Page 78 of Poisoned Pawn
“Fuck you, Zak.”
Sniggers fill the room, all of them at Aidan’s expense.
“You might not like it, but he’s right,” Maddox says surprising me.
From the moment he and Carter met, he’s made his dislike of him clear. I’m not fooled that this is the start of a bromance between them, but I’ll take his words for what they are; a realisation that Carter isn’t the enemy here.
Aidan throws a glare his way, but it’s half-hearted because he knows Maddox and Frankie, though he’ll never admit it, are right.
“What is the deal with your dead boss?” Aidan asks, refilling his glass with whiskey.
“You mean you didn’t do a thorough check on him when I started working there?” My question holds a little sarcasm because I know he bloody did. He simply tilts his head at me, so I continue, “Carter thinks that Perry and some guy called Mark Swanson, the owner of Medi Labs were making something other than medical equipment.”
“Ghost guns,” Maddox states. “That’s what all the shit back at the tech’s house was about.”
Well that makes sense, more so than my theory about human organs.
“Hmmm, let’s see what Carter can get from Lev. In the meantime, you see what you can find out about Mark Swanson. I have someone I can speak to about the guns.”
“Do you think pushing Carter for a meeting with Lennox is a good idea?” I ask. Carter wasn’t happy that Aidan wanted to meet with him. I get the feeling that tricking Lennox into a meeting with Aidan isn’t going to go well.
“What do you know?” Aidan asks cautiously.
My eyes scan everyone at the table before I turn back to Aidan. “The relationship between Carter and Lennox isn’t exactly friendly. Carter accused him of having a rogue Shadow. I might be wrong, but getting out of a secret society is usually only by one way, right?” My question is met with several nods. “Then don’t you think pitting Carter against Lennox is only going to cause a bigger threat than we already have to deal with?”
“I’m listening, Star,” Aidan says, downing his drink.
“Okay, then don’t push Carter to betray someone he has an already precarious relationship with. You want to meet Lennox, and I agree you should, but not by putting Carter in the firing line against a whole fucking organisation of assassins. You need to trust him, Aidan. And if you can’t do that, then you need to trust me.”
“I don’t fucking trust him or anyone else when it comes to my family, Star. If it wasn’t him, it would be someone else. Whoever thinks they are fucking good enough to step inside this family.” I go to interrupt him, but he holds his hand up. “This is his only chance to prove his fucking worth. And make no mistake, if he hurts you, I’ll bury the fucker without a second thought.”
I take his words as they are meant. Aidan will kill Carter no matter the cost or pain to me. If I never speak to him again, it won’t matter because in Aidan’s eyes death is justified when it comes to family. It’s an ethos I respect, and one that kept me safe for ten years, but it’s a little harder to swallow when he’s threatening the man who has brought peace from my nightmares and salvation from my shame.
We chat back and forth for about fifteen minutes before Aidan announces that he needs to get back to Parker. I’m gutted she’s not here. I would have liked to chat to her, but it would have been difficult given the tension and everyone being here.
Roxy walks him out, giving me the distinct impression that she and the guys have no plans to leave. I pick up Carter’s discarded glass and Zak hands me the whiskey with a wry smile.
“Thanks,” I say pouring a couple of fingers into the glass and knocking it back in one. A shudder runs through me as the burn warms my stomach. Whiskey isn’t my usual medicine for a shit day, but with no tequila at hand, it will do.
Frankie comes back with Roxy behind him. “I’ve made up the other room for you. Second door on the right.” He reaches across the table and grabs the whiskey and a glass.
“Where’s Carter,” I ask as he brings the glass to his lips.
He pauses, thinks about answering then downs it. “Making a call.”
I get up planning to go and find him, but as I look to the doorway, he’s already there. His lips are turned down and eyes a stormy green as they meet mine. Whoever he was calling managed to piss him off more than he already was.
I haven’t forgotten his duplicity, but that is a conversation for just the two of us. I pour another drink, but it doesn’t make it to my lips. Carter snatches the glass from my fingers, swallows down the whiskey and slams the glass on the table.
I stare up at him, considering a knee to his balls, but I simply bid goodnight and walk away. Hushed conversation reaches me as I climb the stairs, but it’s the heavy thumps of footsteps behind me that have my attention.
Despite my lingering anger at Carter for not telling me about my boss, a spark of adrenaline rushes through me at him chasing me up the stairs. God I want to run from him. But I fight the urge because he doesn’t get to keep shit from me and then think he can fuck me as a way to alleviate my anger.
My attempt to shut the door on him is half-hearted as the door doesn’t even make it one third of the way closed before he’s there and wrapping an arm around my waist as he slams the door closed behind him.
“On a scale of one to ten, how pissed are you, princess?”
“Try the thousands and you might touch the tip.” One hand splays over my stomach as the other cups my chin, tilting my head up and back. My eyes land on a pair of carabiners attached to the beam above me. Each one has a rope running from the ring and draped in a loop where it is hooked to a beam either side of the room.