24. Knox
KNOX
T he bottle shattered and glass flew everywhere.
“You touch her, and I swear to whatever fucking god there is I will make sure your empire is in ruins by the end of the day.”
Talon and Jett both looked at me.
Family dinner hadn’t gone well.
“Barone, sir. I think there’s some kind of misunderstanding. Margaux has agreed to the marriage her father arranged with your blessing. What’s changed?” I asked since I was the only one in full control, at least on the outside.
Fuck. Ronan didn’t lose his cool.
“Things change. Her father is no longer here. The senator has made a better offer, but the agreement is she’s marrying into the Thorne family. You should have disclosed that information before bringing her home.”
“Father, we don’t go back on our word. Ronan is ensuring that there is no shame on the Barone family name,” said Maddox Barone.
Shit was bad when the eldest of the Barone kids was here taking Ronan’s side. They all had an unspoken code. Blood was thicker than water, but blood was useless when power was concerned.
“Maddox, this doesn’t concern you. If you aren’t careful, I’ll arrange another marriage for you.”
Maddox drained the liquid in his glass in one gulp.
“Barone, this was your fucking idea. You don’t get to take her away now. Move the fucking wedding up if you want the trust fund sooner. I don’t care. You are not handing her over to the Thornes,” Ronan said.
Barone’s face had darkened a few shades of red.
“You don’t get a say in this matter. They’ve offered the contract for the new casino plus an additional five percent of all earnings for the next ten years.”
Talon blew out a breath.
“So she does have a value to you then, and not just whatever the deeds are in that trust fund. Did her uncle specify that he wasn’t going to pursue the zoning changes or that he was going to stop the Thornes and their shell company?” Talon leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
We were all in Angelino Barone’s office.
It was supposed to be a drink and then family business.
Margaux was with Talon’s sister and Ronan’s half sister.
They weren’t worth being included. Women didn’t have much of a role in the family.
I could see why Ronan was so hesitant about marrying in the first place.
If it was between being a trophy wife to the family or Carrow’s puppet? The decision for all of us had been easy. Margaux hadn’t really known, but I saw the way she looked at us. We were no longer just an escape. We were her choice.
“No. But I think we can strong arm the Thornes to stop competing with us. The zoning is another issue, and I believe I can have him kill the proposed changes,” said Barone.
Only the paranoid survive was becoming more and more true. That marriage certificate had been a strategy that was going to be our ace. All the gambling in this city, and marriage was rarely the thing that tipped a hand. In the Barone family?
None of us revealed this though. It wasn’t the right time.
Something crashed in the hallway, and all of us looked toward the door.
Jett beat everyone there. I could guess what he saw or maybe what he didn’t see.
“No one’s there. But maybe we table this little chat, uncle,” Jett said.
Barone knew exactly what Jett was saying when he said uncle. We didn’t exactly love the family hierarchy, but when we did? We were saying fuck you, we’re done.
Throwing around the blood that tied us all together was about the only thing Barone cared much for.
“Fine. Fine. You have a few days to turn the girl over.”
Ronan stormed out of the room, nearly knocking over Jett who was already following him out.
I stayed behind. The anger seething inside me alive and ready to kill the thing in front of me. Instead I did what I could. I turned back to Barone.
“Barone, how did you find out about Thorne's engagement? Did you suddenly take up reading tabloids or social media?”
He pulled out a cigar and cut the tip off before answering.
“Here.”
He tossed me the invitation. The envelope was soft, almost like fabric. Expensive. I pulled out the invitation with its metallic inlays.
“Did you call them and tell them where she is?”
Barone straightened his suit jacket.
“Of course I did. You little brats think just because I let you do as you please you can withhold information? I was the one that set up the engagement for my own benefit. It just happened to help out her family. But now? She is a bargaining chip. I suggest you tell Ronan to say goodbye.”
I kept the invitation in my hand and motioned for to Talon to follow.
