Monsters' Gift (Crude Hill High 2)

Before I knew what was happening, he gripped my head and dunked me underneath the water. I came up spluttering while River looked calm and relaxed as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

It must be nice to be him.

I glared at him but refused to assist him. He didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was more than happy to let me be still as he washed my body, my hair. When he was done, he stood with a towel.

The child in me wanted to throw water at him. Instead, I stood and held my arms out, waiting.

I let out a little yelp when he lifted me straight from the water without any problem at all. I was shocked, but River dropped the towel, cupped my face, and took my lips in a possessive kiss that thrilled me right down to my toes.

He was the first to break the kiss and I noticed how he rearranged his cock. He took my hand and led me right back into the bedroom where I found we’d had a delivery. Clothes, shoes, and the entire bedroom had been converted into something that resembled my room back in England.

I also noticed a picture on the nightstand, and I let go of River to pick it up. It was of me and Ashley. As always, my best friend was smiling, while I was pretending to be happy. I’d give anything to know she was okay. I didn’t like to think of her as being alone with no one to come home to.

Holding the picture, I turned toward River. “Tell me she’s safe.”

“She’s safe.”

He said the words I wanted to hear, but I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d just lied to me.

****

River

I drew the short straw.

Caleb had said he wanted Emily protected and we all knew the reason. Earl had gone quiet on us. We knew from our sources that he’d already taken Ashley and the apartment they had once shared had been completely cleared out as if the two girls didn’t exist. But, and this was way out there, he hadn’t gone to the house we’d negotiated for him. In fact, Earl was gone, disappeared, taking our bargaining chip with him.

“Breakfast or a walk outside?” I asked as Emily came out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of jeans and a long shirt that molded around her breasts but flared out and rested against her knees.

“What?”

“I’m going to have to do something about your manners.” I chuckled. “Do you want to go for a walk first or would you like some breakfast?”

She looked toward the window. It was slightly overcast. Not the perfect walking weather.

“Outside first.”

I nodded and held my arm up for her to take. I wasn’t surprised when she looked at my offering as if it was going to spook her. “No strings attached. I’m with you today.”

“You weren’t this attentive years ago.”

“Then consider yourself lucky.”

I expected her to keep on arguing but instead, she took my arm without another word. I was shocked, but I didn’t show it.

While I was babysitting Emily, which I loved, Gael, Vadik, and Caleb were putting our men back in their place, making them aware of their loyalty. If news got out of Emily’s return, they would have to deal with us. There would be some death today. I had no doubt we had enemies within our soldiers, but we had no problem picking them off one by one.

I walked Emily down to the main floor and moved toward the second dining room that led out toward the garden. We passed several of our guards, all of whom averted their gaze, refusing to look at our woman. Good.

Emily stopped at the steps leading down toward the pristine mowed lawn. She took a deep breath.

I waited for her to take the next step, which she did, putting one foot in front of the other as we made our way to the grass. She bent down, removing the sneakers she’d picked along with the socks. I clicked my fingers, having one of our men take her shoes.

“Really?” she asked. “You’ve got people to do everything?”

“We pay them to be whatever we need.”

“Must be nice.”

I stayed silent. We’d gone out of our way to instill fear into our men. No one messed with us.

Emily sighed. “While you were taking over Crude Hill, I was working my ass off.”

“Your apartment was fully paid for,” I said. It was one of the reasons we were pissed off. Our money paid for the women, but it seemed with a snap of his fingers, Earl had been able to take that from us as well.

When we got to Earl, his body would fertilize the ground. I was sure of it. If he did anything to Ashley, Emily would never forgive us.