Chapter Thirteen #3
The commotion had drawn Coby out of bed, who took one look at me bleeding all over the marble floor and ran to my side.
It took almost an hour to console her and then another ten minutes to peel her off me once she was convinced I wasn’t dying.
Niamh had finished patching up Abel and moved to help me, but Coby wouldn’t let my cousin touch me, so Niamh patiently showed her how to stitch my side where the glass had cut me.
“Who did this to you?” Her horrified whisper drew Abel’s attention, but one look from me silenced him before he could pop off.
After sending Niamh home, the three of us retreated to the office that I rarely used since I was never home.
I took a seat behind my desk and pulled Coby to stand between my spread legs.
She’d been asleep, so she was only wearing a dark pink nightgown that was now stained with my blood and a matching robe that was left open.
“Why are we in here?” She sniffled and tossed a concerned glance at Abel, who was across the room, angrily pacing a hole in my imported rug. “A-are you going to tell me what happened now?”
Leaning back in my chair, I rubbed my temples. “Coby…I need you to be honest with me, baby, and it needs to happen now. Do you understand?”
“Y-yes, I think so, but you’re scaring me.”
I swallowed the apology on my lips and held her gaze. “What the fuck is going on between you and Hunter?”
“What?” She visibly paled, and I felt my eyes narrowing at the nearly imperceptible step she took away from me. “What are you talking about? I already told you. She’s my best friend.”
“Cut the bullshit!” Abel roared. The stitches in his cheek that Niamh had just sewn together stretched tautly with his anger. “That bitch just tried to blow us up! Ain’t no friend doing all of that!”
“Aye!” I shouted at my head of security. “Unless you want me to finish what Hunter started, check your goddamn tone when you’re speaking to my wife.”
I heard a gasp and swung my attention back to Coby.
“What is he talking about? Are you saying Hunter did this?” Coby’s gaze swung back and forth between Abel and me.
I honestly didn’t know if her confusion was genuine or a ploy to throw me off the scent, and that’s what worried me, especially when her next question made it even more clear where her allegiance stood, even now. “Is she okay?”
Abel tossed back his head and laughed hoarsely at the ceiling before staring at me like I was the dumbest man in the world. “What more proof do you need, Ocean? Open your goddamn eyes. You almost get blown to pieces, but your wifeis only worried if Hunter is okay.”
“First of all, I can clearly see that my man is fine, so how about you kiss my ass? You don’t know me!”
Abel’s only response was to suck his teeth and then kick a chair across the room, which made Coby jump. And that I couldn’t have.
“Abel…” I inhaled a calming breath. “Go take a walk, man. I got this.” It was an order that he knew to follow because I was one more dirty look thrown at my girl from fucking him up.
Abel left without another word but made sure to slam the door so hard that a framed picture of my great-grandfather fell from the wall and crashed to the floor.
I didn’t react. Quiet as it was kept, I understood his anger. Would I go to war for Abel? The closest person I had to a friend?
Yes.
But I would be smart about it. I wouldn’t recklessly throw myself into the line of fire when there was a smarter way.
Hunter had won a few battles, but the war was far from over when it had barely even begun.
Most importantly, she couldn’t win. Eventually, when her rage subsided and reality set in, she would be forced to see that.
The question is, would it matter? Or would she throw her life away to rescue a friend who didn’t care to be saved?
If Hunter kept going like this, by the time she realized it was all for nothing, that Coby was here of her own free will, and that she was marrying me because she wanted to (something I don’t think even Coby has realized yet), it would be too late.
My mercy and that of the Fola would be long spent.
The crushing weight of that impending eventuality had me replaying my argument with Abel on the way home.
“Ocean, this bitch is drawing too much attention,” he argued. “She’s more than just some loose end. She’s clearly a threat. We need to neutralize her right fucking now.”
“I’m not killing my wife’s best friend.”
“You think it will be any different once your father finds out who’s doing this and puts a price on her head?”
No.
It won’t.
Coby would still blame me, and rightfully so.
I’ve been dealing with Hunter with one hand tied behind my back and wrapped in kid gloves because of what she meant to my wife, but as the death toll rose, it was becoming clear that it wouldn’t be enough.
