26. Rafferty
Rafferty
I watch Venetia work through these family negotiations from my position by the main entrance, having dropped from higher ground when it became apparent we weren’t dealing with a siege.
My boots need to be on the ground to coordinate these lost puppies returning to the academy and put them to work.
Someone, that is to say, not me, has to clean up the dining hall.
Peter Hutchinson walks toward the main building, looking like he’s returning to the academy after a particularly unpleasant holiday.
The whole situation feels surreal. A week ago, we were students at an elite academy for the criminally connected.
Now we’re apparently the headquarters for some kind of anti-trafficking military operation, complete with family alliances and resource-sharing agreements that sound like international treaties.
Emma Walsh arrives, looking determined. “Where do you need me?” she states, stopping in front of me.
“Dining hall cleanup,” I say immediately. “Take hazmat gear with you. I think there’s some out in the groundskeeper’s shed.”
She doesn’t even flinch. She nods and grabs Peter, who was hovering, and enlists him into her team. She’s a keeper.
Sean Donovan seems more comfortable with the transition, probably because kitchen management and supply chain logistics translate more easily to legitimate operations than electrical infrastructure or water systems consulting.
“I’ll come as well. I need that kitchen cleared of anything contaminated. ”
Emma nods, and off they go. I nod approvingly and turn my gaze back to Venetia.
She handles each negotiation with a calculated charm that is getting these criminal lords to trust her.
I guess her name goes a long way to helping, but she is doing all the legwork.
Venetia Corbyn-Hale is brilliant, dangerous, vulnerable, and absolutely committed to using whatever resources and relationships she needs to achieve her objectives.
More students start trickling through the gates as Venetia continues her negotiations.
“Knight,” I call out to Cole. “Head to the labs. Beacon needs cleaning up.”
He snorts and nods, quite happy to move out without complaint. At least these kids understand the situation requires actual work rather than just showing up and expecting everything to be sorted for them.
This feels like we’re building something permanent. Not just dealing with the immediate threat, but establishing... I don’t know what to call it. An institution? Criminal alliance with academic infrastructure? It’s not without precedent, though usually it takes years to develop rather than days.
The Graduate threat is forcing acceleration. Normal development timelines don’t apply when you’re responding to immediate pressure.
More students continue to arrive, and I send them off to various tasks. Everyone gets assigned something useful because standing around watching negotiations isn’t productive.
I watch Venetia. I watch Viper watching Venetia, and I crack. I need her.
I need to touch her. Need to remind myself that she’s real, that she’s here, that she’s alive despite everything that’s tried to kill her in the past few days. The urge is so strong it’s making my cock hard.
“Fuck it,” I mutter under my breath, abandoning my post by the entrance.
I stride across the courtyard as Venetia ends the negotiation with the last family.
Grabbing her, I turn her around and kiss her, hard and desperate, tasting the fear and fury she’s been swallowing all day.
She rises up on her tiptoes and wraps her arms around my neck, devouring me, showing me how much she wants me.
It appeases some of the worry I’ve had over the last few days about losing her.
I barely know her, not really, but I know her.
She stormed into my life and took it over in a matter of seconds.
She is the woman I want to spend the rest of my days with, and I need to know she feels the same.
I need to know she will choose me, even if it’s with Viper and Blake.
I don’t think I can handle it if she walks away or worse.
When we break apart, we’re both breathing hard, and I can see the same desperate need in her green eyes that’s been eating at me.
We stay silent as the families leave, and then Viper and I go to the drawbridge to pull it closed, locking everyone in who needs to be here for now.
We pick up Blake on the way back, pulling him from his boxes, but he is insistent that we need to secure them, so we load up the twelve boxes and bring them with us on the trollies back to Venetia, waiting in the courtyard.
She nods, and we head for the service lift to go up to the bedroom floor.
As we go up in the lift, she sighs. It’s world-weary. She is exhausted and hungry, probably thirsty, and a thousand other things.
As soon as Blake pushes open his bedroom door, she flies in and hits the bathroom, not even bothering to close the door while she pees like a fucking racehorse.
