Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
The dress Avery puts me in is fucking ridiculous.
There’s so much delicate lace covering my arms and my shoulders that I feel like a fraud.
I’m not a lace person; I wear booty shorts and band tees for fuck’s sake!
Avery clucks at me like I’m an unruly child, and I sulk a little because why the fuck not?
The slit up the skirt is a plus though, all the way up one thigh, making it impossible to wear underwear without revealing it.
I quirk an eyebrow at Avery and she shrugs, smug as fuck.
One look at Ash’s eyes when I walk out and I remember why Avery is the evil dictator in power.
Blaise smirks at him, muttering about drooling, before kissing my cheek sweetly and holding an arm out for Avery to take. He looks sharp in the suit, the new ink on his hands and neck a statement to the crowd of higher society we’re about to walk into.
I’m so fucking proud of him.
Ash waits until Blaise and Avery move to the door before stalking over to me, his icy blue eyes stripping me, layer by layer, until I feel like he’s exposed my soul.
“Fuck the Gala. We’re staying here,” he snaps, and Avery snarls from the door at him.
“Keep it in your fucking pants! I’m here for Atticus and you promised me you’d be on your best behavior.”
His eyes squeeze shut like Avery is sucking the life out of him, and I scoff at him. “We can go down for an hour and then come back up. Blaise will probably drink like a fish and watch out for her.”
He glares at me for taking Avery’s side but tucks me under his arm anyway.
Blaise shoots me these lusty looks over his shoulder and I know he’s doing it to piss Ash off, the little fucker.
When we get to the elevator and step in, he says, “I’m not drinking tonight, Star.
Atticus is a dickhead but he’s also a fucking pussy for Avery so we can leave her with him. I’m pulling that dress off of you.”
I glare at him, but Avery takes his comments a little harder than I do and stomps on his foot with her stiletto heel. He grunts and cuts her a look that has me cringing. She’s going to stab him. Or choke him out now I’ve taught her the best ways to do it.
“I’m taking you down, I’m bringing you back, you’re sleeping in my bed,” Ash says, breaking their intense face-off, his voice steely, and Blaise breaks eye contact to glare at him too. Ash nods like he’s won and the elevator door slides open, his hand curved possessively over my hip.
I feel a little like I’m walking on stilts and, although I’m not totally happy with the caveman glares Ash is throwing at Blaise right now, I’m grateful he’s holding me because I’m sure I’d be on my ass already without him.
Avery smirks at the sheep as we pass. It doesn’t matter that they’re all twenty-plus years older than us, they stare at her like she has an executioner’s order with their name on it.
I fucking love it.
It’s nice to see those looks directed at someone else and to know that I’m not alone in my infamy. Avery Beaumont has already carved a place for herself in high society as a force to be feared and reckoned with.
“I’m going to find Atticus. Blaise, you may as well stay here and dance with your girlfriend because I won’t tolerate your moping,” Avery says, smiling sweetly at me before she sashays toward the bar. They serve her, knowing full well she’s only eighteen, and Blaise trails after her.
“Do you want a drink, Mounty?” Ash murmurs in my ear, and I shiver at the warmth of his breath dancing down my neck.
I clear my throat. “Why not, I’ll have a whiskey.”
Ash jerks his head at Blaise and then he walks me over to one of the sitting areas. The plush lounge feels expensive and I’m instantly uncomfortable perched on it. What if I spill something on it and it’s worth thousands? Rich people are stupid.
“Stop frowning at everything,” Ash says, his fingers dancing along the slit in my dress. He murmurs happily when he finds my skin and then groans when he realizes I’m only wearing the dress.
“Are you trying to fucking kill me? The crowd here is a little less oblivious to public sex acts but I’m sure we could find a bathroom somewhere. I’ll even let the brat join in this time,” he snaps right as Blaise walks up with our drinks.
“How fucking kind of you. Here’s your bourbon, asshole, next time get your own,” he snarls and then drops down on my other side until I’m wedged between them both. I sip the whiskey quietly, trying not to get involved in their drama.
Everyone around us is wearing hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing, and I don’t want to think about where the decimal point would land on the jewelry.
The women all float around like this is the highlight of their year and the men all eye them predatorily.
This party is the same as the ones in the Bay, just better dressed and less open.
I’m positive there are drugs being used, crime being organized, and if there isn’t some dirty fucking going on secretly somewhere then I’ll be damned.
