glancing down at me. I shrug at him because we’ll just find him some thug to throw in the same way Illi did for Lips the last time, but he lets out a sigh like the day just got infinitely harder for him.
I know the feeling.
Chapter Five
Atticus- Three Years Ago
The curtains slowly begin to draw back and an awed quiet takes over the crowd. The recital happens every year with all of the students from the state’s most prestigious schools dancing and the ticket sales going to charity. It’s a high society event and one that every rich and powerful parent and Hannaford Alumn attends.
Everyone knows who the star of the show is.
The music starts and Avery appears on stage, as effortless and graceful as a queen, the long lines of her body making me feel like a creep because she’s only seventeen.
Seventeen.
But there’s no denying that she’s gorgeous, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever laid eyes on, and the years of avoiding her have only made her transformation from a young and pretty girl into the stunning woman who has every eye on her as she spins and jumps on stage effortlessly.
It takes years of discipline and hard work to make those jumps look as easy as breathing.
The woman next to me starts murmuring to her husband and I cut her such an icy cold look that she shuts up immediately, leaning away from me in her seat like she can somehow escape my wrath.
I don’t want anyone ruining this moment for me, the fraction of time that I have to just sit and soak Avery in while she’s doing something she both loves and excels at. I can sit here and just watch her without having to worry about her seeing me and speaking to me because every time she does I get a little closer to cracking.
I can’t afford to break down and tell her everything yet.
She’s still under her father’s control and until she turns eighteen there’s nothing I can do without him sending a whole country's worth of legal action toward me.
Once she’s eighteen there’s only the illegal resources I’ll have to worry about and as the Crow, I have more than enough of my own firepower to send back to him. Every favor I collect, every senator I buy off, every crime lord I bind to myself—all of it is to get Avery and Ash away from that man.
My chest tightens as the crescendo of the song breaks, Avery’s spinning on the stage a perfect arc and her feet steady and sure as she lands her final jump.
She’s the only dancer to receive a standing ovation.
She’s the only dancer who is already skilled enough to dance on any stage in the world. That’s a fact and has nothing to do with all of the ways that she owns every part of my past, present, and future.
I built my entire business and my life around being what Avery needs to get her out of the Beaumont Manor and away from the evils of her family. I’ve never once regretted that decision and I never will.
When the curtain closes and the lights come back on for the intermission I stand from my seat. I need to get out of here before Avery finds out that I’d even attended but there’s still something left to finish up with.
I need to fulfill the favor the Wolf called in.
It takes a little too long to get out of the seating area because everyone gets up and makes a beeline to the facilities here. It might be an exclusive event but the entire building is packed out with teachers, parents, and siblings. When I finally make it out, I head straight for the bar, immediately spotting the real reason I’m here. I shuffle through the crowd until I reach where Senior is standing by the bar, a bourbon and ice in his hand.
“Here he is, the useless Crawford boy ready to run me off again. What have you concocted this time to keep me away from my own children?”
I unbutton my jacket as I look around for Ash or any of his friends, just in case I need full mobility in my arms. They always wait for Avery backstage after her performance, just in case Joey or Senior go looking for her, and it’s working to my favor tonight.
“I don’t need to concoct anything, Joseph, there’s more than enough skeletons in your closet to do it for me.”
He takes another