Page 19

EIGHTEEN

HEATHER VALIANT

ROYCE

T he building attached to the Devil’s Playground is Sinners Syndicate property. From the outside, it looks like it could belong to an everyday, ordinary office. It has plenty of space, even a few cubicles we don’t use, and a conference room we do use for our meets.

One of the largest offices we own belongs to Tanner Fielding, our resident tech whiz. With screens everywhere, more keyboards than any guy could need, and—because this is Tanner—a hammock hanging in one corner, it’s his home away from home… and the spot where Link and I meet him.

I had to involve my boss. For one thing, I had to make sure that jumping to murder wasn’t me being hasty—because that’s what I want to do. After hearing Nicolette tell me who that bastard really was, I wanted to kill him.

But that takes me to the other thing.

Kieran Alfieri. The moment she gave me that name, it triggered something. It was familiar in a hazy sort of way, and I texted Link about it on my drive back to Springfield. He confirmed what I suspected: I’d heard that name before because Alfieri is a Dragonfly.

Abso-fucking-lutely wonderful .

That shouldn’t stop me. I mean, we’re all criminals here. But there’s being a mobster, and being a goddamn pedophile. Nineteen-year-old guys shouldn’t be molesting fourteen-year-olds, the same way as a twenty-one-year-old shouldn’t have a sixteen-year-old girlfriend. It’s as simple as that. Add that to the fact that Nicolette made it clear that he abused her in more ways than one and I should just arrange his murder.

But he’s a Dragonfly, we’re in a fucking truce, and that makes things more difficult.

That’s where Tanner comes in.

Before I hired Nicolette on at the Playground, Tanner ran her. At some level, anyone who hopes to work for the syndicate has to go through our version of a background check. We have to make sure that we know who we’re letting into our organization. It didn’t matter that she was slinging drinks at our club. If you work at one of our properties, you’re an honorary Sinner.

It’s a cursory search, though, checking for ties to other syndicates. The blood test checks for any diseases. That’s imperative when our wallets expect a certain standard for the girls who entertain them upstairs, and while Nicolette assured me she wouldn’t want to rent a bed to increase her pay, that, too, was standard.

Nothing flagged on her end, and Tanner explains why when I walk into his office to find him and Link waiting for me.

Because Nicolette told me during her interview that she used to live in Springfield, moved to Willowbrook for a handful of years, then came back, the search didn’t dig too deep. Tanner only went as far back as her mother’s most recent ex-husband—not the four others, including one David Alfieri, and his son, Kieran.

Now that we know what to look for, though, I pace around the room, listening as Tanner discovers what he’s learned about Nicolette’s smarmy ex.

Kieran Alfieri has been a part of the Libellula Family since he was twenty-two, just like Nic told me. He worked as a runner at first, then a soldier, and when I was hoping he was a bit player that Damien would sacrifice in favor of continuing our truce, Tanner runs his fingers through his shoulder-length straw-colored hair and drops the bomb:

“He’s an enforcer now.”

Shit .

“He has fourteen leaves.”

Even better.

We have the name, but it’s the Dragonflies who really act like sinners. I understand that, in this line of work, death is sometimes necessary; considering I’m here, trying to see if I can take Alfieri out without jeopardizing the truce, I get that. We have enforcers, too. Hell. I’m in charge of clean-up because I think of it as my own type of penance, so I see what our enforcers can do.

I’ve also seen what a Dragonfly enforcer can do.

Sick fucking bastards.

To make it even worse, they don’t accept death as a part of the job. Oh, no. They celebrate it, each of the enforcers tattooing a simple green leaf down the back of one of their biceps whenever they have a kill that benefits their Family.

And Alfieri has fourteen .

That’s not just Alfieri being a Dragonfly. That’s Alfieri being someone essential to Damien Libellula—and just about untouchable to me.

He hurt Nic. And, because of my position as the underboss of the Sinners, I can’t retaliate unless I want to start up another war.

What happened with Heather… I never could have seen that coming. If I purposely go ahead with any plots of revenge against Alfieri, I’ll be inviting a war that might end with even more blood being on my hands.

Fuck !

Link is standing with his back against the only bit of wall in this room that doesn’t have a screen on it. His arms are crossed over his broad chest, a scowl tugging on his features as he watches me pace.

Then, as though he knows what I’m thinking—and I’m pretty sure he does—Link says, “Remember the truce, Royce.”

“Fuck the truce.”

I’m frustrated. I’m usually so much better at controlling myself, especially when Link and I are around other Sinners.

He knows it, too. Jerking his chin at Tanner, he says, “Take a walk.”

