Page 212 of Pretty Ruthless Monsters: Complete Series

QUINN

My jaw keeps clenching as I lean against the wall, watching Killian’s eyes stay locked on my one-time second as he sits tied to the chair.

Emmett hasn’t moved much in the past few hours.

That’s the first smart thing he’s done in a while.

Killian would love any excuse to gut him like a fish, and we all know it.

And honestly? I’d have a hard time stopping him at this point.

“Let’s run through it one more time,” Nico says in a low voice. We’ve been going over this plan for hours now, but I don’t mind. This has to work. We can’t afford to fuck it up.

Atlas scratches at his chest where the new tattoo I gave him is still healing. “We let this rat deliver her to Ambrose, but we stay close enough to move in when we hear the gunshot.”

“Not too close though,” I remind them. “That fucker is paranoid as hell. If he catches even a whiff of you guys, he’ll bolt.”

Killian nods. “We hang back until the shooting starts, then we rush in to provide cover and backup.”

I can feel Emmett’s eyes on me as we talk, burning into my skin. Every time I glance over, I catch that bitter fucking look. Like somehow I’m the one who betrayed him. Like I owed him something just because he wanted in my pants.

“What the fuck are you looking at?” I snap at him.

“Nothing,” he mutters, but his eyes tell a different story.

Killian must catch the look because he steps closer to Emmett, towering over him with that deadly stillness that makes even my skin prickle. “Keep staring at her like that. Give me a goddamn reason.”

“I told you I’m not doing anything,” Emmett protests weakly.

“And don’t fucking try anything either,” Killian growls.

Emmett’s eyes drop to the floor. Fucking coward. Always has been, I guess. I just didn’t see it before. Or maybe I just didn’t want to admit that my own judgment could have been so horribly wrong.

It’s painfully obvious now though.

Princess winds herself around my ankles, and I reach down to scratch behind her ears. It’s soothing to touch something soft when everything else about this night has been sharp edges and violence waiting to happen.

“We also need to figure out exactly how this fucker is going to play his part,” Nico jerks his head toward Emmett, dragging my attention back to the conversation at hand. “We have to make it believable when he contacts Ambrose.”

“You’d better make it fucking good,” Atlas warns Emmett. “Because if Ambrose doesn’t buy it, you won’t live long enough to apologize.”

A nasty idea hits me as I watch Emmett squirm. I push off the wall and walk over to Atlas, who’s sprawled in one of the fancy chairs that came with this place. Without hesitating, I straddle his lap.

His hands come up to grip my hips as I lean down to kiss him hard. I make it dirty, letting my teeth scrape his bottom lip the way I know drives him crazy. When I pull back, his eyes are dark with heat.

“Fuck, vicious,” he growls against my mouth. “I love when you get like this.”

Nico is at my back in an instant, his big hands sliding up my sides as he presses against me. I turn my head to kiss him too, making sure Emmett gets a good view of everything.

“Marking your territory?” Nico murmurs with a hint of a laugh in his tone.

“Always,” I breathe back, and he bites my neck in response.

Killian is watching from a few feet away, and when I reach for him, he walks over and yanks me up against his chest as if I don’t weigh anything at all. His kiss is bruising, claiming. His hand fists in my hair, tugging just hard enough to sting.

“Such a good little slut for us,” he says loud enough for Emmett to hear. “Aren’t you?”

“Only for you three,” I answer, just as loud.

I can practically feel the fury radiating off Emmett. Good. Let him see exactly what he never had a chance at having. Let him see how these men worship me, how they’d die to protect me instead of selling me out like he did.

“You’re really gonna let them pass you around like that?” Emmett spits out, unable to keep quiet anymore. “These fucking murderers?”

Atlas chuckles darkly, catching my meaning as he pulls me back onto his lap. “You really are vicious,” he says, and the memory of fucking him in front of Zoey flashes through my mind. His smirk tells me he’s thinking of the same thing.

“Damn right she is,” Killian growls. “And we fucking love it.”

“Better than being a spineless, backstabbing traitor,” I tell Emmett, grinding down against Atlas just to twist the knife deeper. “At least they know what loyalty means.”

“Loyalty?” Emmett scoffs. “You burned their clubhouse to the ground.”

“And they made me pay for it,” I say, remembering those dark nights as their captive. “But they never sold me out. They sure as hell never went crying to someone else to fight their battles.”

The possessive edge in their touches makes heat curl in my belly, but I force myself to focus. We still have work to do.

“It’s time to put this plan into motion,” I tell Emmett, switching back to business mode as I reluctantly pull away from my men.

