Cross (Dark Kingdom, #4) — Chapter no 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

CROSS

ON MONDAY MORNING, Titan, Bones, and I are sitting in the conference room when the door opens. We all get to our feet when Grave walks in. He messaged us an hour ago wanting a meeting this morning, and it’s the first time he’s ever done that.

“Grave …”

He holds up his hand to stop Bones. “I’m not staying.” Running his hand through his hair, he swallows nervously. “I just wanted to tell you all that I’m taking some time off.”

“Of course,” Titan acknowledges him first.

“Whatever you need,” I add.

“Good.” Bones nods once.

“I … uh, April and I are going to get away. After the baby …” He pauses, collecting himself with a deep breath. “We need some time away.

Together.”

“You don’t need to explain yourself, Grave,” I tell him.

He places his hand in the pockets of his holey jeans and averts his eyes.

“It’ll only be a week. Maybe two at the most.”

“Take as long as you need.” Bones goes to step toward him, but Grave steps back, moving to the glass double doors, and Bones stops.

“I need to grab a few things from my office.” Grave turns and leaves.

Bones rushes after him. I plop down in my seat and run a hand down my face. Leaning back, I stare up at the white ceiling, trying to get my head on straight. I’m not in the game. Between Grave, April, the baby, her brother, and then Alexa, I’m totally fucked. I’m not sleeping at night, which isn’t unusual, but it’s worse than normal.

Titan leans forward, placing his elbows on the table, and runs his hand through his hair when Bones returns. He slams the glass door shut, surprised when it doesn’t break. “Fuck!” he hisses.

“He’s not going to talk to you,” Titan states.

“Nothing new. He never has before,” Bones hisses.

Titan stands, straightening his shoulders, and turns to face Bones. “You may be able to lie to yourself, but not us. This time is different whether you want to believe that or not.” Then he too exits the conference room, stomping off to his office. Fuck, it’s going to be a long day.

I hang my head when I hear Bones throw the coffee pot, and it shatters

against the wall.

“Sir?”

“What?” Bones shouts at Nigel as he enters the conference room.

Nigel is unfazed by our outbursts by now. He’s seen us at our worst.

Placing his hands behind his back, he rocks back and forth on his heels.

“Luca is down in the meat locker, sir. And he has brought a visitor.”

Bones’s eyes go from Nigel to mine. I stand, nodding my head. This is what I need—what we all need. To bury our heads in work. Get our hands bloody.

“We’ll be right there,” Bones tells him.

He turns and exits the room, to go get Titan, and I stand from my chair, pocketing my Zippo. The three of us step onto our private elevator and head down to the basement. Walking off the elevator, we make our way down the hallway to the metal door. Bones opens it, and we enter to find Luca Bianchi at the head of the room dressed in his black three-piece suit with his arms crossed over his chest. His adopted brother, Oliver Nite-Bianchi, stands behind the man tied to the metal chair in the center of the room.

“Didn’t know you made deliveries, Luca,” I say, letting the door close and lock behind me.

“Well, I just couldn’t pass this up,” he jokes.

“What is it that you found?” Bones asks.

Luca reaches into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulls out a handful of something. Then he drops them onto the table. Bones walks over to them

and picks one up.

It’s a diamond! “Where was he?” I ask.

“Glass.” The strip club that Luca and Bones own together. “He owed one of my girls three grand, and when he couldn’t pay in cash, he offered her one of these.”

“Where did you get this?” Bones asks him, handing me one of the diamonds. It’s one we’re looking for. The special order was for black

diamonds. They’re not as rare as red ones, but still hard to find.

The guy remains silent.

“Did you purchase them or steal them?” I wonder. We’re not sure if Kale fucked over our client or not. We just know our client is pissed and wants what he paid for. You can’t ensure a transaction that is illegal in the first

place. So, he’s out ten million.

“Fuck you.” The man sneers at me.

I hand the diamond over to Titan. “How many did he have on him?” I ask

Luca.

“Six,” he answers.