Ronan wasn’t the only one who wasn’t going to be okay saying goodbye. Absently I rubbed at my chest, and didn’t realize it until Talon grabbed the invitation from my hand as I practically crushed it.
“They had to send a fucking invitation? Harrington knew her parents' wishes then. This is him thinking he has the upper hand,” Talon said.
“Lucky guess on his part,” I said.
A loud thud caught our attention, and we picked up the pace.
The hall opened into the foyer and the blood running down Ronan’s hand onto the marble floor had me tracing the line up.
“Didn’t we tell you to stop punching walls?” I asked.
The thing was, I wanted to join him.
“Where is Margaux?” I asked because she wasn’t fussing about his hand.
“Jett is still looking. She has to be here. Barone crossed us all in one night. The announcement was the warning,” Ronan said.
Talon practically danced on his toes, itching for a fight.
“He crossed a line. He’s never gone after anyone’s family before,” Talon said.
“No. He hasn’t. Then again, all the brides have always come with gifts he wanted and by the time of the wedding there was no more to get out of the families,” I said.
We all turned to where we heard a familiar female voice.
“Jett, I can walk. For the love of god, I am not one of your workout routines.”
Jett came out of the archway from the kitchen.
“You can be part of my daily routines. In fact, I accept.” He looked up at us. “Boys, pretty girl here just offered to help us out with our daily workouts.”
I licked my bottom lip.
“Tempting. Get her to the car. Oh and, Ronan?” I held up the rather crumpled invitation. “Daddy dearest contacted Harrington and the Thornes when he got this.”
Ronan grabbed the invitation.
“I think it’s time to deal with Harrington.
He knew what he was doing when he sent this as bait.
I doubt he knew who we were, but he didn’t have to if he suspected that the Barone family still would want what they were due.
He’s been ignoring all our meetings, forcing our hand, and the one thing I hate is being cornered. ”
“Is someone going to tell me what happened in that office? Or better yet, where are we?”
I glanced back at her next to Jett and Talon.
“If she goes in dressed like that, she’ll attract more attention than if she were naked,” I commented.
The boys looked at her. She’d been dressed for the family dinner in the perfect illusion that Barone would approve of.
“Wait, why? What is wrong with this dress? It was fine for dinner.”
Talon reached for the cardigan she had on, running his fingers under where it hit her bare shoulder.
“It says virgin wife material. Not that anyone here would get close enough to wife you up,” Talon said.
She shifted in her seat and got closer to the front, trying to see the warehouse.
“Is this another drug thing? Why does it matter if those guys think anything about me?” She looked down at the pale pink color of the dress.
“Are you worried blood will stain it? I’m sure a dry cleaner could get it out, and if not, is money really an issue?”
“Margaux, please stop your theories. No. It’s not a drug thing and no one cares if the blood stains, granted, remind Jett to order more black. This,” Ronan said and pointed to the building, “is where we plan to deal with the anger over the fact Barone wants you to go back.”
He tossed the crumpled invitation at her.
The paper was so soft it didn’t so much as crinkle as she unwrapped it.
“What? Oh.”
I watched her hands get tighter and tighter, pulling the paper back into a crumpled mess by the time she was done reading it.
“He wants me to go back to what? Finish that sentence.”
Ronan turned in his seat.
“He wants you to go back and marry Carrow Thorne.”
She stilled and the entire SUV was quiet.
“So do I get to punch something too?” she asked.
I’d expected her to be all sad and broken kitten. Not this.
“I'm sure we can find something for you to work off your anger with. No promises it will be punching though.”
The invitation was nothing but a ball of anger right now. She released it without much thought, and I watched it roll behind her leg and get lost somewhere on the floor.
“One more question. You said no, right?”
Even if we weren’t in tune with each other, that one question would have had the same impact. All four of us all turned to see her and only her.
“You’re ours,” I said. Jett pulled her into his body even as Talon moved closer.
Ronan wasn’t saying anything, but Jett had it covered.
“You know what that means, right, pretty girl?”
