16. Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Sixteen
Damyr
I was on the cusp of cancelling the meeting and telling everyone to fuck off so I could go home and fuck Benjamin into the mattress until he screamed for me again. I couldn’t get that sound out of my ears or the taste of him off my tongue.
He was a vision tonight. Delectable. Beautiful. Goddamn fucking sinful . Where the hell did he get that corset vest from? The way it hugged his waist and accentuated his ass… fuck. My dick was still hard, and it was going to be an uncomfortable meeting if I couldn’t get myself under control. It didn’t help that I couldn’t take the edge off by drinking someone else’s blood. It had to Benjamin’s, but I couldn’t feed from him until I’d told him the truth. And fuck knows how I was going to do that. The last time I revealed myself to a human, it had ended in disaster.
Benjamin laughed at something Jace said and my hands tightened into fists. If that wolf didn’t back off from flirting with my mate, I was going to cut his balls off and wear them as a pair of earrings.
“You might want to stop growling, boss,” Vlad whispered in my ear. “You’re getting some strange looks.”
“Fuck,” I snapped. I took one last glance at Benjamin, my left eye twitching as Jace made him another drink, all smiles on his smug little face.
Fuck this.
I stormed over to the bar, my strides determined. As soon as I reached Benjamin, I spun him around on his stool, thrust my fingers into his hair and yanked his head backwards. He gasped in surprise, and I took my chance to sink my tongue deep into his mouth. I licked the roof his mouth and plunged my tongue down his throat in the dirtiest, filthiest kiss I could muster. Jace needed to know Benjamin was mine .
I brought the kiss to an end and was relieved to see that Jace had made himself scarce. Good. I didn’t want him anywhere near Benjamin.
I could hear Acheron sniggering but my focus was drawn to Benjamin as he blinked rapidly, his eyes losing their dazed look as the world came back into focus.
“Behave, Benjamin.” I traced his plump bottom lip with my thumb.
“If that’s your brand of punishment, I’m not sure your words are much of a deterrent.” His voice was breathy and low and there was a blush making its way up the side of his neck.
I wrapped my hand around his throat and pulled his face up to mine. I loved the sharp intake of breath that crossed his lips and the way his pulse fluttered beneath my thumb. It seemed like Benjamin liked a little bit of adrenaline flooding his system.
“Then why don’t you find out what happens when you push me.” I placed a soft kiss against the corner of his mouth and then released him, an adorable, confused expression tugging at his brows.
Then I turned on my heel and headed back towards the meeting room. Vlad fell into step beside me.
“Finished pissing all over your territory,” he drawled, a smirk curling his mouth.
I just growled at him in response and moved deeper into the building.
***
By the time I got to the meeting room, I was the last one to enter. Marcelle was sat with his brother, Remy and Dara sat with her wife Genevieve. Vlad and I took our seats, and a hush settled over the room.
This was going to be awkward whichever way I looked at it so I just cut to the chase. “We have a problem.”
“With your little human pet?” Marcelle asked. His dark brown hair was tucked behind his ears and his beard was getting longer every time I saw him. Soon he’d look more like a lumberjack than a wolf.
“No. With the fact that Remy fucked Lucia and then I got a dead body dropped at my door.”
Remy’s face paled slightly as Marcelle turned to look at his brother.
“You did what?” Marcelle hissed. Remy went to answer but he cut him off. “Nope. Actually, I don’t want to hear it.”
“I do,” Dara said cheerfully from across the table. “It’s been a while since we’ve discussed anything quite as remotely juicy as this.”
Genevieve leant forward, a perfectly manicured hand propping up her runway worthy face. “Pray tell, Remy. What scandal have you gotten yourself wrapped up in now?”
“He was a nobody!” Remy shouted. “Just some asshole that started mouthing off to Lucia.”
“You killed someone?!” Marcelle barked as he rose from his chair. “The fuck were you thinking?”
Vlad leant towards me, bringing his mouth to my ear and speaking in a low tone. “Perhaps it would be wise to intervene before hell breaks loose.”
I nodded my agreement and stood. “Marcelle. Your brother did not kill anyone. Maimed and injured, yes, but he didn’t kill him. And whilst I’m not here to condone his choice of lover, I can’t deny that he has crossed a line.”
“Who’s the dead guy?” Dara asked, her dark eyes watching me closer than I’d like.
I clenched my jaw and tried to think of something that might stop me from revealing a failure of my past, but I couldn’t. “Theo Montgomery.”
Genevieve let out a surprised laugh. “Wasn’t he already dead?”
“I thought so.” I sat back down and crossed one leg over the other with an attempt to portray a calmness that I certainly didn’t feel. “I don’t know where he’s been for the last few years, but somehow, he managed to stumble into Remy and Lucia and now I’m being blackmailed.”
“Well, this just keeps getting better,” Marcelle grumbled as he stroked a hand along his beard.
“Blackmailed by who?” Dara asked as she leant back in her chair. She was always calm, like nothing ever phased her. I sometimes wished I had less of a temperamental personality. I was more likely to shoot first and ask questions later whereas Dara was more reserved. Definitely a cooler head on her shoulders than I had. The Lavauex brothers were just hotheaded.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t seem to know very much, Damyr,” Genevieve added unnecessarily before leaning back to converse with her wife.
