Page 6 of Breakers (Academy of Stardom 3)

“Right now, The Collector’s body and what remains of his head, are currently being dissolved in acid,” Grim says, as though this is a normal, everyday occurrence for her. It probably is.

“Jesus Christ,” I mutter, feeling nauseous.

“Look, Pen. Malik made a huge error trying to take you. I had to send a message. No one tries to fuck me over,ever. Besides, I like you. There’s no fucking way I would’ve let that creep get his hands on you. Employee or otherwise.”

“Fuck—” It’s about all I can manage to say right now.

“Fuck indeed,” the mysterious stranger, Mr. Suited-and-booted, says. I glance at him, frowning, but I’m too desperate to know what went on to question who the fuck he is, why he’s here or even wherehereis, right now.

“How did you know Malik was coming for me? Did that bastard Jeb make a deal with him after all?”

“Jeb might be a prick, but he’s not a fool. He wouldn’t double-cross Grim and have the audacity to sit in her club and expect to live. Though that fucker Malik sure as hell had some balls thinking he could take you just like that. That we’dlethim,” Xeno bites out.

“I still don’t understandhowyou knew?” I say, frowning. Xeno eyes Mr. Suited-and-booted and they exchange looks. Xeno tips his chin up, almost imperceptibly, as though giving this man permission to talk. It strikes me as odd, but I don’t question it.

“One of my men intercepted some correspondence between Malik Brov and another criminal we’ve been watching—” Mr. Suited-and-booted remarks casually, like he’s talking about the weather. “Xeno was with me when I got the intel. We were able to inform Grim just in time and get a plan in place. It was with Jeb’s approval that Xeno be the one to get you to safety.”

“Intercepted? Wait… What do you mean by that? Whoare youexactly?”

“We’ll get to that in a minute,” Grim says, waving her hand as though that piece of information is insignificant.

I let that go for now because I’m equally confused about the fact that Jeb agreed to Xeno getting me to safety. Why? It makes no sense. The man couldn’t give two shits about me. “What do you meanwith Jeb’s approval?”

Grim draws in another nicotine cloud of smoke then blows it out before answering. “Well, retrospective agreement anyway… We dealt with the threat and informed Jeb after the fact. He’s lucky Beast didn’t shoot him, too. He didn’t because we need Jeb for this plan to work,” Grim continues.

“What?” I shake my head, confused. The lingering effects of the drug still blurring my ability to think straight.

“We found out that Malik had planted one of his men at the club for the sole purpose of stealing you out right from under our fucking nose,” Grim continues. “This thief came intomyclub with a new crew. Most likely Malik paid them off to keep quiet that this man wasn’t actually one of theirs. Needless to say, those fuckers are going to have a long and torturous weekend ahead of them.”

“What happened to the man who—”

“Dead,” Xeno says coldly. He flicks his gaze away when I stare at him open-mouthed, that infuriating muscle still ticking in his jaw.

“Yes, Xeno dealt with the little prick then took his place. Jeb didn’t really have much choice but to agree that it was the best course of action given he wants to keep me sweet. Besides, he’s currently holed up in a suite in my hotel in Mayfair getting the best pussy money can buy.”

I laugh at that statement for two reasons. One he fucking hates pussy, and two why would Jeb want to keep anyone sweet besides himself? “Keepyousweet?”

“Yes. Jeb wants information that I have, and he knows if he were to double-cross me or disagree with anything I choose to do, then frankly, he’d be dead at worst or without information at best. Of course, Jeb has plans to take over Tales, but he doesn’t knowI’maware of that. When the time comes, that prick will die too. Xeno here played the part of the thief to save your arse from a life of sexual servitude.”

“You were playing a part?” I parrot back.

“Yes,” he replies, watching me closely to see how I react.

Grim shakes her head, scowling at Xeno. “Buthe fucked up.”

“Fucked up how?” I ask, looking between them. Xeno’s face darkens. Then I remember what Xeno said earlier before Grim and the stranger arrived. “Youdancedwith me…” My voice trails off as realisation dawns on me.

“The second Malik saw you together in the cage he knew he’d been found out and attempted to leave. Fortunately for all of us, he didn’t get very far,” Grim explains.

Xeno grits his jaw. “It was an error in judgement. A mistake I won’t make again.”

“Dancing with me was an error in judgement, amistake…?” I whisper. My chest heaves as his words strike me again, stabbing my skin just like that motherfucking needle. Before I know what I’m doing, I spin on my feet and walk away.

“Smooth, fucking smooth,” I hear Grim say behind me.

“Shut the fuck up!” Xeno retorts. “Pen, wait!”

Tears fill my eyes, and I blink them back as I push open the door to the bedroom. Two steps inside the room, I turn around and try to shut the door, but Xeno forces his way through.

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