Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High #2) - Sam Crescent Page 0,11

had stuck and I couldn’t help it. Hurting people was my salvation.

I’d even hurt women. I’d lured them into my bed, taken their clothes, seen what dirty shit they wanted to do, filmed them, and destroyed them.

I hadn’t slept with a woman. I hadn’t allowed a woman to go down on me, nor to go anywhere near me. I know Caleb had. But I couldn’t do it. River hadn’t as well. Vadik kissed and teased, but I was the one who didn’t go that far.

Staring at my friends now, my brothers in pain and pleasure, I couldn’t believe I was the voice of reason. “Are you all fucking stupid?” I asked.

“Be careful,” Caleb said.

I laughed. He’d broken my arm a couple of years ago during one of our many spars. The physical pain had been a welcome relief. It hadn’t stopped me from starting fights.

“Emily is our woman and we know who she would protect with her life,” I said. “If we give him Ashley, we will lose our woman.”

“Not if we negotiate her life properly,” River said.

I wanted Emily back, but I didn’t want her to hate us. “If you make this deal with him, we will be fighting for her love.”

“I don’t care,” Vadik said. “I need her back. We’ll deal with the Ashley angle. She’s had our girl for seven years. It’s time we got her back, and if making a deal with that beast is what we’ve got to do, then so be it. We’ll make it right eventually. Besides, Ashley owes us big time. I’m not going to talk about this. As far as I’m concerned, the deal has already been struck!”

He turned on his heel and left, Caleb following right after him, leaving me with River.

“I thought you were willing to do whatever it takes to get her back,” River said.

I looked at him. He had several scars on his face. Some of them self-inflicted, others from fighting.

“I would.”

“Then this is a done deal. Until we can find out a way to make it right, Emily will be ours.”

He didn’t give me chance to respond.

I stared at the man on the ground and tutted. “We’re about to fuck up as badly as you. Hopefully, this time, she won’t kill us.” Whistling to myself, I followed my boys into the kitchen.

Earl had already started to eat his sandwich. “Damn good cheese you have here. I need to know your supplier.”

“Cut the crap. Before we agree, we have a few conditions.”

He burst out laughing. “You think you’re in a position to be giving me conditions?” he asked.

“This isn’t funny,” Caleb said.

“I’m offering you the chance of a lifetime and this is all the thanks I get?” Earl rolled his eyes.

“You can’t kill her,” I said. This had to be number one for Ashley. If she was to die, it would kill Emily, I just knew it.

Earl chuckled. “I want to take her cherry not kill her.”

“We know the games you play,” Vadik said.

“No, you know the women I sell. I’ve never killed a woman.”

“No one can kill her. Ashley has to stay alive.”

“You know I can just take this girl.”

“And we’d fight you because we’d do that for Emily,” I said.

Earl looked at me. “I thought you were the crazy one.”

“Emily loves her. They’re still together even after all this time. There is no fighting that.”

He sighed. “I don’t like this.”

“It’s the only arrangement we’ll make,” Caleb said.

Earl stared at us. Seconds passed.

“Fine. Ashley will stay alive. I have no plans to kill her. But, and this is the big but, you will entertain Emily while I get her. She belongs to me. I want time with her alone, away from prying eyes.”

“Emily will want to see her.” I had to make sure Emily got what she wanted.

Earl ran a hand down his face and shook his head. “I get six months with Ashley before any visiting.”

“A month,” I said.

Caleb sent me a sharp look. They clearly hadn’t seen the connection between Emily and Ashley, but I had. I knew what was at stake. They could all take the credit, but I had to make sure she was taken care of.

“Not a chance. Five.”

“Two.”

“Four,” Earl said.

I stared at him.

“Two, and you get to bring her here and leave when you want.”

“Even if Ashley tries to convince you to let her go, you will make sure she leaves with me,” Earl said.

“If she wants to leave you, then you should think about the women you keep,” Caleb