Page 81 of Property of Rattler

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

AMES

Flynn’s interactions with Short have made me smile, for a second at least. But as I watch the men leave the clubroom, my face tightens. I’m ambivalent about what’s going to happen. Even if it wasn’t on my behalf, Malachi’s caused too much trouble for the club to give him a pass. I know he won’t be alive beyond tonight. They’ll have to make his death look like an accident. I wonder how they’ll do it.

Aren’t you supposed to love your blood family, however mean they turn out to be? If my parents had still been alive, would they have been able to control him? But I soon realise it’s an unanswerable question. All that should matter to me, is that when Malachi takes his last breath, I’ll be free. Or not. My lips press together. The Bratva — that was what Bullseye called them, wasn’t it? — should be satisfied if the insurance pays out. I’m happy if every penny I get goes to them. But what about the Russian who wanted to marry me? I’ve still got my inheritance hanging around my neck like an albatross. Flynn might still be in danger as he stands in the way if this Rodion wants my money.

“Here.” Pippa appears, Jade balanced on one arm and in her free hand she’s holding a glass with a slice of lime on the side which she hands to me. As I race my eyebrow, she explains, “It’s a margarita. I got Dee to mix some up. Had a feeling we might need some tonight.”

“I’ve only drunk wine before,” I tell her, my face flushing red.

“Try this. I think you’ll like it.”

I take my first sip, then grimace. “It’s salt?”

She laughs. “Just around the rim. If you don’t take to it, I think there might be some wine.”

“There is,” another female voice sounds. “I stocked up the fridge.”

I look up at the newcomer, smiling when I realise it’s Trixie. I try the cocktail again. This time, it goes down better. “I’ll stick with this.”

“How’s my favourite girl doing?” Freak’s woman leans over and coos at the baby in Pippa’s arms. “You wanna come to your Auntie Trix?”

Immediately Pippa passes her over. She rolls her shoulders as if she’d stiffened after holding her for so long. From the way the two women look at each other, they’re close. A bit like me and Satin.

Which reminds me. “Now I’m back, I’ll have to catch up with my friend Satin again.”

They exchange looks with each other. “Er, no,” Pippa tells me. “You can’t do that.”

After I’ve taken another sip of the rather delicious margarita that I’m fast starting to like, I frown. “Has she moved on?”

Pippa grimaces. “Ames, all the evidence points to her being the one who told Malachi that Rat and you were at the cabin. She had the means to find out.”

“No!” I shake my head. I don’t believe it. If it’s true, it means the condition Flynn’s in is all down to Satin. The grief I wentthrough when he was missing, all her fault. I breathe out the breath I’d been holding. “It can’t be true. She’s been such a good friend to me. She got me away, protected me…”

“And then she found out how much money you were worth.” She raises a brow.

Oh shit.But… “I never told her why Malachi wanted me. She didn’t know about the money.”

Pippa shakes her head. “Maybe I’m wrong.” Her expression suggests she rarely is. Her baby starts to fuss. She holds out her arms to take Jade back, then discreetly she adjusts her top, and puts Jade at her breast to feed.

“Babe.” Hands now free, Trixie comes around and puts her arm around me. “Money corrupts all the time.”

“I thought she was my friend,” I say, softly. Then add more firmly, “She still is.”

Stubbornly, I refuse to believe the worst of my friend as Trixie returns to her seat. She takes a sip of her own drink. “Now, spill. What’s going on between you and Rat? You look like you’ve gotten close.”

Pippa smirks. “Now thatIcan’t believe. You’re a clever woman, Ames, you’re studying for your degree. Did Rat brainwash you or something?”

Trixie chuckles. “Has to be something like that. Rat’s not known for his great personality.”

Still reeling from the thought Satin might have betrayed me, I stiffen at the shade they’re throwing at Rattler. I open my mouth to jump in and defend him, when suddenly memories come back to me. Of how he’d first been when we arrived at the cabin, sarcastic and always getting little digs in, of how he admitted he’d been the same with his brothers, and presumably their better halves. Realising there’s no malice behind their enquiries, I shake my head and smile. “Rattler’s an acquired taste, that’s for sure.” Then, my recollections move on. “Beingjust the two of us, it was either kill each other or find some common ground. We kind of drifted to the latter. I ended up really liking him.”

“And he’s obviously head over heels for you,” Pippa grins.

I blush.

“Are you going to stay married?” Trixie asks, bluntly.