Page 42 of Midnight Wedding

I close the box lid. “Someone get rid of this,” I say, shoving it back to the guard that brought it in. “Spread the word. I need everyone ready for whatever Garen throws at us.”

“Yes,patron.”

“Make sure you get rid of that head respectfully. And make sure Ricky’s family is informed and taken care of.”

Half the guards leave, but another man comes rushing into the room. He’s Sevan, one of my direct cousins, and isn’t normally at the warehouse this early. Normally, he runs the string of clubs we own down closer to the harbor.

“Arsen,” he says, face in a panic. “I just got a call and came straight over.”

“What’s going on?”

“Club Renegade’s on fire. Apparently, Garen’s men stormed the fucking place and killed some of the staff. What the fuck is going on?”

I rip open my top drawer, grab my gun, and make sure it’s loaded. Sevan’s staring at me with big, shocked eyes as I shove it into my waistband.

“Gather your people. Let’s go handle our business.”

Chapter 15

Lena

Iwake up in a big, unfamiliar bed. My face is wet and clammy and a big drool stain covers the pillow. I groan, stretching.

Arsen’s gone.

His side of the bed’s still warm though. I roll over there and breathe in his smell. It’s earthy and spicy. I shouldn’t like it, but I do.

I shouldn’t like any of this, but god, that was a really good night’s sleep.

None of this feels right. I barely got a glimpse at this house when Arsen marched me through last night, but now I’m supposed to live here. I don’t have any of my things, none of my clothes or my toiletries, and I have no idea when any of that will show up.

But all of that’s just a minor problem compared to what I need to do right now.

I use the bathroom, splash water in my face, and gather my courage. I can scale walls into the backyards of broken-downmanufacturing plants. I can squeeze through drainage pipes and crawl on my belly in mud.

I can handle calling my mother.

“Did you come home last night?” she asks, sounding worried.

“I slept out.” I glance at the clock. It’s a little past nine in the morning, which means she’s probably been fretting for hours. “I’m sorry, I should’ve left a note. It was a last-minute thing.”

“Are you alright?”

“I’m totally fine.”

I open my mouth to spill it, but she speaks first.

“It’s good, you’re going out. Honestly, Lena, I know it hasn’t been easy on you, with staying home to take care of me and working all the time. I keep thinking you’re young and you should be living while you can. It won’t last forever.”

“Mama, I don’t mind, you know that.”

“I know, sweetheart, but I’m just saying, you don’t need to worry about me. I want you to be young, okay? Make bad decisions. Well, not too bad.”

Shit. I squeeze my eyes closed. How am I supposed to tell her now? “Actually, speaking of decisions.” I clear my throat. God, this is such a mess. I can’t bring myself to tell her, but I can’t keep it a secret. “Something happened. I mean, something came up, and there are going to be… changes.”

“Changes?”

“To our lives. I mean, to your life too. It’s good, actually.”

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