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“I’m sorry, mon amour, I don’t mean to upset you. I had a disagreement with Harvey.” He smiles, then laughs. “Afterwards, I blew off some steam with Clay, and made the leader of the Sparrows, kiss my shoes, shot a guy in his kneecap, and now I’m here.”
Yikes. He’s had a busy night. “Come on, baby. Let’s get you showered and into bed.”
“Tell me,” I say, dragging a finger down his chest when I finish unbuttoning his shirt. “What are they all for? What does this one mean?” I ask tracing a tattoo.
He shakes his head, no. Christian doesn’t talk about his tattoos. I pull the shirt sleeves down his arms. Then move on to his pants. First, I slide off his belt, next my hand slips down his pants to keep from pinching him. His drunk ass takes it as an invitation. He tries to thrust his hips into my hands, but I scold him.
“Shower first, baby,” I whisper, grabbing his hand and kissing his knuckles as his pants drop to the ground with a thud.
He wraps his arms around me, holding me tight, and kisses me on the head. “thank you, Mon petit bijou,my little jewel.Thank you for taking care of me.”
I slide his boxer briefs down and whisper, “You’re welcome. Now get in the shower so I can tuck you in.”
He kisses me on the head one more time, pulling me to the shower door. I know exactly what he wants, and honestly, it’s the least I can do to show him that despite all the ways I am about to betray him, I really do love him. I grab the loofah and squeeze the soap all over it before dragging it slowly from shoulder blade to shoulder blade, careful not to hurt the fresh skin healing from the tattoo. As I wash him gently, I admire the intricate line work, studying the design I imagine how long it must have taken. It makes sense why he was so late the first time. My father marked him, then sent him into the wild to do his dirty bidding like he does to all his men. No wonder Christian came to me so lost and wounded. It isn’t just his broken backstory. I mean, sure, mine is tragic too, but I still have one parent. It’s all my father’s fault.
He takes these men, and he breaks them into millions of pieces, then he rebuilds them stronger, more eager for battle. When any part of them breaks, he simply tears them down again to rebuild. I force myself to focus on something else. Instead, I work my way down his back and arms, caressing each part of his body attentively as I go. I spin him around so I can wash his chest next, and he catches me by the arm to stop me before I can begin.
“Don’t mon amour, I know what you were thinking. Do not pity me. Do not judge your father’s actions. Just make me feel good and tuck me into bed. I promise you, I am stronger than you think. I will be okay, because I have you to come home to.”
Chapter fourteen
Christiansleptuntilthebetter part of the afternoon. I told him right before he drifted off about girls’ night. He briefly mumbled an okay. Before rolling on to his side and snoring. Even though I told him I still feel guilty. He left to meet some of Selena’s men at the docks a little while ago. Something about having to make sure the Sparrow’s supplies were disrupted. I’m not sure what he’s up to, but it smells like no good and he’s clearly squeezing them for some reason. I’m waiting for Selena to pick me up and hoping I can sneak out of the house. One perk to spending so much time here alone is I know every nook and cranny. I also know about the ones lacking surveillance and where I can disappear from video feeds to make tracking me impossible. The only person who can track me is my father. I’m wearing the necklace he had delivered because as much as I crave my independence, even I never want to have a repeat of what happened in Milan. My father and I have come to a mutual understanding that in order to fully trust one another and heal, this is the level of independence we both can live with. He agrees not to spy unless I am in danger, though I do highly suspect he checks on my whereabouts more often than he lets on.
Christian would never give me this level of independence willingly. Not after they took me as a pawn in Le Manchot’s sinister plan. He bit off way more than he bargained for. If only he realized how much destruction little old me can cause. I should come with my own warning label,caution hard to handle.It suits me perfectly. I slip off the grid around the corner and down a set of service steps, sliding along the wall until I reach a door leading outside. I punch the code in and the door lock clicks. It’s dark, so it’s easy to slip past the outside guards and past the perimeter gate. I pull the key from where I slipped it onto the chain of my necklace, hidden beneath my shirt. Once outside of Christian’s security line, I spot Selena and her motorcycle waiting for me.
“Here,” Selena whispers, tossing me a helmet as I approach.
I put the helmet on, then climb on behind her. Christian would absolutely kill me if he knew I was getting on a motorcycle he isn’t driving.
Selena’s voice fills my ears as it comes through the blue tooth in the helmet. “Nice pants. I see you’re still rocking the leather look, darling,” she purrs as we cruise toward the highway.
“What can I say? They’re comfortable, stylish, and go with everything,” I reply.
“Exactly,” she answers. “My men have confirmed Christian is nice and distracted at the docks. He’s so hell bent on sending a message to the others, making sure that all of Arkham falls into line he doesn’t even realize what’s happening right under his nose.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, concerned.
“I mean, someone is making moves. I did a little digging and there are whispers gaining momentum. There’s talk some of the bird cage might turn on Arkham, breaking their treaties. I understand now why he’s so focused on targeting the largest low level groups to fall into line. He needs men. Christian needs men to ensure that those who speak in whispers do not succeed in destroying Arkham from the inside.”
I swallow hard.
“What do you know, Quinn?” Selena asks.
“I know there’s a mole. It’s why I need you to come with me. I need something to catch the mole, a trap, but I have to retrieve it myself, because I can’t trust anyone else.” I confess.
“This is what girls’ weekend is? Nailing the mole? I am even more invested. We need to work fast. Time is a ticking bomb. There’s no telling when or how quickly the defecting groups will turn. The bird cage is divided. Convince Christian to expand his reach. You must tell him to force everyone to declare their dedication. Those who can’t or fail to respond in a timely matter should be considered dangerous. We can figure out how many are loyal.”
“Selena, you are brilliant. Could you imagine if it was the two of us handling everything the way our mothers both dreamed we would?” I say, not realizing I am talking out loud.
She pauses, “It would be pretty awesome, but darling, Christian will never step aside to allow you that opportunity. You will be lucky if he allows you to work as an equal. He worries about you, Quinn. I know he can’t live without you and if anything ever happened to you because of him, well, he would never forgive himself.”
We hit the highway and Selena opens up the bike. We go cruising in between cars, zooming in and out of traffic. I hold on to her a bit tighter the faster we go.
“What’s the rush?” I ask after a few minutes of silence.
“I want to get in and out. Unlike you, I know better than to go out on the town unaccompanied by guardians of some sort, or without any kind of protection. I’m also just testing them to make sure they can keep up,” she laughs as she swoops between two cars and down the line, separating two lanes.
I feel myself relax knowing that even when I don’t think to take extra precautions, at least Selena is sensible enough to think ahead. While we can fend for ourselves given what we’ve just discussed, it sounds like things are going to become increasingly more dangerous given the unrest and disloyalty. It’s a shame really that we can’t be of more help.
