Page 10 of Queen Crow
I almost smirk at her words, because men never take anything with any sort of pride and humility, but I hold it together as Illi works his way down the line.
I’m right.
He dies screaming.
Chapter Three
After we deal with the informants and spies, Aodhan leaves to head to the dock for work, kissing me irreverently in front of Ash and Illi before heading out. Illi laughs like this is all a very amusing game to him, and Ash gives him a death glare that would get any other man a cleaver to the throat.
It takes three hours to collect enough information from Luca and from trawling through Atticus’ laptop to make some very vital business decisions on his behalf. The instability of the Bay is a threat to us all and not something we can just wait out.
I also get every last piece of information he has about everyone on my murder board, ready for any insights of his that may help us take care of all of the threats coming our way.
Then I climb into one of Ash’s favorite Ferraris, the custom built one with the full backseat that is a one-of-a-kind creation just for him that I surprised him with for our sixteenth birthday, and we head back home.
There’s something insanely comforting about having Ash and Lips home and, while I miss Harley and Morrison because their absence is very obvious in the tension in Lips’ shoulders, I already feel a thousand times better.
Until I think about Atticus attached to dozens of machines, all of them keeping him alive… for now. My brain can’t stop adding that little nugget of information in to completely destroy any sense of peace I might have.
Luca had arranged for a live security feed into the hospital room for me that I watch religiously. When I’m scrubbing the dishes after our late dinner together—French toast and ice cream because we needed comfort food and the one thing Noah and Lips seem to share is their sweet tooth—Lips watches it for me without question or judgement.
Ash is less understanding.
“I think this is proof that you’re starting to get over him. I don’t like O’Cronin, but I’ll tolerate him after what Illi said. I’d pick him over Crawford any day of the fucking week.”
I roll my eyes at him and stare him down from where I’m scrubbing the oven. “What is proof? That I’m not at the hospital with him now? I don’t have that luxury, Ash. This isn’t high school, there’s an entire fucking city to keep in line, and without him at the helm of the Twelve, there’s unrest.”
Lips nods but Ash is still pissed off at her, throwing her a filthy look that I’m not happy about as he snaps, “And why is that your responsibility? Just fucking leave them to rot.”
I take a deep breath, mostly because I know this is all coming from the part of him that will never accept that he cannot protect me forever, not from living my life however I want to. “I stepped up so Lips could take some time away. Now I’m stepping into Atticus’ shoes so he doesn’t lose everything after he took a bullet for me. Did you want me to ruin your little touring orgy getaway by not helping out Lips and forcing her to stay behind? Or am I supposed to spit in the face of the man who rescued me and took a bullet to the chest for me? Because I am not that girl, Ash. I’m not going to turn my back on my friends, no matter how much you want me to.”
He doesn’t like that at all, mostly because I’m speaking rationally and he’s not in that place right now. He’s in the hyper-vigilant, freaking-the-fuck-out place that I was really hoping the time away would sort out.
He stalks out of the kitchen and I already know he’s either heading for the gym or the garage, neither of those places is nearby so I can breathe for a second without the rage-filled cloud in the space anymore.
I shut the oven and strip my gloves off, packing away my cleaning supplies and washing up, even though there’s another hundred things I’d like to disinfect and scour before my head hits my pillow tonight. Lips watches my every move without comment, handing my phone back to me and then following me into the theatre room so we can sit and watch a movie together, even though we’ll both be too busy with the shit in our heads to actually pay attention to a fucking thing on the screen.
Noah is already there, snoring on the couch. He’s wearing one of Lips’ old sweatshirts that hits him mid-thigh. I have no idea if he’s wearing booty shorts with it or if he’s just free-balling on my freaking couch, but I tear my eyes away from him before I wake the little brat up.
“So Wyatt didn’t trust you at all and then just… handed your brother over to you?” I murmur, and Lips sits right next to me on the plush sofa and tucks her arm in mine.
“I think he was out of options. I get the feeling there’s a lot of shit going on in his life that shouldn’t be happening with a cop, if you get what I’m saying. He was a total nerd but… jumpy. I left him with my number, told him to call no matter what happened, but he looked at me like I was a monster. It was fucking weird.”
I scoff at her too loudly, and Noah groans in his sleep, turns, and then the snoring starts up again. We both wait a second before I murmur quietly, “He’s a cop who just found out he has a crime lord for a sister, I’m sure that’s it.”
She pulls a face. “It was more than that. It wasn’t me he was against, it was the Twelve. Fuck, I’m not explaining this right. He was totally open to knowing me and he didn’t give a shit about me being a Mounty or what I’d done to survive. He told me Noah had done some shit too, it was only when I mentioned the Twelve that he freaked.”
Huh.
I mean, it still makes perfect sense to me, but Lips is never wrong, not about this kind of thing. Her gut instincts have kept her alive in the worst of situations, and I’d be an idiot to just disregard this feeling of hers just because she can’t explain it fully.
“I’ll look into it. There’s some other avenues we can explore with his background, and I know someone who can keep an eye on him.”
She nods and sinks back a little more in the seat. There’s still a tension in her that hasn’t really left since she got home and I can’t help but prod at her to fix it. “Are you worried about Harley and Morrison? Or is this Ash’s temper tantrum?”
She groans. “Both. A lot of shit happened on tour and once we’ve dealt with all of this shit, I’ll fill you in. You’ve got enough on your shoulders right now without the guys’ bullshit. And mine.”
My eyes dart back down to the phone screen right as one of the nurses enters Atticus’ room to give him more medications. It doesn’t matter that I’ve seen it happen a dozen times today, I still feel that icy dread in my chest as she starts filling syringes and poking his IV lines.