Page 13 of Heads You Lose (Grim & Beast Duet 2)

CHAPTERTHREE

Ain’t No Sunshine

BEAST

It’s been almost two years since I left.

Two long motherfucking years where I’ve watched over Kate from afar.

My Princess. My woman. My heart.

She turns twenty in a week.

And I’m back to tell her the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help me fucking God.

I owe her an explanation, my apologies and my love. But more than that, I owe her my life.

Kate isn’t a crap shot, and no one misses major organs when they’re firing a bullet from a few feet away without purposefully intending to miss. She shot me that night in the cage, banishing me from her life and sending out a message to the criminal underworld.

No one fucks withGrim. Not even the ones she loves.

It was her saving grace, because when she pulled the trigger she proved herself a Davidson more than worthy of standing in Carter’s shoes, and she’s been proving herself ever since, building a business and an army that she can be proud of. Unofficially she’s been running Tales from the moment Carter was murdered by yours truly, officially just a few short weeks since his will was read and her name replaced his as the owner of Tales.

Either way, she’s gained respect and a reputation. According to Dom, who’s been my inside man this whole time, despite the King still having involvement in Tales, he’s backed off and allowed her to make a name for herself whilst he reaped the benefits. It won’t be long before she buys him out, or better yet kills the cunt, but all in good time.

For now, she’s running the most lucrative fight club in all of Europe. Two months after the refurbishment, the old clubmysteriouslyburnt to the ground and she moved premises to a larger, more discrete site where Tales has also become more commonly known as Grim’s Fight Club.

As it should be.

She’s a badass, and I’m so fucking proud of her.

Two weeks ago, Dom called me to let me know that Carter’s will had finally been read, after his funeral took place a couple weeks before that. A funeral that, by all accounts, was attended by every fucking lowlife criminal you could think of. None of them were there for Carter, and even less to pay their respects to Kate. Like vultures around a rotting carcass, they wanted to see what they could get out of the situation because up until three months ago, Carter was deemed a missing person.

And a missing person is still a threat, but a dead man? Not so much.

What they hadn’t counted on was the woman they met at the funeral. A woman who, according to Dom, single-handedly laid out three men and shot a fourth in the kneecap for even trying to disrespect her. They also hadn’t counted on the soldiers she’s acquired or the loyalty of mercenaries with a big enough reputation to scare even the most hardened criminal off.

Like I said, she’s been building an army.

It’s also common knowledge that the remains of Carter’s skull was found in a shallow grave in Hampstead Heath, and that he was identified by his teeth. It’s not common knowledge that the police were tipped-off with where to find Carter’s remains, or the fact that the rest of his body was fed to pigs who have long since been butchered too. Both calculated decisions that were made by Kate herself.

Of course, speculation had been rife in the criminal underworld, and according to Dom, Kate endured weeks of police interrogations, interviews and accusations. But she never wavered from her story, and she never once ratted me out.

Carter’s cause of death was deemed suspicious, but given there was very little left of Carter’s body and no other evidence to be found given the old club is now nothing but a pile of ash, the case ran cold. Though I’m more than fucking positive that there was a handout to the police chief and a few people higher up the chain of command to nip any further investigations in the bud.

Like I said, Kate has come into her own.

Or should I sayGrimhas come into her own, because there isn’t one person now who’ll call her Kate. She won’t allow it. The last person who tried was beaten by her men so badly that he can’t even remember his own name, let alone hers, or so I’m told.

Kate has well and truly shredded her skin and stepped into the role of Grim completely. It’s a heavy burden to know that I’m part of the reason for that. That my actions, my half-truths and my lies to keep her safe, forced her into a persona she couldn’t escape from.

Honestly, I’m not certain she would even want to now.

But I’m not back to change her in any way, I’m back because I can’t stay away a moment longer. There’s so much I need to fix and I’m not self-centred enough to believe I’ll be successful, but I’ve got to fucking try.

I blow out a steady breath, swiping at the mist covering the mirror from the shower I’ve just taken, and stare at my reflection. I look much the same as I did when I left. I’m still a bulky fucker, probably bigger than I was given I’ve spent a lot of my time training in gyms around the world, but it didn’t matter where I was, there was no sunshine without her. My happiness wasn’t a focus, her safety was, still is. I haven’t been complacent in my time away. I’ve made alliances, acquaintances and friends with powerful menandwomen.

And I’ve done it all for Kate, forGrim.

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