Page 19 of One (The Towns Syndicate #2)

Ally

“ W here the hell are my boots from Fred Segal?!” I yelled as I walked around the living room and then looked under the sofas.

“I left them by your side of the bed,” Boogie said from the kitchen, wearing a frilly apron that said “I baked you some shut the fupcakes”.

“I just looked and?—”

“They were on my side.” King brought them out, and handed them to me.

He had just gotten out of the shower with a towel wrapped low around his hips.

I groaned as I followed a water drop down his abdomen into his towel.

I thought living with them was going to be easy, but it was pure torture because all I wanted was to fuck them twenty-four-seven.

It didn't help that these assholes lived in sweatpants, and never had any underwear on.

“Thanks,” I said a little too breathlessly.

He smirked at me, and returned to the kitchen as I laced up my Doc Martens. I put my jacket on, and grabbed my bag as Boogie came up to me.

“Coffee and a breakfast sandwich,” he said, handing me a to-go cup and a paper bag.

“You're the best,” I said with a pout. “You would be even better if you could leave the Triplets with me.”

“They have a job, but as soon as we can, we will let them come back to Christmas Town,” he said, pulling me closer.

“What if they stayed with me permanently,” I said, getting a little emotional.

Those fuckers had grown on me and now that they had to leave, I was feeling a little panicky.

“They are requested quite often and manage to do a lot of our jobs that require how would we say it, ‘more finesse’,” King said. “As much as I’m not a fan of them, they are good for Halloween Town, and the Mayor likes them.”

“Maybe I’ll have to talk to her.” I pouted again.

“I’d like to see what she says,” Boogie chuckled as I pecked his lips but that’s not what he wanted.

He licked my lips asking for entrance, and I opened up for him. His tongue tangled with my own, like he was claiming me. No matter how many times it felt like it was trying to own me, it always felt different. I moaned, letting myself get lost for a moment, wishing this never had to end.

We were a little out of breath when King yanked me out of his grip and kissed me.

His kisses always felt like they were on the edge of desperation, and a desperate King drove me wild.

These last two weeks together here at the cabin had changed us.

This domestic little life we were living some might say was boring, but sleeping and waking up with Boogie and King felt like a dream come true.

We had a lot of sex, it was hot, sensual, dirty and god-fucking amazing but staying nights and mornings with them gave me a glimpse into the men that I had always thought were untouchable. They were human and vulnerable like I was, and I loved to see it.

“Have a good day, Doll.” King nipped at my lip.

“You…you too,” I said, feeling a little lightheaded.

Boogie smirked, and spanked my ass. “See you tomorrow.”

“Can’t wait,” I said, giving them one last kiss before heading out to the SUV.

They waved from the door as I saw them in the rearview mirror, tomorrow night couldn’t come soon enough.

“Shepard has agreed to your terms,” Arthur said, sitting in front of my desk.

I snorted. “You mean he couldn’t find anyone else to sell to him, and in the amount he wanted?”

“Probably.” He shrugged.

“He reached out to Samuel down south,” Lance said walking into my office too. “My sources say Samuel’s product wasn’t that great.”

I scoffed. “Of course he tried to go down south.”

“Who’s your source?” Arthur looked at him suspiciously.

“That’s confidential,” Lance said dismissively.

The tension between the two had gotten worse the last two weeks, and it was getting on my nerves. With the triplets leaving today, I didn’t know how I was going to survive their bickering. I really liked Arthur and Lance but for whatever reason they didn’t get along.

A knock sounded and I yelled for them to come in. The heavy footsteps alerted me that it was time, and I was not fucking ready.

“We are ready,” Ruger said.

I bit the inside of my cheek to keep me from getting emotional.

“Ok,” I said, getting up.

I followed Ruger out back, each step made my throat feel tighter and tighter and when he opened the door and the sun hit me, I was ready to cry. Maverick had her bike loaded up, along with Winchester and they all had their riding gear on.

“Thank you,” I managed to say without crying. “I appreciate you watching my back.”

And keeping the nightmares away, making sure I ate, making me laugh and keeping me sane.

“If you need us, we are a call away,” Maverick said, hugging me.

“Text us, so you don’t go crazy.” Winchester wrapped his arms around us.

“Make sure you eat and always shoot before you ask questions,” Ruger said, wrapping his arms around us.

I chuckled, I was surrounded by my three psychos who I thought I would have to shoot the first day, who had become family and who I would sorely miss. No matter what I did, a stray tear fell down my cheek which caused Maverick to frown. She licked the tear.

“We are never worth your tears,” she said as Winchester and Ruger let go of us.

“I beg to differ, but I will miss you,” I said, squeezing her.

She patted my shoulder uncomfortably and I laughed.

Leave it to the triplets to be uncomfortable with tears.

They got onto their bikes, and Maverick glanced back at Lance.

