Page 8

Chapter Eight

Chelsea

Ramsey stood in front of the kitchen island like he was a coach delivering a motivational speech to the team.

He walked through the door like nothing happened and waited for us all to settle down and listen.

"I feel like I'm back at school again," Frost whispered loudly. "Anyone got any paper for a spitball?"

As one, we all turned to look at him.

Jay choked back a laugh.

Storm shook his head and gestured for Ramsey to go ahead.

Ramsey didn't seem bothered by the comment. If anything, he seemed to be holding back a laugh of his own.

"Dallas' car is back in the garage. The knife was dealt with. The scene was cleaned. It'll be ruled a tragic accident. Divina has agreed to the story I gave her. She wants to avoid scrutiny. To the best of my knowledge, the only other people who saw anything are sitting right here. No reason for anyone to know anything else."

Those were more words than I'd heard him say since we met. In typical Ramsey style, he was concise and to the point. He didn't waste a single word.

"Thank you," Dallas said. He sat in a chair nursing a bottle of beer. I hadn't seen him take more than a couple of sips, but he looked better than when we first found him.

Ramsey gave him a nod. "Yep."

"What about Otis Skinner?" Atlas stood with his shoulder leaning against the window. Jay sat in a chair beside him, arms crossed. They stayed close to each other since we got back up to the apartment.

"He's pissed," Ramsey said.

"India was giving him information on customers of Flirts. And staff, including former staff." He slid me a glance and tipped his head forward slightly.

"That was how Dominic King knew I used to work there," I said softly.

"She might have been the one who told Bruce Fergus," Frost suggested.

"If that's the case, I'm glad she's dead," Storm said. "Good job, Tex." He reached over to thump Dallas' back.

"Thanks," Dallas said, his chin almost touching his chest. He didn't look as happy about it as Storm did.

"Divina would probably thank you too," I said. "Talking about customers like that was a huge breach of trust. Not to mention her NDA. She promises everyone complete discretion from the moment they walk through the door, to the moment they leave again. If any of them found out people knew they frequented the club, they'd never go there again. Without regular customers, the place would go out of business. India knew that."

"India was looking out for India," Storm said.

"If she was being paid so well she could give up working there, she wouldn't care if she set the place on fire before she walked away."

"Exactly," Frost agreed. "If Dallas hadn't killed her, someone else would have, to keep her quiet."

"It sounds to me like it was too late for that," I said, exhaling heavily.

"Who knows what information she shared and who she shared it with, other than Otis Skinner?"

"Or who he might have shared it to," Atlas said.

"We know about Dominic King, but who else? This Nile Fox guy? Carlos Jones?"

"Wouldn't rule out any of them," Ramsey said. "Blackmail material, especially if they're powerful people in Dusk Bay." He lifted an eyebrow in my direction.

"Lots of them are," I said.

"But you know I can't discuss it." I owed Divina that much.

"Give me a list," Ramsey said. "I need to know who's potentially being blackmailed. So we can stop it. And find who's doing the blackmailing."

I swiped my tongue over my lip. "Doing that would be a breach of their privacy."

"It'll stop King from becoming more powerful," Ramsey countered.

"Carlos Jones too. I don't want to insist."

"By insist you mean threaten, right?" Storm took a few steps towards Ramsey, hands curled into fists.

Ramsey stood his ground. "It's important. Might even keep us alive."

Storm glared at him, but then glanced at me, uncertain as to whether he should beat the shit out of Ramsey or back off a bit.

For once, he wasn't jumping in feet first, without looking. Whether that was because he liked Ramsey, or because he was uncertain of the situation, I wasn't sure.

Possibly both. Either way, the hesitation spoke volumes.

I rubbed the heel of my hand over my forehead.

"If you promise the list won't get past you or anyone who absolutely needs to know. And if you promise no one will know where it came from." I felt bad enough agreeing to it without Divina knowing I stabbed her through the heart. Figuratively, of course.

"Promise," Ramsey said. "It sucks, but it's necessary."

Storm and Frost exchanged glances before Frost said, "Storm and I could add to that list. I saw a few influential people when I was there."

"Me too," Dallas said reluctantly.

Ramsey nodded. "Whatever you've got."

"Can we be sure the Brantley family won't use that list to bribe those people instead?" Jay asked.

"Better us than the other side," Ramsey said.

I wasn't sure if I believed that, but there was nothing I could do to stop it from happening. Not unless I kept my mouth shut. If doing that risked anyone in this room, what choice did I have?

"This is getting messy," I said, weary.

At this point, it didn't matter where we went, we had to be on alert.

Storm’s apartment might be the only place we could truly relax and be ourselves, without being on guard every single moment.

Although, if I was honest with myself, I was a little on edge here too.

If anyone really wanted to get at us, there was no reason they wouldn't try to reach us here. Whether they'd succeed or not was another thing, but they might take the chance.

