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“Swear jar!” everyone says in unison, and he places a note in a jar sat on top of the nearby piano.
He smiles at me with a wink. “They’re saving for new equipment and costumes for shows.”
Elle calls the first group up, Romeo’s group: two girls, two guys. They sing the first verse and chorus of a song I recognise but can’t name and I’m blown away. I know nothing about music except what I like, but the harmonisation and crystal-clear vocals from all four of them in their acapella rendition of a modern-day club classic has my brows in my hairline and myjaw to the floor. Glancing at Mabel, she looks terrified as she watches their performance.
One by one the groups perform, each as good as the last until finally, Elle calls Mabel’s group up. As her teammates stand, Mabel seems to shrink back in her chair. Elle crouches next to her to speak quietly. I’m too far away to hear but when Mabel shakes her head, I assume she’s declining to sing.
“Okay guys,” Elle addresses the four standing. “Take it away.”
“Mabel was the one who suggested we do it this way,” one of the girls says, smiling at Mabel.
They start a slow and soulful version of ‘I Wanna Dance With Somebody’ again with stunning harmonies and the girl who’d credited Mabel taking the lead. It’s beautiful and powerful and when they finish their rendition, the whole room erupts. Amazingly, these kids aren’t just congratulating the ones who sang, a bunch of them swarm around Mabel, patting her shoulder and hugging her. I stand straight, getting ready to intervene and pull people away from her to stop some sort of trigger within her. But when I see her, I see the biggest and brightest smile of her face. The most care-free and youthful I’ve seen her. Romeo drops to his knees at her feet, bowing low, making everyone laugh, including Mabel. One hour with this group and she’s been initiated and accepted as one of theirs. She turns to me, a slight sheen to her eyes and mouths to me over the shoulders of those still congratulating her.
Thank you.
34
ANNIKA
Keeley fell asleep on my lap last night; her hands pressed palm to palm resting on my thigh and holding her squished cheek as she breathed softly through pouted lips. I found myself stroking her corkscrew curls away from her face, feeling comfort in the repetitive action. When Harvey brought Mabel home, he offered to carry Keeley upstairs to bed for me, but I wanted to do it, loving the way her little arms hugged my neck as I lifted her.
I’d been nervous about Harvey taking Mabel away from the mansion but the shocking and overwhelming realisation that I trust him completely had me agreeing to it. I’m so glad I did. She came back jubilant and full of beans. Harvey and I have been working at the club today, but Guinevere has been messaging me to tell me how Mabel has been happy, relaxed, and open all day. When we walked through the door, both girls came bounding straight over to ask that we go swimming, so I sent them upstairs to change. Then I pounced.
Flinging my arms around Harvey’s neck, I kiss him, deep and hungry. I thought I was taking charge, but his hands grip my waist, holding me steady and pushing me back against the wallof the hallway. He takes control of the kiss, biting my bottom lip until I taste the coppery tang of blood and whimper.
“You want something,rainha?” he asks against my lips.
“You,” I pant in response.
“The girls will be back any minute,” he warns but at the same time, tugs my blouse out from where it’s tucked into my trousers.
“Guinevere will take them to the pool, we can be a little late.” I run my hands over his chest and abs, revelling in the fact that he’s letting me. Normally, he restrains me, and I can only watch his body move over mine but now I can feel the planes of muscles as he grinds against me.
“Lounge. Now,” he growls. “I’m going to eat your pussy until you can’t form words.”
We move to the door just on my right without breaking apart. Teeth clash and tongues entangle, Harvey unclasps my trousers and slides his hand down to delve between my lower lips. My hands grip his black polo shirt, pulling at it roughly but not letting my lips leave his long enough to actually pull it over his head. In the lounge, he’s walking me backwards and I’m expecting, at some point, for the back of my knees to find the sofa. What I’m not expecting, is the clearing of a throat behind me. Quick as a flash, Harvey spins us so he is between me and whoever is in my living room and pulls his gun from the waistband of his jeans, pointing it toward my sofa.
Sat on the couch in a loose fitting AC/DC tank and short shorts over fishnet tights is a familiar face. Blue-black hair hanging just past her shoulders in loose waves and brilliant blue eyes sparkling with mischief as her lips tilt up on one side in amusement. Looking down the barrel of a gun, she is as relaxed as if she was here for tea.
“You know, I never took you for the type to be fucking the help.” She looks at me over Harvey’s shoulder, before turningher attention directly to him. “Don’t worry detective, you’re safe with me, you can put your little gun away.”
I step around Harvey, ignoring his growl of annoyance, and press on his wrist until his weapon is trained on the ground. “Ruby O’Reilly,” I say to the intruder.
“At your service. It’s nice to meet you, Annika.” She finally stands and is much shorter than I imagined. I’ve never met Ruby O’Reilly before, but her reputation exceeds her. Daughter of Declan O’Reilly, leader of The Tantos and his right-hand. His deadly enforcer. This woman has a name for bringing grown men to tears and she is no more than five-foot-two. When Declan O’Reilly was suddenly and shockingly arrested and sentenced, it was expected that his daughter would take his place, but she disappeared from the scene. Something went down there, and I’d love to know what, but now doesn’t seem the time to bring it up.
“How the fuck did you get in here?” Harvey spits.
Her smirk grows. “Your security system is good, but there are some areas for improvement. I could give you some pointers if you’d like.” She puts both her hands in her back pockets, still at ease despite Harvey’s growing frustration. One of her arms is completely covered in ink, the opposite leg the same, her eyes have been framed in dark makeup, her lips painted a red so dark it’s almost black, and there’s a silver ring hanging from her septum. She looks out of place in my pristine white living room. She looks back at me with a wicked smile. “You know, pictures don’t do you justice, you’re hot as fuck.”
“Why are you here?” I ask calmly over the sound of Harvey growling like a dog protecting its bone.
Her smile drops, a seriousness falling over the room. “Brent says you want my help.”
That’s right, The Daos’ second in command is the cousin of The Tantos’ second in command and we did indeed tell Brenthe could contact his cousin about our situation. Now that she’s here I get a swell of anxiety about letting someone else in. Each of the four syndicates who run this city have their own specialities, we all run operations across multiple industries, but we excel in different areas. I have a monopoly on the sex trade, The Daos run drugs, and The Kukris deal in weapons. But the Tantos were different. They specialised in vigilante justice. The Tantos were an army of hardened criminals who sought out other organisations they felt were acting outside of the laws they set. They were lethal and unforgiving and when Declan O’Reilly started taking down operations outside of Tanto territory, he was suddenly incarcerated. If anyone has the knowledge and experience to find who hurt my girls, it’s the woman stood in front of us now. Once again, it’s down to me to trust those willing to help.
I gesture for Ruby to take a seat and she plops back down inelegantly where she was sat when we first found her. “I’m not sure how you’re going to be able to help,” I say, sitting down opposite her on the other sofa.
“Try me,” she challenges, without a hint of the humour she had previously.
