Chapter 26 #2
“Mr. Lisitsa will handle that.” Alexei is still studying me over the rim of his coffee mug.
I flinch at the mention of the lawyer’s name, trying not to imagine his daughter’s corpse.
Alexei wants today to just be us five, and I know that.
I want it, too. After I check in with everybody, I think we should go back upstairs and close the door.
“Let’s just stay away from any police until after we handle our business.
If we’re confronted in public, it’ll put both us and the family in an awkward position. ”
Bohnes and Widow. Jonas’ current targets.
Ash, his endgame.
I take another bite of my cereal and cringe.
It’s soggy now. Eh. I’m still digging in because I grew up poor and if your cereal got soggy, that was on you.
No way were you throwing away the sugary treat that was only available on weekends.
The rest of the week, I got free school breakfast which, in Prescott, is disgusting as fuck.
Mm. Never mind.
Nisha is done eating, so I use her bowl to dump my soggy cereal and then start fresh.
I can afford to have crunchy cereal now.
Alexei is completely disturbed by my laziness, using Nisha’s bowl to get rid of my unwanted food so I don’t have to get up.
He understands it. Is compassionate. But grossed out.
“What if it gets leaked that Widow has this warrant out? We can clear our names legally, but the court of public opinion is always a problem.” I flick my tongue against my teeth, frustrated by the very idea that the law thinks it can dictate anything at all about my fuckboy. My property. My soulmate.
Fuck the law. Fuck the underground, too.
I take a bite of cereal, realizing that my wants and needs happen to coincide for the time being.
Snow Day is the day for the killdozer. Historically on Snow Day, all the rich kids that come to our afterparty leave their keys in their cars. Prescott kids can take them on joyrides, no questions asked. A wild night of anonymous car swapping and dirty tricks. Juicy getaway cars.
Perfect. It’s absolutely perfect.
“Good thing we have a reporter in our crew.” Nisha leans back in her chair, studying me. She’s wearing a gold hat on her freshly shaved head today. If anyone likes having Treasure and Jack on-call as much as I do, it’s Nisha. She’s changing her hair designs up like crazy.
“Journalist,” Ash whispers, and we both manage a weak chuckle at the joke.
“Can you believe Christmas is only a week away?” I rub at my face, sighing. “I wish we could’ve gotten a tree. Gram will be miserable without a tree.”
“Papa ordered one months ago,” Alexei says with a dismissive wave of his hand.
His face shifts into that space between fond memories and grief.
I understand the territory well. “You will not be wanting for Christmas decorations in this house. My Mama loved Christmas.” His wistful words shift into anger, his jaw flexes.
This will be his first Christmas without either parent.
I hope our new family helps heal some of that pain.
“Christmas was always beautiful at our house, but it was never pleasant.” Ash takes another sip of his coffee, forcing a smile.
“No, it was just a day where Aspen tried harder to hurt me. He believed it would sting more if he played tricks on a holiday. As I got older, I learned to dread Christmas Day itself.”
“Take a honeymoon, even if it’s a single day staycation,” Nisha whispers in my ear as she stands up, gesturing not-so-subtly for Bastian to join her. The pair of them make a quick exit, leaving Ash looking confused.
“Was that too much?” he asks me, setting his mug down. “Did I scare them away?”
“You can be as honest with Nisha and Bastian as you can be with me.” I pause there, putting my spoon aside and drinking the cereal milk.
I was trained from a young age not to waste that, too.
Tastes like nostalgia now, like mornings cuddled up with Basti, Nisha, and Lem in my grandmother’s bed, watching cartoons on the only TV that worked in the house at the time.
Sigh. “Except for a teensy bit of the romance. That’s just for us. ”
Ash and Alexei are both staring at me. They’re always staring at me. I like it. That’s exactly what I want them to be doing.
“Who sucked my dick last night?” Ash asks casually, clutching onto his mug just a little too tightly. “Both of them or just one?”
“Only me, cupcake,” I reply with a little wink. Ash wets his lips. The light from outside catches on the hilt of the sword, freshly cleaned and cared for after shedding all that blood. “But the what if was fun, wasn’t it?”
Ash smiles daringly back at me. I saw his stack of books from the library. Widow told me that he pretty much picked the ones he was recommended with a single exception: Ash also went for some non-con shit. We’ll have a lot of fun playing around together.