"It's been messy for a long time," Atlas said. "That's why Jay and I are here."

"What will it take to not be messy?" Dallas asked.

"Us dealing with the major players before they deal with us," Atlas said.

"But we can't just run in there and end them all."

"Why not?" Frost asked. He seemed to like the idea.

"Because it could get us dead," Atlas said firmly. "And we don't know for sure if Carlos Jones is involved. We don't know who Nile Fox is. We could kill a few people, then have a shit ton more come after us. If you're down for that, then go ahead. I'll be the one saying I told you so at your funeral. If they can find your body."

"We need to know who and what we're dealing with," Ramsey agreed.

"The boss might not want us dealing with anything."

"That too," Atlas agreed.

"We need to sit tight and wait for orders."

Frost huffed.

"I guess I can do that."

"Of course you can," I told him.

"It's not as though you don't have a season to focus on. Remember football?" I managed a smile along with the light tease.

He made a show of scratching his temple.

"It rings a bell. Something about a ball and feet." He dropped his hand in a ‘who knows,’ gesture.

Storm rolled his eyes.

"You're an idiot." He spoke with affection. No one could doubt the feelings between the two of them had grown. They were closer now than they'd ever been, and I was here for it.

"You still love me." Frost grinned.

"Yeah, maybe," Storm said. "You're all right."

"I'm better than all right and you know it," Frost said. "Everyone in this room knows how awesome I am." He gestured around to all of us.

"Of course we do," I said. "You're the awesomest. We all are."

"Team Awesomest for the win," he declared. He leaned over to offer Jay a fist bump.

Jay smiled and returned the gesture. They seemed to be getting more and more comfortable with each other.

I supposed both of them fucking me at the same time would bond guys together. What would it be like with all six of them? Messy, but I wanted to anyway. Hearing all of them groaning and grunting, thrusting and sweating at the same time would be memorable, to say the least. My clit throbbed eagerly at the idea of it.

I caught Atlas' eye and grinned. Seeing them getting along for a change was gratifying. How long would it last? That was anyone's guess, but I'd enjoy it while it did.

Atlas grinned back. He was way too adorable for his own good. They all were.

All of them were so different and yet here we all were, together. Sharing this space and taking care of each other. Joking around, even when the situation was dark. People could be out there right now, wanting us dead, but we had each other's backs.

"Are you going to get T-shirts and make us wear them?" Storm grumbled. "Team Fucking Awesomest." The look he gave Frost was bordering on the evil eye. Somewhere between disgust and ‘don't you fucking dare.’

Frost snapped his fingers. "I wasn't going to, but now you mention it, that's a good idea. We'd all look adorable in matching T-shirts. Or better yet, matching jackets."

"Don't forget the matching socks," Jay said.

"And hats," Atlas said, giving Storm a sideways look, knowing he'd get the other man going. "Maybe track pants with the team name down the leg. And matching duffel bags."

Storm shook his head. "You're a fucking nightmare. You won't be done until we all look like idiots."

I wasn't sure who he directed the comment at, but there was no heat behind his words. He might even wear the outfit with pride.

"I wouldn't mind a duffel bag," Jay said. "Those are useful."

"I could put my medical equipment in one," I said. "But I'd settle for a Dusk Bay Smashers bag instead." People would stare if I had a bag with Team Awesomest written down the side. They'd stare harder if I had a matching outfit.

Storm pointed a finger at me. "Finally, some common sense. I already have all the shit for our team. Including the socks."

"What about the underwear?" Frost teased.

"There is no fucking Smashers underwear," Storm said. He looked almost horrified at the idea. As though merchandise underwear wasn't already a thing in the world. As if he didn't wear boxers with superhero characters on them. Not often, but I'd seen him in them once or twice. It was a cute look on him.

" Yet ," Frost said ominously. "I'm going to suggest that to Coach tomorrow. Storm will be first in line to buy some."

"Sounds like you'll be first in line," Jay said to Frost.

"I would be, but I'll hide behind Storm, so he can be first," Frost said. "Or I could hide behind you, so you can be second."

"Now they're arguing over who is going to be first and second in line to buy underwear," Storm complained to Atlas.

Atlas chuckled. "What next? Smashers watch bands?"

"Now that's something I'd like," Storm said thoughtfully. "It would go with my phone case."

"You have a Smashers phone case?" Atlas frowned.

"Shit, yeah, I do." Storm leaned forward to pull out his phone and show the case to the other guy.

Atlas looked impressed. "That's sick, bro. I'm going to have to get one for myself."

"Now you're part of the team," Frost said.

"Exactly." Atlas nodded. "Since I'm one of us, I might as well look like it. Does that come in different colours?" He nodded towards the phone case. "Wouldn't want to get ours mixed up."

I leaned back against Frost while they talked about phone cases and other random team merchandise. For a while, the fear and death were put aside. Not forgotten, but not at the forefront of the conversation, giving us all a chance to breathe.

For now.