Ruthless Sinner (Ashby Crime Family)

Then back in my own voice, I finished the story. “At the end of the sixty minutes, she stood and left, Terry and me trailing behind her.”

“Classic Sadie.” Terry shook his head, his smile affectionate and worried. She was more of a mother to him and Emmett than their own useless parents, which made his pain as real as mine. And Thomas’.

“Hey, guys, do you need anything?” Mo stood between Terry and Thomas, one hand on her hip while the other held a bottle of Velvet Fire.

“Top ups for ya?” She eyed Thomas and then Terry, ignoring me altogether.

I usually wouldn’t notice unnecessary shit like how my waitresses behaved. Still, Mo was usually a flirt, and when it came to me, she was a big flirt, shoving her tits in my face, winking and piling on the innuendos. Today though, she was subdued, even with Terry and Thomas.

“I’ll have the short rib shepherd’s pie,” I told her gruffly.

She flashed a fake smile and nodded. “And you guys?”

“I’ll have the confit pork belly,” Thomas sighed.

“Fancy fucks,” Terry growled and smiled up at Mo. “I’ll have the Irish stew, please.”

She nodded and refilled each glass. “Coming right up.” Then, without a word or a wink, she sashayed off. Obviously pissed, which was a problem for another time.

When Mo disappeared from sight, Terry let out a low whistle. “Did you do something to piss Mo off?” He laughed and shook his head. “Must’ve been bad. She didn’t even look at you.”

I glared at my best friend, and that only made the fucker laugh harder. And louder. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

I didn’t have time to deal with whatever was going on with Mo. She was rock solid as far as the family was concerned. I’d assigned Hulu as her personal driver until this shooting shit was settled, and she lived inside Emerald Isle, so her personal security wasn’t an issue. She was fine. Safe. Anything else was irrelevant.

I knew I shouldn’t have fucked her. But goddamn, the memory of plowing deep inside her, the way her eyes sparkled when she took me down her throat. How could I pass that up? Especially with the stress of Sadie and Lucky Lopez.

Mo had a slight crush on me, or maybe it was the power I wielded, either way, there were plenty of reasons I should have kept my cock in my pants.

But I didn’t. I couldn’t. What Mo was offering—a quick fuck to distract me from everything—was too enticing to pass up. And it was a hot fuck.

“Right,” Terry said, drawing the word out just long enough to pull me from my thoughts. “Something is going on with her. With everything else on our plates, maybe someone should check on her.”

His pointed stare said exactly who he thought that someone should be. He cocked his head and said, “Just a thought.”

Mo returned twice over the next twenty minutes, once to refill our drinks and once with food. Both times she wore a wide professional smile. If you didn’t know her, you wouldn’t detect anything off in her demeanor, but I knew Mo. Had known her since she was a mouthy kid who thought she knew everything.

I knew the lines around her eyes were an indication of how hard she worked to keep her emotions in check. I knew the slight pursing of her lips meant she was unhappy about something. The fact she’d refused to look at me meant that something was likely me, or more accurately, my mouth.

“Anything else for you guys?”

Thomas reached out and put a hand on Mo’s shoulder just as she turned to walk away. “You all right, Mo?”

“Me? I’m always all right, Thomas. I should ask how you’re doing. Any update on Sadie?”

Thomas sighed heavily once again as if he was able to forget that the woman he loved was in a coma, life hanging in the balance.

“No progress, which fucking kills me, but she’s stable. There’s no reason to think she won’t wake up.”

Mo turned and wrapped Thomas in a hug, closing her eyes briefly as she did. “That’s Sadie. She does things when she’s good and damn ready. Keep your chin up, Thomas.” She gave his shoulder a squeeze and walked away.

When she was gone, Thomas turned to me with a knowing look in his eyes. What he thought he knew; I had no fucking clue. “She’s not angry; she’s sad.”

“How the fuck do you know that?” Terry’s tone was incredulous as he sipped his whiskey. “You pull that out of your ass?”

“Angry Mo is full of piss and vinegar, spunk and fire. She doesn’t take any shit. She got that from Sadie. When she’s sad, she’s quiet and subdued.”

Shit. That was the last fucking thing I needed to hear. “Where the fuck is Calvin? I’m still waiting on that surveillance footage.” My little brother was doing his best to get on my goddamn nerves. I knew he was still grieving the loss of Bonnie and adjusting to being a single father, but this shit was getting ridiculous.