Like me and the rest of the inner circle, Tanner’s been here since the beginning. He knows when to test Link—and when to lower his head, grab one of his tablets, and get the fuck out.

Link waits until Tanner shuts the door behind him before he pushes off of the wall. “Listen to me, Royce. I get you’re upset. I’m fucking pissed we missed this, too. Truce or no truce, we’ve got someone with Dragonfly ties slipping in right under our noses. But you and I both know that this… this isn’t just about your waitress.”

“The hell it isn’t?—”

“This is about you sleepwalking through life the last six years, blaming yourself for what happened to the Valiant girl. Now you’re awake again. You have Nicolette and you want to be the hero.”

I know better than to curse out Lincoln Crewes, but I’m close. Closer than I ever been—which is why I clamp my mouth shut.

He steps into me. He’s got a couple of inches of me, and he uses them to his advantage as he looms. “You didn’t pull the trigger, Royce. Her idiot brother was pissed and a wannabe enforcer had shitty aim. She died. So did the enforcer. But it wasn’t your fault. Shit… even standing up for your fucked-up cousin was a good thing.”

I sputter out a laugh. “Jake is fucked-up.”

Link claps his hand on my shoulder. “Yeah. At least we just kept an eye on our girls. What he does… I’ve heard the stories. He’s your blood, but the sooner he’s out of Springfield, the better.”

I know what Link’s doing. In his way, he’s distracting me from going after Alfieri by igniting my protective instincts for my cousin.

Joke’s on the boss. I can protective over Jake and Nicolette.

“Don’t worry. I got eyes on him.”

“I do, too, and he’s been toeing the line so far. But I’m not worried about Jake right now. I’m worried about you .”

He’s not the only one.

I shake off his hand, then demand, “Do you trust me?”

“Royce—”

“Link. Do you trust me?”

“You know I fucking do.”

“Then I got this.” I give him my winning grin even though, behind my smile, my jaw is tight, my teeth grinding. I breathe in through my nose, and pretend to relax. “You’re right. I won’t fuck with the truce. I’ll leave Alfieri alone, keep my eye on Nic the same time as I make sure Jake doesn’t get into any more trouble.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“But if he comes after her?—”

I don’t even have to finish my sentence. This is the man who watched Damien Libellula put a gun to Ava’s head in order to get his damn truce. It made sense at the time, but I know Link. He probably wonders why he didn’t put a bullet in Damien once Ava was safe.

I’ve never shot anyone before. But if I’m put in a situation like that?

I will .

The first thing I do after our meet is split off from Link, then head out to the club.

Jessie’s off tonight, but Francesca is in charge of the floor. Considering she’s as much Jessie’s second as I am Link’s, I have a quick conversation with her over the posted schedule. At the Playground, Jessie makes up three weeks in advance, letting the waitresses, the bartenders, the barbacks, and the bussers know when they’re expected to work. If they can’t, it’s on them to find a replacement.

Tonight? I put Francesca in charge of covering about half of Nicolette’s shifts. Taking her off the schedule completely might be too much. The last thing I want is to be as controlling as her asshole ex was, but if he could follow us to Riverside? If he’s been leaving fucking trinkets in her mailbox, walking around in a hoodie on her camera? How much do I want to bet that he’s been sneaking around the Playground?

I don’t blame her for keeping him a secret. I wish she hadn’t, if only because it makes my job protecting her that much harder when I didn’t even know that she needed to be protected from some Dragonfly scum.

Know what else makes it hard? Link’s goddamn truce.

My first instinct is to ban any of Damien’s guys from our club. Since part of pretending like we don’t hate the damn Dragonflies just for existing is letting them visit the Playground if they dare to, it would be going against the truce to block all of them from entering. Since I can’t do that, I settle for showing the picture of Kieran Alfieri to the bouncers, warning them that it’s their dicks if they let him in.

I can’t ban all of the Dragonflies. I sure as fuck can ban this one.

Between cutting the amount of time Nicolette spends here and putting the fear of Devil into the staff to keep Alfieri out, my bases are covered. I head back to the Suites to retrieve Nic.

That’s another issue. I want her to move in, but I know better than to push that right now. The most I can do, though, is invite her to stay over tonight while she’s shaky, then hope that she doesn’t want to go back to her place tomorrow.

The hug she gives me when I walk into Link and Ava’s penthouse tells me that she missed me while I was gone. It’s late at this point, after one in the morning, so she doesn’t argue at all when I bring her a couple of floors down to my apartment instead of bringing her back to her mother’s house.

