Huntsman by Cambria Hebert
48
Earth
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Get your ass out here, Earth!” Neo demanded while steadily pounding on the bedroom door.
“We’re getting our own place,” I declared.
Virginia twisted at the waist to stare at me, surprise lighting up her face. “What?”
“There’s two units available on lower floors in this building and one available in Ethan and Fletch’s building. Pick one.”
Gaping, she scrambled to sit up, and I slid my arm around her to lift. She looked fucking gorgeous sitting there in the middle of the rumpled sheets we’d had sex in last night. Her hair was a wreck, her chest was bare, and her lips were still swollen.
Satisfaction hummed bone deep inside me this morning, which was why I was probably ignoring the still-hammering hothead at the door.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“You can’t be serious!” Her eyes were owlishly wide.
Tucking a strand of soft hair behind her ear, I said, “You don’t expect me to live with that, do you?” I hitched a thumb over my shoulder.
“Earth! I’ll bust down this door!”
“I’m naked!” I yelled.
Neo roared.
“Well, I guess I could get used to it.” I amended. Riling him up on the daily sure sounded fun.
V crossed her arms over her bare chest and scowled.
“You’re blocking my view, sweetheart,” I drawled.
Her cheeks pinkened, and her eyes dropped. Chuckling, I pushed up her chin to kiss her softly.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
“Don’t you realize how much these buildings cost?” she asked when I pulled away.
“Killing paid very well, sweetheart.”
Her mouth fell open.
“We’ll go look at them later. Then you can pick one,” I said, getting off the bed to find my jeans.
The door was shuddering under Neo’s assault.
“Hold on. Let me get some pants,” I called.
“You son of a bitch!”
I winked at V and handed her my T-shirt. She pulled it on, and then I scooped her up, placing her in her chair. “Go do whatever girly stuff you gotta do, and I’ll go see what he wants.”
“If he punches you, don’t come crying to me.”
“You won’t kiss it and make it better?”
She blushed. I was gonna have to flirt with her more. She was cute when she was shy.
“Come out when you’re done,” I said, giving her a noisy kiss and letting the sound of her laugh seep into my skin.
I unlocked the door and slipped through a slim opening.
“What the hell is going on in there?” Neo demanded.
I smiled slow. “You really want to know?”
He swung.
I ducked.
“You got any coffee in this fancy place?” I asked.
“You’re getting decaf,” Neo declared, stalking toward the kitchen.
“That’s the meanest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
He made it as far as the kitchen island before swinging around, a hard set to his mouth. “You spent the night with my sister.”
All the teasing I’d been thoroughly enjoying evaporated.
“Yes,” I said honestly.
“Did you touch her?”
“I think you know the answer to that.”
His hands balled into fists at his sides. Despite the anger radiating from his body, his voice was concerned. “Is she okay?”
“I promise you she’s okay.”
Some of his anger ebbed, but there was still worry in the lines of his face.
“I love her,” I told him honestly. Teasing him was fun, but I also wanted him to know I was serious here. V wasn’t a game to me.
His hands relaxed. “You aren’t good enough for her.”
“No.” I agreed.
“But if anyone could come close… it would be you.”
It took a moment for the words to register. Surprise rendered me quiet. Of all the things he could have said, I never would have imagined that.
“Someone so good needs someone a little wicked. I know you will do anything to keep her safe.”
“And happy,” I added. “I’ll do anything to make sure she’s happy.”
“Even go against me.”
“Even go against you,” I echoed.
“No one else was willing to do that.” He smirked, proud of himself.
“Jake was a wanker,” I cracked. “Thanks for getting rid of him.”
Snorting, Neo went to the coffeepot, which was already full, and poured two mugs full. When he was done, he picked up one and leaned against the counter to sip.
“Being with her isn’t going to be easy,” he observed. Or maybe it was a warning.
I went over, picked up the other coffee, and leaned against the counter beside him. “I’m not too good at easy anyway.”
Neo nodded.
“She—” He stopped as if the words were stuck. He drank coffee. Blanched. Drank more. Staring down into the black brew, he finally whispered, “She probably won’t walk again.”
My mug made a low thud on the counter when I set it aside and turned to him. I knew it was the first time he’d likely ever admitted that to himself. After seven long years of pushing, fighting, and denying, he was finally coming around to accepting.
I hoped that meant he was finally also starting to forgive himself.
