Chapter 37
CHAPTER
THIRTY-SEVEN
Xavier
I n my head I can fucking hear Killian. I don’t even need to have individual words because his meaning couldn’t be clearer.
He wants to know why I didn’t have the door locked.
I did. I unlocked it at the sight of a sleek, expensive car and the three figures step out.
But what I don’t bother telling Killian is what he already knows. Trouble’s something I can spot, just like him.
Unlike him, I don’t conflate anger and prejudice with my perception of trouble.
I swallow. Trouble comes in all shapes, from all walks of life. This isn’t it.
At least, it’s not trouble out for us or Iris.
As the woman enters, cane in hand, she narrows eyes on Iris as Emmie drops a crayon. The smack of it hitting the ground is the only sound as my kid stares up at the regal woman in awe.
Iris knows the woman. And she’s wild-eyed like she’s been caught, elbow-deep in the cookie jar.
No, the only time the woman would do something that might hurt us is if we’d hurt Iris, though I don’t pick up any family resemblance or even super closeness.
“Is you a queen?” Emmie breathes.
“You must be Emmie,” the woman says kindly.
“Icy, she knows me. Am I a queen?”
I hide my smile at her leap over the title princess. That’s Emmie. And that’s what we’re fighting for. Equality beyond allowing movement between classes and birthrights. But letting Omegas be more than mothers.
“If we had a queen in this part of the world, you’d be it,” the woman says, eyes now on Iris. “Are you okay?”
Iris nods and the woman sighs, a little of the regal puff leaving her.
And now I recognize her.
But Killian either doesn’t or doesn’t care, but he makes a very low sound which galvanizes me into action. I move in front of Killian to stop him doing something stupid.
No, not doing. Saying. He’d only ever hurt someone in front of Emmie if they threatened her.
And Iris…
He might pretend to Iris the connection’s biological, sexual, but that’s not true. She wouldn’t be here if that were true. And she wouldn’t be anywhere near Emmie, either.
But Killian’s got a lot of baggage he holds tight, and his anger’s more poisonous than mine.
Once it was. But he took care of that, took on the burden of crimes done to me, made me a better man.
So I’ll return the favor and stop him ending up in prison.
In this world if it came down to me or him, he’d be Emmie’s best bet. He’d be able to disappear where it would be almost impossible for me.
“Move,” he growls.
No. She’s rich, powerful and she’s ? —
“Don’t say on our side,” he hisses so only I hear.
I don’t turn to face him. There are sides to a side, Kil. She isn’t against us. And she knows Iris. I think that’s the Penrith lady her sister was talking about, so they’re related via her sister.
“That’s not the point right now.”
It is if you want to make our agenda happen. We need Iris out of here and you throwing around threats might implode everything. Right now, this woman’s going to help. Guarantee it.
“Pen, I…” Iris swallows. “This is?—”
“I know the infamous Black Briar,” Penrith says. “And who the occupants are.”
The woman stands with two servants in our bar, looking more at home than some people who were born and raised in the Lower Side do.
She lifts her head and stares me in the eye as an equal, like someone who doesn’t fear me, like she has only one agenda and that’s Iris.
“Here’s the deal,” she says. “Iris wasn’t here. Except for today.”
“And who are you to tell us what to do?” Killian snaps immediately, pushing past me.
Penrith walks up to Killian, and I’m not about to shove him into a wall in front of Emmie.
I reach to pull him back but Penrith isn’t fazed.
Although most Omegas are female and most Alphas are male, it isn’t always the case, and Penrith is one of those cases.
She’s a female Alpha. Like the Monarch, her sister.
She signs to me. We do business and I’d like to do more. Officially. She stops, flickers a glance at Killian. “If that’s okay with you.”
“Depends on the deal.”
“Heath’ll be coming here looking for his sister. Emmie?” Now she turns to our kid and bends down, holding out her hand. How she knows Em’s name is beyond me. “You’re smart. Can you keep Iris being here a secret, except arriving with me today?”
“Daddy and Papa said lying is bad.”
“This is true, but omission is sometimes okay. To help Iris?” Penrith asks.
Emmie looks up at me, and I smile and sign, It’s okay.
So she nods.
“The deal?” Killian asks.
“We came by to check out your place because I’ll be hosting the next ball.” She says this with all the pleasure someone might have toward dentistry. Grimly.