Coby was soft and ripe for the picking like a grazing doe in the woods, but Hunter was clearly a different kind of animal. She was an apex predator stalking from the shadows and just waiting for the right moment to pounce. Like me.
It was past time I started acting accordingly.
Resting my head back against the seat, I closed my eyes and prayed to God I’d have the strength to resist temptation. I waited for an answer, but God was woefully silent, making it clear I was on my own.
All too quickly, the SUV turned into the underground garage at Glainne. I’d run out of time, so I opened my eyes and met Abel’s bloodthirtsty gaze. Anticipation was already injecting itself into my veins, setting my blood on fire at the promise of possessing Hunter soon.
The chess pieces were already moving, except this time from the opposing side of the board.
Pawns, knights, and rooks were knocked over as the second-tallest piece—and easily the most important—did the unthinkable.
The impossible. It slid across the center of the board until it stood tall by my side.
Two queens, one king.
With that eager burn stirring in my gut, I gave the order that I’ve been resisting for far too long because I knew…
I fucking knew that it could shatter everything.
“Find Hunter. Bring her to me. Spread the word that I want her captured alive and make it known to everyone that anyone caught helping Hunter Parrish will be dealt with.”
Coby’s best friend now had the highest bounty on her head in all of Black Veil.
She was officially duine gun fàilte2. Persona non grata.
Hunter was all alone and had nowhere to run except straight into me.
“Coby, is Hunter your girlfriend?” I questioned softly.
It was an unusual thing to ask about platonic friends when there was no real evidence to suggest otherwise—only my gut feeling.
Coby’s brows dipped a little as she subtly shook her head, only to wince as if the denial—or the acknowledgement of the truth—pained her.
None of it escaped my notice. Not even the sharp little inhale or the way she slightly turned her head to discreetly blink away her tears.
Tamping my need to turn this room inside out, I kept my tone gentle and patient because it was what she needed. “Was she ever?”
My bride, who was already my wife in my heart, was slower to answer this time.
“No.” Looking up from the floor where her attention had been, she finally met my gaze.
“Hunter was never my girlfriend. She’s my sister.
If she did this, it’s because she’s angry and scared.
Wouldn’t you be if someone took me from you and you didn’t know if I was alive or dead?
” Yes. But I remained silent as I listened.
“I told you, Ocean. We’ve never been apart. You need to let me see her.”
Inhaling deeply, I could feel the ice forming around my heart and bleeding into my tone as I spoke. “Hunter is backing herself into a very dark corner,” I explained while ignoring her request. “Her actions tonight cemented that. I’m sorry, mo aingeal, but it’s war.”
“What?” Coby blinked and took an astonished step back. “W-what does that mean?”
“It means,” I said slowly, “that I don’t have to imagine how scared and angry your friend is feeling because I would never and will never allow anyone to take you from me. Hunter included.”
In my peripheral vision, I spotted the door to the office slowly creeping open and someone quietly slipping through. I kept my gaze straight ahead at Coby, who was currently eyeing the paperweight on my desk.
“What are you going to do?” she asked nervously.
“What I have to.”
Coby lunged for the small, round glass with an ocean wave trapped inside its prison, but still rising high to swallow and drown everything within its orbit. Ironically, it was a cherished and recent engagement gift to me. From my wife.
“NOOO!” She screamed when Abel grabbed her before she could bash my head in with it.
Fuck, I loved this rare side of Coby just as much as her sweet and softer side.
Abel lifted her up and carried her away from me as she kicked and screamed.
It was all I could do not to kill my loyal friend for touching her.
He was just following my orders after all.
“Ocean! Don’t you touch her! Leave her alone!
I’ll fucking kill you! Do you hear me? Ocean! ”
Abel carried her out, and the door to my office slammed closed behind them, leaving me to sit in the dark alone. I didn’t move long after my baby’s enraged screams had faded.
She’d probably never forgive me, but it was a risk I was willing to take since I was more than committed to making sure my wife had all her heart’s desires, even the ones she was determined to keep from me.
But this new game of ours was a delicate, treacherous one, and I had no moves to spare, so it must be played carefully.
1 . Blood in, blood out.
2 . An unwelcome person.