Bones sighs. “The order was for twelve.” Then he asks the man, “Is this

all you have?”

“Fuck you!” He shouts this time.

“Here, make sure these are returned,” Titan tells Luca, handing them to him.

“Maybe he swallowed them,” I offer. People will do stupid shit to hide

what they want no one else to have.

Bones smiles. “Let’s find out.”

Nite produces a pocketknife from the inside of his leather jacket and hands it over to Bones, who cuts the ropes tying the man to the chair.

I walk over and yank it from it, throwing his back onto the table. I pin his legs down while Titan holds his shoulders down. Luca comes over and rips the guy’s shirt open, exposing his hairy chest.

The guy begins to scream, and Luca slaps his hand over his mouth to quiet him. Not because we don’t want anyone hearing him—the room is soundproof—but because we don’t want to have to listen to him. Like the others, he has made his choice.

Bones pushes the blade into his flesh right below his sternum, cutting the skin and dragging it downward. The guy’s muffled screams turn to outright sobbing while blood pours out and onto the table as we play operation on him, knowing we’ll be burying a body later.

_______________

IT’S A QUARTER till three when I pull up to her bar. Hers is the only car left in the parking lot. Getting out of mine, I walk up to the back door and enter.

Grinding my teeth, I’m irritated that she leaves it unlocked. That’s not fucking safe.

I walk down the long hallway and come to a stop when I see her standing behind the bar, cleaning it off with a towel, softly humming to herself. She turns and jumps, letting out a scream when she spots me. “Jesus, Cross.”

Her hand goes to her chest. “What the fuck are you doing? Creeping?”

“Well, if you’d lock your door …”

“Don’t start with me.” She slaps the towel on the bar. “I’m not in the mood.” Then she disappears into the cooler.

I make my way over to the bar and sit on a stool, waiting.

“What do you want?” she asks when she returns.

“I thought I’d tell you congratulations to your face.”

She snorts. “You spoke to Bones.”

“Not exactly,” I say vaguely.

“Well, thanks. you may leave now.” She points in the direction of the back door. “You know your way out.”

I stand and am about to do as she states, but something stops me. I knock my knuckles on the bar and turn to face her once again. “Listen. I came here to apologize.”

“Apologize?” She arches a brow, crossing her arms over her chest.

“For?”

“Grave … April’s brother.” My arms go wide before dropping them to my thighs. “All of it.” I fall back down onto a barstool. “I never once tried to help Grave. Bones was so hard on him. Grave pushed him away because of that. Titan just did his own thing. But me? I enabled him. I partied with him. Did drugs with him. Covered at Kingdom for him. I didn’t know how to help him. And I didn’t want to. If I didn’t have him, then I had no one to help me bury my problem.” I slam my fist on the bar, hating that I’m admitting to her that I have my own issues. “I knew it was wrong but just didn’t seem to care.”

She looks like she wants to question that slip I just made about my problem but thinks better of it. Instead, she sighs. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my place.” Reaching across the bar, she places her hand on mine. “Just like you said, he’s not that person anymore.”

“Yeah.” And I guess I’m not either. I haven’t done anything in weeks.

They helped me forget about all the bad memories of my father. My mother. How he would remind us that we live for God. I still have the scars to go along with them. So, even if I was lucky enough to forget, the reminder will forever be there. Just like he wanted. In a way, the bastard won. Even after all these years, he’s still in my head.

“Please, Mom. Make him stop,” I beg her as I lie on my stomach.

She sits next to me on my bed, rubbing cream on my burn marks as tears slowly run down the side of my cheeks to wet my pillow.

“Forgiveness must be earned,” she says softly.

“Forgiveness from what?” I ask. I haven’t done anything wrong. Not yet

anyway.

“Being born,” she answers.

She makes it sound like I asked for this life. Who would want to live a life of punishment? “I didn’t …”

“Shh,” she tells me. “It won’t be like this forever, son. But power comes with a price. He’s preparing you for what’s to come.”

“I don’t want it.” I’m not even sure what she’s talking about, but I know it’s not what I want.

