Page 3 of Chef
“No. We know him as Nathaniel Mercy. He was in training to be Royal Landry’s right hand man.” Mom grits out, that vein in her forehead looking dangerously bulge-y. “And he’s also Sage’s sealed union.”
Bile rises in my throat as I try to swallow down the gross feelings. The feelings that used to overwhelm me as a child whenMom would train me and Niko to be aware of our surroundings. Taking a deep breath I try to focus on the voices in the next room, but it’s all a blur. Well, at least until Mom speaks again.
“Luckily for you, you don’t need to worry about this one,” she says, grinning at Rider.
“Oh, why’s that?” He asks innocently enough. I know exactly what she’s going to say.
“Because I’m going to kill him myself.” She beams wide at him and I take a small step back.
All my life my mom has been my protector. The protector of us all, really. Me, Niko. Cove. Elio. Lovely and Loyal. Of all the people she helped escape Eden’s Keep. Shuffling sounds out behind me but I stay perfectly still, not wanting to give anything away just yet.
“You’re not meant to be eavesdropping.”
“Neither are you, Stinky.” My lips twitch, knowing I’ve caught him out.
“I have to, to keep everyone safe.”
I let out a long sigh, knowing what I have to do. “And so do I.”
Elio looks up at me, and he knows what I’m going to do. He always knows what my next move is going to be. “I will miss you.”
“I will miss you too, Stinky. I love you, you know that right?”
He nods once then leans his skinny body against mine. “Chef will help you.”
My throat burns at the mention of his name, but it’s not Chef’s help I need. I need my uncles. I need The Keep. This shit started at the Keep and I’m going to end it there.
Chapter One
Chef
“Ah, shit, her mother is going to fucking freak out,”
“We can’t send her back.”
“Yes, we fucking can! Do you want Blanche up your ass?”
What the hell is going on? I let Saint and Omen’s voices wash over me from where I sit on the couch recovering from a bullet to the gut. Nowhere near as bad as Marx’s, this was a clean through and through and missed every soft organ I own, but still. It tore through muscle and ligaments and I’m pretty fucking sore. Even just sitting here on my ass.
“It’s too late, brother. She’s asked for our help. Besides, it’s up to Prez now. If Dex says she stays, she fucking stays.” That sounds like Vex.
“Whose fucking side are you on, Vex?” Yup, got it.
Their voices drift off and now I’m on alert. There’s a high likelihood that they’re talking about someone I don’t even know. The Keep is a messed up place and I know Blanche has had a hand in helping a lot of women escape Eden’s Keep. But there’s also a likelihood that they’re talking about someone I do know. Someone I know very fucking well. The doe eyes, long dark hair, the freckle that sits just to the left of her lush, pink lips. Pert tits, heart shaped ass. Small waist.
Like I fucking dreamt her to life there she stands, doe eyes wide in her face as she gazes around the common room. Dex says something to her and she turns her face up at him, and my eyes trace the shape of her profile.
“You know, you look like a total serial killer.”
“Fuck you, TumTum,” I growl, not even taking my gaze off of Sage to glare at him.
TumTum jumps over the back of the couch I’m on, landing too close and jostling me and my loose gut.
“Fuck!” I growl, my hands instinctively going to the bullet wound.
“You good?” Joe asks from where she’s sitting with Loyal and Damian across the room. Probably gossiping. That’s all this place does. Somehow they’re worse than the DRMC Originals.
“Yeah,” I grumble, giving TumTum the stink eye.
