Page 68 of Poisoned Pawn
“Like fuck she will. She’ll be safer with us.”
I spin around to face her. “Did you forget there’s a bounty still on her head? Or maybe you left yours in Wales. Because I sure as fucking hell ain’t taking her straight to the guy who posted the bounty.”
“Watch it,” Maddox growls.
“No, you fucking watch it. This is my life, my woman and my rules. You don’t like it then fuck off back to London. You might know how things work down there, but Manchester ain’t fucking London and you three ain’t the fucking authority up here.”
Maddox steps forward, eyes alive with fury and his fist raised, but Zak pushes in between us before he can throw his punch.
“Okay, okay. Let’s just fucking chill.” He throws me a warning glare over his shoulder as he pushes his brother away. “Next time, I’ll let him at you.” I scoff at Zak’s words, but he ignores me and keeps talking. “You already have an address, right?”
I don’t even need to answer.
“Jesus Christ!” Roxanne exclaims, spinning away with her hands on her hips. I’m guessing she’s considering punching me right about now too.
“And what was the plan, huh? Head off and deal with him on your own?”
“Got it in one! He’s mine.”
“That is not how we do things, Carter,” Roxanne says, pointing her finger at me.
“It’s how I do things. He set the whole of Manchester’s underworld after her,” I grit out between clenched teeth, every muscle in my body tightening at the thought.
I’m laying myself fucking bare here. Since I was sixteen, I’ve only ever had to look out for myself and Erica. As long as I did my job, she’s been safe. And like me, the world thinks Erica died in the house fire that night. But Star fucking Kavanagh, of all women, has shat all over that. Strutting into Illicit with an air of innocence begging to be corrupted and a body so fucking stunning that I practically tripped over myself to get her on her hands and knees.
Roxanne drops her finger and places her hands back on hips, tilting her head as she contemplates me. Then a small smile kicks up the corner of her mouth.
“Firstly, it’s not Brian but whoever he’s working for that set that bounty on Star. But I get why you want him, and I’m guessing you’re hoping he’ll give you answers as to who his boss is. Secondly, and don’t even waste your breath denying it, you’re in love with my sister. And after seeing how she reacted to me threatening you, it’s a pretty safe bet she feels the same. Now, here comes the important part, so fucking listen up. In this family we don’t go off half-cocked and alone. We’re afamily.We work together, as one unit. I get that might be a strange concept for you, but you need to level up and fast.”
Her words are a direct hit. There is no denying I’m in love with Star, but I won’t admit it to anyone else before her. And whilst I’m pissed she called me out, there’s no denying I need to change my mindset. Sure as shit ain’t admitting that out loud either.
What I can do is share a little more info with them.
“Brian is the only way Koda can get his server back, so I don’t want him dead till it’s done. Without the server, we can’t call off the bounty. Plus, I have no way of finding out who hired me. And there is no guarantee that they didn’t hire someone else to do the job after I refused.”
Roxanne laughs, clearly amused with my glossing over everything she said. But she’s astute and knows I got the message loud and fucking clear.
“What else? ‘Cause I know you’re keeping shit back, Carter.”
I run a hand over my head and eye each of them in turn. “We deal with Brian and get the server back to Koda, then I’ll share what else I know.”
“Fine. How do you want to play this?”
I accept her invitation of letting me decide how this goes. “You and Maddox head back to Koda’s”—I look to Zak, who gives me a subtle nod— “while Zak and I deal with Brian.”
She agrees and her and Maddox head off toward their car, but I stop her as a thought comes to mind.
“Roxanne.” She turns around, walking backwards toward the car. “Ask Koda to check out the sale of ghost guns for me.”
“Okay,” she calls back, then spins around and jogs the last couple of steps to her car.
“You think it’s connected?” Zak asks as I find what I was looking for in my bag. I pocket the little lock pick kit and leave the other kit on top of the bag ready to grab before we enter Brian’s house.
“It’s a possibility. But even if it’s not, it’s something that needs looking into. Come on.” I slam the boot shut, then hop in the driver’s seat as Zak jumps in the other side.
I wait a couple of minutes for Roxanne and Maddox to leave first. This place is well hidden, but I don’t want to risk drawing too much attention.
It’s a short drive to the address Koda gave me, but this area is primarily associated with the 51 Squad. Another mark on the board for some sort of connection to them being involved.