“And you.” I turn to Alexei and smile again. “Using Kellin’s blood as lubricant? That’s pretty dark, hubby.”
Alexei prickles all over, his blond hair sticking up like he’s been electrified. He looks like he might throw up his coffee. Closing his eyes, he manages to get it together, but his dick is obviously hard and he’s sweating.
“Yes, it is.” He opens his eyes again, stern and fair-haired and very, very pretty.
Today, he’s shucked his usual suits in favor of a white t-shirt over sweatpants, black robe over his shoulders.
Casual. At home. Still wearing the gloves though.
“I suppose losing my virginity at the track in the mud has set me up for a lifetime of deviancy.”
“None of what we’re doing is deviant.” Ash is deadly serious, giving Alexei a look.
“I’ve seen deviant with my own eyes. This is all just play.
” He kicks back in his chair, lounging. It’s a half-slump, very casual sort of lounge.
Half rich boarding school boy, half tortured, violent artist. That’s the vibe that the real Ash gives off.
“I was thinking…” He trails off and his right eye twitches.
A bit of crazy in there. A little broken radio vibes. A lot fucking sexy.
I put my elbows on the table and lace my fingers together, listening.
“Just play?” Alexei muses, getting caught up on that part of what Ash said.
“I can’t fucking wait to play with you some more,” I whisper to Ash, also getting caught up on my own wants.
We’re all doing it, tripping over each other.
It’s the most fun I’ve ever had. “On Snow Day, I’m going to chase you through the hallways in a tiara.
” I point at him, and his eyes get even wider.
“I’m going to have the other boys help me hunt you through the empty classrooms, and when I find you, I’m going to let them do whatever they want to you. ”
“Stop that,” Ash growls back at me, baring his teeth. “Your tricks are cute, but they don’t scare me.” He relaxes those bared teeth into a very handsome smile. “You’ll never surprise me. I’ve seen it all. Aspen had absolutely no limits. He was a monster. We’re all very tame here, I assure you.”
“I assure you,” I repeat in a fake British singsong. I turn to Alexei, tossing a thumb at Ash. My expression is wry. “You might have to actually have sex with him, just so he’ll shut the fuck up. He’s so smug. Ash, don’t get so cocky. Someday, it might not just be my mouth.”
“Wasn’t it Kellin who mentioned that you’re nicer than you think you are?” Alexei looks up at the ceiling in thought, as if he doesn’t already know the answer to that question. “Why, yes. He did. I agreed with him. Ash isn’t wrong either.”
I can’t help but laugh at that. Wait until I tell them that I’m driving the killdozer. Oh, they’ll hate that.
“Did I ever mention how much I love police chases?” I ask, slipping my finger into my coffee.
I lift it back out, liquid dripping from the end of a fucked-up nail.
I can’t bear to be away from Bohnes long enough for a full manicure, and I also won’t allow anyone near my wounded mate’s room.
It’s my job to guard the mouth of the cave.
I suck my finger clean and Alexei flinches, turning his head away sharply and closing his eyes. I smile around my finger as I lick and suck and tease it. Ash has absolutely no qualms with me sucking contaminated coffee off. He stands up from the table abruptly, nearly knocking everything over.
“I’ll get the dishes later. Let’s go upstairs.”
Alexei looks back at him, his face pained at the idea of leaving these dishes here.
“One of my girls will get these dishes. They’re letting us have a honeymoon today.
” I hold out my hand to indicate the house I’ve inherited that I’ve barely seen.
These are the best days I’ve had in my entire life, and I’m trying to enjoy them.
I would literally murder Jonas just for that.
I stand up, too. “So yeah, let’s go upstairs please. ”
“You never said what you were thinking,” Alexei tells Ash as the three of us make our way back into the kitchen, dumping coffee cups. Refilling them. Making coffee for Bohnes and Widow together.
“Ah. Right.” Ash pours Alexei’s coffee, and there’s no reaction from my germaphobe mob husband.
His latex fingers tighten on the handle, but he takes a sip almost immediately, meeting my eyes again.
Challenging me. I shake the expression off.
He knows I’m going to demand to drive the killdozer.
“When Emma Jean runs the story of Larron Van Gordon, I’d also like her to post some videos for me.
” Ash washes his hands and then gets a paper towel from the weird automatic dispenser on the wall.
“I have videos of my own abuse, years of them. I’d forgotten about those until just now. ”
Both Alexei and I turn to stare at him. Like, what?