Chapter 20
FORREST
I wasn't sure if Woody would show up. He fucking better. I wasn't in the mood to hunt him down and drag him here by his balls. Right now, I wanted to slice his off and feed them to him.
Instead, I'd give him grace until he understood what was really going on here.
"I've been waiting for Forrest to take me out to dinner for a long time." Leif nodded toward the restaurant a few feet away. One of the more renowned in the city, with good reason.
I glanced over to him. "I'm not taking you out to dinner. That's not what we're here for."
Leif pouted playfully. "Spoilsport."
"Believe it," I told him with a nod.
I turned my attention to Sable. I could stare at her all night.
She was easily the most gorgeous woman I'd ever seen.
Watching her come around my cock was magical.
Being inside her felt like coming home, to the place I was meant to be.
Buried inside this woman. And the sounds she made when she came?
They still echoed through my mind. They always would.
As long as I lived. Which better be a long time, because I wanted to hear it a thousand more times.
"There are some people you should meet," I told her.
We stepped inside the restaurant.
All eyes turned to us.
I nodded to my sons, Cass and Jules. Cass smiled welcomingly, a straw in his mouth as he sucked on a milkshake. Jules sat slouched in a chair, his usual scowl on his face.
The other three at the table looked varying levels of wary.
Archer Hardwick went rigid, like he’d get up at any moment and move away. He liked crowds as much as Sable did.
Beside me, her body stiffened. I wasn't sure if it was because of these people in particular or the presence of five other people in the room, even one as large as this.
I placed my hand on the back of her neck reassuringly. Hoping that would be enough to settle her mind.
"If it isn't Judge Cross."
Edward Bonegard got up from his chair and held out his hand to shake. Known as Boner, his English accent was strong, his grin always wide and genuine.
I didn't miss the way he put himself between me and his girlfriend, Harlow. Technically, she was the girlfriend of all four of them, including my sons. That made her a daughter-in-law of sorts.
"Forrest," Harlow greeted. Friendly enough, but visibly curious as to why I'd asked to meet them all here. She stood and offered Sable a smile. "Sable."
The redheaded chef owned this restaurant, Angel's Rest, but that wasn't why we were here.
I glanced behind me as Woody stalked into the restaurant. He dragged a chair out from under another table, letting the feet scrape, before he flopped down on it.
"What are we here for?" he asked.
I did the introductions.
"You know my friend, Leif Larsen." I nodded toward him. "This is Woody Taylor-Francis."
Harlow's eyebrows twitched, confirming what I already suspected.
"Related to Wolfgang Taylor-Francis?" she asked, glancing between me and Sable.
Harlow herself asked me to keep an eye on Sable. I'd long suspected she had a reason for doing that, beyond women looking after other women. That was admirable, but there was more to this.
"Shall we sit?"
I pulled over a chair for Sable, and one for myself, facing Harlow in particular.
"Is there a problem?" Cass asked, frowning as he pushed his hair off his forehead. He was always doing that, even after he had a haircut.
"No problem," I said easily. "I'm sure you all know Wolfgang Taylor-Francis was brutally murdered."
"Yes, such a shame," Harlow said sarcastically. "He was such a gem."
Woody glared at her.
I pointed a finger at him. "Don't even think it."
Woody frowned and shrugged. "Wasn't thinking anything."
I rolled my eyes. Of course he was. No one was fooled, particularly me.
"Sable told me the killers were a man and a woman," I continued.
"She says it wasn't her," Woody added, unconvinced he wasn't right all along.
I watched Harlow's reaction carefully. She didn't flinch. Didn't twitch an eyebrow.
"Isn't that interesting? Are you suggesting something, Judge Cross?" She smiled sweetly.
"As a matter of fact, I am," I said. "I have a feeling you know what type of person Wolfgang was."
"He was a fucking piece of shit," Boner said bluntly. "Archer, tell them." He elbowed Archer.
"He liked to hurt people," Archer said simply. "Not just Sable. Other people. Innocent people. People who couldn't defend themselves."
I slid my gaze to Woody.
He was now glaring at Archer. "Do you have proof?"
"Of course I do." Archer pulled out his phone. With a hint of reluctance, he handed it to Woody, letting him see for himself what was on the screen.
I didn't need to see it. I knew enough already.
Woody’s face turned pale, then slightly green.
"I knew he was… I don't know. Not a nice guy," he said slowly. "But this…"
"It's all true," Cass said, his voice soft and sympathetic, but firm at the same time. "I confirmed all of it."
Woody's shoulders sagged. "I'm starting to wish I killed him myself."
"I wish you had too," Sable said. "Then you wouldn't keep trying to kill me."
He shot her a look but then handed back Archer's phone. "So he was an asshole. So what… what does that have to do with any of them?"
He was still frowning when Sable's mouth dropped open, forming a pretty O. One that would look perfect around my cock if we weren't here right now.
"One was a woman," she whispered. She glanced over at me, then back at Harlow. "You're not telling me…"
"Harlow has some extracurricular activities," I said carefully.
