Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High 2)

“Earl Valentine,” Vadik said, spitting the word out.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” Gael asked.

River already had a knife out and was ready to strike. “Just say one more word and I’ll gut you.”

Earl looked at each one of us and laughed.

He was the first person to ever dare laugh at us. I looked at my guys and waited. We’d all be perfectly happy killing this fucker. He’d struck a deal with our fathers, and when we took over, that agreement had been severed.

My hand clenched into a fist. I craved to feel his bones break at my touch. It would be totally satisfying.

He sighed and glanced at the mess we’d made on the floor.

“They weren’t wrong about you. So very uncivilized.” He tutted. “You know, I figured you would take offense to my arrangement with your fathers. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted a virgin pussy, but they tripled my fortune with taking my shipments of product.”

To the outside world, Earl Valentine appeared to be an upstanding citizen. He had multiple empires in shipping and media. However, what people didn’t know was he was also in the trafficking business. He made dirty deals on the sale of human flesh.

Just thinking of what this fucker could have done to our girl made my skin crawl. He wanted a virgin, but that deal had come off the table. Instead, our fathers had used his fleet and reputation to help transport guns and drugs, not to mention embezzling money, cleaning it.

They had all become rich, and with every day that passed, and each dollar earned, we had grown even more hostile.

“We’ve already told you the deal is completely off the table,” I said.

Gael took a step toward the man.

He had the audacity to move toward our whiskey. Our really expensive brand. He poured himself a glass in one of the few remaining glasses we hadn’t smashed. I’d lost count of the number of glasses and bottles we had to replace.

Gael wasn’t a whiskey man. He preferred vodka.

Me, I just wanted to numb every single part of me. It helped me to sleep. A cranky me was not a good image.

Staring at this man, I saw blood. I wanted to sever every single limb I could get my hands on. He was everything I hated and even more. There would be no loss at his death.

“I have an agreement I think you would all be more than willing to be part of,” Earl said.

I folded my arms and burst out laughing. “You think there is something I’d want from you?”

He reached into his pocket, and we all tensed. However, Earl only had his cell phone. It showed a video, which he pressed play to, and we saw Ashley and Emily.

I couldn’t tear my gaze away. They were in a nightclub and it looked like they didn’t have a clue they were being filmed. I didn’t care about Ashley. The only person to hold my interest was the blonde. So beautiful. She’d lost way too much weight and even though she wore a little makeup, I saw the tiredness on her face.

Emily.

She needed us.

The video came to a stop.

“She is such a beautiful woman now. Ripe for the taking.”

“You piece of fucking shit,” River said, about to charge forward. As one, Gael, Vadik, and I stopped him.

Earl stared at us, the silence mounting with every passing second. “I don’t appreciate being attacked.”

“Tell us what you want and then get the fuck out,” Gael said.

“Simple. I can make it so you can have Emily. I know what your fathers did. The men they’ve got tailing her, waiting for the sign to kill. I know everything.”

“If you knew everything, why didn’t you come to us before now?” I asked.

“Simple, there wasn’t anything I wanted. Now, there is.”

“You’re not getting Emily.”

“Oh, please, she’s spoiled goods. When I made a deal with Crane, I didn’t leave any error for him. I wanted a virgin. An untouched woman. Emily has you four and I have no wish to follow you.”

I stared at him, waiting, wondering what he could want.

“Anyway, it took some maneuvering, but I was able to discover her friend. Curves, as I like to call her. She hasn’t had a boyfriend, isn’t serious about anyone, and she’s a virgin.”

“How do you know that? They’re in a city and could be screwing men every night,” Gael said.

Just the thought of other men sniffing around our woman filled me with rage.

Earl smiled. “I have my means.”

“You want Ashley?”

“Yes.”

“Clearly something’s going in here we’re not privy to. Why don’t you cut the crap and tell us what the deal is?”

Again, another smirk, which pissed me off. I didn’t like to be at anyone’s mercy and from the look of my friends, they didn’t want to either. I was angry. I wanted to hurt someone, anyone.