All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,56

I can, waiting until she sits down and gets as comfortable as she can on the cold metal, and then I kiss her.

“If you get blood on me, I will murder you in your sleep, O’Cronin. The Wolf isn’t the only one hiding in the shadows,” she murmurs with that same playful smirk.

I lean down and kiss her again, one last time before I get to work, ignoring Diarmuid’s grunts behind us both at the display. “You can kill me anytime, Queenie, you know that.”

Chapter Fifteen

I sit on the small chair and text Lips back while Aodhan deals with Diarmuid.

The sounds aren’t so bad now I’m more accustomed to this sort of thing and I don't watch him work, my eyes and attention staying focused entirely on my phone as I give her the details of everything happening here.

She’s very impressed with Aodhan’s work ethic and the way he kept to his word.

Tell him I want the fingers. It’ll be a good companion to Annabelle’s hand.

I gag at the reminder that she even has that disgusting jar stashed in her bag at all times to ward off the panicked feeling she has about Harley’s near-miss with that jealous little whore.

Disgusting. Any specific finger or whichever ones take Aodhan’s fancy?

Diarmuid’s boots make a squeaking noise against the steel bottom of the shipping container as he struggles, the grunts of his coming from behind the gag sound frenzied and enraged but that is quite soothing for me.

Does he have bolt cutters handy? I want both his trigger fingers, Illi can pickle them for me.

Again, I gag except this time Aodhan hears and takes notice. “How are you doing over there, Queenie? We can go get some air if you want.”

I shake my head but keep my eyes where they are. “Lips is being gross, she wants his trigger fingers and she wants him to feel them come off. Apparently bolt cutters are the most efficient method of removal, do we have any spare or should I call Illi?”

The squeaking of the boots comes to an abrupt halt.

Clearly the Irish shooter still thought there was a chance of his making it out of here alive but there’s no way he’d be able to function without being able to work.

No fingers, no sniper.

“I’ve got it covered. Don’t you worry about it, Queenie, just keep your eyes on your work.”

I nod my head and thumb my way through some of Amanda Donnelley’s financial records that I’ve been sent by one of my contacts. He’s not as good as the Coyote but I’m conscious of the fact that Jackson lied to us all about Nate and I don’t want to start relying on him for absolutely everything.

I zone out as I read the files over and over again to find something, anything, that is a clue for what the hell her deal is… where she gets her power, what it is about her that makes Atticus sweat.

I’ll admit his reaction to her has made the entire endeavor personal.

I hear the muffled screaming and the crunching noise of the bolt cutters but, after swallowing the bile back down my throat, I push it all away and use the time wisely. I have a phone full of pressing issues that need my attention and there are never enough hours in the day to get through it all.

I’m so focused on what I’m doing, and so trusting of Aodhan, that I don’t know exactly when Diarmuid dies, only that the thumping sound his body makes when Aodhan unties it from the chair startles me out of my work.

“Sorry, Queenie, I didn’t mean to scare you. Rigor mortis makes it a bitch to move them if I left him up there while I got you home,” he murmurs and I shrug.

I carefully repack my purse and stand up, keeping my back to what I’m sure is a blood-soaked mess behind me.

There’s some movement and grunting behind me and then Aodhan walks up beside me with his jacket zipped all the way up. His hands are a little bloody as are his jeans but the jacket is clean.

“I’ll get you home and then I’ll call Illi to help me get rid of the body… he had some suggestions for the disposal.”

I roll my eyes because of course the Butcher wants to get creative with Diarmuid’s final resting place, just to make sure it isn’t all that restful. It’s exactly what the traitor deserves too, after what he did to betray Lips