Page 11 of Whips and Chains (Saint View Murder Squad #2)

VIOLET

M y brother’s house was pure chaos. There were toys strewn across the floor, sippy cups and bottles on every available surface, and a stack of brightly colored plastic plates waiting to be piled into the dishwasher.

But there were also four gorgeous kids running around, and a baby who was barely old enough to smile but who lit up the moment Vaughn placed her in her mother’s arms.

Rebel brought the baby’s head to her lips and inhaled her scent, smiling down at her youngest daughter before thrusting her in my direction. “Smell her head. It’s like crack. So good.”

“Uh…” I was pretty sure I’d never smelled a baby’s head before and it felt a bit weird to do it now, but Rebel was dangling the kid beneath my nose like a carrot, so I leaned in and took a whiff.

Surprisingly, she did smell quite good. Somehow sweet. Rebel practically tossed her into my arms, and I only minorly freaked out about dropping my youngest niece. I settled on the couch with her and took another sniff of her head to calm myself.

Rebel wrangled a little boy who had launched himself at her as soon as her arms were free, and a younger girl trailed with a blanket dragging behind her.

Fang sat across from me in an armchair that seemed too small for his huge frame, but then he picked up the tiny dark-haired girl who immediately curled up on his lap and stuck her thumb in her mouth, while she watched me with big eyes from the safety of his lap.

He smoothed her tousled hair back from her face. “This is Lavender. LaLa, this is your aunt, Violet.”

I gave her a wave, and she turned shyly into my brother’s shirt. She didn’t look anything like my hulking, Viking-ish brother, and I suspected she was not his biological child, but that clearly didn’t matter to him.

The boy climbing all over my sister-in-law was now upside down, swinging from her arms like a monkey but peeking at me curiously.

Rebel twisted so I could see his cute face.

“And this is Wolf. The big two who ran through earlier were Remi and Madden. The one you’re holding is the newest recruit.

Her name is Snow, but she probably doesn’t know that because everyone just calls her baby or bubba. ”

I stared down at her and felt my ovaries clench at her happy little face. “I can’t believe you guys have five kids.”

Rebel laughed. “Trust me, we can’t either.”

Another man swept down from the stairs carrying an armload of laundry. I recognized Kian from when we’d met at Psychos, and he grinned at me. “Wondered when you’d end up over here.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek. “Welcome to the madhouse, sis.”

“Aunt Violet!” a little voice called from the top of the stairs. “Do you want to see my monster trucks?”

I twisted to see the two older kids, who still really weren’t very old at all, maybe six or seven. The blonde-haired girl, Remi I assumed, whispered something to her brother.

Madden called back down, “Remi wants to know if you want to see her monster truck too. Hers is pink though, so it’s not as cool as mine.”

I opened my mouth to tell them I’d love to, but Rebel cut me off. “Give Aunt Violet a minute, okay, guys? Take Wolf upstairs with you and get a track set up.”

Wolf twisted, trying to get down fast, and Rebel set him on his feet so he could sprint up the stairs after his older siblings.

Lavender had fallen asleep on Fang’s lap, though how that had happened with all the shouting was beyond me, but I guessed she was used to it.

Fang’s phone buzzed, and he took it out of his pocket, frowning at it, and then glancing over at me.

I sighed. “Which one is it?”

“Reaper. Says they just had the cops over at your place. They know you’re here, but they don’t know where here is, so we probably have some time.”

I pressed my teeth into my bottom lip. “I don’t know what to say to them.” I’d filled them both in on the drive over here, so they knew everything that had happened the night before.

Well, almost everything. I hadn’t told them about the orgy.

“Not the truth,” Rebel said quietly, sinking down into the seat beside me.

“You were the only person who walked out of that building alive last night, and you’re a woman from Saint View who grew up in foster care.

The lazy pieces of shit at the Providence Police Department will take one look at that and instantly make you the number one suspect. ”

A shudder ran through her slight frame, and Vaughn, standing behind us, squeezed her shoulders. “Hey. Don’t go there. This isn’t the same as when your mom died.”

I glanced questioningly between Rebel and Vaughn, but she’d closed her eyes, leaning into his touch, and he was fully concentrated on her.

Fang pulled Lavender closer on his lap. “Rebel was the prime suspect in her mom’s murder about six or seven years ago, despite there being zero proof she had anything to do with it.”

