All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,15

the same that way.”

I squeeze my eyes shut.

It’s always been easier for me to shut out that he’s the reason I was given that name, that he’s the reason I don’t want to be called that nickname by anyone who isn’t my family and only because they’ve called me that for so long that I’d have to explain why I wanted them to stop.

Ash would not take it well.

I wait until we’re back at the front door before I reply to him. “Maybe you’re right, maybe I don’t have friends but you’re the one who chose to not be a part of my family. You wanted to give me up for the greater good so now you get to live with that choice. You don’t need to protect me and you definitely don’t get to tell me where I’m allowed to go. Goodbye Atticus.”

Chapter Four

I’m not proud but I definitely go back to bed after Atticus leaves.

It’s that or I’d have to redo my kitchen and I’m very conscious of the fact that I have to go to the meeting and I don’t have time to have a full-blown cleaning meltdown.

I can save it for later.

When I finally have to get up, I pick out my outfit with the utmost care.

A de la Renta dress that falls just below my knees, a Balmain couture tailored jacket, and a pair of Choos on my feet, I’m dressed entirely in white and with the same understated wealth that anyone born in my social circles is. Nothing with garish logos but still dripping in money.

None of that matters to me anymore.

I’m dressed in white because I’m attending the meeting as the Wolf’s proxy, the delegate she’s sending in her stead to sit in the meeting and make decisions about how the next Game will run. She trusts me with this and I’ll do everything in my power to not only make the right decisions but also to learn what I can about the other members here.

I need to watch them all carefully, pick up on what their plans are, and make our own moves on the board accordingly.

Illi arrives on time to pick me up, the BMW he drives immaculate and a lingering scent of Odie’s favorite perfume in the air.

He gets out and opens the car door for me, cracking a joke about not dressing to the occasion.

I slide into the seat and wait until he’s back behind the wheel and pulling the car back down the driveway before I answer him. “I’m proving a point… and I’m gathering data. We need to know who here is going to question Lips and our family.”

He drives a lot like Harley, like the car is an extension of his soul and I’m sure that he’d love to be racing his way over to the warehouse that has been chosen for the meeting but with me in the car he’s showing restraint.

It’s sweet in a very Butcher way.

“The kid is lucky you’re into this shit, neither of us enjoy political bullshit. Stab first and all that,” he mutters, and I shrug at him with a smirk.

“Both of you have played the game for years without me. I can’t pick up a gun and help defend our people the way everyone else can, but meetings? This I can do in my sleep.”

Illi shrugs as he weaves through the traffic. “I’m sure you could pick up a gun if you needed to, Queenie. I think the kid and I have done everything we can to make sure that you can defend yourself if you need to.”

There’s a little photo hanging on the visor of Odie in a vibrant blue dress, the color of Lips’ diamonds, as she sits in a cafe in France. There’s this grin on her face that she only wears when she’s staring at Illi and it makes my chest ache a little.

Why is everyone I’m surrounded by in love and happy and complete while I’m desperately trying to scrap together the pieces of myself so I can just exist in peace?

Great.

The signature Blaise Morrison Pity Party has somehow infected me.

Illi notices me looking and shoots me a lopsided grin. “Our honeymoon. That was the day after I cut her cunt father’s heart out. He was a piece of shit, a different kind of bad than yours but still fucking shitty.”

That clears my head a little. “At least you’ll know exactly what not to do.”

I’ve already congratulated him on the drive back from the