“It’ll be hosted in Iris’s honor. Midnight Garden. I want a drink made for that.” Then her gaze goes to her servant on the left. “Give Iris your jacket, and can someone show Alain out the back?”
“We didn’t discuss payment,” Killian says sweetly.
She smiles. “I can sign. Your business partner, Xavier’s smart. We’ll work it out when he visits tomorrow.”
The servant takes off the jacket, and to my surprised, he’s dressed like anyone from the Lower Side. Ripped jeans, the scuffed chunky boots, a black T-shirt, and a satchel slung over his shoulder.
When he hands his jacket to Iris, Freya leads him through the bar.
Suddenly Emmie clocks it when Iris pulls it on. And her lips start to tremble. “No Icy, you… you are staying. You are staying. Stay.”
“I’ll see you soon, Emmie. I promise.”
“Iris, do up the jacket, please. Hood too. We need to go.” Penrith turns to me, but her words are for both me and Killian. “We have a deal?”
Before he can answer, the door bursts open again, and one furious Heath Gardener storms in.
“Where’s my—” He stops, nearly bumping into Emmie. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t see…”
Emmie sighs, holding her hands together. “Hellooo. Who are you?”
He somehow seems to conjure sun and smiles because he suddenly goes down on one knee to kiss my girl’s hand. “Hello, there. I’m Heath.”
“You are so pretty,” she says and blinks at him.
“I think that’s you.”
God. Emmie basically swoons. She’s fucking four. I have a horror filled glimpse of her grown up and surrounded by men.
“Heath,” Pen says, not unkindly. “What are you doing stampeding in here like some wild animal?”
He raises to his feet again and takes in the room. The glower returns to his face. “I’m taking my sister home. Now.” He marches over and goes to grab her arm, but Penrith’s cane swings out to stop him.
“If you drag her out of here in a tizzy, you’ll be creating a scene,” she says. “Iris has been with me this week, and we’re here now to discuss the drinks for the ball I’m holding. If you want, you can help out. Be joint host.”
“I’m not doing that,” he mutters.
“Mom will, though,” Iris says, eyes on Pen. “She’s love to.”
Wow, Pen is good . She may have saved all our asses.
“Iris has been with you?” he asks her hesitantly.
She nods. “Of course. That was the plan all along, wasn’t it?”
Heath eyes me, then Killian, and then he looks down at the shiny-eyed Emmie, and whatever he wanted to snap at us is shelved. “Well, yes, but?—”
“Then, again, I don’t understand why you are here, except to offer your assistance for the ball.”
Freya has come back and now leans over the counter. “I like her,” she whispers to me.
“So, Mr. Black,” Penrith says again to Killian. “Do we have a deal or not?”
I step outside as Penrith wraps things up like a pro. She’s so unlike the Monarch that I wonder how they could even be related. She’d be a great ally to have.
Pulling my cigarettes out of my pocket, I light up. With Emmie front and center and being paid compliments by Heath, Killian’s going to behave. Besides, the chance to officially supply a party, officially and not in an underground kind of way, is an opportunity we can’t turn down.
We’d be there, we’d get a feel of the land on the other side, and maybe we’ll get close to the Monarch, close enough to hold her down for a conversation.
The door opens and they leave. Iris is in between Penrith and the other servant, and her brother right behind. None of them look at me.
Iris is blocked from doing so.
Heath takes off in his car, and I wait, taking in the onlookers to see if anyone’s acting odd, or not from here, but it’s hard to tell as Penrith comes up to sign to me.
Tomorrow, midday.
I nod, and she turns and gets in her car. It takes off, and I continue to try and read the crowd as I smoke, but most go after the fancy cars do.
The ones who stay are other business owners.
And two people who are in the shadows. They leave, too.
Onlookers, I tell myself. People around here love a spectacle.
But I don’t know.
Iris changes everything.
And not just from the wild claiming and mating.
I fear I’ve fallen for her. Hard.
And I think Killian has, too.
But Killian refuses to operate with his heart. To him, love doesn’t matter. Killian would kill love for survival, to reach our goals.
Fuck. For Emmie, maybe I have to, too. And maybe Iris doesn’t love us back. She’s young, sheltered.
She could be a more devastating version of Tamara waiting to happen.
And that’s something we can’t allow.
Ever.