“Here’s how this is gonna go down. You’re gonna tell Ambrose that I tracked you down tonight.

Alone.” I emphasize the last word. “Say I was pissed about you ratting me out, and came at you half-cocked and emotional.”

“Tell him you managed to get the drop on me,” I continue. “I’ve been running on empty, not sleeping. Make it believable when you say you overpowered me.”

Emmett’s eyes dart between us. “And if he doesn’t fall for it?”

Killian’s knife appears in his hand like magic. “Then we find out how many pieces we can cut you into before you die.”

“Starting with that tongue that sold her out,” Atlas says.

Emmett swallows hard. “He’ll know it’s a trap though. He’s not fucking stupid.”

“You’d better fucking hope he buys it,” Atlas tells him. “Because if this goes sideways, we’re only going to keep you alive long enough to make you wish you were dead.”

“Okay, okay. Fuck. What exactly am I supposed to say?” Emmett asks, licking his lips nervously. “I need to get the story straight.”

“Tell him I showed up at your place,” I say. “Tell him I was screaming about how you got Atlas tortured.”

“Say she was wild and unhinged,” Nico says. “Like she wasn’t thinking straight.”

“I’m still not sure Ambrose will believe Emmett could overpower me on his own,” I sneer, mostly just to piss him off. “We might need to shore up that hole in the story.”

“Say… say you had a gun,” Atlas offers. “Say she didn’t expect it because she thought you were too weak to be armed.”

“That’ll work,” Killian nods. “He’ll believe you’d be pathetic enough to pull a gun on an unarmed woman.”

I grab Emmett’s phone from where it’s sitting on the table and hold it up to his face. “Call him. And remember, one wrong word, one hint that something’s off, and Killian gets to play with his knife.”

“Wait,” Emmett swallows hard. “What if he wants proof? That I really have her?”

“You’ll ‘knock me out’ and send a picture,” I say. “But we do the call first. We need to make sure he’s even interested before we get to that part.”

“He’ll be interested,” Atlas growls. “The bastard is obsessed with destroying everything you have, vicious.”

“Just like our little rat helped him do,” Nico adds.

Emmett swallows hard again, then nods. I take a seat, and after Killian carefully binds my wrists in case we need to send proof, Nico puts the phone on speaker and dials the number.

My stomach clenches when Ambrose answers. Just hearing his voice makes hatred burn in my chest.

“What?” Ambrose snaps into the phone.

Emmett clears his throat. “I’ve got something you want.” His voice is steady enough, I’ll give him that. “Quinn Kent. I caught her trying to come after me.”

There’s a long pause, and I hold my breath. Then Ambrose laughs. “Well, well. It seems like you might be useful after all.”

“She tracked me down,” Emmett continues, following our script. “She was screaming about what you did to Atlas. The bitch wasn’t thinking straight.”

Just like Emmett to get his digs in when he knows I can’t do anything about it. That’s okay. He’ll still pay.

“And you managed to subdue her?” Ambrose sounds skeptical. “The same woman who has been running Enigma?”

“I had my gun ready. She didn’t expect it. She thought I was too soft to be armed.”

Another pause. “Send me proof.”

I nod at Emmett, and Killian presses the knife harder against his throat. “She’s knocked out cold. I can send a picture.”

“Do it,” Ambrose commands. “Now.”

Killian pulls the knife back just enough to let Emmett move. I slump in the chair, letting my head loll forward like I’m unconscious. Atlas takes the picture with Emmett’s phone, making sure to get my bound hands in the shot.

“Okay, I’m sending it now,” Emmett says after Atlas gives him the nod.

We wait in tense silence. I can hear Ambrose’s breathing on the other end of the line.

“Where are you?” he finally asks.

“I’m holed up in a motel room. I wasn’t sure where I should take her, but I wanted to give you first dibs.”

“Bring her to the river. You know the spot where we met before?” There’s something sickeningly eager in Ambrose’s voice. “Be there in one hour.”

“I’ll be there.”

The call ends and I straighten up with my heart pounding twice as fast as before. This is it. This is my chance to end the bastard who has been haunting my life, who forced me to join the Dark Lotus Syndicate, who tried to break me by taking Atlas.

I meet each of my men’s eyes, seeing the same deadly determination reflected back at me. We’re really doing this.

“If this goes wrong,” Atlas starts, but I cut him off.

“It won’t,” I say firmly. “Because you three have my back. And that’s all I need.”

“Let’s gear up,” Nico says, already moving toward the bedroom where we stashed our weapons. “It’s time for a game of cat and mouse.”

“Rat and mouse,” Killian corrects with a rumble before turning to Emmett. “Remember, if you try anything cute?—”