35. Crew
Ihave a million things I should be doing, not the least of which is damage control with the five families. What we did today, the things we put into motion, could blow up in our faces really fucking quickly.
And yet I find myself sitting in Camilla’s room, waiting for Bishop to bring her back.
I have little doubt that our little menace is getting herself her first punishment, but there’s a part of me that only seems to exist for her, that wants nothing more than to make sure she’s okay.
Kovu sits in the corner, his eyes cast down on his phone, as he works through the fight schedules for the fight night we’re hosting in a few weeks.
The fight club runs small fights most nights of the week and even some bigger events on the weekends, but a few times a year we host the big ones. The ones with UFC fighters who just want to blow off some steam without all the rules and regulations, the mafia bosses from other cities that need to let out their frustrations, and the up-and-coming fighters who want nothing more than to prove themselves.
But those are also the nights that a lot more can go wrong, and so Kovu spends months putting them together to ensure every contingency is made.
“Where’s Kaos?” I finally ask when the silence is becoming more than I can handle.
“Probably the gym.”
I nod. He’s been spending more and more time in there since Camilla came into our lives, and now that he’s not sure where he stands with any of us, I should have known that’s where he would be.
He needs to sort his shit out so he can fix things with our woman, but knowing my nephew like I do, he has to come to that conclusion himself. All the men in our family are notoriously stubborn, and that gene certainly didn’t skip him.
The sound of the door down the hallway hitting the wall has me shoving to my feet before I make the conscious decision to do so, but by the time I make it to the bedroom door, a very disgruntled Camilla is shoving past me.
“Get out,” she barks. Her cheeks are tear-stained, her body is shivering from the cool air, and I fight the urge to pull her into my arms and warm her up. I can’t say I’ve ever been the one to comfort the women we’ve shared, but apparently my little menace brings it out in me.
There are red marks around her throat, and I internally roll my eyes. Bishop and his thing for wrapping his belt around his playthings’ necks has always been a bone of contention with the women who hold our company, and I wonder if that’s what has her so upset.
“Little Lamb—” Kovu starts as he shoves to his feet.
“Get. The. Fuck. Out.” Every word is harsher than the last, and I can’t help but wonder what the hell happened between her and Bishop after she got in that car.
His wild blue eyes meet mine, and I shrug. If she’s going to stay here, it’s only reasonable she’s going to need her own space at some point. Living with four overbearing men is a lot for just about anybody. But the way her entire body trembles makes me desperate to stay.
Camilla doesn’t turn as we make our way to the door, her entire body heaving with how hard she’s breathing, and my stomach roils. I’m quite aware that all four of us have tastes in things some would find extremely unsavory, but is that why she’s upset? Did he do something to her that crossed a line we didn’t know about? Seeing as she was a virgin a week ago, I guess it’s not outside the realm of possibility that she doesn’t know her own limits yet.
“Crew?” she says as I cross the threshold, quickly making me turn back to her. “Does this door lock from the inside?” She doesn’t bother to turn around, so I don’t bother to mask the way my lips quirk up at the question.
“It’s cute that you think something as small as a locked door could keep us away from you, Little Menace.”
Before she can respond, I close the door behind me, giving her the illusion of privacy. She knows as well as we do that we can watch her on the cameras anytime we please, but pointing that out wouldn’t be wise right now.
Bishop appears at the end of the hallway, his tie hanging loose around his neck and his clothes significantly more rumpled than when we left them in the cemetery.
“What the fuck did you do?” Kovu growls.
“Punished her.” He shrugs. “And then refused to take her ‘home’ when she asked to go back to the De Marco mansion.”
My hackles rise at the thought. There’s no way she’s going anywhere that’s outside these walls, especially now that she’s got more than one target on her back.
Her uncle and cousin aren’t going to take what she did today lightly, even if they are fucking idiots. They finally thought they had the keys to the kingdom, just to have the rug pulled out from under them before they were able to exercise any of their power.
Then add Davenport and the way he’s gunning for her and anyone else in the five families that would benefit from taking down a new leader, and she’s probably going to need round-the-clock supervision, something I doubt she’s going to accept lying down.
“Is she pissed about the punishment or her change of address?” I ask.
“Both. I didn’t let her come after spanking her with my belt and fucking her so hard she’ll probably be feeling it for at least a few days, so it could be that.”
“That’ll do it.” Kovu chuckles. “I don’t think our little lamb will be very happy with orgasm denial.”
“She’ll have to get used to it.” I shrug. Each of us has our own tastes, so to speak, but nothing is more intoxicating than having control over a woman’s release.
“She kick you out?” Bishop asks.
“She sure did.” Kovu laughs as he makes his way toward the gym. “I’m gonna get a quick workout in before I have to head to the club. Will one of you be around to make sure she doesn’t run?”
Bishop shakes his head. “I have to head to the casino. The numbers are getting more and more out of control, meaning whoever is stealing from us is getting bolder.”
“I need to get some work done.” I frown at the thought of the pile of shit sitting on my desk upstairs that I’ve been ignoring during the week it took to get Camilla back, not to mention the shitstorm that’s on the horizon now that we’ve introduced her into the five families.
“Guess Kaos is up.” Kovu chuckles as he disappears through the door toward the gym. He finds Kaos’s struggles with our woman too entertaining. But it might be as good a time as any for them to bury the hatchet.
“I’ll speak to Kaos, but I don’t want her locked in that room anymore. She has free run of the complex, but I want the perimeter locked down. I don’t want her leaving without us knowing about it.”
Bishop nods. “I’ll make it happen.”
“And we need Rogers to be available tomorrow.”
“Why?” he asks, brows pulling together.
“Camilla needs the last of her punishment.”