Page 77 of Penance

“He has four sons, Kace,” I remind him with a simple shrug as I unpackage a little blue hairbrush and start to unknot my silver mane.

Kacey laughs again, coming up behind me. I eye him in the mirror as his hands slide around my waist, he drops a kiss to my bare shoulder.

“I love you, Sweetheart.”

“And I love you, Big Man. More than you will ever know.”

Chapter16

Huxley

Christmas Day at my parents’ is a political, extravagant affair to the nth degree, butnothingis quite like the circus that is here today at the Swallow’s. Dee has got his fingers in some fucking pies, that’s for damn sure. There is a fuck loadof people here, who in the normal world wouldnotbe mixing together. There’s Italian mobsters, mafia Donsand a fuckingPrincefrom somewhere in the Far East. Those are justsomeof his special guests, I can’t even begin to dissect what this could mean for my girl’s future.

I haven’t taken my fucking eyes off her, not trusting anyone in this fucking room. Not that I think any of these fuckers are current threats, especially not in her family home, but in this life, people switch sides at the drop of a hat.

Kyla-Rose may be in business with these fuckers, but outside of this room, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. Though, if they mistake my girl for a kitty cat, they’ll learn very quickly she’s not to be fucked with. Having Kacey, Nox and I at her back too, we may look like nobodies, but we far surpass that. We own a private security company, sure, but there’s a lot more to that than meets the eye. Even Eli was impressed by just how far our reach goes when I gave him a little insight into what we do on a daily. We take on all sorts of jobs, hired guns, security, protection detail, torturing, information gathering, the occasional assassination. We’re mercenaries I suppose, if you had to define it. We don’t take on everything tasked to us, we delve into it first and decide what we want to do. We might live outside of all this political bullshit, but we see enough and deal with enough of it, to understand how it works. I mean we’ve carried out jobs for half the families in this room.

Across this ridiculously huge ball room-esque style lounge is Dee, standing with his partner Violet, talking toVito Gambino.

Vito, Italian Mafia Don, thirty-five, six-foot-four, as wide as he is tall with thick black hair as dark as his reputation. Matching eyebrows dropped low over menacingly pale blue eyes. He’s a dangerous fucker, brutal and ruthless but with a charm all the ladies seem to be drawn to. Sensible women? They’d run a mile when they saw him, not drop their fucking knickers, but such is life. Anyway, my point is, he’s been eyeing up my girl like she’s his next fucking meal and I will not hesitate to knock his front teeth down his fucking throat if his filthy gaze lands on her once fucking more.

My girl though?

Completely.

Fucking.

Oblivious.

As per fucking usual.

She’s within reaching distance of me thankfully, her head dropped back against Kacey’s chest, his arms around her waist. She roars a laugh at whatever Eli’s telling her as he tosses back handful after handful of peanuts. Completely and utterly, blissfully unaware she’s being eyed up by a predator. Nox, Kacey and I? We noticed the second that slimeball stepped foot in the fucking building, my hackles rose and my body locked itself into high alert mode.

Nox and Kyla-Rose might be in a bit of a weird place right now, but we’ll figure this shit out. And now that the three of us men have had a little chat, Kacey admitting to still feeling jealous, warning Nox that he can’t take Kyla-Rose away from us, which honestly, I had never even considered. Nox loves us both too much to ever cause such harm but that apparently hadn’t stopped Kacey from worrying about it.

Anyway, we’ve cleared the air. And I just want everyone to be happy.

“He’s looking at her again,” Nox hushes in my ear as he steps up beside me.

He’s dressed head to toe in black, matching mine and Kacey’s attire, as per our queen’s request, of course.

His black hair is, as usual, a shaggy mess from running his nervous hands through it so much. It’s a decent enough length that he can style it back from his face. When he does, he tends to wax it back like a greaser from the fucking fifties, nine times out of ten he fucks it up within ten minutes with anxious fingers. And then the classic cigarette behind the ear, that he often removes from its resting place, rolls between his teeth, then places it back behind his ear. I always thought it was a weird habit, I’ve never been a smoker myself, so I paid it no mind. However, I know a certain young woman who happens to do the very same shit with hers. Honestly, two peas in a fucking pod.

“I know,” I say in response, almost silently through gritted teeth.

I swirl my honey-coloured drink around in the crystal cut tumbler. Knocking it back with a grinding of my teeth and like a stroke of magic, my empty glass is removed from my hand and replaced with a full one.

The team of staff around this house are silent, but fuck me, are they fast. I can see why the stories of these Christmas day parties end up in orgies and drunken fuckers waking up the next day in various bushes and shrubs around the property. You don’t have time to realise you’ve finished what’s in your glass before it’s replaced. Not that I’m complaining, I’d really love my night to end with an orgy if I’m honest.

“What we gunna do about him?” Nox grunts.

He’s a possessive fucker, especially now he’s sealed the deal, but I can relate. Since I met Kyla-Rose, I realise I am too. I guess that happens when you meet the right woman.

I shrug, swallowing my fresh drink.

“We can’t start shit with him, Maddox,” I warn. “Just play it cool, he likes games. He’ll see this shit as a challenge if you start marking your territory and pissing all over her.” His sea-blue eyes snap to mine and narrow on me as I scoff a laugh. “Chill the fuck out, bro. She can handle herself just fine. But we won’t let her out of our sight,” I promise, clapping him on the shoulder. “Plus, can’t see Dee letting anything happen under his own fucking roof, can you?”

He grunts in response, tightening his grip on his glass, his lips pursed.

---