“A King is powerful. He rules his Kingdom. He must be able to endure the darkest of days. He must be able to conquer the biggest threat. You are too young to understand now, but one day you will see. You will find strength in the crosses that you bear.”

“Cross?”

I blink and look up to see her now standing next to my barstool.

“You okay?” She reaches out to cup my face, but I’m faster. My arm lashes out, gripping her wrists and stopping her. She sucks in a breath at the tightness of my grip. Instead of releasing her, I yank her closer to me.

She practically falls into my lap. I stand quickly and grip her hips.

Picking her up, I plant her ass on the bar and move to stand between her legs. I need her right now. I want a fucking hit. I hate that I can’t get high to erase the memories, and she’s the closest thing I have to a drug.

She doesn’t hesitate. Alexa lets me take control. I kiss her desperately.

My lips bruising hers. My fingers dig into her soft yet firm skin. A growl comes from deep in my chest. The need to control is strong.

I never had control before of any aspect of my life. I was conditioned to like fire, to learn from it, and that’s what she is—my fire. She burns me in a way that leaves scars. The kind that I won’t be ashamed of and hide with tattoos.

She pulls away, throwing her head back, sucking in a breath. I kiss my way down her neck as I shove her shirt up and over her head before tossing it to the floor.

Her hands run through my hair before gripping it.

“God, I’ve missed you.” I let go of her long enough to undo her jeans.

“Me too,” She breathes, lifting her hips so I can yank them down her legs. They meet her shirt on the floor as well. “I’ve missed you.”

I jerk her from the bar and carry her over to the closest round table. I bend her over it, facedown. Her hands flatten out over the surface, and I pull my hard dick out before running my fingers over her pussy. She’s wet, which is good because I’m in the mood to fuck.

Sliding into her, I feel everything fade away. She’s my fire. They say love should be your shelter from the storm, but that’s not even close to what I feel for Alexa. She’s everything I was taught to need. Crave.

She’s my altar, where I kneel and repent for all the sins I’ve committed over the years. The souls I’ve taken.

Her pussy tightens around me as I fuck her, and I look down to watch my hard cock slide in and out of that sweet fucking cunt I can’t get enough of.

My hands grip her hips, holding her in place while her body rocks back and forth on the table, making it rattle with each thrust.

Her hands reach out above her head, and she grips the edge of the table, needing something to hang onto. “Oh God, Cross …” she cries out as I slam into her.

Letting go of her hips, I lean over her back, and my right hand grips her hair. Yanking the side of her face off the table, I kiss her. Needing to taste her lips while I’m inside her. Needing more of her than she could ever offer.

A sinner is a man who takes what he wants without question. I want her.

Right now. Tomorrow and the next day. I need her like I need a hit that I haven’t had in weeks. Like the cigarettes that I gave up because I didn’t need another death trap in my life. I’ve already got enough enemies for that.

Why try my luck?

Her pussy tightens around me again, and I feel her try to pull away from my lips. I let her go just enough so I can watch her come. Her green eyes heavy, lips swollen and wet. Hair stuck to her slick face. She’s absolutely gorgeous in a forbidden way.

A person will always want what they can’t have. But my question is, what do we do once we get it? She will be the one to give me that answer.

ALEXA

THE FOLLOWING NIGHT, Jasmine and I stand behind the bar. I closed it down over an hour ago, but we’re still here due to Kink. The number of members we have joining Kink is unreal. We can’t keep up with it all.

They say that information travels the fastest by word of mouth, and I never understood that until now. You can’t just put an ad out for Kink. So Jasmine said she made a couple of calls, and that’s all it took. Those two calls turned into more calls. And bam, we’re on our way to guys signing up for our sex club.

I look up when the door opens to the bar. A man dressed in a pair of jeans, a plain white T-shirt, and black leather jacket walks toward us. His dark hair is slicked back, and I don’t see any visible tattoos from here. He looks well put together—almost a GQ lookalike with a touch of bad boy on the dangerous side if you know what I mean. All he’s missing is a cigarette behind his ear while sitting on a motorcycle.

