Page 45 of Twisted Ruck

"And taking orders from Ramsey." Frost seemed amused by that. "Who would have thought?"

"Not me," I agreed. "Storm, are you going to do what he says?" I was poking the hornet's nest, but I couldn't resist. If anyone was going to make this situation difficult, it was him.

"We'll see," he grunted. "Depends what they want. If he tells me to kill any one of you, he can fuck all the way off."

"The only way he'd have to ask you to do that is if one of us does something wrong," Chelsea said.

"Then we won't do anything wrong," I said.

I was starting to wonder what we let ourselves get sucked into. What would happen if we packed up everything right now and slipped away into the night? I suspected I wouldn't like the repercussions. People like our new employers, they had long memories and longer reach. Atlas, Jay and Ramsey might huntus down. Holed up in a warehouse somewhere, waiting for them to break down the door and kill us all.

"Piece of cake," Frost said. "We know how to stay out of trouble if we want to."

"Trouble has a way of finding us," Chelsea said softly.

I pulled her in closer. "I know you didn't want to get caught up in all of this. If I could have done anything to prevent it, I would have." I don't know what I would have done, but I would have tried something.

She sighed. "I know. If it wasn't this, it would have been something else. If it wasn't you guys, it would have been someoneelse. They've always been determined to find a way to bring me back in. That's what they're like. They don't like letting anyone go."

"Has that ever happened?" Frost asked. "Does anyone get to walk away?"

"Once in a while someone is able to find a way to break free," she said. "If they can cut a deal with the right person at the right time, they can live a normal life. But it doesn't happen often. Some people are used without even knowing it's happening. Others, like me, they wait for an opportunity to hold on to me. To make me do whatever they want." She sounded frustrated, but resigned. She didn't want this, but she knew she couldn't fight it.

"I don't like the idea of anyone manipulating you." Storm scowled.

She laughed softly. "They're manipulating all of us. It's what they do. There's three things they want in life: power, money and control. As far as they're concerned, those three are all rolled into one. With one comes the others. They don't like to relinquish a centimetre or a cent. The more power and control they have, the more they want."

She nestled tighter against me. "Daze likes me, but she'd have me killed if necessary and not think twice about it, especially if she thought I gave her a reason to do it. She's as ruthless as the rest of them."

"What about Ice?" Frost asked. "He wouldn't let her do that to you."

"No, he wouldn't," she agreed. "There's six people he wouldn't let her kill: me, Kennedy, Mannix, Ares, and our parents. If anyone went after us, they'd either have to get past him, or get to us before he could stop them. And face the consequences of pissing him off. Chances are, they'd kill him before they went after me, so he couldn't do anything to stop them."

"Rugby is starting to feel very passive in comparison," Storm remarked.

"Are you starting to regret getting involved?" Frost frowned at him.

Storm shrugged one shoulder and leaned back against the back of the chair. "Doesn't matter, does it? We're in now."

"Because I got you in," Chelsea said regretfully. "I shouldn't have told you anything."

"We were in when I wrapped my hands around Ivy's throat," Frost said. "At least, I was. When your brother helped me, I was all in."

"And if Frost is in, I'm in," Storm said.

"I'm in because I decided to be," I said. "But I'm in even more now Chelsea is. If Dominic King or Otis Skinner try anything with her, I'm going to take a leaf from Storm's book and rip off their hand to smack them with it."

"I bet Ice would literally do that," Frost said. He seemed to have a genuine case of hero worship.

"He would," Chelsea agreed. "I'm sure if you ask nicely, he'll let you try it out sometime."

She looked less than enthusiastic. If someone wrote a book about her, they could call itReluctant Mafia Princess.She was a princess, whether she liked it or not and I wasn't going to let anything happen to her, even if I had to die to prevent it.

"I don't know if that's fun or just fucked up," Storm said.

"Both?" Frost suggested.

Chelsea shook her head slightly, making her hair fall across her face. "I vote for fucked up, but if that's what you're into…"

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