I snort loudly and place the boxes in the corner. “Feel better, trouble?”
“Like you won’t believe!” she groans.
She flushes, and then the taps run for longer than a handwash. She is probably washing her face as well, trying to get her head back in the game. Christ knows we could all do with it after this day that has dragged on for eternity.
She emerges from the bathroom looking slightly more human, though the dark circles under her eyes tell the story of the past few days. I watch her move to the window, checking the grounds below with the automatic vigilance that’s become second nature to all of us.
“What’s everyone doing?”
“I’ve sent them to various locations to clean up the place. The main area was the dining hall, for obvious reasons.”
“Good.” She turns back to us, and I can see her calculating, always thinking three moves ahead. “We need to move fast on Newcastle. The longer we wait, the more likely they are to relocate or increase security.”
“The thing is, we can’t leave this place unattended. It could be part of their contingency when things go sideways for them. Storm the castle.”
“So, what do we do?”
“We dismantle the money,” Blake says. “I’ve already got forensic accountants on it who are willing to risk it for a fee.
The Graduate operation relies on money laundering through legitimate businesses, and money needs to exchange hands before anything is accomplished.
If we can freeze their assets, trace their financial networks, and expose their banking relationships, we can cripple them without firing a shot.
” Blake moves to one of the boxes, pulling out a thick folder.
“Knight’s intelligence has it that these people are coming in from Europe, but they are going to want paying.
No pay, no movement. Interpol has already been informed of their location. ”
“Wow, you work fast,” I comment with a laugh. It’s not a shock. He is the most focused cunt on the planet.
“We don’t have time to sit around,” he says and strips off his jacket, hanging it up meticulously.
“No, but do we have time for a fuck?” I ask Venetia, “Because I’m as desperate as you were for a piss.”
She giggles and kicks off her boots. “We can always find time for a fuck. We are okay for now, I think. Blake’s guys are moving, we have some semblance of a student body back. No staff, granted, but?—”
“Blake can take their lectures,” I interrupt her.
“Can I?” he drawls.
“What? You want Viper to go in there and teach them? Fight club, maybe. How to destroy your enemy with one well-placed phone call to a mafia banker, not so much.”
“Hey,” Viper growls. “I could teach these arseholes. They probably need a good lesson in how to fight dirty.”
“It’s not a bad idea,” Venetia muses.
“Actually, it’s a fucking brilliant idea,” I say, watching Viper’s expression shift from defensive to intrigued. “If we’re building some kind of criminal academy here, they need practical skills, not just Daddy’s name and bank balance.”
Venetia nods slowly, her mind already working through the logistics. “Blake handles academic instruction—history, economics, strategy. Viper teaches combat and survival. What about you?”
“Weapons training. Tactical planning. How to kill someone and disappear without a trace.” I shrug. “The family speciality.”
“Christ,” Blake mutters, but he’s smirking. “We’re actually talking about turning St. Sebastian’s into a proper criminal university.”
“Why not?” Venetia says, her voice gaining strength as the idea takes hold. “The Graduate operation relied on this place being a breeding ground for their recruits. We flip the script. Make it a breeding ground for their destruction.”
I feel something settling into place, like puzzle pieces clicking together. This isn’t just about surviving the immediate threat anymore. We’re building something that could last, something that could change the entire landscape of organised crime in Britain.
“We’d need more instructors,” I point out. “The families that are joining us all have specialities. Financial crimes, smuggling operations, and information warfare. We could create something unprecedented.”
“It’s a very tempting thought,” Venetia says.
“You know what else is tempting?” I murmur.
“What?” she asks coyly.
“You.”
She smiles and pulls her top over her head and unclasps her bra to show us her magnificent rack. She turns to Blake. “I know you wanted a public claiming, but how about we start with these two? I’m too worn out to put on much of a show.”
“Then lie down and let us worship you,” I say, taking her hand and pulling her closer until she falls on the bed and we move in like hunters going in for the kill.