average human’s Reviews > All Hail > Status Update

Not just because she’s the most fucking heartbreaking woman to look at that I’ve ever met but because I know just how broken she is inside right now and there’s nothing I can do to fix it.
Nothing except to break Luca’s jaw.
So I get right onto that.
The Butcher chuckles under his breath when my fist connects with the asshole’s jaw, his attention still on the door Avery just walked through so the blow lands fucking perfectly and sends him to him knees.
The Crow snaps at me, “Maybe you should wait until you’ve built a name for yourself before you start burning bridges, Stag.”
The Butcher scoffs from behind me but I keep my eyes on the asshole spitting blood out onto the driveway. “You speak to her like that again and I’ll fucking kill you. I don’t care who you belong to, I’ll take you the fuck out.”
The Crow snarls at me again, “You might have taken your seat on the Twelve during a war but that isn’t how this works.”
The Butcher steps right up until he’s chest-to-chest with the Crow again. “Nah, that’s exactly how this works. The Wolf has made it clear that anyone who fucks with Avery is dead. Keep your inductees in line before I do.”
Luca straightens up and rolls his shoulders back like he’s ready to fight back but his eyes are wary of the Butcher.
I get it.
The man is a fucking machine, bigger and more deadly than the three of us put together, but Luca still looks ready enough to jump in for his boss so I guess that’s something.
“I will deal with the new dealer in town. Keep your noses out of it and stick to what you’re good at. Contract killing and drinking yourself to death with errant bikers.” The Crow sneers and then he steps away from the Butcher, jerking his head at Luca until they both climb into the Rolls Royce and finally leave.
The Butcher watches as the taillights disappear down the private road, his arms crossed and a scowl on his face that I’m not sure a lot of men see and live to talk about it.
“You told Arbour you were with her the whole time.”
I nod slowly and he pegs me with a look. “So why the fuck is she shaking over seeing that asshole? What the fuck did he do to her? Because I don’t give a fuck who his boss is, that girl is family. She risked everything for the Wolf and that loyalty means a helluva lot more to me than some bullshit gangster club you’re in.”
It takes me a second to realize he’s talking about the Twelve. I guess it still feels a little fucking foreign that I won the Game and now I sit at that table.
I did it to get rid of the abusive men in my family, to keep food on the table, and to stop the women from being murdered.
I never gave a shit about power.
Not until I saw the girl who wields it like a weapon.
Now it’s all I can think about. All of the little power plays in the Bay, all of the players on the board, the business men and the senators… every last one of them is on my radar now because I need to be sure that she’s safe.
I glance at him and, though it might be signing my own death warrant, I shrug at him. “I was with her and he didn’t hurt her. Something happened in that room and he knows about it… she doesn’t want to be reminded.”
He frowns at me. “Why is she okay with you then? If you were with her then why aren’t you a reminder too?”
I’m not going to talk about it with fucking anyone so I deflect. I lift my shirt until he can see the scar there, still red even though it’s healed up perfectly. “I guess the knife she pushed into my guts was enough to make me a safe place. Besides, she knows I’m not gonna say a fucking word about it. I’d rather fucking die and I’ve proved that to her. Luca though? He’s loyal to the Crow. He could start running his mouth and bringing up shit that might just break her.”
He stares at it for a second and nods, the corners of his mouth twitching up. “You’re lucky the Wolf taught her where to aim. She wouldn’t have hit anything important by accident.”
I smirk back. “I’ll remember to thank her when they all get home.”
He nods and the smile drops away from his face. “There are a lot of people on our list to die for what’s gone down, anyone who gets away is a risk.”
Is he… are we about to be working together? What the hell has my life become that the most infamous killer in the Bay is making plans with me about taking people out?
“I’m finding Diarmuid. I’m finding that fucking cunt and I’m killing him for what he did.”
He nods and looks back over to the door, but there are lights on upstairs so Avery has clearly gone up to bed.
“I have some people already looking into where he disappeared to, I put some feelers out.”
I nod. I have no doubt that the Butcher’s information network is much bigger than mine is but Diarmuid is still my problem to deal with. “I want the kill. I’m grateful that you’re helping track him down but his death should be mine.”
He shrugs at me. “As long as he’s gone, I don’t really give a fuck who does it. I was gonna offer to bring him to Queenie but she’s not into blood-soaked scenes. The kid might want it though.”
I’ll call the Wolf myself to put in a claim.
Diarmuid didn’t just betray the family, he was just another black mark against the O’Cronin name and I’m fucking over that shit happening. He’s the last male of that generation left breathing and I’ll be happy when he’s in the ground.
The Butcher claps me on the shoulder and I turn away from him to stalk back over to the Impala. It’s late enough out that I should really head home and try to get some sleep but I know the second I shut my eyes, all I’m gonna see is Queenie’s face.
Her face at Luca’s words, her face when she watched her family drive away, her face when she sank down on my dick at the Jackal’s orders and bled down my fucking thighs.
“O’Cronin.”
I glance back over my shoulder at him and he’s standing there, a cigarette hanging out of his lips and his keys in his hands.
“You’re a part of the family, call me Illi.”