Page 41 of Chaos Crown

I should do any fucking thing other than lay here and accept the change of relationship that she was assuming.

“Me too, Jacques.” Ivy’s red-painted toes caressed my thigh. “I love you too.”

Teeth gritting, I balled my fists and put them to better use tracing the dips and curves of the body beneath me.

I was a logical man. I knew when to admit defeat.

***

IVY

“There has to be a way to get in,” Cairo argued. “Roan, you scored a copy of the invitation. Now get us a real one.”

“We wouldn’t make it past the door. Ellis will have security. Even if by some miracle he let us in, he’d have his guys on us all night. Our only choice is crashing.”

I listened with one ear while I gathered the ingredients for Jacques’s smoothie. Our bedroom activities were hardly over. It was like the man was possessed. Months of celibacy unleashed, and I was only too happy to catch up on lost time. At one point, I snuck the key from its hiding spot, slapped the cuffs on Jacques, and mounted him.

He destroyed another bedpost and made me pay for that so swiftly and deliciously, my juices were still drying on my red cheeks.

I was only allowed out of his presence to get us sustenance. We were in for a long night and neither of us intended to sleep.

But it looks like I came down at the right time.I flicked from our food to Arsenio, Roan, Legend, and Cairo huddled in the living room.They’re talking about Dante’s latest letter and the community event.

“—disguise ourselves as waiters or the cleaning crew,” Legend said.

“Not waiters,” Arsenio said. “I’m sure the Ellises don’t normally pay attention to the help, but the guys who beat and branded Jeremy won’t be ignored when they’re standing over his table. There can’t be any chance of getting caught before.”

Before? Before they assassinated Steven, Jeremy, and Micah? They can’t seriously be discussing this.

“Why are we wasting our time with this?!”

I jerked, spilling apple juice over the rim of the blender.

Cairo shot up. “We don’t take orders from the likes of Dante. Forget Ellis and his fucking party. I’m finding my father. Davidson has to know where he is. I’m doing what I should’ve done weeks ago and picking him up.”

“You didn’t do it weeks ago because you couldn’t.” Roan darted in his path. “We don’t know where the hell he goes after his shifts.”

“Then I’ll drag him out of the station.”

“And get yourself shot?”

Four heads swiveled around—to me. They looked like they didn’t know I was standing there.

I pushed on. “Cairo, you know you can’t do that or you would’ve already.”

“This doesn’t concern you, de Souza.”

“The hell it doesn’t.” I abandoned the blender and stormed out of the kitchen, planting myself in front of them half-naked in nothing but Jacques’s shirt. “He’s ready for you to come for him. That’s exactly what he wants: an excuse. Why all of a sudden do you want to give him one?”

“Because as our resident genius just reasoned,” Roan sliced in, “it doesn’t matter if we kill the Ellises. Dante is never going to let the sheriff go. If I was Dante, I’d let my enemies take out my other enemies, have my pet cop throw them in prison for it, then one by one clean up the rest of the people in my way—without the Bedlam Boys around to stop me.”

“Of course,” I whispered, sinking onto the couch. “Why would Dante let him go? He has no reason to even if you do everything he asks. Davidson as acting sheriff, thenactualsheriff, works out just fine for him.”

“We have to get to my dad before the party,” Cairo said. “Which is this Friday.”

My eyes bugged. “Friday? You’ve been looking for him for weeks. How are you supposed to find him in five days?”

Cairo swung around. “See? Even she sees the problem. Why are we wasting time on this party and giving Dante what he wants when we know it doesn’t end well for us either way? The only move is to find my dad and take away the leverage he has over us.”

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