They exchanged a look, and I knew they had to have had something going on.

She nodded at him, and I caught Winchester doing the same thing.

They revved their engines leaving Christmas Town, and I hated it.

“Maybe we can actually get some work done,” Arthur chuckled.

I glared at him wondering what the hell that was supposed to mean.

He walked away without looking at me as Lance and I exchanged a look.

“Let’s get Shepard under our thumb and we can drink tonight,” Lance said, ushering me inside. “I think we deserve it.”

“It’s gonna be too quiet,” I said, walking inside.

“Yeah, oddly I’m going to miss their rambunctious asses,” he grumbled.

“Definitely a love-hate relationship with them,” I chuckled.

“Yeah? Love to hate them?” He laughed.

“I don’t know, you looked cozy with them.” I pushed against his shoulder with my own.

“Don’t start,” he groaned. “Nothing happened.”

“Don’t think I didn’t see Winchester looking at you too,” I said, grinning wider as his face grew red. “Come on, give me something.”

“Nothing happened,” he said.

I rolled my eyes.

“Ok, keep your secrets,” I said, walking back into my office. “Let's get this deal with Shepard done and we can drink our triplet blues away.”

Drinking our triplet blues away was not a good plan. Lance and I were so hung over the next day it was impossible to do anything. Shepard was in a hurry to deal, he was flying in today to do the exchange, and it was the last thing I wanted to deal with.

It was a Wednesday, and the town had closed early, and Shepard would be coming in the next hour and a half.

With the money coming in from the deals we had been making, the front of the town had been really benefiting.

We were able to renovate a few areas and add a few new areas just in time for Christmas, which was less than two weeks away.

To the guests of Christmas Town, I was just the manager who got promoted and ran the town. I gave everyone a raise, took out the trash and made the environment a much better workplace. A majority of the employees were happy, but of course you had those few who would never be happy.

As the town was winding down, I made sure I talked to my supervisors to ensure everything was going well, but as we were closing up, I got a weird feeling. The hair on the back of my neck stood up as I scanned the town and saw only a few of my men walking around.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but I pulled a knife out of my jacket just in case. The sound of something falling quickly turned me around. Two men were on the floor with bullet holes in their foreheads.

“Stocking Stuffers!” I yelled the warning code the triplets had left my men and me.

Everyone went on alert as two more men dropped.

At this rate, I was going to be left with no one in minutes.

I crouched down, pulled my phone out and typed out an SOS to Arthur and Lance.

A couple of shots were fired, with relief hitting me that my men had finally found the intruders.

I pulled the gun from my hip, took the safety off and looked around to see if I could spot them.

“Noelle.”

I turned around, about to shoot, when Rogelio grabbed my upper arm and pulled me behind a cookie stand. He spoke in hushed tones into a radio as we crouched down and walked behind the concession stands. A piece of glass broke by us from a bullet and quickly followed by a barrage of bullets.

“Run!” He pushed me towards the compound as he pulled his gun over one of the stands, shooting back.

I hesitated, hating to leave him.

They are trained, you need to get to safety. You pay them to keep you safe.

Maverick’s words echoed in my head as I remembered one of our training days. I ran through a few more concession stands and a store, pushing myself to keep running and not stopping. Arms grabbed me from behind and I pushed out my ass abruptly.

I threw back my elbow into their face and a satisfying crunch made me grin.

Turning around, I admired my handy work for a split second before I shot him in the chest twice.

I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to get away.

More shots were fired, kicking me into high gear as I made it to the compound door.

I was about to unlock it when it opened and I was about to shoot when I saw it was one of my men.

“SUV.”

I wanted to stay and defend my town, but if he was telling me to leave then it must be worse than I had thought. My chest tightened as I hoped this wasn't the end as I ran down the hallway. No one was behind me, and it made me feel uneasy, but I had to believe that my men were doing their job.

The compound was quiet, and I thought they hadn't made it inside. I stayed silent, moved quickly, and pulled out my phone to check to see if I had any messages from Lance or Arthur. Nothing. My chest felt tighter and I immediately thought the worst.

I was almost to the back when the hairs on the back of my neck began to stand up again and I felt something cover my face.

I screamed, threw my head back and felt I had hit something which caused their grasp to loosen.

I hit them with my elbow, rip the bag off my head, when I’m hit on the back of my head and fall forward.

My vision went blurry as I tried to get my footing but then I was being dragged.

Multiple footsteps let me know it was not just one person and panic finally hits me.

Is this where they finally “take care of me”?

My last night running Christmas Town. The backdoor slams open, and I’m thrown into an SUV.

This wasn’t the end of my story. This was just a fucking epic chapter. Someone gets into the car with me without even patting me down, fucking cocky assholes. They had always underestimated me and for once I was grateful for it. They were going to pay for this.