“She doesn’t have to walk to have a good life. We’ll make sure she has a great one no matter what.”
“We?”
“I’m not taking her away from you, Neo. She needs you, and she always will. I’m just hoping you’ll share her with me.”
“You did take a bullet for her,” Neo said coolly, glancing at my shirtless shoulder, seeing the edge of the bandage taped there.
“I would die for her.”
“I actually believe you.”
“Because it’s true.”
“I’ve been a jealous, unreasonable asshole,” he finally admitted.
I smiled. “I was wondering when you’d get to that.”
“Fuck you.”
I slapped him on the shoulder and picked up my coffee again. “I deserved it. I wouldn’t have respected you if you acted any other way.”
We swallowed down some coffee, and I waited for whatever else Neo wanted to say.
“Look,” he said at last, voice low. “I’m… sorry about the shit you went through. You, ah, had a rough time as a kid.”
“And?”
“And I want you to know that I don’t blame you for it, but I have to think of V.” His dark eyes settled heavily on mine. “I need to know if there is anyone else that might come after you. Did the vendetta against you die with that woman? Is my sister in danger?”
That woman. Not your mother. But he was right. She had never been a mother to me.
“The Black Rose won’t be a problem anymore. My family is gone except for Daeshim, and the organization will be chaos while they have a power struggle to figure out who’s the new boss.”
“And we can trust him? Daeshim?”
“Yes.”
Neo gave me a sidelong glance. “Because you honestly believe that or because you want to believe it?”
“Both.”
“And what about… your other business.”
My business of killing. “I’m done.”
Neo nodded. “I know. But are there loose ends? Anyone or anything that could come back to bite us?”
“Us?”
His eyes turned fierce; loyalty shone in their depths. “Yes, us. We have a family to protect. I certainly wouldn’t ask you to handle it all on your own.”
“But it’s my mess.”
“You aren’t alone,” he insisted.
I’ve missed him. All these months that we’ve been at each other’s throats. I missed my brother.
I cleared my throat, trying to dissolve the emotion stuffed there. “There are no loose ends.”
Neo scrutinized my face. “Are you sure?”
“I would never put your sister in danger like that—any of you. If there was a loose end, I would tie it.”
Neo nodded. “Okay. Good.”
Silence fell between us.
“So, ah, we good?” I asked.
He blew out a breath as though some giant weight were finally being lifted from his shoulders. “Yeah. We’re good.”
Straightening from the counter, I pushed my hand between us.
He glanced at it, then shoved it away.
Before I could react, he leaned in and hugged me. I froze, shocked.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
And then I was hugging him back, more of that emotion shit clogging my throat. “Me too,” I rasped.
We broke apart, both looking away to chug the horrible black coffee.
“You and your sister are turning me soft,” I muttered at last.
Neo made a rude sound. “Yeah right. We all know it was Fletch.”
“Fuck you.”
Neo laughed.
Movement across the room brought my head up.
Virginia looked sheepish. “Is it safe to come in now?”
Neo and I glanced at each other.
I smiled. “Yeah, sweetheart. It’s safe.”
She was still wearing my T-shirt. The sight of it draping her small frame made possession and want war within me.
Poisoning Guaranteed. The shirt proudly proclaimed the logo for my brew. But really, it had been an honest logo for me.
It should have bothered me to see those words written across the woman I loved. It should have been proof I was anything but good for her.
It wasn’t.
Yes, I was filled with venom. I might always be.
It didn’t matter.
She was my antidote.
“His shirt?” Neo muttered, gazing at his sister. “Really?”
I grinned at him before scooping her up to deposit her on the island. “At least she has on pants,” I ribbed, glancing down at the loose shorts she’d pulled on.
Once she was settled on the island, legs dangling toward the floor, I pecked a kiss to the tip of her nose and pulled back. “Coffee?”
She nodded.
Since I put her on the island, she was more eye level with us, something I liked. I never wanted to somehow make her feel small or like I was lording any kind of power over her.
I mean, she was small. Tiny in fact. My little sprite. But in truth, she was the one with the power.
I poured her some coffee and then fished some fancy creamer out of the fridge. “What the hell is this?” I muttered, looking at the ornate glass bottle.
“It’s organic,” Neo muttered, a small smile playing on his lips.
“Money has changed you, bro.”
He snorted.
