Chapter 21 #2
“Oh, I’m sorry,” Ash breathes out, a hint of psychosis in his words.
I smile at the sound of rich boys bickering.
I’d prefer the sound of rich boys breathing their last, but alas, seems it’s not in the cards.
“Should I have made fresh stock with veal bones and red wine? A bit of mirepoix?” Ash uses a pair of plastic chopsticks to scramble some more egg up in the pan.
The only pair of chopsticks I own, free with an order of cheap Chinese food.
“I take it you won’t be having any then? ”
“I’ll pass, spasibo.” Alexei waves a dismissive hand, eying his coffee like he’s not sure if he wants to keep drinking it.
A minute later, Ash reappears, setting a pot holder on the table. He slams my teapot down on it. Beside that, he sets out an extra takeout spoon wrapped in plastic and a sealed cup of instant oatmeal.
“Itadakimasu,” Ash whispers before returning to the stove. Alexei’s nostrils flare as Scarlett starts laughing, clutching at her stomach and sloshing coffee. Widow is watching her with this hideous doe-eyed expression and a soft smile on his impertinent mouth.
I take a bite of the…omurice. I wish it tasted as horrible as I wished it smelled. Same problem. It’s…fuck. It’s delicious. I find myself scowling as I shovel another huge bite into my mouth.
“Boys, boys, boys,” Scarlett schmoozes and that husky purr of hers has all four of us considering how to chop off our own nuts to give to her as gifts.
Goddamn it. “I don’t mind a bit of friendly bickering, but we’re done with the fighting.
Y’all understood last night that this is our new routine.
We eat together. We sleep together. We fuck together. We commit felonies together.”
“All of this beautiful togetherness reminds me of something,” Widow says, finishing his coffee and pushing his empty mug aside.
He leans in and peers at Scarlett with narrowed eyes, wearing a muscle tank of mine with spiderweb designs over the nipples, upside-down stars at their centers.
“There was talk of a wedding invitation stapled to Cody’s chest? ”
Ash makes a strangled sound at the stove, cursing in rapid-fire Japanese under his breath.
“You are cordially invited,” he murmurs as he plates another omelette, his British accent crisp and polished and posh. He throws the next plate down in front of Scarlett, cutting through the egg with a knife the way he did for me, so that it splits dramatically and reveals its steamy secrets.
I had assumed she’d already eaten or I wouldn’t have accepted my meal first. I bare my teeth at him, but Scarlett is quick to snap her fingers back at me.
“Don’t. I told him that this is your house and you eat first. Got a problem with that?”
My black heart bursts and festers, pustules of love oozing for my darling demoness.
“Yes, actually, Miss Force, I do have a problem with that. You eat first. Always.”
“Oh, look, something we agree on,” Widow says, sneering at Ash when the boy takes his empty mug and refills his coffee. Ash puts it down in front of Widow and the pair of them have an odd stare-off.
“Are you going to eat?” Ash asks, and Widow’s yellow wolf eyes flash through a dozen emotions in rapid succession. Annoyance. Confusion. Pity. Relief. Thankfulness. He wants to hate Ash, but after that display with Trish and Maryanne, he’s finding it difficult.
“Uh, sure. Whatever.” Widow pulls the coffee close and looks right at me. “About that wedding invitation…”
Alexei clears his throat and lifts his chin while Scarlett rolls her eyes and I do my best to adjust to the sudden shift in my reality. I’m white-knuckled on the fork and wide-eyed on my…omurice.
I’m not alone anymore. I will never be alone again.
“I will happily explain,” Alexei begins as Widow turns a lupine stare on him. “Tomorrow. Please, if you would, give me one more day to finalize my preparations.”
Widow’s harsh breathing tells me that he already knows what’s coming. He’s not as stupid as he looks. Surely, he must’ve guessed? We were promised Alexei’s inheritance as payment for this nonsense. I always collect my payments. I haven’t a single (living) client with outstanding bills.
“Enjoy.” Ash slides another plate onto the table in front of Widow, repeating the same slice of the egg and pour of the sauce. He heads back to the stove once more to, I assume, cook his own food.
