Chapter 31
CHAPTER
THIRTY-ONE
Ezra
My foot taps out a staccato beat as I wait for them to show up.
When we first took the job from my uncle, I never thought we’d have to call in a favor to The Bleeding Roses. I thought they would be a good card to keep in our back pocket. A gang with more power than we could ever amass on our own.
More power than we would ever need.
But even if Sheriff Matthews is no threat to us, it won’t be as easy as one, two, three, to take him out either. Especially the way we want to wrap everything up with a nice little bow. Take care of him and the cops who called him here all at once.
Let Berlyn and us put this all behind us. No one looking too closely any longer.
With enough time, we could pull it off. But what better reason to use the ultimate card than for our girl? To get this taken care of faster than the Sheriff can blink. From what I’ve heard, The Bleeding Roses’ leader has a thing for taking out a corrupt sheriff anyway.
Footsteps sound behind us and I turn on my heel to find the woman herself walking up to where we’re leaning against our car. Two men I recognize from the meeting are only a step behind her, flanking her sides.
“Long time no see,” Scar says in lieu of a greeting. She’s one of those people that wears a perpetual smirk like it’s a weapon on its own. With her? I’d have no doubts that it is. She’s shorter than Berlyn, but it does nothing to negate the aura of violence she wears as a second skin.
I dip my head in respect to her. There’s no one in the world I would pledge my allegiance to, but if I had to consider it, she’d be at the top of a very short list. “Thanks for coming.” Jude nods at the two men, Noah and Kade if I’m not mistaken.
But there are kind of a lot of them to keep track of.
Noah, I know off of reputation alone. He’s never been to any of the meetings we worked as neutral security. Kade is Scar’s right-hand man though.
“We always repay our favors,” Scar answers, placing her hand on her hip. “So what is it you need?”
I spend the next few minutes laying out my plan to them and what I know we’ll need to make it happen. Noah pulls out his laptop and gets to work right there on the hood of our car in the parking lot.
Scar watches him work over his shoulder while I continue to explain the situation. She arches a brow when I admit we were stalking Berlyn and we wanted to pin that and the murder of her professor on her dad.
“It sounds bad,” I admit, holding my hands up. “But she liked it.”
She scoffs and if looks could kill, I would already be six feet under. “Not like that,” I clarify. “She actually likes us. It was a game. A fantasy.”
“Like dark romance books,” Jude adds. We probably would have been better omitting that part, but Scar can smell bullshit from a mile away.
We watched her dog-walk some of the scariest and most renowned criminals in those meetings.
I wasn’t risking losing the help they could offer to cover our own asses.
“Oo,” Kade hums, perking up. “I love dark romance.”
Scar shakes her head, putting her hand on his chest. “Not the time, Stranger.” His shoulders slump and it would be odd to see such a domineering man fall so easily at the heel of a woman, but we relate a little too well.
Forget wolves, we might as well be kittens under Berlyn’s hand.
“We can have it done in twenty-four hours,” Scar says, clicking her tongue and checking her long black nails.
They look sharp enough to draw blood, not something I’m interested in finding out for myself.
“On one condition.” I hold my breath, dreading the price we have to pay based on her smirk. “I want to meet the girl.”
“No!” Both Jude and I shout. “Absolutely not. She’s not a part of this,” I argue. Not a part of any of it. This plan, this world. She’s innocent and I plan to keep it that way.
Instead of getting mad, Scar scoffs. “The fuck not?”
I widen my eyes and gesture to her like the answer should be obvious, but she taps her foot and waits for an answer.
“Because you’re a complete psycho,” Jude answers. Honestly, but not helpfully.
Kade snorts and Noah looks up from the laptop where he’s still typing a stream of code. “You sent the girl a liver of her professor,” he points out and how the fuck does he already know that? And why the fuck does this damn liver keep coming back to haunt us?
“Romantic,” Kade compliments, making Noah give him a dubious stare. At least someone gets what we were going for.
“And you guys use the blood of your victims to write messages and draw pictures on walls,” Jude argues. Still honestly, still not helpfully.
“Will you shut up?” I hiss over my shoulder.
Scar furrows her eyebrows. “Well, when you say it like that.” I can’t believe we’re really having this conversation right now. “I prefer to call them targets though. They aren’t victims per se.”
Jude crosses his arms in front of his chest and nods. “Fair enough,” he concedes. “You’re still a psycho.”
So he’s just completely ignoring me now then. What the fuck?
She waves him off. “Glass houses, buddy. I meet her and we have a deal.”
Noah looks up from his laptop again. “I already have the police files on the case so far,” he offers, proving how much faster they can get this done than us. That would be how he knew about the liver.
“She’s not like us,” I warn, thinking about the way she hurled when we gave her the liver and how she completely fell apart after the cops questioned us. She doesn’t do well with pressure.
Scar waves me off once more. “We’ll play nice,” she promises. “I’m not doing anything until I’m sure she’s not a hostage here, Stalker Boys.”
How can I argue with that?
I sigh, finally caving. Jude gives me a betrayed look but what other choice do we really have? This is our best bet to have it taken care of with no strings leading back to us. A clean break.
“We have time now,” Scar offers, her smile saccharine sweet.
No time like the present, I guess.
They follow in their car behind us and Jude glares at me the entire drive back home. I don’t hear any better ideas coming from him though, so I ignore his pouting and text West a warning we’re coming hot and with company.
Definitely not how I envisioned the rest of our day going. Scar cares more than I thought she would about a girl she’s never met. A favor is a favor. Unless she thinks someone is at risk apparently.
One of the reasons I can respect her. It’s quite annoying being on this side of it.
