Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High #2) - Sam Crescent Page 0,40

her?”

“Baby, don’t underestimate who I am. I know how to get shit done and believe me when I say this, I’m going to get it done.” There was no way I was going to let Emily down. Ashley had been a means to an end but if her safety was what my woman wanted, her safety was what she’d get.

Chapter Ten

River

I was going over Emily’s security with Drake when Caleb came into the room, and without a single warning, clocked one of our best men right in the jaw. Drake would have seen it coming, but rather than defend himself, he took the punch. Interesting.

“Don’t you ever fucking make a deal with Emily. Do you understand? Whatever you want, you get?”

Drake rubbed at his jaw. “You got what you wanted, didn’t you?”

“Not because of you.”

“Oh, please. That woman was on her high horse and she needed a fucking wake-up call. Guess what? I provided it. Damn. You sure know how to hit.”

Caleb lifted his fist. I didn’t make a single move to stop him.

“You made a deal with Emily?”

“It was an agreement, and in the long term, it helped your buddy out, but I guess he doesn’t like having his dick sucked.” Drake groaned. “I stated some facts to her. If she didn’t like it, it’s not my problem. Fuck.” He tested out his jaw. It wasn’t broken. “You going to kill me?”

“I should.” Caleb looked ready to shoot him in the head.

“Then get on with it, or if you don’t mind, I’m going to do my job and make sure she lives past you getting to Earl Valentine. Or do you want her brains splattered over the bedroom walls?”

“What are you talking about?”

I raised a brow at my best friend. “You finally got your time with Emily?”

“Are you slow?” Drake asked.

I looked at Drake. All throughout high school, I hadn’t liked him. There were times I still didn’t. He acted without thought half the time, and he had a lot of parental issues. Whenever we had parents to deal with and took Drake along, it always got messy. I accepted it, but that didn’t mean I liked it.

One thing I couldn’t deny, he was damn good at his job. Keeping Emily alive while we dealt with Valentine’s betrayal was something we needed him for.

“In the past twenty-four hours, Drake’s gotten word of three men entering our town. They’ve got the appearance of tourists, but Drake’s not buying it. He’s gone to check them out, and they’re not tourists.”

“How do you know?” Caleb asked.

“I know how tourists act, okay? This is my job, to keep Emily safe, and I’m telling you, she’s at risk right now. Whatever deal you made with Valentine, either he did betray you, or your fathers have got some swing even from the inside. My suggestion is Earl helped you guys.” Drake pointed at the file he’d given me. He always liked to create files for his work. Of course, he also enjoyed getting a nice big reward for a job well done. I couldn’t fault him. His work was always flawless, for the most part at least.

“If Earl hadn’t done his job, I believe we’d have already experienced multiple hits. Instead, we’ve got men traveling to our town. I think they are your fathers.”

I didn’t like this. If it was one of our fathers, it meant someone within our team, which was an extremely short list, was betraying us.

Caleb took the file from me and began to look over the report Drake had compiled. I’d give the fucker one compliment, he was always thorough and so far, he’d saved our asses multiple times. I often had to wonder why. Why did he want to save us when we’d hated his guts during high school? We still hated him at times, but still, I wouldn’t get rid of him just because I couldn’t stand him.

“I want Gael and Vadik,” Caleb said. “They’re going to deal with these men. Drake, you’re on Emily watch, but this time, don’t piss her off, and don’t make any kind of deal with her. I can handle my own problems. River, you’re with me.”

“We going to our fathers, or having the short list of traitors coming here?”

“We’re going there, and they’re coming to us.” Caleb slapped the file into Drake’s hands. “Whatever she wants.”

“And if she wants this body of mine?” Drake ran his fingers through his hair.

“You’re begging for a beat down,” I said, already walking away toward my car.