Then she’ll see it all. No fucking holds barred.”
“Should we prepare a limo to take her ladyship away after she sees the lair?” Eric said. “I can have it on standby at the back door, sick bags at the ready.”
“Cheska will be okay,” Vinnie said, eyes fucking blown, readying for tonight. Out of all my men, he craved these nights the most. Almost as much as I did. “I’ve seen it.” Vinnie looked up and nodded at the ceiling like the fucking nutter he was. “There’s more black around her now. Still some red, but much more black. Everyone is dead. All her family are dead. That always brings more black. And it never goes away.”
Something fucking pulled in my gut at that. I stood off the bar, righting my cufflinks, just as the door to the living room opened and Betsy and Cheska stepped inside. I fucking froze on seeing Chelsea Girl. She was dressed in all black. Skinny black leather trousers clung to her fucking legs like a second skin. Legs that seemed to go on for fucking ever. She wore a skintight black top tucked into the high-waisted trousers. Her hair was down and she was wearing makeup. I hadn’t seen her wear makeup since she’d collapsed on my nightclub floor. Her sky-high stilettos left her only a few inches shorter than me. They’d make it easier for me to turn her around and sink into her cunt, if she managed to last the night.
Ronnie and Vera got to their feet. The room was quiet. Betsy threw me a smug look and went to stand beside her brother, linking her arm through his.
“Let’s go,” I said, moving to leave the room.
“One thing first,” Ronnie said, and I stopped dead. She turned to Cheska, who was watching her with a suspicious stare. Ronnie’s face was steel as she walked toward Cheska and pushed her against the wall. Cheska’s back hit the wall with a thud. I gritted my teeth, ready to wrench Ronnie the fuck out the way. I made to move, but Vera shot me a glare. She shook her head, telling me to leave it. I told my cousin with my fucking cold expression that if anything happened to Cheska right now, they’d be sorry.
“You think you’re ready for tonight?” Ronnie said. Cheska nodded, chin held high like it had been in the study last night. Never knew a posh bird could have so much fucking fight.
Ronnie smirked, then took hold of Cheska’s face and pinned her head back against the wall. With her free hand, Ronnie reached into her pocket and pulled something out. I stepped forward, suspecting it was a blade. But she held the silver metal item up and smiled. “Then you better wear a fucking killer red to go with those heels,” she said and twisted the tube in her hand until red lipstick came out.
I rolled my fucking eyes at her theatrics and pushed past them all. I flicked my eyes to Cheska as I passed, only to see her smiling at Ronnie as she painted her lips scarlet red. Betsy laughed, and my boys followed behind me. We got into cars, and in my peripheral I saw Cheska get into the one at the back with Betsy, Vera and Ronnie.
There would be no attempt to hide her identity at the place we were going. The people there wouldn’t give a fuck who she was anyway. And they knew better than to fuck with me. They might be my associates in business, but I had dirt for fucking days on all of them. The place we were going to was my motherfucking domain. No one would dare fuck with any of us Adleys there. And if they did, then it was the perfect place for retribution.
“Ready, old boy?” Charlie asked. I knew he wasn’t referring to tonight by the cocky look on his face. It was about Cheska. But I wasn’t talking about her right now. She’d see one of our enterprises tonight and fucking leave. Out of my life and back to her world. Then I’d be back to bloody breathing right. Because I wasn’t sure I’d taken a full fucking breath since she’d burst back into my life.
The cars stopped at the old warehouse in Mile End. I flicked the collar of my coat up and lit a cig, the freezing cold wrapping around me, then led the way toward the warehouse. To normal people, it was just that—a