I knew what she got up to, most of the time.
I had contacts all over the city. Not much happened in the shadows that I didn't know about.
Not when it came to people like Wolfgang Taylor-Francis.
I made it my job to keep track of them. Like a mental checklist when we or someone else disposed of them.
"You're not supposed to know about it," Harlow said, tugging at her ponytail.
"You're not going to tell the police, are you?" Sable asked before clapping her hand over her mouth.
The conflict was clear on her face. Harlow saved her from a horrible man. She didn't want her punished for it. On the other hand, letting her walk away was technically illegal.
"I have no plans to tell anyone," I said. "I know you won't either."
Her hand still over her mouth, she shook her head. She was dead cute, this woman.
"I won't say anything either," Leif said. "Except 'good work.'" He offered Harlow a fist bump. She hesitated for a moment before bumping his back.
"I'm really starting to think I should have been there, helping Harlow that night," Boner said sadly.
She patted him on the back. "It's okay. There are lots of other nights."
That cheered him up. He grinned. "You're right, there are."
"Who the fuck was the other one?" Woody asked. "Who was the man who killed my father?"
"Wasn't me," Jules said, as if bored by the whole conversation.
Cass glanced at Archer before saying, "It wasn't me either." Of course that narrowed it down to the last person in the room.
Archer sighed. "I was the other one."
Sable surprised me by leaping up from her chair and giving Harlow a hug, then hurrying over to do the same to Archer.
"I've been wanting to thank you for so long," she said.
She stepped back, frowning, conflicted again. "Should I be thanking people who killed to help me? Isn't this some kind of… I don't know, illegal?"
I stood and put my arms around her, drawing her to me and offering her the comfort of my body.
"Where would you be now if they hadn't?" I asked. "What would have happened if you told the police what he was doing to you?"
"I don't think they would have believed me," she whispered. "If they had, he would have paid someone to let him go. The cops, the courts…"
"Exactly," I said. "He would have gotten away with it. Around here, we don't like people like that."
"We really don’t," Boner agreed loudly. "People like that suck."
Sable pulled back far enough to look me in the face. "What are you saying?"
"He's saying there are people who deal with bad people because the courts can't," Harlow said. "Wolfgang was on our radar. Archer and I had a date night, dealing with him."
"I see. Well…thank you," Sable said. She looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, "What can I do?"
Now we were all staring at her.
She stared back, glancing around at all of us. "I want to help. What can I do? I know I'm not the only one who goes through…things." Her gaze swung back to me. "You're okay with all of this?"
Hoping like hell I wouldn't freak her out, I nodded.
"I'm not just okay with this. Leif and I, we do the same thing Harlow and her men do."
She blinked a few times. "You kill people?"
"Hell yeah we do," Woody said, completely unashamed.
She smirked at him. "Yeah, I know you do. At least you try."
"I'll try harder next time," he said, half-sneering.
She flipped him off.
I had to admit, the woman had guts.
"You will not kill Sable," I told him. "You understand she did nothing to your father?"
"Maybe, maybe not." Woody gave her a long look before pushing the chair away and stalking out of the restaurant.
"He really needs therapy," Leif remarked.
I murmured my agreement.
"I thought I had daddy issues," Boner said. "Mine are nothing on his. Of course, I resolved mine by killing my father. Asshole deserved it."
He grinned and adjusted his blond man bun.
"You think you could kill someone?" I asked Sable.
"I… I don't know," she said. "When I saw what they did to Wolfgang, I felt…" she searched for the right words. "Relieved. I wasn't scared or anything. When I saw him like that, part of me wished I'd done it. If there was a knife there, I would have, I don't know…"
"Carved a dick and balls into his skin?" Boner suggested.
She actually laughed. "Now I really wish I'd had a knife."
He grinned. "I like this woman. I vote she should help out."
"If she's helping anyone, she's helping us," I told him.
He raised his hands to either side placatingly. "Hey, we're all on the same team here."
Of course we were, but if we were dragging Sable into this, it was me who'd walk beside her and hold her hand.
I cupped the back of her head, stroking her hair.
"If you really want to help. There's someone we need to have a conversation with," I said.
"And by conversation you mean…" She looked at me questioningly, but without flinching.
"I mean whatever ends up happening," I said. "Possibly a long, slow, painful death."
Leif punched the air. "Hell yeah. I need a bit more leather for a new pair of boots."
Sable stared at him. "You… For real?" Her voice squeaked a little.
He grinned. "Cupcake, you have a lot to learn."
If that didn't scare her off, I suspected nothing would.
I glanced at my watch. "It's only a few blocks away. We're going to have to hurry to catch up to Woody."
"Yeah, we can't let him have all the fun without us, can we?" Leif asked.
"Absolutely not," Sable agreed.
I wasn't sure if she knew what she was getting herself into, but it didn't seem like she was backing down.
"Let's go and unalive some people then," I said, offering her my hand.