“Which of course, I didn’t,” she muttered angrily, still clearly holding a grudge I couldn’t blame her for. She turned her dark eyes on me. “Don’t ever think they’ll help you. The police in this town are as corrupt and useless as they come.”

I stroked the baby’s head, understanding what she meant. “I know. I’ve had my own run-ins with them in the past.” I would never forget how they’d treated Toby and me after his attack. Never.

Fang’s phone buzzed again, and his cheeks went pink.

Rebel squinted at him. “What is it?”

Fang just passed her the phone. She read it, snorted on a laugh, and held it out so I could read it as well.

My face instantly flamed with embarrassment.

Rebel’s laughter filled the room. “Want to tell us why the guys told the cops you were having sex with them all night, little sis?”

The tiny five-foot-nothing woman calling me little was hilarious, but that was the second time someone in this house had called me sis, and they weren’t even the ones who were blood related to me.

I barely knew these people, and yet with one phone call they’d dropped everything to come get me.

Their kids were calling me Aunt, and a warmth settled over me that went a small way toward filling the gaping void inside me that had always craved family.

My brother and I had never had it with our biological parents or siblings.

But he’d found it here, with Rebel and Vaughn and Kian, in the most unconventional way.

Fang groaned. “I don’t think I want to hear this.”

I glanced at him. “You really probably don’t.”

He nodded. “I’m going to take LaLa upstairs to bed then.”

Vaughn followed, but Kian dropped down into the seat Fang had vacated and grinned at me like an overexcited golden retriever. “Tell us all the juicy hot details.”

Rebel sniggered. “He wants the tea as much as I do. So spill it.”

So I did, because I needed someone to talk to, and I no longer had the one person who’d always been my go-to.

Eventually the police showed up, and I put on the show of my life, acting shocked when they told me about Toby’s death, though the numb feeling that spread through me at hearing it on their lips was real.

They asked where I was, and I told them the alibi the guys had given me. If they questioned the neighbors, Cassy in particular, they might have found out that alibi had holes in it, but for now, at least, it satisfied them.

They left, telling me they may need to contact me again.

My fingers shook the moment the door closed.

Kian took them and squeezed them. “You did good.”

I nodded up at him, and he let me go.

“What now?” Rebel asked. “You’ve got a shift at Psychos tonight, but I can tell Bliss you won’t make it in if you just want to lie low.”

But that reminded me what day it was, and I fumbled with my phone to check the time. “Shit. No, I’ll do the shift tonight. I need the money. And the distraction. But I have a job for Clean Sweep this afternoon. I can’t miss it or Francine will fire me. I’m already skating on thin ice with her.”

Fang picked up a set of car keys. “I can drive you.”

“Thank you.” I paused. “Can you do something else for me?”

He nodded solemnly. “Anything.”

“I need you to convince Grayson to tell me when the next meeting of his group is.”

Rebel quirked an eyebrow. “Because you’re feeling the urge to kill and need to be counseled out of it?”

Fang ground his molars. “If its Reaper or X or Whip you’re thinking of offing, don’t worry about it. I’ve already got that covered.”

I waited for someone to make a joke out of that, but it didn’t come, and I realized he was dead serious. “Okay, don’t do that, please.”

He let out a humph of acceptance. Or maybe of disappointment, I couldn’t quite tell.

“Then why do you want to know about Grayson’s meetings?” Rebel asked.

I stared her dead in the eye. “Because I’m sick of being on the sidelines of my own life. Somebody tried to kill me last night, and in the process, they murdered my best friend. I can’t just let that go.”

She pressed her lips together. “Vi, those guys in Grayson’s group, they aren’t…normal.”

Like I didn’t already know that.

She carried on, but her expression was full of worry. “I’m really happy for you, that they were there when you needed a three-way railing—”

Fang let out a groan that sounded like it was full of pain.

Rebel ignored him. “But those guys aren’t men you want to be hanging out with.”

I appreciated her concern. I really did. But I was so far past this point. I’d already had this argument with myself, with Toby, and I kept coming back to the fact I couldn’t just walk away.

Now more than ever, I was all in.

Not in bed with them. That had been a step too far.

But they were the only ones who were going to be able to help me work out who had killed my best friend.

Because I wasn’t safe until we worked that out.

And neither was anyone I cared about.

Including the three of them, even though if anyone had asked me to admit it right then, I would have preferred to stick a fork in my eye than admit I cared about them.

Rebel sighed heavily at the determination in my gaze. “You aren’t going to let this go, are you?”