I do expect Nic to give me shit when I tell her that she needs to cut her shifts back while we figure out just how we want to handle the Alfieri situation. Is it a dick move to tell her when she’s still shaky from seeing him? Probably. Should I have waited until morning when we were both rested and a little removed from what happened tonight? Oh, yeah.

Do I?

Nope.

I expect her to give me shit, though I’m hoping that she won’t because I’m dropping this news on her before she gets some sleep. To my surprise, though, she doesn’t.

Instead, she takes my hand in hers, tilting her head back so that she’s meeting my gaze. “Okay.”

We’re standing in the foyer of my apartment. I flicked on the light after I invited her in, but she’s not looking around at my bachelor pad. Her eyes are completely on me.

“Okay?”

“Yeah. If you think that’s a good idea, I’m okay with it. Not for long… I can’t give up all that cash… but I trust you.”

Whoa.

I look down at her. Earlier tonight, we set out for a five o’clock showing of The Phantom of the Opera . Nicolette had her hair styled in tousled waves, make-up on point, the skin-tight black dress hugging every curve. Fucking stunning.

Now?

She’s braided her hair loosely, tossing it over her shoulder. The make-up’s been wiped clean, revealing purple circles beneath her soft brown eyes. The dress is gone, and while I mourn that, she’s wearing a pair of low-slung sweatpants and a white-t-shirt that shows off her black bra. It’s some of Ava’s pre-pregnancy clothes, an outfit that Link’s wife let Nicolette borrow so that she’d be comfy while I was gone.

You know what, though? She’s still fucking stunning.

And I don’t deserve her at all.

I trust you …

Heather trusted me once, too. I barely knew the girl. Because I was being her ‘hero’ by standing between her and Jake, she thought she was in love with me.

I only hope that Nicolette someday feels the same.

But if she does? She’s falling for the idea of who she thinks Royce McIntyre is. And while the man I am when I’m with her is who I am, there’s so much I’ve kept from her because I was afraid of running her off.

From the beginning, I was convinced she’d take off the first chance she got. But after tonight… I finally know what Nicolette was hiding from me.

Maybe it’s time to come clean about what I’ve been hiding from her.

Holding onto her hand, I lead her toward the leather couch in my living room. I sit down, then tug on her, guiding her to sit right next to me.

Not my lap. Hours ago, I was ballsy, inviting Nic to perch on my lap before I worked her panties over, giving her my cock. So her dress is gone and it would take more effort to shimmy off her borrowed sweatpants. That’s not why I do it. If I’m going to come clean, I need to do it now—and not be distracted by her ass on my lap.

“Royce? What’s up?”

I know she’s gotta be exhausted. Part of me is, too. But I don’t want to be a pussy. I don’t want the excuse to skip out on this conversation.

I squeeze her fingers. “You were with a Dragonfly.” I almost want to grab a drink to wash the taste of saying that out of my mouth. “Do you know anything about Heather Valiant?”

I’m not sure what I want her answer to be. There are so many stories, so many rumors about what happened that night… no matter how hard Link tried, he could never get them all straight. Not with our crew, not with Damien’s. The most he could do was back me up, threatening that anyone who came after me would have to go through him first.

Maybe it would be better if she doesn’t—and then, as my heart sinks, she nods.

“Actually, yeah. She was Danny Valiant’s sister. I know him because he was an enforcer, like Kieran. She got involved with this guy… let me remember. I know this. Was it Josh?”

“Jake,” I correct.

She nods. “Right. Jake something. She wasn’t a Dragonfly, but her brother was, and this Jake guy wanted to take her away from the Family and share her with a Sinner. Danny told her to break it off with both of the guys. That maybe Sinners do that shit, but Dragonflies don’t. But Heather… we weren’t friends.”

Nic lets out a soft, unamused chuckle. “Kieran didn’t let me have friends. But we were stuck in the same spot. Dragonfly property who couldn’t get out. She thought the Sinner would save her, but before he could, a different enforcer decided to take him out. But he missed. He shot Heather and she died.” Shaking her head, her braid following down her back, she adds, “That was my wake-up call. Even if Kieran didn’t kill me, staying in Springfield might. It took me another three years to finally get the balls to break it off with him, but I did it so I didn’t end up like Heather Valiant.

That’s a gut punch I didn’t fucking need. Because, after hearing all that, once she hears my confession? She might decide that fate has a twisted sense of humor because, in a way, she has .

She waits a moment while I stay quiet before she asks, “Why? I haven’t heard anyone bring up Heather in years… so why did you?”

“Because I’m the Sinner.”