Arranged love

CROSS

“YOU SURE?” I ask, leaning back in my chair in the conference room.

Jeffrey nods. “Positive.” He tosses some papers across the table. They slide to a stop in front of me.

Sitting the front legs down, I pick the report up.

“What are you doing with this information?” Bones is the one who asks.

Jeffrey throws his hands up. “You’re the only ones who know what I’ve found. I know you Kings prefer to handle your own shit.”

“We do.” Titan nods.

“Then …” He pushes his chair back and stands. “I’ll leave you to it and wait for your phone call.” With that, he picks up his cell and the bag full of money off the table and turns, exiting the room.

I slap the papers down on the table and place my tatted forearms on the surface. “He went to the police. Gave a statement.”

“Of course, he did. Mitch is a pussy.” Titan scoffs.

Shuffling through the papers, I pick up the tattoo stencil. I’ve been collecting these since I was young. When I got my first tattoo. The skull with a tilted crown and crossbones-all the Kings have one.

“So, he wanted to kill her and frame you for it?” Grave growls.

“Looks like it.” I run a hand down my face, feeling my stubble. “And I’m guessing he wanted Rachel to take the fall.” Two birds, one stone. Kill Alexa, put me in jail for loving her, and frame Rachel for having a past with me.

“Rachel is just as guilty as him,” Bones states. “Doesn’t matter what the motives were, she still acted.”

I can’t disagree with that. She is the only one who could have gotten into my safe at Tit for Tat and grabbed the stencils. I had them in a case. One was found outside of Lucky’s in the parking lot during Jeffrey’s inspection. I know it wasn’t Alexa. So, Rachel is the only option.

“But the fire was started with accelerant inside of the bar. Wouldn’t they have known she wasn’t there?” Titan adds.

“I don’t know.” I rub my temples, feeling that headache coming on again.

“Maybe once they got there, they realized there was no turning back. They burn down her bar. It gets blamed on Cross, and then she never speaks to him. Actually, that works out better for him because she’s still alive, and he can slide in.” Bones guesses.

“It doesn’t matter,” I mutter, lifting my head. “The why, the how. All that matters is they did it.”

“What do you want to do?” Titan asks me.

I glance over at Derek who sits there silently next to Grave. He looks as pissed as I feel but hasn’t said one word. I told him to be here this morning to witness our meeting with Jeffrey. He’s going to see how we handle shit and get a chance to redeem himself with the Kings. He will be my brother-in-law one day, and I’d hate to have to kill him. “What we always do,” I answer.

_______________

“DID YOU SEND the text?” I ask Derek while standing at the bar inside of the Airport. I’ve been here way too much in the past couple of months.

“Yeah.” He nods, double-checking his phone. “Should be soon.”

For someone who once hated us, he’s more than willing to help us out now. Derek is the only connection we have to Mitch that Mitch won’t see coming. And since he saw the report and understands what Mitch and Rachel tried to do-and the fact that Alexa’s life is still in danger-he’s out for blood. We’ll make a King of him yet.

I tip back my rum and Coke, looking over at Titan. He stands at the other end of the bar and nods, acknowledging me. I can’t see Grave or Bones right now, but I know they’re here. We split up to cover more ground. This place is too big for one person, and we don’t want to miss anything.

“They’re here!” Derek shouts, holding his phone up to me. “In the basement playing blackjack.”

“Let’s go,” I order before throwing what’s left of my drink back and signaling to Titan. He steps away from the bar. “Respond,” I tell Derek, but he’s already typing away.

We push away from the bar and make our way through the crowd to the elevator. The basement spans the entire airport underneath. The west wing is where their jail is; the east wing is their casino. It’s nothing like Kingdom-it’s illegal and off the books. They don’t even check IDs. Anyone of any age can come down here and try their hand.

We exit the elevator, and I fall back, allowing Derek to get ahead of me. I watch him make his way through the crowd and over to a table. He slaps Mitch on the back and starts up a conversation with him. Sitting beside him is Rachel, sipping on a margarita. They have no idea what is about to hit them.

Derek leans down, whispering something in his ear. Mitch nods a few times, then turns to say something to Rachel before he gets up and walks away with Derek.

They start to walk past me, and I turn my back to them, ducking my head. Once they are out of sight, I turn and make my way over to the table. Rachel sits there playing blackjack. Removing my wallet from my back pocket, I pull out a hundred-dollar bill and toss it down while taking the seat beside her-the one Mitch was just sitting at.

“That was fast …” She trails off, looking over at me. “Cross?” She swallows nervously.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“Rachel.”

Her breathing picks up, and she looks at the dealer wide-eyed, expecting him to help her out. He won’t. They don’t get paid for this kind of shit. That’s what makes this place so dangerous for women like her and Alexa. They will turn a blind eye and walk away.

I reach out and pick up her drink. She has over half left. “Here.” I hold it out to her.

She takes it with a shaky hand. “I don’t know …”

“Shh,” I tell her, pushing her hair behind her ear, and a shiver runs through her. Leaning in, I whisper in her ear, “Drink up. You’re going to need the liquid courage.”

The ice rattles in her cup from her shaking hand holding it, but she does as I say and brings it to her lips. She takes a sip and goes to pull it away, but I put my hand under it, keeping it tilted to her lips. She can’t swallow fast enough, and it drips onto her exposed chest and shirt. “Good girl,” I praise her, and she chokes on it as I pull it away. “Let’s go for a walk.” I grab her arm and yank her from the table.

“Cross … please,” she begs, her heels trying to keep up with me. “I didn’t start that fight. Alexa attacked me.”

I laugh at her. She really has no idea what this is about. Good for her sticking to being innocent. She stays silent as I pull her down the tunnels and to the other wing of the basement. We come to the cells, and Turner stands there.

“What is this?” she asks nervously when she spots him.

“Rachel.” He nods at her. “Cross, the Kings are waiting for you.” Then he opens the door.

She goes to spin out of my hold and run away, but I grab her hair, yanking her to me. She screams out as I bend and throw her over my shoulder. She kicks her legs, and her fists pound my back the best she can, but she’s weak.

I pass the row of cells and come to the next open door. Stepping in, I see Bones, Titan, Grave, and Derek in the larger solitary cell with Mitch kneeling in the center. He has his hands zip-tied behind his back, and he has two more around his neck, but it’s not pulled tight enough to cut off his air. Not yet anyway.

I drop her in the middle, and she falls to the floor next to him. She quickly jumps to her feet, but Bones grips her hair, forcing her to her knees. “Cross …” She cries like I’m going to save her.

“I know what you did,” I tell her, not wanting to waste time. Alexa is over at Emilee and Titan’s right now with the rest of the girls. They are having a girls’ night-whatever that consists of-and I plan on crashing it and taking her home.