I held the mug while V added what she wanted and then watched her take a sip.
“Mmm,” she hummed. “This is way better than what we have at the Tower.”
“I’ll get you a coffeemaker just like it,” I said.
“She already has one. Here,” Neo retorted.
“We’re getting our own place.”
Neo stiffened. “Excuse me?”
“Did you really think I would live apart from her?”
He frowned. “Your apartment isn’t good enough.”
I wasn’t offended because it was true. “I’m not talking about my apartment. Besides, Daeshim is crashing in my room now.”
“Just stay here, then.” Neo concluded.
“I can take care of my girl,” I spat, upper lip curling.
“Is anyone going to ask me what I want?” Virginia cut in, voice mild and slightly amused.
The neckline of the shirt was a bit big on her, so it exposed a creamy collarbone, her hair pushed behind her shoulders. Some of the newly cut layers fell forward to frame her chin. Both her little hands were wrapped around the mug, and she regarded us over the rim as she sipped.
I wanted to kiss her.
“Of course, sweetheart,” I murmured, shifting away from Neo to swivel entirely toward her. Both my hands settled on the counter on either side of her hips. I was close enough that her knees brushed against my waist, but because she couldn’t feel it, I fit one palm against her waist.
“Brother in the room,” Neo muttered.
“Exactly why we’re moving out,” I tossed over my shoulder, then pushed her cup down to kiss her softly.
Her lips were warm and tasted of coffee. The way they turned pliant under mine was fucking heady.
She pulled back first, face flushed pink, and ducked her chin shyly.
Stomach doing a weird fumble, I glanced over my shoulder at Neo to draw his attention and give her a moment. “There’s two apartments, if you could even call them that, in this building. And there’s one in Ethan’s. I told her to pick one.”
Neo’s eyes bulged. “Bro, the prices in the Upper East Side are not like the Grimms.”
“I can afford it.”
Glancing back at V, I rubbed her side. “You’ll never want for anything.”
Her eyes were soft. “All I really want is you.”
Neo made a gagging sound. “You mean you’re going to take care of my sister using blood money.”
My eyes narrowed. Who the fuck cared what color my money was as long as it provided for her? The fact was he should be glad I had a fat bank account from all my misdeeds because that meant I could afford everything she would ever need and then some.
Virginia rubbed a palm against my jaw, her eyes silently telling me it was okay. Leaning around me, she glanced at her brother. “You’ve been taking care of me for years with money you stole. Don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical?”
That shut him up.
Pulling away, she swept us both up into a rigid look. “It isn’t easy accepting financial care, you know. It makes me feel like a burden, like I can’t depend on myself.”
“You aren’t a burden,” I said, voice hard.
“I don’t want a fancy house.”
“Well, none of the available units are penthouses, so they aren’t—”
“I want to live in the Grimms.”
“No!” Neo and I both declared.
Setting aside her coffee, she pinned me with a stubborn look. “You said to pick a place to live. I just did.”
I glowered. “I gave you three choices.”
“Well, I added one!”
“The Grimms is no place for you, Virginia. I won’t have my sister living in the ghetto,” Neo argued.
Her arms crossed over her chest. “But you lived there for years. Earth and Beau still live there. It was good enough for you.”
“That’s different,” I said.
“Why?”
“Because you’re better than that.”
Her arms fell to her sides. “No,” she whispered. “I’m not. I’m a girl who, up until the fire, was trapped in a tower. A tower that sat on the edge of the Grimms… It might not be fancy and elite like all the places you’re offering, but it has something the Upper East Side never will.”
“What’s that, sprite?” I asked, voice soft.
“It’s a place that shielded me and kept me when I had nowhere else to go. I met Emogen there. I learned to live in my body there. Some might consider the Grimms the ghetto, and yeah, maybe it was… but it’s home.”
With a gruff sound, I pulled her into my chest, palming the side of her head and holding her tight. Her cheek rubbed against me, and her fingers splayed against my side.
“You told me to choose, and I have,” she whispered.
Her lips grazed my pec when she spoke, and I had to resist the shudder that moved through my body.
Pulling back, I cupped Virginia’s face between my palms. “If that’s what you want.”
“You can’t just give in to her!” Neo spat.
“Why not?” I asked, looking over my shoulder with a raised brow.
“If you didn’t have a bullet hole in you, I’d deck you,” he grumbled.
I grinned.
