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I didn’t want to leave Mia. I hated to leave her. But Dex Sullivan was where I drew the line. I had to keep Mia far away from him. Dex knew her name, which was enough to want to shove her into a box, lock it, and push it under my bed to keep her safe. Of course, I had not done that, but Mia had a way about her, putting herself in the aim of fire. And Dex was a different breed than Dolor.
Dex didn’t have any reservations when it came to murder.
Instead, I took her to the hardware store in the village and let her pick out paint and supplies. She hated the white walls. Said it reminded her of a mental institution. Why didn’t I think of that?
Mia had picked a moss green named Nature’s Cure, and I’d left her in the living room with the furniture pushed in the center and covered in plastic to keep safe from her. When it came to talents, anything paint-related didn’t make it to her resume. Her fingers were created to only touch piano keys, a camera, and my skin.
I’d already had the number for a painter from London to touch up. Just in case.
I drove to the Links property in Grays South and parked on the curb. Adrian was hunched over on the front step, smoking a cigarette when I walked up. His eyes lit up when he lifted his head and immediately got to his feet to greet me. Our hands linked, and he pounded his fist against my back. “Oliver, you look like a whole new man. Where have you been, mate?”
Adrian’s lip was busted and swollen, and a cut below his right eye.
“Around. What happened to your face?”
He snatched the cigarette from the edge of the step and pulled it to his mouth. “It’s nothing.”
“It doesn’t look like nothing,” I probed, and Adrian shoved his hand into his pocket and offered me a cigarette. “I quit.”
He raised a brow. “Just like that?”
“Just like that,” I gripped his shoulder, “how are the other two nitwits? Staying out of trouble.”
“You could say that.”
James was the one to worry about. Adrian had an honest heart and good head on his shoulders, Reggi had already burnt his brain cells to a crisp, but the way Dex looked at James was the same way Oscar used to look at me. A project. A slab of wet concrete, begging to be molded and shaped into the perfect criminal. But I couldn’t be everyone’s hero.
“Dex is mad you left,” Adrian warned, and then it dawned on me. Did Dex tear up his face because of me?
“I’m paying myself off and done for good.”
“You can’t just leave.”
“I was never staying, Adrian. Dex and I had a deal. I’m following up on my end.”
I entered the run-down house, and Dex Sullivan was aware of my visit. I’d texted him earlier that I’d meet him here with the profits from White Fox, enough cash to fund the makings of a new empire. It was everything he’d ever wanted.
Dex Sullivan wanted to be a king.
Except, the wa
“He’s in the hot tub,” James stated, coming from a back room. He barely looked at me, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator, and left through the back door. I followed after him.
Dex’s arms were sprawled out on each side of him, head resting back against the tub, and eyes closed. I cleared my throat, and he lifted his head. Mischievous eyes met mine. “Nice of you to finally show up here, Oliver.”
“You didn’t leave much of a choice,” I scoffed.
He held up a finger and fisted something below the water line before pulling up a hand full of blonde hair. The woman it was attached to spun around to face me and curled inside his arm—my mum.
I turned my head. “Mum, get out.”
“Anything we discuss can be discussed in front of her.”
“Like how you killed her son?”
My mum twisted her head, and Dex laughed. “I did no such thing. We both know I’d never hurt my best friend.”
“I’ll leave your package inside. We’re done here, mate. I don’t owe you anything anymore.” I turned to leave.
“Mia Jett,” Dex called out, and I froze.
Turning around, I flexed my shoulders back. “What did you just say?”
“You promised me White Fox.”
“I’m giving you what’s left of White Fox.”
Dex squinted his eyes. “No, what you’re giving me is fucking chump change. I want power. I want the same fucking prostitution ring that used to control this territory, the same ring you owe me. You know who reigns over east of London now? The fucking Links. Imagine my bloody luck when the bloke I currently work for is now my competition.” My brow raised, and he continued, “The deal was White Fox, and the only way I can have it is if you kill the boss of the Links. You have to kill Ghost.”
Dex had lost his fucking mind. Ghost was untouchable. No one knew who Ghost was, hence the nickname. His identity has been hidden for years. “What you’re asking is impossible.”
“I’m not asking you. I’m ordering a hit with no questions.”
“Have you gone mad? What makes you think I’d do this? That I’d kill for you?”
Dex held up three fingers. “Mia. Rose. Jett.” He smiled. “You’d kill for her, wouldn’t you? If I’m not mistaken, you already have.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“When your mum mentioned you went off to Dolor, I did a little digging and found a police report that you stabbed a young woman in the neck with a pencil after she attacked your girlfriend. Bravo, baby Oscar. But I found your weakness.”
I slid my gaze to Mum, who dropped her chin, eyes fixed on the water. “I could just kill you, call it a day.”
“But, you won’t.”
“Yeah? And what is stopping me?”
“Killing me doesn’t protect your girl,” he snickered as if he knew me. “You see, if anything happens to me, I have a man waiting to put a bullet through the back of her head. It shouldn’t take much effort to find her. Surely, just follow your love-sick heart around.” The single threat turned my blood to lava, and my heart plunged into my stomach at the thought. “Don’t look so glum, Oliver. It should all work out.”
The fury rising caused my hands to shake, and I crossed my arms over my chest to conceal my weakness for Mia, and the lengths I’d go for her. I didn’t have it in me to kill another human. Murder was a job for Ethan. Not me. “I’ll do it. I’ll kill Ghost,” I lied, buying myself time to figure this out.
“I know you will, and I have a little friend here to help. Consider it my gift to you and your way in with Ghost. She was quite forthcoming when she found out she’d be working with you. I think you have yourself a fan.” Dex blew out a whistle, the door behind me opened, and seconds later, fingertips gripped the side of my arm.
In my peripheral, blonde hair soaked my vision. Leigh. “What are you doing?” I whispered to her. She was i
“Leigh claims she’s a virgin,” he laughed, and my head jerked back toward him, “No, seriously. I can’t believe it myself either. And rumor states Ghost fancies pretty young virgins.”
“She’s a child,” I gritted out.
“I’m seventeen,” Leigh argued.
I turned to her and clutched her shoulders. “This is ludicrous. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Dex interjected, “Calm down, Oliver. You’ll kill Ghost before the exchange happens. Leigh will be safe, but you have to check her.”
“Check her for what?”
Dex lifted his palm from the hot tub. “Well, her virginity, of course.”
“Oh, fuck off.”
“Either you will, or I’ll make James do it, and I’m afraid James may take more than what’s needed. Trust me, baby O, you don’t want your virgin corrupted. She’s your easiest way in, and with or without her, Ghost still has to go.”