Page 116 of Property of Rattler

“I’m not Ames Stone,” she reminds us. “I’m Ames Ellington. And I never really liked my name. Our parents named us after jewels…”

Genie frowns. “Malachi?”

“Malachite. A semi-precious green gem stone,” she enlightens him.

“Here’s your chance to come up with a name you really like,” Freak suggests.

Ames bites her lip. “I’d like something simple, and something that sounds somewhat similar to Ames, so it catches my attention. Like Jayne, perhaps.”

Jayne. I roll my lips around it, trying it out. I lean over and say, “I like that too.”

Bullseye interrupts. “Do you want to think on it?”

Ames, noJayne, shakes her head. “I don’t give a damn about the money. My parents were rich, but I can’t remember what our life was like. My grandparents lived hand to mouth. His inheritance corrupted Malachi. I’ve no relatives left, and I don’twant the shadow of the Russians hanging over my head. I want to live, and not hide. And,” she glances around, “I’m growing to love this club, though, maybe the club girls will be an acquired taste.” There are a few awkward laughs. “What I’m saying is, I don’t think I want to wait. Satin tried to kill me. Let Volkov deal with the outcome that she did kill the golden goose.” She pauses and looks at me. “I just don’t want him to come for Rattler.”

Bullseye nods. “Then let’s plan.”

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

RATTLER

“Here.”

I swing around fast seeing Pippa approaching, her hand held behind her back. Maybe if I had been at full fighting strength, or at least not struggling to balance on two legs which threatened to buckle at any moment, I’d have been quicker to stop her. But she’d snaked her free hand around my head, forcing my face down into what she was holding in her other hand.

Staggering back, I roar, “What the fuck?” Pulling the offending objects away from my stinging eyes, blinking through the tears blinding me, I realise, mainly by touch and smell, that I’m now holding a handful of raw onion rings. “What the actual fuck?” I repeat, then swing my hands in the direction where I think she’s standing, but obviously with her super-fast reactions, she’s already far out of reach.

“Bro,” comes Saint’s voice. “You need to go get that shit wiped off.”

“Your woman fuckin’ blinded me.” I shrug off his arm, not wanting his help, but that only puts me off balance.

“I got you,” says Short. And once more the big man’s taking my weight.

I let him lead me away from the scene of my torture. Once in the bathroom, he runs a basin of water, and stands close as I frantically splash it on my face. The stinging starts to dissipate, and at last I can see enough to open my eyes. The lids are swollen, and the whole area’s red. My nose is running. Reaching for some toilet paper, I blow it.

Still the tears come.

Before Ames — no, I’ve got to remember her new name — beforeJayneI was a complete asshole, but since I’ve found her I’d thought I’d gone someway to redeem myself, but does this suggest I haven’t been as successful as I thought? And why attack me, today of all days, when I need to be on top of my game?

I whine, “Why the hell did Pippa do this to me?”

Through the slits of my swollen eyes, I see Short hold up his hands. “Truth, Bro?” Of course, I nod. “Because none of the rest us had the fuckin’ balls.” He winces as he sees me dabbing at the tears still flooding my face.

“Does he need these?”

“Get fuckin’ lost, Saint.” He’s the last person I want to see — not that I can see much at all right now. But I don’t want him near me, or not until he can control his woman. And what the fuck did Short mean? No one else had the balls to disable me?

“Thanks, VP,” Short is far more polite than me. “Here you go,” he pushes a box into my hands. Glancing down, I see it’s full of man-sized tissues.

Taking out a couple, I blot my eyes, blow my nose, yet again, then throw the now disintegrating paper away. Saint, I notice, is still in the bathroom.

I growl a warning, “I’m going to fuckin’ gut your woman.”

I can see well enough to see his eyes darken. His words surprise me. “I reckon when you get your head on straight, you’ll be wanting to thank her.”

My eyes widen as far as I can make them. “What the fuck you talking about?”

He shrugs. “Volkov is on his way to the compound.”