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Malakai nods, eying him. “I lost the only two people I cared about years ago. So, no, I don’t have anything to lose and I plan on keeping it that way. Caring for someone,lovingthem,” he says pointedly, looking between us, “Is a dangerous fucking game. Pretty sure you two know all about that. I heard what happened here the other night with Fitzpatrick. Word gets around quickly.”
“Grim, and the way I feel about her, ain’t a fucking game to me,” Beast says, resting his steel-toed boot on the seat between Malakai’s open legs. “I will protect her with my life and will end anyone who comes for her including the King.Especiallythat motherfucker.”
“I can see that,” Malakai acknowledges, “And because you’re willing to do what many won’t, I’ll answer your questions.”
“You lie, you die. Simple as that,” Beast adds.
“Understood.”
Reaching for my packet of cigarettes, I pull one out of the packet and light it. Dragging in a deep lungful, I blow out the smoke in one steady breath. “You’re spying on me for the King.Why?” I ask.
“Because once I’ve fulfilled this last act of service, I can cut ties with him forever and live a solitary life on the ocean. ”
Beast barks out a laugh. “No one cuts ties with the King.”
“Says the man who’s willing to do anything to help the woman he loves do exactly that, including gathering an army of mercenaries,” Malakai points out.
“I suppose you fed that information back to the King.”
“I shared my observations. Yes.”
Beast reaches for his gun. “You’re a cunt.”
Malakai sighs. “Shoot me, don’t shoot. I really don’t give a shit. Like I said, I’ve long since past caring whether I live or die. You can end this now and be no better off, or you can listen to what I have to say.”
“Let him speak,” I say, feeling a heavy weight sink into my stomach.
“A few months back the King contacted me and asked me to report back on an investment he’d put money into. He wanted me to check on the business and, more importantly, the woman who runs it.”
“Why didn’t he just come and check the fucking books himself?” Beast asks. “Would’ve been a lot simpler.”
To be fair, it’s a valid question, because up until the point Beast walked back into my life, I had no idea about the original deal between the King and Carter. Yes, I might not have liked the King having such a large share in the club, but I had a get-out clause, raise two million and I could buy the fucker out. That’s what I’ve been working on these past two years, until Beast returned and opened my eyes to the truth. Now I just want the bastard dead.
“The King trusts very few, and he sure as fuck doesn’t trust a young woman who’s managed to build an empireandan army,” Malakai explains. “Why do you think he’s stayed away?”
“He underestimated Grim, and now he’s going to have to deal with the consequences of that,” Beast says, a note of pride in his voice.
“Yes, it appears he did.”
“So where is he?” I ask, more than ready to bring the fight to him. I’m done being a pawn in his fucking game. I want out.
“That I don’t know,” Malakai replies.
“What?” Beast asks, as confused as I am.
“I take instructions from him via the dark web. We communicate online. Nothing more than a brief instruction from him and a one word response from me. He could be anywhere in the world.”
“Fuck!” Beast exclaims.
“So what changed?” I ask. “In the first year of business, the King checked in regularly. Granted, it was by telephone, but he made sure he knew what was happening at the club.”
“As far as I can gather, the King was happy with how things were being run here. Your club was bringing in a good turnover and he was willing to wait and see how you’d evolve as a business owner and a person,” Malakai says, eying Beast. “But then you started to surround yourself with an army of loyal soldiers, and the King started to get paranoid. That’s when he sent me in to check things out.”
“Of course he did,” I say, taking another hit of my cigarette.
“Then Beast reappeared and the King realised that you’d gone from being a savvy business woman to an actual threat with a man who’d do anything for you standing by your side.”
“Grim was always a fucking threat. He was just too arrogant to see it,” Beast says.