“Fuck.” Widow scowls at Alexei, but he picks up his fork and digs into the meal, shoving it in his mouth like a starving dog. Scarlett is moaning and sucking on her own fork in a way that’s quite distracting. I nudge my foot against hers under the table and she returns the affection.
“I assume this dish is something you make often?” I ask Ash, trying to get a read on his motivations.
Scarlett seems to have no trouble with it, but I don’t understand the man at all.
I don’t understand the frog. I don’t understand why he gave Alexei the gift of Ernest Bolin and Widow the dual gifts of Trish and Maryanne.
He came to me after winning the race. Immediately. Asking for my participation in his ridiculous plan. He seems to…gag…like me. I feel like I’m being followed around by a rabid puppy. He has no problem biting and infecting others, but he wags his tail for me. Strange creature, that Ash Kelly.
“Oh, this?” Ash asks, eyes glittering as he looks back at me.
That’s it, the thing that Scarlett sees.
Instead of breaking under his father’s and his brother’s torture, he formed a hard shell around this cottony thing that rests inside.
Very odd indeed. “No, of course not. If I had made this, Aspen would’ve taken it and shoved it down the throat of one of our maids until she choked and threw up.
Maybe he would’ve made her choke on it until she passed out, possibly until she died.
No, no. I would never have made something like this.
He might’ve tried to put one of the chopsticks through my eye. ”
“He was a delightful monster, wasn’t he?” Alexei asks with a harsh laugh. “I abhorred him from our first meeting to our very last.” A pause. “Did we ever spend time together? I wouldn’t have known the difference between you.”
“A few times,” Ash replies, plating his own food and joining us with a cup of coffee for himself.
I only have four chairs, so he drags the crate from the front door over to sit on.
He puts his seat between Widow and Scarlett, but apparently the street rat is easily bought with homicidal favors.
Widow says nothing, cleaning his plate and tossing the fork on it before he sits back in his chair.
“Itadakimasu,” Ash whispers again before taking a bite.
His smile blooms obscenely over his face while the rest of us openly stare. “Oishii.”
“What the hell, man?” Widow grumbles, expressing my sentiment perfectly with his own aghast eyes. “What happened to you?”
Scarlett’s foot strokes mine beneath the table, relaxing my temper.
“Everyone, this is Ash. Ash, this is everyone. He was playing Aspen before. He’s never going to do that again.” Scarlett takes another bite of her rice and egg, smiling in my direction and winking. “Ever fancied a househusband, Bohnes? Looks like you’ve got one now.”
“A househusband?” Ash asks dryly, but he doesn’t argue. He sits there and eats his breakfast, sips his coffee, sighs like he’s happy to be here.
I realize with a strange, harsh jolt to my heart that…Fuck.
I like this. I like it. It’s far from normal, but then, we all know that normal is filth.
Scarlett catches my eye, a knowing smile spreading over her sweet, succulent mouth. She winks at me again and then leans forward, putting her lips near mine.
“Listen to your Nightmare, baby. Eat. Drink. Relax.” She kisses me quickly and then sits back while the other three watch us. “And then we’ll torture the chief of police together. See? Told ya we’d make a cute family.”
Scarlett taps out messages to her crew on her phone, using her other hand to drink and eat as needed. I’m not sure how to respond to that. Family. A thing I’ve never had.
“That reminds me,” I breathe, wide-eyed and off-kilter. Scarlett is the only person on this earth that can do that to me, make me feel topsy-turvy and out-of-control. “How did you get into my phone?”
“How’d ya get into mine back in the day?
” She lifts dark eyes from her plate and the look is so full of seduction and desire that it goes straight to my cock.
I reach down and cup myself through my joggers and her breath catches.
“Remember? When you changed your name in my phone to My Dark Love Bohnes.”
My lips split into another hideous grin, and I open my phone up.
I scroll to her number. I see that she’s changed her contact information.
My cock twitches, staining my joggers with pre-cum.
Yes. I think we’ll need to test the limits of this family thing soon and see what a group fuck looks like.
I won’t hold back. If I want or need Scarlett, I’ll have her, these other fuckboys be damned.
The contact information reads as follows: My Nightmare (that I will unfailingly obey) Scarlett.
Oh, yes. I am very much in love. I couldn’t have chosen a better woman to stalk, now could I?