“Tanner Mason.” Jasmine smiles at him. “Why am I not surprised to see you here?” She crosses her arms over her chest, looking him up and down.

He says nothing. Instead, he reaches into his leather jacket and produces an envelope, slapping it on the bar counter. “Fifty grand.”

She leans forward. “Will we be seeing Trey and Turner as well?”

He stares at her intently for a long moment. I think he’s going to walk away without answering when he speaks. “Trey?” He shrugs. “Maybe. But Turner?” He shakes his head. “That boy is selfish with his toys. He prefers to keep his pets in cages where only he can play with them.”

“Well …” She picks up the money. “We’re glad you could join us.”

Reaching over to the right, she picks up a form and slides it to him. “An NDA.”

He nods and picks up the pen, clicking it. Without even looking it over, he signs his name and slides it back over to us.

I want to ask him why he didn’t even read it but bite my lip to keep quiet.

I don’t want to look stupid. If Jasmine doesn’t have a problem with him signing it without reading it, then neither do I.

He nods once and knocks his knuckles on the bar before turning and walking out.

“Who was that?” I ask once the door closes behind him.

“That was the eldest of the Mason brothers.”

“Who?” Was that supposed to mean something?

“They own the Airport and Mason Towers.”

Ah, now I remember. I look over at her. “He was joking, right? About the guy named Turner and cages?” Can’t help but ask. Rumors are just that— rumors. But they have to hold some truth to them, right?

She laughs. “Doubtful. The Mason boys are seriously disturbed. Their father did a number on them. They each have their own level of being a sadist.”

That thought makes my chest hurt. I don’t believe evil is born; I believe it’s made. And people like the Mason brothers just prove that theory. “Did he … abuse them?”

“I’m not sure, but rumor has it their father sold their souls to the devil in exchange for power.”

“You don’t believe that shit, do you?” I can’t help but ask, laughing.

“I believe there’s a heaven and a hell.” She shrugs. “And I believe there is evil in this world that even God can’t cleanse.”

I place my hands on my hips. “Yeah, but come on …”

“The Airport and Mason Towers sit in the middle of the desert. The address is 666 S. Mason Boulevard.”

I frown. “That’s … odd but doesn’t mean anything.”

“Maybe, but I go there all the time.”

I’ve only ever been that one time, and I was pretty drunk. I didn’t really pay that much attention to my surroundings. Especially since we had Cross watching out for us. “And?”

Her green eyes meet mine. “And I see things that take place there. Only evil would allow such vile things.”

“Then why do you go?” I wonder. “Why put yourself in that position?

Who wants to willingly go to hell?”

She tilts her head to the right, a red strand of hair falling across her face before she tucks it behind her ear. “Because I’ve always been drawn to the darker side of life.”

Just then, my brother enters the bar. He spots Jasmine and snorts.

“Shouldn’t you be working your corner?”

“Derek,” I snap. Why is he such a dick to her? I think he secretly has a crush on her but knows she’d never give him the time of day.

Before she can say something sarcastic back to him, his eyes drop to the money counter. “What the fuck are you two doing? No way your pussy brought that much in,” he says to her as she puts Tanner’s envelope of cash in her purse.

I don’t miss the fact that he’s still ignoring me. “Derek!” I slam my hand down on the bar. “Quit being a fucking piece of shit!” I’m so tired of men like Hooke and my brother. Derek is a man-whore, but God forbid a woman has sex with more than one guy in her lifetime.

He just laughs it off like I’m joking, the first time acknowledging that I even exist since he saw Cross and me in the office.

The front door opens again, and Bones enters, wearing his usual fuck-off face. His pretty blue eyes glare at my brother instantly. He looks him over once and then dismisses him like he’s not a threat. Which he isn’t, but Bones made it an insult. I refrain from smiling. Derek’s body stiffens, and his eyes narrow. “We’re closed.”

“I’m not here for a drink,” Bones responds flatly.

