Chapter 46 #2
“It’s nice to meet you, too,” I reply nervously, letting out a breathy, uncomfortable chuckle as I nod and tuck an errant, messy curl behind my ear. Riley just tucks me a little tighter into his side, and Creed drops a chaste kiss to the top of my head.
“Alright,” Callan drawls from across the room, crossing his arms over his broad chest. I notice his Scottish accent is thicker than Lachlan’s. “You girls can fawn over the wee lass later, business first.”
“Business first,” Genevieve mocks with a whisper and hops from the barstool.
Callan just rolls his eyes but bends to meet her halfway for a kiss while Lachlan chuckles and Camdan looks…
annoyed. Ayla, Cori, and Millie follow suit, Millie telling me she’ll come to get me once the men are done talking business, before their hushed whispers follow them from the room.
“So,” Lachlan says, taking a seat at one of the newly vacated barstools around the island. He looks to Creed, who nods, then to Riley and me. We sit in the three chairs directly across from him. “What is your goal here? Guy is dead, and we can easily keep it buried.”
“Is it understood that you want to…dig him up—figuratively, so to speak—just to burn everything he is to the ground?” Callan jumps in, and my heart rate kicks up a notch. I can feel a nervous sweat breaking out along my skin. Was this a terrible idea?
His expression is unreadable, but there’s no denying the spark in his eyes at the prospect of causing mayhem in one form or another.
Creed and Riley are silent next to me, and a quick glance at them just to see their eyes on me tells me that they’re all giving me control. They’re asking me what I want to do.
Well, fuck me.
Clearing my throat, as if it will do me any good, I nod.
“Yes.” Of course it comes out as a ragged whisper.
“He’s not a good man.” I laugh bitterly, running a hand through my hair.
“Never, ever was. His wife ran pretty early on and left me alone with him. Though I’m certain that she’s the one who initially wanted me—a kid to foster, that is. ”
Riley stiffens next to me, and he gets this tight, far-away look in his eyes.
I know that Guy had said things to him, but the bits and pieces of whatever he’d confessed are all hazy.
I didn’t need, nor want, to know the details.
I’d already lived them as a teenager, and went through something a million times worse.
I place my hand on his warm thigh, and he settles a little.
The brothers across from me are listening so intently, and now it’s got me fidgeting and plucking at an errant, frayed string attached to Riley’s jeans.
“To be honest, I kept to myself as much as I could. But it was impossible to escape his cruelty. I got lucky when he approved my getting a job, so I worked when I could just to stay away from him. I’m not even sure what he did for a living, but I know he was important and the shitty community around me fucking adored him.
Meanwhile, I suffered alone because I had nobody to lean on.
Nobody to help me. So when I had enough money scraped together, I freed myself, but, well…
you see how that turned out.” I laugh bitterly.
I suck in a breath, feeling pissed off and annoyed all over again, at just how much he’d fooled everyone around him.
Creed visibly flinches at my words. I don’t mean for it to sound like a jab at him, but it doesn’t negate the truth of it all.
Not wanting him to feel guilty over it, I place my free hand on top of his to stop him from clenching his fists together.
Wedging my fingers between his, I say, “I know somebody reported him missing recently, but I don’t—I don’t want anybody to miss him. I want the world to hate him. To villainize him for what he’s done before, eventually forgetting that he ever existed.”
Creed leans into me to wipe the tears away that I hadn’t even realized had fallen as Camdan of all people passes a napkin across the island for me to dab my eyes. Asher looks like he either wants to puke or kill someone while he processes my words.
“Sounds like you know what you want,” Camdan drawls on a heavy breath, leaning forward with his hands clasped in front of him. “And you’re coming here…”
“To make sure the McTavish family isn’t implicated when we go public with their story,” Asher clarifies, sitting back in his chair. “We know you’re capable of covering your own tracks, but we won’t run the risk of anyone sniffing around.”
“We’re capable of doing more than covering—”
“You need a story that tracks. One that tells the truth but will lead to the discovery of Guy’s death.” Camdan’s words are low and gruff, and they garner all of our attention. A slow, uneasy grin pulls at his lips, and it’s got all four of us—Asher included—squirming in our seats.
Lachlan’s eyes round as he takes in his brother.
“No,” he barks, shooting to stand. “Fuck no. We’re not hiring that fucking lunatic again, Camdan.” He swipes a hand through his blonde strands. “You can fuck off with that shite.”
“It’s not like he’d make a mess, the bloke is already dead, Lachlan.”
“Who the fuck are we talking about?” Creed asks, his brows furrowed in confusion.
“Besides, I know he’d agree to such a job. He’s…” He waves a massive hand around in the air in a loose gesture. “Invested.”