“Actually,” I said, moving back to lean against the counter near my brother. “Living in the Grimms might actually work out better for some of my other plans.”
“I expect you to live clean now that you’re with my sister.”
I didn’t bother to remind him that he didn’t own me, and he sure as hell wasn’t my boss. “You know that building I own, the one up the block from the bar?”
“The one where you keep your car?” Neo asked.
I nodded. “It’s empty. I’d been thinking about renovating it into some affordable housing, nothing fancy but something better than what the people there are used to.”
“Oh, that’s a wonderful idea!” Virginia exclaimed.
The pride in her eyes when she looked at me elicited a feeling I could get used to. No. It was a feeling I could become addicted to.
“Instead, I’ll just renovate the entire building for us. Make it handicap accessible. Add an elevator, a room for physical therapy.” Glancing at Neo, I added, “I’ll have Beau install the best security system.”
Neo frowned, but I noticed he didn’t argue.
“We don’t need an entire building,” Virginia put in.
“How about we make the ground floor into a flower shop.”
Her head came up.
“Your flower shop.”
Tears flooded her eyes, making the brown turn more translucent. “Y-you would do that?”
I’ll do everything for you. “You can work as much or as little as you want. You can put flowers on the sidewalk and in the windows. Home will be right above you, and the bar will be just a short walk away.”
She burst into tears.
Pushing off the counter, I went to her, pulling her hands down from covering her face, allowing her to bury it in my chest instead. Tears smeared my skin, and I swear I felt them seep in. I felt their warmth all the way to my core.
Definitely my antidote.
“We could bring some beauty into the Grimms.” She sniffled.
“Well, with you there, it will already be the most beautiful place.”
Neo made a sound, but we ignored him.
Her face was wet, eyes shimmering when she looked up. “You’d really do that?”
I nodded.
“Can we get a cat?” She was hopeful.
“No. Snort will eat it.”
Her lower lip stuck out. “But you were gonna let Fletcher bring Gwen.”
I made a sound. “Fine. Pick a cat.”
Her eyes lit up. “I’ll have Fletcher go to the shelter with me!”
“I’ll warn Ethan,” I muttered. No way in hell that kid wouldn’t drag home another animal. Ethan was worse than me. He’d never say no.
“Pushover,” Neo quipped.
I gave him the finger.
“I really like this idea,” she said, but a frown drew her eyebrows together.
“But?”
Sheepish, she looked up. “But what about all the people who would have had a nice place to live if we didn’t use the building for us?”
I made a sound and turned to Neo. “About that… I was thinking of buying a couple more of the rundown buildings to fix up. Nothing fancy because then no one would be able to afford it. Just basic small apartments. But safe.” I paused. “If Fletcher had somewhere like that, then maybe you wouldn’t have found him in that alley.”
“And maybe you wouldn’t have had to bring me home,” Neo added.
“I don’t regret that,” I told him honestly. Dragging home some guy I didn’t know with holes in his clothes and a bad habit of stealing was the worst idea I’d ever had. But then it became the best.
Look at everything it brought me.
“I could maybe go in with you on the buildings. I earned a bit from my gallery showing. I’ve been wanting to get a respectable job… something to maybe be proud of.” Something for Ivory to be proud of. He didn’t have to say that for me to hear it. I understood.
“Making the Grimms a little better is definitely something to be proud of,” Virginia said.
“I was hoping you’d say that. I could definitely use a business partner.”
Neo eyed me a minute longer. “You’ll make sure your building is secure?”
I nodded. “We’ll need somewhere to stay until all the renovations are done.”
“You’ll always have a place with us,” Ivory chimed in, making us all look up as she walked into the room, wearing a deep-blue silk robe that was belted at her waist.
“Were you eavesdropping?” I scowled.
“It’s not eavesdropping if the conversation is taking place in your own home,” she told us as she got herself some coffee.
I rolled my eyes. Such a princess.
Neo looked down when she settled against him, dark eyes softening as something passed quietly between them.
“Let’s do it.” He nodded, looking up to meet my stare.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Virginia squealed happily, holding her arms out for me. I moved into them of course.
Her nose nuzzled the underside of my jaw, followed by the softness of her lips. I glanced down, the venom in my veins still there but definitely subdued.
She kissed me softly. “I love you, Earth.”
Everyone always said villains don’t get happy endings.
They were wrong.