All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,32

to us.

I move back down to the kitchen to find Illi in there with a beer out on the counter and a glass of wine already poured for me.

“Did you find anything?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing. I’ll get the Coyote out here to go over it again, I doubt they would give up this opportunity to get eyes in here.”

I shrug. “I guess I’ll have a quiet night tonight until then. What a shame, I was planning on some naked ritualistic sacrifice.”

He tips the beer bottle back and gulps it down. “Fuck, that would be something to see. Queenie sacrificing a goat.”

My nose wrinkles at him and I ignore his chuckle. “Where would I even find a goat? I’m far more comfortable with human sacrifice.”

I pick up the wine glass and sip it slowly, staring at the crack in my marble countertop and wondering how the hell they even managed to do that.

Illi finishes the beer and grabs another one.

I clear my throat. “I need some help.”

He shrugs without a second thought. “Sure.”

I quirk an eyebrow at him. “You don’t want to know what it is first? I could ask you anything.”

He chuckles under his breath and finishes off the second beer like it’s nothing. “You never ask me for help. Lips does, and the guys do, but you never ask me for help so this is something big and it’s going to be complicated as fuck but whatever you need, I’ll do it.”

I nod because it’s true enough. I check my phone for a second and find missed messages from Atticus about the warrant. He’d gotten a judge to cancel it, which was why Drummond finally left, and he’s looking into why they were really here in the first place.

I didn’t tell him about Lauren.

I take a sip of my wine again and then choose my words carefully, aiming for vaguely detailed. “There’s a Gala coming up that I need to go to. I need to update my resources and that will be the best place to scout out some options.”

Illi shrugs. “And you want me to go with you? Fuck, you’re going to make me wear a suit, aren’t you?”

A smile tugs at the corner of my lips. “I’ll have a Tom Ford delivered to your place. Do you know all of your measurements? Odie knows how to take them, I’m sure you’ll enjoy the process.”

He grins at me, radiating smug male energy that would piss me off in anyone other than him because I’m very aware just how much he loves his wife. “I guess I can get on board with that. Anything in particular we’re looking for at this fucking thing?”

I stare over at the destruction of my house. “I need a good cleaner… maybe a new lawyer so I can make the MBPD weep into their morning coffees every day for the rest of their hopefully long lives.”

Illi nods and moves to throw both of his empty bottles out but I’m not sure why he’d bother because the contents of my trash can was dumped out into a pile in the corner.

My skin starts to crawl just looking at it.

It takes me half a minute to order a skip bin to be delivered to my house and when I convince Illi head home for the day I get to work cleaning the mess up. I guess I was due for a design change anyway.

By the time I have everything cleared out that was destroyed I’m angry and frustrated and not at all in the mood to cook so I order Thai takeout and call Ash to whine.

I’d messaged him when I found out about the search warrant and I can say for sure that I’m glad he’s not here at the moment.

“Did that fuck Jackson check your house yet? I don’t want you staying there if there’s pigs watching you.”

I huff. “He checked his security and there’s no bugs. They did put trackers on all of the cars though so I won’t be driving until they’re gone.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?! I’m coming home. Fuck this, I’m leveling the fucking city for this.”

I laugh at him but I keep my tone light. “I’m glad it’s your precious cars that sent you over the edge.”

There’s yelling and laughter in the background and I feel a little guilty about worrying him while he’s supposed to be having a good time. “Don’t come home. Honestly, figuring out plans for kidnapped girls and new drug dealing kingpins is my