Page 114 of Pretty Vengeance

“Is he why you came to America?” Trick’s analytical abilities are second to none.

Drawing in a slow breath, I nod.

“And you didn’t bother to fucking tell me until now? When there’s no moonlighting in our Crue. Which you know.”

Again, I nod. “Whatever you decide to do, I’ll accept.”

“You’re pretty fucking confident I’ll cover for you. If I let C handle this the way we would any other Crue member who went off book to the tune of murder… Let’s say we’d be dealing with more than one body this week.”

I level my stare on him. “As I said, whatever you decide.”

“The girl knows, right? Are you prepared for us to kill her, too?”

That causes my heart to clench in protest. “There’s no need to hurt Sawyer. If I’m gone, I’m no longer a liability.”

“If you’re alive, she’s a big fucking risk to you forever. The minute you break things off, or even if she just gets pissed enough, she could burn you.”

“I know.”

Trick scowls. “You work for us, so that’sourproblem, too.”

“Leaving him alive would’ve been risky, too, Trick. While he was trying to kill Sawyer, she had to stab him. His going for medical care would’ve led to a record that police could’ve dug up later. Better to kill him as quickly and cleanly as possible.”

“You wanna talk risk? It was a lot fucking riskier to go there alone with a civilian witness. We trained you better than that.” He shakes his head. “Why the fuck didn’t you confide in me? The planning for something like this should’ve been meticulous.”

“Listen, I couldn’t risk your telling me to leave him be. I made my promise to Jude over his fucking coffin.” Licking my parched lips, I shrug. “If someone raped Ash and caused her to kill herself, would you let him live?”

“Don’t waste time with stupid questions. My objection isn’t to the murder. It’s to the mess. If you’d told me the situation, your girl wouldn’t have needed to get blood on her hands. Or in her head. Because she wouldn’t have been anywhere near the scene.”

I exhale. “I didn’t go there to kill him. My original plan was different. I was going to destroy his life and make him suffer. Take everything, expose him, see him in jail and brutalized by grown men the way he liked to do.” Clenching my jaws, I scowl. Allendale’s death was too easy. “But when he tried to kill us, I couldn’t risk leaving him alive. What if he’d run? He might’ve hurt someone else—even tried to grab Finn—while I was fucking about with cat-and-mouse games to find him. I couldn’t have that on my head with Jude watching.”

“With Jude watching?” Trick scoffs.

I exhale in frustration, holding up a hand to dismiss his skepticism. “I’m not mental.” My teeth grind together. “Or maybe I am. Dunno.”

Trick’s expression becomes neutral again. “Give me the address of the scene.”

I rattle it off. “Back door’s open. Security system offline. He helped with that, actually. Turned it off so he could drown me and make it look like an accident. Almost worked.”

“You knew what he was, and he got the drop on you?” Trick shakes his head, disgusted again.

“Aye, my guard was too low. But I’m not the type he usually targets. Fourteen years too old and ten stone too big. In a fair fight, he was no match for me.”

“Any animal is dangerous when cornered. Especially a human one.” Trick makes the call to send a man to New Haven to clean up. When he finishes, I nod my appreciation.

“Listen, I’m sorry, Trick. I meant to handle it alone and cleanly. With no ties to the Crue or anyone else.”

Trick shrugs. “Man plans. God laughs. Which is why it’s good to have a Crue that’s got your back.” Sliding his phone away, he studies me. “Tell me about the man. Everything you know.”

For the next few minutes, I spill the intel I’ve gathered. When I tell him Allendale was Sawyer’s father, his brows pinch together in a grim line. Still, he listens silently until I finish.

Trick appraises me with an expression that could freeze alcohol. “What’s the story with you and the girl? Ash thinks it’s serious.”

“Serious enough that I’d die for her.”

He makes a nonspecific sound that he’s unimpressed by my declaration. Maybe it’s becauseallthe Crue leadership would die to protect what’s theirs. Or maybe it’s that he doubts me. Hard to tell with Trick.

“She was steady this morning,” he says. “No outward signs of what happened.” Trick glances around. “All right, marry her.”