Page 44 of Queen Crow

There’s a fear in him as his father addresses him, one that Ash and I know intimately as the children of Joseph Beaumont Sr. I realize that if I were a normal human, it would be appropriate to feel some empathy, to wish that this teenage boy wasn’t living in this way and to want to do something about it.

If there’s one thing you could never call me, it’s normal.

I smooth a hand down the rich silk of my coat to remove the creases, enjoying the feel of the luxurious fabric under my fingers. It’s an old habit of self-soothing, something I can do that doesn’t look nervous to anyone around me, but gives my brain a great dose of dopamine all the same.

I’m perfectly put together. I look as though I’m here to make a deal they wouldn’t ever dare to back out of. I look exactly the way I should for this moment.

“Daughters can have uses. Sons are better though, they have a lot more to offer a father.” He grins at me and shrugs. “No hard feelings, Queen Crow, but I’m sure your father felt the same way.”

Finally, a reaction from Ash as his eyes narrow just a little, but I don’t need him running to my defense here. This kind of verbal sparring is what I truly excel at, what my entire childhood was training me for.

“It doesn’t really matter what my father wants, he’s rotting in a hole somewhere right now. You’re right to look the other way here because sons will always look back on their fathers and crave their approval, hoping that they can live up to some ridiculous standard that was set for them.”

I stand up and smooth down my skirt, taking the arm Ash holds out to help me out of this stupid room on this awful yacht.

“What about daughters then, Queen Crow? What’s your assessment there?” he calls out to me.

I pause long enough to turn back and say, “All daughters know what their fathers are capable of and we don’t just sit around, waiting to be found redundant. We wait and we plan, until we’re ready to strike. I came here to get rid of Amanda and in doing so, I have saved your life. Remember this life debt you owe me. I’ll be calling it in soon.”

Chapter Fifteen

When we arrive home from New York, we find Aodhan home from his trip to sort the problems at the docks out, already down in my panic room with everyone, and I mean everyone.

Atticus is on the couch, scowling like a surly asshole, but when I start down the stairs and he moves like he’s going to get up, Lips points a finger at him and snaps, “You’re already on thin fucking ice, Crawford. I will put you down if I have to and we both know I’ll enjoy every second of it.”

Harley and Aodhan snicker together like children while Morrison roars with laughter, all of them a little too comfortable together for my liking.

Noah rolls his eyes from where he’s starfished out on the floor in front of the Graves section of the wall, staring up at his siblings with a very blank face.

When I get to the bottom of the stairs, Aodhan steps over to give me a quick kiss, ignoring Ash’s derisive noises in his direction.

“How was the flight?”

I shrug. “Uneventful. How was your trip? Did you figure out the cargo issues?”

Harley scoffs and flings an arm at the wall. “If by ‘figuring it out’ you mean finding more shit for us to sift through, then yeah, he did a great fucking job.”

I want to sigh and possibly scream until my lungs give out, because when am I ever going to clear something off of this freaking board without ten more things being added?

I hold it in. I might end up with a fucking stomach ulcer, but I hold it all in. I give Aodhan’s hand a squeeze and then step around him for the coffee machine, thankful there’s one down here. “Right, what is it? Just tell me now so that I can figure out where on the planner it goes.”

Aodhan glares at Harley and snaps, “It doesn’t have to go on your planner, I’m sorting it out with Lips. It’s a Graves issue and you’ve got enough going on.”

I pour a large cup, the largest one I can find, and then perch on the couch next to Atticus, checking him out from the corner of my eye so he doesn’t get pissed off that I’m fussing again. He doesn’t attempt to kiss me in front of everyone, but I’m willing to take the baby steps with him.

When I offer him my coffee, he takes it, taking a sip and handing it back.

Again, it feels like a win.

Lips sits down near Noah, pulling one leg up to her chest, and says, “Aves is never going to just take the sidelines. Grimm is smuggling through the docks. Half of the cargo down there has shit in it for him and the Demons. Aodhan noticed shit was wrong, and between the two of us, we figured out who it belongs to. So… either the Boar has no idea and there’s some MC members pulling this shit without his knowledge, or he’s betraying his own club. I spoke to Harbin about it… he gave me the long and very blood-soaked history between the Demons and the Unseen. There’s no possible explanation for them to be smuggling for Grimm.”

Harley scoffs again. “The explanation is that your uncle is a cunt, exactly what we’ve thought all along. Call Nate and get the fucker dead already.”

I don’t like how casually he says that, especially since I haven’t warned Aodhan about him. If he finds out right now, in this room, I might kill Harley for his big fat mouth.

Noah blinks slowly, glancing over his shoulder. “Uncle? What’s his name?”

Lips chews her lip and stares at him for a second. I get it, it’s the first time he’s shown any interest in any of the family and that in itself feels suspicious.