Page 152
Story: Princes of Legacy
“You get used to it.” I take another bite, and he nods at the burrito.
“The girls found you, I see.”
“Yep. They’re in there talking about—”Your massive dick, I don’t say, “—well, stuff no one wants to hear. Not even me. And Verity’s feeding the baby, which is still touch-and-go, so we may want to give her a few minutes.”
“Cool. Remy and Nick are parking the car.” He sits in the hard chair across from me, stretching his legs out, and I change the subject. “What’s the news on Ballsack?”
Sy looks almost as tired as I feel, and I find myself curious about what a night in the city lockup with a couple dozen of your own frat brothers even looks like. “It’s not good,” he begins, crossing his arms in a way that signals discomfort more than machismo. “They’ve got hard evidence on him this time, and I’m not sure it’ll be easy to beat.”
I frown. “What evidence?”
His eyebrows crouch low. “Our lawyer says there was blood at the scene of the crime. Specifically, Ballsy’s blood on Laura’s teeth.”
“Her teeth?” My blood runs cold. “So he did it?”
Sy’s face snaps with shock. “Fuck no, he didn’t do it. The coroner puts the time of death at about thirty-six hours ago, but they searched him over twice and couldn’t even find a break in his skin, let alone a bite wound.” Sy’s eyes skitter around the hall, a touch of paranoia in them. “Simply put, he’s being framed for this. Someone in Forsyth wants this pointed in our direction.”
“But,” I argue, “if he doesn’t have any wounds, then how would someone even get his blood?—”
My pulse stutters as it hits me.
The blood drive.
The samples I took.
The realization my little scheme may have played a part in this slams into me like a sack of bricks.Mayis the operative word here. Who would have gotten access to it? And how? It feels like a stretch to me, which means Knight will just think it’s bullshit. And if Ballsack is being framed, then that just puts me as a suspect—the person with access to his blood.
Motherfuck.
“Hell if I know,” Sy says, rubbing his face, “but we’ll deal with it. The lawyer is top-notch. One of Saul’s scumbags, so that’s good.” He looks over my shoulder, and I glance back, seeing Remy and Nick approaching. “The girls are down there now, and Verity’s feeding the baby.”
“Got it.” Remy jerks his chin at me. “How’s my nephew?”
It’s Maddox’s eager grin that makes me set aside worries about the blood evidence for the moment. Among the grief of Laura Walker’s death, Ballsy’s arrest, and missing women, it’s not often people like us get something to celebrate. Even so, my appetite is gone, so I toss the rest of the burrito in the trash and stand, saying, “Let’s go find out.”
Before letting them in, I crack the door, checking to make sure she’s decent. Verity can flash her tits to her mom and her girlfriends all she wants, but it’ll be over my dead body that the Dukes get even a glimpse of her nipples. Seeing that she’s put the goods away for now, I open the door for them to enter just as a burst of laughter comes from the women.
Nick eyes them skeptically, “I can’t ever tell if that’s a bad sign or not.”
“They’re happy,” Sy says, coming to the same conclusion I had. “They deserve that—especially right now, with the rest of West End planning a funeral.”
Death and birth.
No one understands the cycle more than a PNZ.
“Looking good, Ver,” Remy says, approaching the bed. “Wanna see what I did this morning?”
She sits straighter, eyes narrowing. “What did you do?”
He thrusts out his arm and pulls back his sleeve, revealing a clear bandage. Nestled against his other ink, a small crown is visible beneath the translucent bandage. In a looping script, the initialsJ.J. interlock. “For my nephew.”
Verity stares at it, her mouth pressed into a tight line as her eyes begin welling. “Oh, Remy,” she gasps, wiping a tear from her eye. “Fuck you. You know I’m hormonal right now.”
From the couch, Lavinia beams at him. “I helped with one of the roses on the bottom.”
Verity’s chin wobbles, and she looks at me, a plea in her eyes that I don’t have to consider for long. “Do you want to hold him?”
Remy freezes, glancing at me. “Can I?” Shrugging, I wave my hand, having had my possessive instincts whittled down over the course of so many visitors already. The Dukes don’t even feel like enemies anymore, which is something I might think to feel worried about later.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144
- Page 145
- Page 146
- Page 147
- Page 148
- Page 149
- Page 150
- Page 151
- Page 152
- Page 153
- Page 154
- Page 155
- Page 156
- Page 157
- Page 158
- Page 159
- Page 160
- Page 161
- Page 162
- Page 163
- Page 164
- Page 165
- Page 166
- Page 167
- Page 168
- Page 169
- Page 170
- Page 171
- Page 172
- Page 173
- Page 174
- Page 175
- Page 176
- Page 177
- Page 178
- Page 179
- Page 180
- Page 181
- Page 182