She didn’t say anything. And from what I could see with the sole lighting being the moon, she wasn’t crying either.
“It means you won’t ever be allowed to leave because we won’t ever give you up.”
If it wasn’t Jett, maybe those words would have been a threat, but from him? She seemed to take it for what he meant.
“So, angel, back to problem one. You can’t go in looking like prime fucking wife material because most of the fuckers in there have mental issues and mommy issues and you look like you’re trying to save their souls.”
She pulled away from Jett a little, enough that she reached for me. I hated the way her touch could soothe a storm that raged in me no matter the time of day.
“The only souls I’m willing to burn for are right here. So my dark devil, hand your shirt over.”
I was good at not showing any emotion, except with this creature.
“Stop looking at me confused. You’re the tallest of the four. Your shirts will be the longest. Give me your shirt, and I’ll make it into something a little less savior, a little more sinner.”
I unbuttoned the shirt without question. I didn’t fucking need it for the rest of the night anyway.
The fight inside was an underground event put on by some of the smaller bookies in town.
In Vegas, you could make a living on others’ money, where everyone here wanted a fix, be it women, drugs, or an outlet like this.
You just had to know where to find it, and once you did, you could always find the shady places.
No one here would know us, and that’s what was wanted.
Anonymity to beat the shit out of nobodies.
Margaux stripped out of the dress, handing the cardigan to Talon and the dress to Jett. She sat in a lacy bra, panties, and heels.
“Are you boys sure you want to go inside?”
I handed her the shirt, slowly letting every inch of her body burn itself into my brain.
“You need to stop looking at me like that if you do,” Margaux said.
“You’re the grand finale, princess,” Talon said as he helped her get the shirt on.
She smiled at him, and I was jealous of that look. My cock was already jumping at the chance to fuck her, but when she reached for the tie Talon wore? Fucking hell.
The thing took her seconds to untie but shit if she didn’t make it take far longer to pull it inch by inch from around his neck.
“If you say so, Talon.”
I had to close my mouth.
She tied the tie around her waist like a belt and it felt like all our brains rebooted.
“Will this work? It’s the best I’ve got.”
The shirt hit her mid-thigh from what I could tell, the strappy heels once looked tasteful and now? Fuck they would look better with her legs over my shoulders.
“I’ll take the silence as a yes.”
She knelt on the seat. She reached over and kissed Jett, pulling away when he got handsy.
Next, she leaned back and claimed Talon’s mouth.
Fuck, why was this so much hotter?
She pulled away from him, his hands on her waist as she shifted and practically climbed into my lap.
She grabbed my face in her hands and kissed me, and I let her.
She broke the kiss far too soon, but when she leaned over and grabbed the lapels of Ronan’s shirt and yanked him to her?
We’d never been jealous of each other. We’d never been selfish when it came to the others. We’d only ever had fights when it came to the family trying to tear us apart, using us against the other.
And she seemed to get it.
The soft skin of her thigh tempted me, and I let myself feel every inch of it.
When she pulled away from Ronan, no one in the car was blind to the way her cheeks were flushed. If I reached between her legs I was certain she would be wet.
“Okay. Now that it’s clear I’m in love with each of you and I’ve committed to memory exactly what it feels like to kiss each one of you, let’s go in.”
We all sat there for another few minutes, Jett the most obvious.
“You’re seriously a miracle. How do you even exist?” I asked, surprised by my own thoughts.
“Fuck, Margaux. You had to get me all hard and then pull the rug just like that?” Jett said.
I was still holding her, but yeah.
“It’s called foreplay, boys. But also, thank you.”
“There’s something we don’t hear ever,” Talon said.
Ronan reached for Margaux, and I let him drag her to the driver's seat.
“Thanks for what, little bird?” he asked.
It was curious. Thanks for the shirt? Thanks for taking her somewhere violent that she still hadn’t seen?
“Thank you for keeping me. Now, boys, go show me what you are made of.”
Jett and Talon pushed open the doors before we could agree. Tonight was going to be interesting.