AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"She was twelve." The pain in his voice was fresh. So fresh, she could almost see him bleed with it.
Archie's hands fisted, and through blurred vision, she saw him steel himself for a blow. He just sat there, naked in both physical and emotional form, and waited for her to strike him. He was bigger, stronger than she was, trained to kill and defend, yet he simply linked his fingers together. If she wanted to hit him, he wouldn't lift a hand to protect himself.
She couldn't form words. Her throat was closed tight with tears for a boy whose power had been stripped from him and used to harm. For the faceless little girl caught up in a madman's snare. Yet fury was quickly escalating into rage, pulsing in thick, fast beats in her veins.
Archie stepped forward, ignoring Jasper's flinch, and pushed between his legs. She was shocked to discover she was growling under her breath, unable to control her anger. She pulled him into her, clutching his head to her breast, and discovered she was, in that moment, capable of committing murder herself.
"Master Atticus?" she managed to say a few minutes later.
"Still here, little bit. You both okay?"
"Oh, we're going to be. What are we doing about this? I'm sorry, but that asshole can't be allowed to live as a free man. He needs to pay for what he's done to all the children under his care, and right now, I'd be quite happy to see him hung, drawn, and quartered."
"He's going to pay, I promise you. But Jasper needs to finish."
There was more? God, she didn't think she could take any more without combusting. She was already trembling with the effort to contain herself. "Okay then, let's get it over with. Then I need to find a voodoo doll to stick pins in."
Jasper eased back. "You don't hate me?"
It was hard being the strong one, she discovered. How did he do it all the time? She shook her head. "No, Sir. I don't hate you. I'm fucking livid that you were...that you were put into an untenable position. I want to rip your father's internal organs out with my bare hands for manipulating two innocent children into an adult situation for the purpose of bringing another child into that hell. And I'm grieving for a little girl who lost her life at the whim of a megalomaniac." She exhaled slowly. "And if you hate yourself, then it needs to stop, this instant. It wasn't your fault, and I'm not above kicking your ass until you believe it."
"Spitfire," he murmured. "I didn't do anything to deserve you."
Now she smiled, leaning forward to kiss him, just a brush of lips over his. "You did. You survived hell and made yourself into a good man. That deserves the best reward." She stepped away and straightened her shoulders. "Hit me with the rest of it."
He did. From the phone call he'd taken at the hospital the morning before, Dominic's threats and demands, all the way to the texts sent after the midnight deadline. As he laid it all out, coldness lined her belly, but her brain ticked on overtime, trying to visualize everything and slot it into its rightful place.
"I'm not against having kids, but not under these circumstances. No child of mine, of ours," she said pointedly, "will ever be raised in that hellhole. Master Atticus, what are the chances of him getting to me with the security teams you've put in place?"
"You're a calm one, little bit. Most women I know would be screaming for a safe house right about now." His chuckle hummed through the speaker. "Honestly, I have one hundred percent faith in the teams I've assigned. But, as I explained to Jasper, even the best team isn't perfect. Outside factors can turn the perfect op into a clusterfuck in seconds."
"So slim, but not non-existent."
"Which is why we need to be vigilant and not take any chances with your safety," Jasper told her. His hands were clenched on his thighs. "You don't leave the house today without me by your side. You don't leave my sight at Avalon, even though the twins can't access the club."
"There are other entrances," she reminded him, thinking of the fire doors. "There are ways and means of getting to someone if they're in a hurry. So, how much of a hurry is Dominic in to get me?"
"I don't think he's going to rush things along," Atticus chimed in. "You know him better than I do, J, but he strikes me as the type to get off on imagining you looking over your shoulder every two seconds, waiting for the grab. The twins will take the first opportunity they're given, but they won't rush into it and miss."
Needing a boost to keep her brain working, Anarchy busied herself making coffee for her and Jasper. The one he'd made sat untouched on the counter, stone cold and undrinkable now.
They were focusing too much on the twins, she mused as she poured coffee into mugs. Sure, they were a threat, but the biggest danger was Dominic himself. If they cut the head off the octopus, the legs would stop working. It was a mixed metaphor, but she knew what she meant. Dominic had a lot of legs waving around, controlling different aspects of his life.
"He needs to die," she muttered aloud, then froze when the men quieted. She glanced over her shoulder and blinked at Jasper's bemused expression. Atticus's probably matched it, wherever he was. "What? I'm just saying what we're all thinking. Men like him use their money to avoid prison, or to make life behind bars really damn cushy. As long as he's still breathing, the operation he's got going will continue. It needs to stop. The whole fucking thing needs crushing."
Jasper's face became a mask, one she knew well. It was his I have a secretmask. "There's only so much we can—"
"Bullshit." She narrowed her eyes at him. "It's already in the pipeline, isn't it?"
"We're not going to divulge anything that might incriminate you, Archie." Atticus said flatly, his tone brooking no argument. "Whatever is or is not in the pipeline will not be discussed with you."
She snorted loudly and dumped two sugars in Jasper's black coffee, added creamer and a single sugar to her own. Gripping the handles, she turned with the mugs in hand and thumped Jasper's in front of him. "Too late to say I'm not involved, Sirs. I'm up to my neck in this, and I'll be damned if I'll drown in it. I say we suit up and go knock on Dominic's door, beat the shit out of him, and bury him where he won't be found."
Jasper laughed, the sound strangled. "Jesus, kitten, retract the claws."
But Anarchy found nothing funny about her desire to see the man dead. "He hurt you. He abused you. He turned over a dozen children into killers and lab rats. He's a murderer. It all comes down to him. He, he, he. I'm not violent, I'm not bloodthirsty, but by God, I'll bloody him myself and dance on his dead body for what he's done to you, all of you."
"You'll go nowhere near him." The dominant tone instantly made her wet. He dropped several octaves and added a hefty punch of dominance into the words. "Whatever happens on that front will remain between us and God; you will not have any part of it. Not another word, Anarchy. It is not up for discussion."
