Beast's Demands (Crude Hill High 3)

Holding out my hand, I waited for her to take it. She slid hers into mine. I was aware of how right she felt next to me. Just another reason as far as I was concerned why I needed to keep her.

We walked out of the room, and I took her to where we were docked. My men were all ready, and a car sat waiting.

I helped Ashley inside first, sliding in beside her.

Her body shook a little.

“All you’ve got to do is behave, and it will go well.”

She didn’t speak to me.

My warning to her clearly struck a nerve. I was now pissed off at the quiet, but I didn’t say anything.

Tonight needed to happen.

I didn’t want any more bloodshed, but if she decided to push me, I would strike.

Arriving at the Monsters’ house, I hated the garishness of the property. It was large and pointedly said they were the kings.

The car came to a stop, and Ashley looked nervous.

“Are you sure you can handle this?” I asked.

“Yes. I want to see Emily. I bet she’s so happy.”

I couldn’t give two shits if that woman was happy or not.

Climbing out of the car, I held my hand out for Ashley to take. She did, and we approached the door, which opened.

There they were, Caleb, Gael, Vadik, and River. All four men, looking like they wanted to kill me.

Emily broke the tension as she rushed forward, hugging Ashley as if her life depended on it.

Before Emily could have a chance to fire off questions, Ashley started her accusations at the men. I was proud of her. She wasn’t frightened. Emily kept glaring at me, but I ignored her.

All too soon, Ashley was taken away. One of my men was with her, and I was alone, dealing business with the main assholes who had put us all in this mess in the first place, in the library, of all places.

“You betrayed us, and now you think you can come into our domain and bark orders?” Caleb asked.

I should have known it would be him to start making demands. Pissy fucker. “The only part of our arrangement I didn’t keep was staying too close to you. You think I didn’t know there would be consequences of staying close? That woman has all four of you by the balls. One snap of her fingers, and I’d be dead and Ashley would be free. I’m not that desperate, and I’m certainly not an idiot.”

“What about dealing with our fathers’ prior arrangement to have Emily killed?” Gael asked. “What do you have to say about that?”

“I told you, I broke one part of our agreement. The other, I took care of. There wasn’t a threat to Emily’s life. All of the prior negotiations and bounty are over. I know how your fathers handled that mess, so I knew how to get rid of it.” I didn’t like any of this. It would be so much easier to kill them all, but I didn’t want the Monsters’ business. I was more than happy with my own.

“You knew how to erase it because you put it in place,” Gael said.

This, I couldn’t help but smile at. Gael was right. “Well, well, well, I had to wonder who would figure it out eventually. The fact it was you, I’m rather impressed.” It was why I could make the bounty go away, and why I knew how to do it, the favors to call in, and how to make it stop. Taking a bounty contract away always had certain clauses attached. It was far easier to create a bounty than to take one away.

“Cut the crap. You did this to start with. Did you give them the ammo they needed to take Emily from us?” Caleb asked.

“I need a drink.” I stepped toward the drinks table, pouring myself a large shot of brandy. “Do you want one?”

I got glares as a response.

“That’s our booze, asshole,” River said.

“I know.” I smacked my lips together after taking a sip. “Your fathers, they came to me with so many … options and concerns. They truly felt this girl, Emily, my intended, was a problem. Of course, she was supposed to be my sweet virgin, but we’ll call that water under the bridge. So good. They first wanted to kill Emily. To get one of their MC contacts. Make it look like a complete accident.”

“Let me guess, you decided against that out of the goodness of your heart?”

I laughed. “I’m not that stupid. I’m a man who has built his empire from the ground up. I know you all have had this handed to you on a silver platter. It was so easy for you all, and you merely took it. But for those of us who came from nothing, we had to bleed. You know nothing about me, and anything you do find out, well, it’s not exactly the truth.” I inherited this from my grandfather, but the truth was, I had to bleed to get it. Nothing was given to me. I had to fight for everything I possessed. I played dirty. I’d stopped playing by the rules a long time ago.