All Hail - J. Bree Page 0,7

his hands in his pockets. “Why not? You say you can’t, but why exactly can you not have a fun night out? The Jackal is dead, you’ll be with me and Jack the whole time, no one is going to so much as side-eye you. Fuck, half the Bay knows who you belong to anyway… no one touches the Wolf or her pack.”

I swallow.

There really isn’t a real reason why I can’t go, I just… I haven’t done anything this reckless since Rory and without Lips to come save me this feels dangerous.

“Okay, but I warn you, it’ll take me at least two hours to get ready. I’m not some Mounty girl who can just throw some rags on and call it good.”

Aodhan grins and shrugs. “I’ll raid your fridge for beers, we know where the theatre room is.”

He says theatre like it’s an insult but I’m used to the way he speaks now so it doesn’t upset me at all.

It takes me almost three hours to get ready, mostly because I have no idea what I should wear to something like this. White is the obvious choice but this isn’t an official outing so I don’t necessarily have to. Nothing red, that much is for certain and nothing in any of the colors that are already taken from members outside of our allies.

It’s stupid and it’s foolish, but I stick with something safe and I wear black.

Lots of people wear black so it’s not as though I’m doing anything wrong but I’m also trying very hard not to provoke anything from Atticus at the moment and showing up to the docks of the Bay at a party in his colors seems reckless.

I do it anyway.

“Holy shit. That’s a fucking dress.”

I roll my eyes at Aodhan as I come down the stairs, my legs as steady as ever even in ten-inch stilettos and such a short hemline. “Well done on your keen observation skills. Honestly, sometimes I wonder about you, O’Cronin.”

Jack scoffs and mumbles, “I think he meant that you look like sex on heels and he’s a little fucking worried about taking you into the party like that. We’re going to be working overtime keeping hands the fuck off of you.”

I glance down and smile at the long lines of my exposed legs. “Good. There’s no point going out if you’re not ruining someone’s life.”

Aodhan tips back his head and laughs. “There she is! There’s the Ice Queen. I thought we lost her for a second, my cousin would’ve been pissed.”

I roll my eyes at him again and then I take his arm. He looks a little shocked that I’m touching him but I’ve always been a tactile person. There’s never been a shortage in family that would hold me or take my hand when I needed it.

It never occurred to me that maybe he’d object to it.

Jack gets the door and then we walk out to the car. It’s a classic, an Impala that I know Harley drools over every chance he gets. It isn’t pristine, the seats all need some work, but it’s still a very nice car.

Aodhan helps me into the front seat, a little clumsy like he’s never shown this sort of chivalry to a woman before and he’s winging it. Jack climbs into the back, folding his legs up with a grunt. I take a second to check them both out and I feel just a little over dressed. Both of them are in jeans, distressed from wear and certainly not a fashion choice, and while they’re both clean they’re not at all dressed for the occasion.

“Where did you get the Impala? It’s a new purchase, right?”

Aodhan starts the engine and the roar is like nothing else. I’m not exactly a car person but I spend enough time with Harley and Ash to know the ins and outs. Ash prefers his European sports cars over the grunt of the muscle cars but it’s all variations of the same equation.

“It was Domhnall’s. I wanted to sell it, fuck him, but… it’s too fucking pretty for that shit. So instead I drive it around doing shit for people he hates and enjoy every second without him.”

Jack changes the subject, steering it away from their dead scumbag relatives and onto safer topics.

I check my phone as he talks and try not to laugh at the stupid messages I’m already getting from Lips and the guys. I should not miss them yet. I definitely shouldn’t miss them the