We pull into the driveway and Jude is still pouting, not speaking to me and he walks ahead of us. I wait at the door for our guests to join us and Scar walks right on past me, patting my cheek as she does.
“I will kill all three of you if this girl is being held hostage,” she warns brightly, before moving on.
I hold my hands up and shake my head. She’ll see as soon as she meets Berlyn. It’s not about protecting ourselves. Everything is about her.
The soft murmur of hushed voices pulls us in the direction of the library and I take the lead when I realize it’s West’s voice I’m hearing.
“Wait here,” I tell Scar and her men. I heard just enough to know this moment is too important for the two of them for us to interrupt. Too important for West.
Scar arches a brow but backs off. I get the distinct feeling she may have caught a bit more than I did.
We wait in the hallways for another few moments and she nods her head.
“Alright, we’ll do the job.” I huff in relief.
“I’m still meeting her though,” she adds, far too amused. “Meet you in the kitchen.”
Kade groans, “I wanted to see the library.” Noah smacks him and the three of them head the opposite way, leaving us alone to eavesdrop on Berlyn and West. Not that it had been our intention.
When we hear the conversation turn to a lighter note, Jude pushes the door open, announcing our presence. Obscenely, because it’s the only way he knows.
Though some of the tabs Berlyn just asked about really are different spice scenes we want to try with her, not all of them are. Some are scenes she just really liked.
“You’re back,” Berlyn says, beaming at us. She practically glows in front of the dark green built-ins that line three of the four walls of this room. The deep earthy colors of this room should feel dark and moody, but with abundant light that filters in and Berlyn’s smile, it feels warm. Cozy.
Berlyn walks straight into my arms and I lean down to greet her with a kiss. Too brief before Jude is yanking her from me and spinning her around.
Once he sets her back down on her feet, I tell her, “We have some friends here who’d like to meet you.”
Her nose scrunches and she trades looks with West who only shrugs before sending a glare in my direction.
“I texted you,” I defend, but I can see now why he didn’t see it. “She wants to make sure we haven’t kidnapped you before she helps us in framing your dad,” I explain.
She laughs like I’m joking and I grimace. “Oh,” she says. “You’re being serious.”
“Unfortunately,” Jude grumbles.
West eyes me with disapproval, but again. No one seems to be offering a better idea. “They’re in the kitchen,” I direct.
Lord help us. Please let this go well and Berlyn not be too scarred for life.
When we get to the kitchen we find Kade rummaging through the fridge and Scar leaning against our counter, eating a bag of chips while she watches Noah work, occasionally pointing out something she thinks he should do differently.
He smacks her hand when she touches the screen as we enter the kitchen. “Keep your nasty chip fingers away from my computer.”
She rolls her lips together, cocking her hip. “I’m going to remember that.”
Berlyn steps out from behind me and their attention snaps to us. Scar tosses her dark hair over her shoulder, showing off her inked and scarred skin as she runs her eyes up and down my girl.
“Oh my god,” Berlyn gasps. “You’re so pretty.
” Instantly her entire face turns beet red and I can’t help but chuckle, knowing what’s coming.
“Sorry, that was so rude,” she immediately apologizes.
“I’m Berlyn. Thank you so much for offering to help with my father and caring enough that the guys aren’t kidnapping me.
But I swear they really are sweet. Sometimes creepy. ”
Okay whoa. Since when did she think we were creepy?
“But it’s always with good intentions I promise,” she continues in one long stream of consciousness.
Jude puts his hand over her mouth, stopping from anything else coming out.
“Breathe, Baby Girl,” he reminds her and she takes a dramatic inhale before cringing.
“I did it again,” she whispers, mortified.
Scar watches the entire time with growing amusement, trading looks with Kade who chuckles and even Noah looks up from the laptop with a bemused expression. Berlyn has that effect on people.
Endearing.
“We should keep her,” Scar says, eyes full of mischief.
I step in front of Berlyn again and cross my arms in front of my chest, glaring at Scar. Even if I know she’s messing with us, I’m not going to let her make jokes like that. Berlyn is ours.
“You’re married,” Noah reminds Scar, going back to his laptop. She waves him off.
“Berlyn, do you dance?”
She pops her head out from behind me to meet Scar’s gaze even as Jude tells her not to answer that.
“Are you asking sober me? Or drunk me? Because it’s two very different answers,” she rambles.
“Sober me knows we move like a baby giraffe that hasn’t quite figured out its limbs yet.
Drunk me thinks we’re the next Shakira.”
I give her a stern look but it’s impossible to hold when she shrugs. “She’s so pretty,” she whispers to me like that’s all the explanation I should need.
Scar contemplates her answer before nodding. “I could work with that.”
“No, you can’t,” I argue.
Berlyn pouts. “Do you think I’m a bad dancer?”
Jude snorts and wraps his arms around her. “Aren’t you being mischievous?” he teases her.
“Okay, okay,” Noah says, standing up before Scar can say whatever was about to come out of her mouth. “She’s happy to be here and you don’t need anymore dancers,” he chastises her, easing it with a kiss to her forehead. “Now, let’s go. I need my setup.”
Scar and Kade both pout but follow him out. Scar stops to whisper to Berlyn that she should come visit them in California one day. When I walk them to the door, Scar promises to be in touch tomorrow with what they have.
A weight lifts off my shoulders as soon as I close the door behind them, turning my attention back to my naughty girl.
“Cute, aren’t you?” I ask.
“The cutest,” she answers, with the biggest smile I’ve seen all day. More pressure eases off of my chest. Maybe the chaos crew invading our space wasn’t such a bad thing.
At least it distracted Berlyn.