“Invested?” Riley queries quietly, his fingers running nervously along the back of my hand on his thigh.
“In you,” Camdan answers bluntly.
“Who? And what do you mean he’s invested? In us? Like…in our band?”
“No,” Callan says. “Invested in the three of you. In your relationship.”
“He’s the contract killer we hired to—Ow, what the fuck?!” Lachlan hisses when Callan kicks him under the island.
The blood drains from my face. They hired a contract killer? For who—
Fuck.
Oh, fuck.
Steve and Tony…
“You’ve scared her, fuckhead.” Callan sighs. “Look, you’re safe. He’s just intrigued by your polycule.”
Uh.
Creed tries to break my growing tension when he throws his arm around my shoulders. “I prefer the term throuple.”
“Not helpful,” Riley says with a sigh.
“I’m sure you do,” Camdan drawls sarcastically. Creed opens his mouth to bark at the bulging man, but Callan slaps his palm against the countertop, clearly ready to get this conversation back on track and over with.
“So long as you’re not ‘scum of the earth’ as he calls it, you’re safe. Not only from him, but you will always have our protection. It may be worth letting the Cupid Killer claim Guy as a victim, as Guy’s actions and personality very well track with who his targets are.”
If I was pale before, I’m a fucking ghost now. I had to have heard him wrong.
“I’m sorry, the Cupid-what-now?” Creed coughs, choking on air while mine and Riley’s breaths kick up at a nervous, rapid pace.
I’ve heard about the elusive Cupid Killer on the news and in various podcasts.
Nobody knows who he is, except for the fact that he targets the worst of the worst kinds of humans out there.
Apparently, he’s also taken a liking to my relationship, and it sets my very frayed nerves on edge.
I don’t like the idea of a serial killer having any interest in or curiosity about me or my love life.
“He’s…unhinged. Batshit, really. But he’s harmless when it comes to people like you.
You are the kind of people he’s trying to protect, though he’ll deny it if you ever try to say that to him.
” Camdan smirks, but then he schools his expression again.
I have no intention of ever finding out who he is, or getting close enough even to deign to ask.
“I think he’s your best bet at keeping any attention from falling onto yourselves or us once your story gets out.
People these days don’t know how to leave well enough alone and will dig.
Letting him silently take the credit would be mutually beneficial. ”
“And you’re certain he would agree?” Creed asks, thankfully. My mind is reeling, and I’m unfortunately still hung up on the fact that he’s apparently fascinated by us.
“I am.” Camdan leans back against the barstool chair and crosses his arms over his chest with a confident smirk. “Because he already has.”
The world blurs and sounds become distorted, as if I’m underwater.
It’s dark, and an odd, comforting weight blankets me.
Rather than feeling panicked, I feel safe.
I’m not sure how long my mind floats around in the dark void of my mind, but a nip to my ear and two hands gently squeezing my thighs slowly pull me back into the present.
My face flushes with embarrassment at how quickly and easily I slipped away in the presence of these strangers, but none of them seems to be paying me any mind, except Camdan.
He watches me with the kind of knowing that comes from experience.
He quirks a brow in question almost imperceptibly as Ayla is ushered back into the kitchen with her phone and notebook in hand.
You good? He seems to ask with the small gesture.
I am. I answer with a single nod and a smile.
He nods to himself before locking his sights on Millie, who waits patiently with her sister and friend in the doorway to the kitchen.
“So,” Lachlan drawls, shifting my attention. “His death will come first, then you’re up with your story.”
He gestures for Ayla to sit next to Asher, and they begin.
By the time an hour has passed, the story is ironclad.
We spend the evening having dinner with the McTavish family, and I get to know the girls a little better.
Turns out their stories aren’t too different than my own.
Suddenly, it makes sense as to why their men were so ready and eager to help Asher.
They consider him family, yes, but it goes so much deeper than that.
Millie’s proverbial wounds haven’t even fully healed, so mine and Riley’s disappearance was like salt in a deep gash.
But they all live their lives the way they see fit. Doing what they love despite who their husbands and fiancées are, and despite their scars. They love and live without fear of what almost was. They embrace the now, every step of the way.
That’s what I want.
It’s all I crave.
With Creed.
With Riley.
The ride home with them feels so much lighter, and I can tell that it’s not just me feeling it. There’s a renewed sort of glow to Creed, and despite some of the things we learned today, Riley just feels peaceful and content as he dozes off with his head on my shoulder.
Ayla goes over the format of the interview she’s planned and set up, prepping us for the questions that will be asked.
We’re ready.
With this plan in place, I can feel those first warm rays of the sun as it starts to rise, and it feels damn good knowing that I’ve still got my boys by my side to bask in it with me.