obviously, but Ash had always been so harsh and disinterested in girls… I didn’t think he’d ever fall for someone.
“Who was that singing? Another band on tour with your family?” Aodhan says, the bed dipping as he lounges down next to me.
“No, that’s the Wolf of Mounts Bay’s secret talent. One she guards well because of what the Jackal did to her. We’re all obsessed with her voice; Morrison put her on his album because he wanted to listen to her on repeat for the rest of his life.”
His eyebrows hit his hairline and I giggle, turning the phone so he can watch the video too. “They all really do love her. I can see why she didn’t want to choose.”
I nod, swallowing because we can’t talk about choosing without the other man in our relationship looming over us. “The four of them are so goddamn codependent that they would’ve never worked out with monogamy. Ash would have pined for her for the rest of his life;he’s a forever sort of person.”
Aodhan nods and kisses my shoulder. “You are too. How long have you waited for Crawford? You’re still agonizing over these photos because of the consequences he might be facing from your family.”
There’s nothing really I can say back because he’s exactly right.
Illi texts me back to confirm he had taken Bingley to the Crow’s fortress some years ago, he also tells me where he found the pervert so the food in my gut starts roiling.
Aodhan reads it over my shoulder, grunting in disgust. “That’s another mark in his favor… keeping that off of the street.”
I hum under my breath. “Why not just kill him? It would have to be easier to just dispose of him rather than feeding him and… well, letting him exist for all of this time?”
Aodhan grunts and shrugs. “Fuck knows what’s going through his head. Every man, woman, and child in the Bay knows that the Crow is at the center of a giant web of secrets, lies, and classified intel. Bing obviously knows something, or is worth something to someone. Would their parents pay out for him? What do they think of their pedophile son?”
They think far too highly of him, like his tastes are a quirk and not a deeply disturbing and disgusting abnormality. They should have dealt with him the first time he touched a girl, the same way my parents should have dealt with Joey when he poured scalding hot oil over our nanny as a child because she dared to say no to him.
Lauren’s silently sobbing face flashes into my mind, and I’m reminded they’re all as bad as each other.
I continue scrolling through the slew of unread messages until I find one from Atticus himself. My finger hovers for a second before I finally open it up. I don’t attempt to hide it or shy away from where Aodhan is reading over my shoulder because—because we’re together in this, no matter what happens.
Even if Atticus has been betraying us all.
I need to speak to you, Avery. Urgently.
Aodhan tries to get me to go back to sleep after I arrange a time and place to meet Atticus but there’s no way I can relax now. I text Illi to borrow some clothes from Odie so when the sun finally starts to rise, Aodhan drives me the short distance over to the warehouse to change.
Odie’s fashion sense is very different to mine but still impeccable.
We find a dress that drapes nicely and a pair of heels that are only one size bigger than I am so I can make them work. Odie’s belly has doubled in size in the last week since I saw her, and I take a photo of the happy couple to send to Lips.
I’m going to have it framed and hung on my staircase back at the ranch with the rest of the family photos as well.
When we turn to leave, Illi stops me. “Wait here for a second, kid.”
Then he jogs out of the apartment and down the stairs. I frown at Odie—is this a security thing?—but she smiles and rubs at her belly. “He has a gift for you, la Reine.”
A gift.
From the Butcher of the Bay, that could be anything.
Aodhan smiles at Odie, a little strained because he’s still mildly terrified of what Illi will do to him if he thinks he’s trying to flirt, and he obviously can’t speak French so he has no idea about what we’re saying.
“If it’s a body