I let my gaze continue their path around the room when I spot Avery and the man with his arms around her waist, holding her against his chest.
My heart stops.
I scramble to grab Ash’s arm, tugging to get his attention, and he frowns when he sees my face.
“Who is that with Avery?” I croak, and he jerks to look in the same direction as I am.
“That’s Atticus. Fuck, Mounty, you scared me. I thought she was being fucking attacked by the look on your face,” he snaps, and I glance away from the horror in front of me.
“Blaise, go get her. Now. Go get her and meet us back at the room. Don’t be obvious about it, say I’m sick or something. Just get her,” I ramble, and Blaise nods, moving quickly away.
Ash’s face turns thunderous and I tug him off of our seat. I get us both moving out of the room as quickly as I can in these stupid fucking heels.
“What the fuck is going on, Mounty?” he growls, but I shake my head. We get to the elevator at the same time Blaise pulls an enraged Avery along behind him. When she looks up and sees me, she freezes.
“You don’t look sick, but you don’t look okay, what’s happened?” Avery says softly, tucking her arm into mine.
The elevator door opens and I pull her in, jabbing at our floor number violently as if that will make the thing move faster. As the doors slowly shut behind us I glance up and make eye contact with Atticus Crawford.
The Crow of Mounts Bay.
“I am not leaving this elevator until you tell me what the fuck is going on, Lips,” Avery says, and although her words are sure, her voice shakes.
She’s guessed what the problem is.
“I know Atticus. I know how he makes his money, I know why he wouldn’t let you intern with him, I know everything about the world he lives in, Avery, and I need to get you out of here.”
Avery’s eyes well up but she doesn’t let the tears fall as she gives me a curt nod, stalking down the hall the second the elevator doors open. Ash grabs my elbow and pulls me into his body sharply.
“Who the fuck is he, Lips? Tell me right now.”
“I’m not telling you before I tell her, now let me go. We need to get her out of here,” I snap back and jerk my arm away from him. He shouldn’t be arguing with me, he knows I always put her safety first.
Once we’re back in the hotel suite, I snatch my shoes off my feet and try to herd Avery toward our room. “You need to pack. We have to leave now; he saw me. He knows that I know.”
Avery nods but she stays put, her face calm and blank now she’s had a second to compose herself. “Who is he? I have to know.”
I glance back to find Blaise and Ash standing in front of the door like they’re waiting for someone to break it down. With the empire Atticus controls, he fucking could.
“He’s the Crow. He’s a member of the Twelve. He’s more powerful than any person in our world, except for the Jackal, but even they are equal. He’s the one I called the favor in with to keep Senior away from you because I knew he had ties in the upper class.”
Avery’s lip quivers just a little, but her eyes stay dry and unwavering on my face. “What does he do? Why are you so afraid of him? You said the Crow deals in information, why does that mean we have to leave?”
I open my mouth to answer her when my phone begins to buzz on the coffee table. Dread trickles down my spine and I move to answer it.
I know it’s him before I pick it up.
“Which room are you in? We need to talk.”
I squeeze my eyes shut but my voice is steady. “We’re leaving. We’re going back to Hannaford. Avery is under my protection and if you want to discuss the parameters of that protection with me, we can do it at the next meeting.”
He sighs down the phone. “Open the door, Wolf.”
The smiling man that was holding Avery gently against his chest is not the man we open the hotel door to. This man is purely the Crow.
Avery is sitting, rigid and scowling, on the plush living room chair, and I position myself a few feet in front of her, the guys flanking me.
Ash is trembling with rage and bloodlust, ready to just kill the Crow and be done with it.
He never trusted him in the first place.
Blaise takes one look at Ash and rocks back on his heels, ready to throw down the second this all turns to shit.
The Crow steps forward and inclines his head to me respectfully but the cold, cutting edge of his gray eyes rake over me like he’s planning on bleeding me out for this. Fuck. Has Avery just been some pawn in his game for power? A Beaumont on his arm and in his bed?
Joke’s on him. He picked the wrong girl, in the wrong family.
“I already told you we’re leaving,” I say, my voice pitched low and even.
His gaze stays fixed on mine as he kicks the door shut, and even though he’s moving smoothly I can see the tension in him. My mind runs through every little scrap of information Avery has ever told me about her crush, the man who has become her obsession.