“Look, all I know so far, is that someone called Ronin delivered a corpse that he intentionally made to look like Remy had murdered him. There is CCTV footage of Remy attacking Theo and I was advised to, and I quote ‘do the right thing’.”
“Which was what exactly?” Remy asked, a nervous expression flitting across his face.
Vlad shot him a serious look. “What do you think, asshole?”
Remy sank back into his seat after that which I was grateful for. The guy was a whiny little bitch at the best of times but throw some adversity into the mix and he was an absolute pain in the fucking ass.
“And that’s not the worst of it,” I added. “He used my numbers guy to steal from me, so this mysterious Ronin has a copy of my ledgers.”
“The fuck?” Marcelled growled. “Do you know how much risk this carries for the rest of us?”
“Of course I do,” I snapped. “I’m not a fucking idiot. Which is why I buried the body instead of giving into his demands. I chose to protect you and our partnership over the whims of some half-baked blackmailer.”
“I appreciate that,” Marcelle said through gritted teeth while casting an angry look at his brother.
“I have money, and I have time. Rebuilding a criminal underworld is easy when you have those, but I hold the value of our partnership a lot higher. The only thing I ask of you all, is that you offer me the same faith if this Ronin reaches out to you.”
Dara stood and bowed. “You have the word of the Rowans. We will advise of any rumblings we hear. I will also send one of our witches to aid you.”
“I appreciate the gesture, but I already have—”
Genevieve scoffed. “Your charmer, Acheron, is nothing compared to one of our witches.”
Well, we could agree to disagree on that one. Acheron was one of the most powerful creatures I had ever come across, and I’d been around long enough to see a few. He was classed as a ‘Charmer’, a creature who weaved charms, but he was capable of much more than that. I had an inkling that he was of a similar ilk to the legendary powerful wizard, Merlin, but not even Acheron seemed to know the extent of his power. However, I wasn’t going to turn down the offer of help. “Thank you then. I would be glad to have them.”
“Perfect,” Dara said with a sly grin. “I’ll send my brother Wilder to you.”
I winced. Wilder Fucking Rowan. Exactly as his name suggested, he was as wild as they came. He was unlawful, unbiddable and clearly Dara wanted him out of her way for a bit. At least he was loyal to his family so he’d do as she said, but fuck knows what trouble he’d get up to under my roof. This was definitely a headache I could do without. Especially since Wilder liked to spend far too much time and energy trying to get a rise out of Byron. “If my house blows up, I’m sending you the bill, Dara.”
She laughed, a musical lilt to the sound. “I’ll tell him to play nice.”
I snorted. Wilder’s version of ‘nice’ didn’t line up with everyone else’s.
“I will also aid you with any additional men or weapons. Should you need them,” Marcelle said as he got up from the table. He walked around it, his hand held out. “I know what you’ve risked for us, for my brother, so thank you. Whatever you need, just ask.”
I shook his hand, and a sense of relief settled on my shoulders. This meeting could have taken an unexpected turn and ended with violence, but I was glad that I had invested time and money and blood into this partnership. “Thank you.”
“Know that Remy will be suitably punished for his slight against your name.” Marcelle’s honey-coloured eyes burnt fiercely. It didn’t bother me that Remy had slept with Lucia, we were spouses in name only now, our marriage having ended many decades ago, but it was against the rules we set up when we first started this partnership between the Three Families. Perhaps the time had come to change some of them, but that wasn’t a discussion for today.
The meeting room door burst open, and Byron rushed in, his face blank and his stare deadly. “Boss, we need to leave.”
“Why? What’s happened? Is Benjamin okay?” Panic started to bubble in my chest as a hundred equally awful situations flashed through my mind.
“Benjamin’s fine,” Byron said quickly, easing my worry. “It’s the warehouse at the docks.”
“What about it?” Vlad growled.
“It’s exploded.”
Rage erupted in my veins at Byron’s words. “That fucking asshole!”
The warehouse was one of my many storage locations that housed everything from drugs to guns. I excused myself from the room, promising an update to the other families as soon as I knew more.
“What’s the damage report?” Vlad asked Byron as we headed out of the hotel.
“Nothing appears to be stolen. Looks like someone set it alight just for the fun of it.” Byron almost sounded impressed.
I pulled my phone out and texted Acheron
ME
Warehouse explosion. Get Benjamin home safe.
He texted back almost immediately.
ACHERON
Yes, Boss. Leaving now.
Good. That meant I could focus on the problem at hand without worrying about Benjamin. I dialled Roxie next.
“Hey, doll face, what can I do for you this fine eve?”
“Roxie, the warehouse at the docks is compromised. Get me footage of the area and find out what happened.” I ended the call, not in the mood for idle chitchat. “Let’s go.”
I jumped in the car with the others. Vlad drove, the wheels squealing on the tarmac as he left the hotel behind.
My phone pinged with a video from Roxie. It showed a hooded figure casually leaving the building with a wave up at the camera. I couldn’t see under his hood but I knew it was him. My mysterious Ronin. A few seconds later my screen filled with the bright light of the explosion and the camera feed went blank.