The Ruthless (Queen Crow #2) - J. Bree Page 0,49

our plans to murder people in the privacy of my own home, I can do it.

I slip into the Bentley and decide I can’t stand another second in the Kevlar and strip down to get it off. The windows are tinted dark enough that I’m not worried about any of the Crow’s men seeing, and I’m wearing one of my lace bralettes underneath it anyway.

One of the perks of not having a huge cup size.

Atticus slides into his seat right as I pull my blazer back on over the bralette, his eyes burning into my skin as I get it pulled into the right position and buttoned up. I should really put the camisole back on first considering Jackson is back at my house, but so long as the blazer is buttoned up, it’s revealing but not obscene.

I’m too goddamn tired for this shit.

“I’d be more comfortable if you kept the vest on until we’re inside your house,” he says as he starts the car, pulling out smoothly.

I settle back in my seat and message Lips with an update of everything that happened in the Game. All of it vague and entirely in a code that changes so often we’re lucky we’re both geniuses and can keep up with it. There’s nothing any type of law enforcement could take us down for that I couldn’t pay our way out of, but there’s a lot of other players on the board who would love nothing more than knowing our plans.

“Just because you want it, doesn’t mean you’ll get it. Hasn’t the Bay taught you anything?” I say with a smile, and he doesn’t bite back, doesn’t flirt with me or argue at all.

He just leans across the car and takes my hand in his. “I’m very good at getting what I want. Almost as good as the ruthless queen everyone keeps whispering about. All I used to hear about on the streets was the Wolf who hid in the shadows and would take you out before you even realized she was there, but now? Now all of the talk is about the girl she trusts with her life and her business, the Beaumont who single-handedly arranged the coup against the Jackal and had her own father slain in his bed while he slept.”

I gape at him. “That’s not what happened and you know it.”

He smirks. “The first rule of infamy is that no one ever gets the details right. That’s how legends are started, and that’s how a thirteen-year-old girl became the most dangerous person in the city—because she walked out of the Game alive. She was as close to a superhero as you can get to the other kids who have grown up here, and when she chose you to be her friend after being alone for so long? You took on God-like status. That’s the real truth of the Bay, Avery. You’re a god here until you’re not, and now you have the power, everyone is going to try to take it from you. That’s the life you’ll have now.”

I look out of the window at the city passing us by, and his fingers stay tightly wrapped around mine. His words don’t change anything. They don’t scare me or have me changing a goddamn thing, because my life has always been that way. I’ve always looked over my shoulder and had to assess every aspect of my life because those around me have been a danger to me.

“I have a family now, Atticus. Everything might be darker and more dangerous now, but at least I’m happy and loved. Ash is happy; fuck, I’ve never seen him so happy. Harley is alive and happy. Morrison is alive and happy. These are all things that I thought were impossible two years ago. I’m not saying that I’m thrilled at being hunted for the rest of my life, but it’s the price I’ll pay for our happiness. I’ll pay it over and over again.”

He doesn’t say another word for the rest of the drive but there isn’t any anger radiating toward me, no frustration at the situation until we’re spilling out into a raging argument.

When he pulls up outside the ranch, Jackson’s Porsche is sitting out front.

I really don’t want to see him and ruin this moment.

When we unlock the front door, I immediately open up the staircase and usher Atticus down into my panic room. He raises an eyebrow at me but doesn’t comment, just steps carefully down the marble staircase,