All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,73
hates it, he’ll stay an ally because of me. I’m sure of that. The Boar is a wild card. The Tiger has always sided with Atticus and Lips but it’s not exactly an alliance. There’s too much uncertainty.”
Aodhan frowns and pulls me closer. “This sounds like you want to sponsor someone. Whoever it is, I’ll put them forward for you. Name it and it’s yours, Queenie. No matter what.”
I huff at him. “And what if I name myself? What if I want a seat at the table?”
He leans forward to press our lips together, his tongue darting out until the stroke of it over mine has me ready for round two.
He pulls away and murmurs to me, “I’m not going to stop you from doing anything, Queenie. If you’re sure you can walk into the Game and take your opponents out then go ahead. I doubt Ash will be so happy about that, or Harley. Fuck, Illi will probably throw down over it too.”
I giggle at him. “So you’re fine with it because everyone else will stop me and do your dirty work for you?”
He smirks at me, biting my lip before sucking on it like he wants to distract me. His fingers trail up to my necklace and he pulls back to look at it again where it hangs on my naked chest. “There’s room in there for another diamond you know. If he ever gets his head out of his ass.”
I startle and blink away tears as I look him over. “Please tell me you’re joking? You’re giving me up for the Crow?”
He huffs and grabs my wrists, pulling me until I’m straddling his waist. My heart thumps a little but it’s different here, the room is dark and clean and mine. There’s no place here for the ghosts of the Jackal.
“I’m not giving you up for fucking anything, Queenie. Nothing would make me let you go… but if you want him as well, then I can live with that. I want your heart to be whole, not torn in half.”
I clutch at the necklace in my hand. My words come out thready, “Atticus won’t share. I’m surprised you would.”
He shrugs. “I’ve watched Harley share for months… he doesn’t look like he’s suffering. I think he found someone worth it and, Aves, you’re fucking worth it. If Atticus doesn’t see it that way then that’s his loss.”
Chapter Nineteen
Falling asleep in clean sheets after a shower with Aodhan is just as perfect as I thought it would be.
Waking up to him eating me out again is even better.
I want nothing more than to spend the day in bed with him and to just enjoy being together. While forgetting about everything that’s happening around us is the dream, it’s also almost impossible to do with my phone buzzing constantly with a slew of messages from informants and Illi checking in on me.
I texted Lips before falling asleep last night and the smugness in her was radiating through the three word sentences she replied to me with.
Aodhan kisses me and heads to the shower while I start sorting through all of the information that came through while we slept. There’s nothing really interesting until I get to the guest list of the birthday dinner the Ford sisters are throwing for their decrepit ninety-something-year-old father.
There’s a lot of names likely to be present that will be useful to me but I have my sights set on Olivia Bromburg specifically.
Her husband is in the DEA and with the Jackal’s product flooding the streets of the Bay that makes him very useful to me. I’ve never met him, I only know him from the gossip, and there’s no time like the present to go looking for some more leads.
I decide to go with my strengths and I tell Illi that Aodhan will be escorting me to the high society dinner.
It’s a very murky truth.
Technically, he is escorting me there… and then he’s going to wait for me outside the building where he can come and rescue me if something goes terribly wrong.
When I tell him about my plans he gives me the same crooked smile he always does and says, “Good thing I would rather drink bleach than eat snails with rich dicks or I’d be a pretty fucking offended that you don’t wanna be seen at parties with me.”
I roll my eyes at him and stalk out of my closet in my lingerie and heels. The dress I’m wearing for the night is