas sat on the other side of Chelsea and looked confused. His eyes kept darting from her, to me, to the other people around the table and back to her. “Rich people in some kind of secret club?”
“It’s an exclusive club,” Gianni said. “This is where people come to make deals. And they make a fabulous martini.” He nodded towards the drink on the table in front of him.
“What kind of deals?” Storm asked.
“All kinds,” Gianni said. “Some of them are even legal.”
“We didn’t just step back into the nineteen twenties,” I said. “We stepped into a speakeasy, like in the mafia movies.”
“Not just movies.” Gianni picked up his drink, toasted me and took a sip.
Dallas frowned. “What the fuck?” He stared at Chelsea, the cogs and wheels almost visibly turning in his mind. “Are you saying this is some kind of mafia place?”
“Basically,” she said simply. “The people in this room run Dusk Bay.”
“We run the country,” Mina said quietly. “Most of it anyway.”
“Holy shit,” I whispered. This went way beyond strangling one woman.
I’d had a sense of something the moment I walked in the room. Now I knew what it was. It was a hum of power. It drew me like a magnet. Grabbed me in a stranglehold and held me with possibilities I never considered before.
“Are we a part of that now?”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dallas demanded. “You’re some kind of mafia princess?” His hazel eyes were wide. He only blinked every once in a while, trying to get his head around what he was hearing.
“I wouldn’t exactly describe myself that way, but yes,” Chelsea said.
“Me too,” Daze said with a smile. “Mina is more like a mafia queen. One of her boyfriends is the head of all of this.” She gestured around the room.
Mina inclined her head.
“That makes me a queen too,” Gianni said cheerfully. “Or a king. I’ll happily own both of those.”
“I don’t—” Dallas shook his head. “The mafia are criminals. They launder money, bribe people, threaten and all that shit.”
“Give the boy a gold star,” Gianni said. “We do all of those things and a lot more. In return, we get to live like this.” He raised his drink again, his tattooed fingers curled around the base of the glass.
“Sign me the fuck up,” I said softly. I was already in this up to my eyeballs, but the more they talked about it, the more involved I wanted to be. How far could this go? I had no illusions about becoming a mob boss, but the connections I could make would be a game changer.
I glanced over at Storm. He looked thoughtful, maybe resistant, but he nodded.
“Me too,” he said finally. His gaze held caution, but he wasn’t going to be left behind. Knowing him, he was already trying to figure out how to elbow people like Gianni out of the way. Fortunately, I knew he wouldn’t be rash and get himself killed. At least, I hoped he wouldn’t. That would suck.
All of our eyes turned to Dallas.
His attention was on Chelsea. “You’re okay with this?”
“It doesn’t matter whether I am or whether I’m not,” she said. “This is the reality of Dusk Bay.” One she’d clearly had a long time to get used to. One that seemed intent on sucking her back in, even though she didn’t want to get involved.
Dallas glanced over to me and Storm. “You knew?”
“Only recently,” I said. “We agreed you should know as soon as possible.”
“Right.” He frowned and turned back to Chelsea. “Whatever you’re into, I’m into. Even if it is as fucked up as it sounds.” He wasn’t completely convinced, but it didn’t matter. If the option was walking away from her, he’d stick around and let her drag him into anything. That look in his eyes wasn’t just obsession. He was head over heels in love with her. She could have asked him to walk into the ocean and he would have. He was absolutely gone.
“He says fucked up like it’s a bad thing,” Gianni remarked.
Daze grinned. “It takes some getting used to, but we could always use three more big, muscly guys like you. Right, Mina?”
“Possibly,” she said. “Only if they’re an asset.”
“You sound like Caleb,” Daze teased.
Whoever Caleb was, Mina looked unimpressed at the comparison.
Daze was completely undeterred. “Are there any more like these three?”
“You have three boyfriends already,” Chelsea said flatly.
Daze snorted. “I don’t need any more boyfriends. Rugby players are known for being smart as well as muscular. That’s a good combination when it comes to our operations.”
“That’s accurate,” Storm said. “We’re both.” Grudgingly he added, “Some of the other guys on the team are too.”
“I know they are,” Daze said. “Some of them already work for us.”
I almost choked on air. “They do?”
She turned to me and smiled. “Absolutely.”
I gaped at her when she started to name names.