The Ruthless (Queen Crow #2) - J. Bree Page 0,15

part, I need some warning. I’ll need to prepare myself so I don’t upset Illi by running screaming from the house.”

She throws her head back and laughs, the kind of laugh that lights up a room and calls out to the man who bled out a city to find her and sure enough Illi stomps back through the door with a box in his hands and the softest smile a man like him can manage.

He still looks like a brute.

“If there’s a head in that box, we aren’t friends anymore, Illi.”

He laughs just a bit too hard at that, and Aodhan cuts me a look.

I really need to stop making Nate references around him until I speak to Lips about telling him. I still haven’t decided if it’s a good idea or not to tell him. The more people who know, the more chances there are for leaks and Posey is still only fifteen.

Her safety is our priority, and it has very little to do with the fact that Nate would go on a murderous rampage if anything happened to her.

Illi sets the box down on the table and flips the lid on it. “I would never give you body parts; I know you better than that. I got you some new toys and if you’re going to confront that asshole Crawford, I need you to have some knives to throw at his throat if he starts his shit.”

Aodhan glances down at me. “You know how to throw knives? What else is in your skill set that I don’t know about.”

Illi chuckles. “Don’t tell him that shit. You gotta keep him guessing, keep him on his toes until he’s smart enough to put a ring on your finger.”

Jesus H Christ. “I know your aim is to embarrass the life out of me, but I’m not Lips and I’m above that bullshit. Thank you for the gift; I should really start carrying more weapons.”

Aodhan takes the box and I kiss Odie’s cheek as I pass her, giving Illi a quick hug even if he is a complete shit-stirrer. I imagine this is what having an older brother would be like in a normal family and… I’m oddly grateful for it.

Even with his arms full of the box, Aodhan still opens my car door for me and tucks me into the Impala. I send Lips a check-in message, just so she knows where I am and what our plans are because I feel like I’m about to be snatched off of the street.

It’s stupid but I can’t shake the feeling.

The fishing docks are enough of a drive away that I can go through the photos again and try to decide what I think is happening. If he can’t explain it to me now then… then maybe it really is time to cut him free.

I can’t bring myself to actually say it though.

When we pull into the parking lot, Atticus’ car is already there waiting. I prepare myself to have to face Luca again, but when the driver’s side door opens, Atticus himself steps out.

He’s come alone.

Aodhan gets out of the car, and I wait for him to open my door for me, specifically because I know it will piss Atticus off and, sure enough, he stares Aodhan down like he’s plotting out his murder.

They’re so different.

Standing this close together here it’s so unbelievably obvious how different they really are and yet I crave them both the same.

Atticus is wearing his usual charcoal suit, pressed and dry cleaned to perfection, with a pair of Hermes leather shoes. The crisp white shirt he’s wearing under the suit jacket covers his tattoos I’ve only managed to get a peek at and he’s wearing, as always, the Rolex I bought for him years ago.

Aodhan is wearing jeans and a tee with a jacket thrown overtop like he couldn’t care less what he’s wearing. With the same biker boots every Mounty I’ve ever met has an obsession for, he looks as though he’s ready to wade into a street fight or a party by the docks, further down the coast from where we’re now standing.

I stay tucked into Aodhan’s side.

Atticus’s jaw flexes as he grinds his teeth. “Avery, I asked to meet so I could speak privately with you.”

Aodhan tenses but I shrug effortlessly, as though this is nothing to me despite my heart attempting to beat its way out of my chest. “You should have been clearer when you messaged; I don’t trust you enough right