“Sis, may I see you for a second?” Derek grabs my upper arm and drags me into the cooler before I can protest. “What in the fuck are they doing here?” he snaps.

I jerk my arm free of his hold. I was going to tell him what I’m doing tomorrow, but I guess now is as good a time as any. “I’m going into business with Jasmine and Bones.”

He blinks a couple of times, glaring down at me before he manages to get any words out. “What do you mean?”

“We’re opening a bar. Down in the basement.” I’m not going into detail at the moment because it doesn’t fucking matter. I own Lucky’s and allow him to work for me.

“The fuck you are!” he commands.

My teeth grind. I’m not arguing about this. It’s not up for negotiation.

“It’s done, Derek.”

“How could you?” He gives me his back, running his hands through his hair aggressively. “That is the stupidest fucking thing you’ve ever done.

And you’ve done some dumb shit.”

“Derek …”

“He’s a King, Alexa,” he growls in my face. “Connected to the Mafia. He can’t be trusted. None of them can. Didn’t you learn your lesson when April started dating Grave?”

He doesn’t know that April lost their baby. I haven’t had a chance to tell him, and honestly, it’s none of his business. “You don’t know anything about them,” I point out.

“Neither do you,” he fires back. “They’re fucking criminals.”

I roll my eyes. “They’re not—”

“And not to mention druggies,” he interrupts me.

It just pisses me off that he judges them. “Oh, just like your friend Ethan.” Derek and I grew up with April and her brother. He was never as close to Ethan as I am April because Ethan was quite a bit younger than us.

But they’re still friends.

He purses his lips. “No, he isn’t.”

Derek either doesn’t know Ethan like he thinks he does, or he’s a good liar. “Yes, he is. He was over at April and Grave’s the other night fucked up.

Cross dragged him in. April was crying when she found out.”

He shakes his head, not believing it. “Well, if he is, Grave got him started. Hell, he’s probably his dealer. That piece of shit …”

I slap him across his face, cutting him off. He stands there glaring down at me stunned. “Don’t you accuse Grave of that. Ethan is responsible for his own actions!” I scream, my blood pressure rising with each second.

“You’re going to do this. Pick them over me?” he asks through gritted teeth.

“It’s business,” I snap. “Not a competition.” Derek has always been happy with where he’s at in life—single with no ambition—but I want more. I want what Jasmine strives to have. A career. A woman can do more than lie on her back and push out kids. We just have to work harder, and

I’m not afraid to do that. Men like my brother and Ethan hold us back. They make it harder than it has to be.

“If you do this.” He points at the closed door of the cooler. “If you go into business with them, I quit,” he threatens.

No one will give me an ultimatum. “It’s a done deal, Derek.”

“Alexa …”

“The papers have been signed,” I clarify, letting him know it’s too late.

Not like I’d change my mind anyway.

“Fine.” He spins around and storms out. I follow him, but he exits the bar

just as fast as he did the cooler.

“Are you okay?” Jasmine asks me.

I nod my head, but my heart is heavy. I never can win with Derek. He’s always making my life about him. It’s a never-ending battle that I’m tired of

fighting.

“Anything I can do?” Bones asks me.

My eyes meet his, surprised by that question. “You’re offering to help me do what exactly?” If he’s as bad as Derek seems to believe, then that could be endless possibilities. I’m not discrediting my brother’s concern for the Kings, but I trust Jasmine. If she says they’re okay, then I believe her. She’s known them all of her life while my brother only knows what he’s heard.

Bones crosses his tatted arms over his chest, lifting his chin just a bit.

“I’m asking if there’s a problem that needs to be solved regarding the business.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I handled it. He quit.”

He nods, satisfied with that answer, and a silence falls over the bar before Bones speaks again. “You ready to close up?”

I nod. “Yeah. Everything is done for the night.”

He stands. “Come on. I’ll walk you ladies to your cars.”

I look at the front door my brother just stormed out of and think of my next step. It’s been on my mind ever since I signed the papers for Kink in New York. I want more, and I know what I must do in order to get it.