King's Revenge (King's Duet Book 1) Read online

  "We did. Her parents died when she was nine and she moved in with Drew's family. They were family friends of the dad. Nothing bad about her, and she's nice on the eyes for the guys."

  I know what Pike is doing, trying to get a reaction out of me, but he doesn't know that being inside for two years has taught me to never flinch.

  "Let's show the new staff the boss is back." Pike walks over to the door, and I nod to let him know I will be right there.

  “Pike, before you go, book me in with the tattoo artist,” I tell him. Time to put the family tattoo back on. He gives me a nod and leaves the office.

  I take one last look at the names on the list, memorizing them all. I flick on the lighter and watch the paper turn into flames. Placing it in the ashtray, I watch as it burns.

  Chapter 3

  Alice

  I can't stop laughing at Luke as he tells me and Drew about how he is going to win me over and go on a date with him. He's been trying long enough, but it's not going to happen. He's not even my type, to start with. Every time I tell him that, he asks what my type is. I answer the same thing every time. Not you. I mean, he's a great guy, funny, sweet and so lovely, but I'm not even looking for a relationship right now.

  “Warren called me last night,” Drew tells me, making me turn to face her in surprise.

  “And you’re only telling me now,” I shout at her.

  As much as she wants to say she doesn’t want him, I know she likes him. It broke her when she found out he was sleeping with other girls. It pissed me off, too, but what do you expect from a family like that.

  Where I used to live, there was a family just like this one. People feared them there. They were the reason I didn't get a full night sleep. They were the reason I grew up without my parents. If they ever find out, I'm still alive, they will come for me. Come to collect their debt.

  If the things Drew has told me about the Frost family are true, I’m going to say they’re even worse. Drew has told me how they kill, how they bring fear to others, that they only have to walk into a room and you can sense the fear oozing off people. The only difference between the Frost family and the family who killed my parents is the Frost family doesn’t kill families, won’t hurt women or children.

  So why am I working here? I'm working here because Drew said it was the best place to work. We can both work together, and she knows about my past and how I lost my family. I didn't fight her on it when she made the suggestion. I do love working alongside her, and the family is never here, so it works nicely for me.

  "There wasn’t really anything to say,” Drew tells me. “He said he was sorry, and I told him to fuck off. Nothing else to it really."

  She says that, but I see her body tense up.

  "There he is. Angel Frost," she says in a whisper, as though it were a sin to say his name out loud.

  Drew has been talking about Angel Frost since the staff was told he was back. With what she has told me, I don’t think I’ve been so scared of someone I’ve never met or seen.

  I turn to look at him, and my breath sticks in my throat as I watch him walking closer to us. The first thing I notice are his piercing blue eyes. God, it looks like I’m looking at the sky. They are that blue. This is a man that walks with confidence. You can almost see the power coming off him.

  He stops in front of everyone, hands in his pocket, with another guy standing next to him. I’ve seen him around the bar a lot. He’s here every night, but I don’t know his name.

  My eyes move back over to Angel, and I look at the scar above his left eye. My gaze travels to the bottom of it. His face looks like an angel, but the eyes, the confidence, they all scream devil. The devil is standing in front of us, and I just hope that this is a quick intro and we never have to see him again.

  Ash stands up, and I lean closer to Luke as he tries to whisper something, but I don’t hear a word he says as Angel looks over at me. My blood rushes through me as Angel takes control of my body with just a single glance. I have no idea why my body is betraying me, but I can’t fight it. I quickly move my eyes to Ash as he begins to talk.

  "Everyone, I know that most of you know the owner of the bar, but for anyone new, this is Angel Frost." Ash clears his throat before continuing.

  So, Ash is scared of him too, and can't even say his name.

  "He will be here most nights, so get used to seeing him around." With that said, he sits back down, and we all wait for him to say something to us.

  His gaze moves from one staff member to the other, and the moment he looks at me, the words come out. "I will see you all around." With that said, he walks back to his office, and the other guy follows.

  “Who was that with him?” I turn to Drew, she seems to know them quite well. Not sure if that’s because of Warren, or because she makes it her business to know everything.

  "Pike, Angel’s best friend, and you could say, bodyguard, shadow. Whichever you go with, those two would take a bullet for each other." Drew stands up, and I grab our bags. "Come on, let's go shopping or something before our shift starts tonight."

  "What are we shopping for?" I ask her. Where the hell does she get the money from to go shopping so often? I swear she has a new outfit every day.

  I'm not skint. My parents left me money. With that money, I bought a great apartment in Sinwick, which cost a lot, but I love the place. Drew shares her time between my place and her parents’ home. She makes me laugh when she tells me she doesn't want me to get lonely, and that was her reason for staying at my place most of the time.

  "Something sexy. This guy is coming to the bar tonight, and I'm hoping to get lucky." She starts laughing. I take my bag off the chair, and we start walking out. I look around the bar as I feel eyes on me. I look up to the window in Angels' office, and there he is watching me. It feels like he’s drinking me in, drinking my soul.

  "Alice, you coming?" Drew shouts.

  Clearing my throat, I say, “Yeah coming.” I take one last look at Angel, and give a small smile. When he doesn’t return one, I turn to leave. I walk out with Drew. “So who is this guy?” I ask.

  "His name is Jack and he so cute."

  She stops as I let out a shocked noise.

  "What?"

  “He’s cute? In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never used the word cute. You’ve used the words hot, sexy, wow. Never cute. If I remember right, you said cute is boring, and you want a…Warren,” I tell her.

  She has liked Warren for as long as I can remember, and she always wanted the thrill of a bad boy. Even though she knows the life of the Frost family, she was still willing to give Warren a chance.

  “Maybe cute is what I need. The bad boy breaks your heart.” Drew pulls me along as she starts running down the stairs to get on the tube.

  I don't say anything to her, it's her life and her choice. One thing I know, Uncle Andy won't really say no to her about it. He might not be happy, but he knows, being with the Frost family is safe

  Chapter 4

  Angel

  “You need to sleep,” Pike tells me as I get in the car. “You need to be on your game.”

  “I would sleep if I could,” I tell him. You think that I haven’t tried to sleep? Fuck, I would love to sleep a few hours, but that's not happening anytime soon.

  “Maybe get some of the tension out. It would help relax you.”

  I turn to face Pike as he drives to the bar for the night.

  “I’m serious. When was the last time you fucked a girl?”

  Now he knows the answer to that stupid question, so him asking me is fucking annoying. “Angel, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…”

  "How about you shut the fuck up," I cut him off. On top of not sleeping, I was looking into who could be behind paying the guards.

  I got my list down to the three families that hate us the most. I know we have a long list of enemies, but these are the three we shut down. One is a company in the north. We took all their gun business. Another option is that it was
just the guards wanting to have some fun. The third possibility is that it’s the people Elijah and Warren tore down, and opened their own club. I don't know the ins and outs of that situation, as it happened while I was behind bars, but maybe they found it easier to get to me there.

  All the others I looked through last night when I couldn't sleep seemed unlikely candidates, and we've had no trouble with them that I can think of. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I can knock these three off the list, I can move to a new list.

  As the car comes to a stop, Pike turns toward me. “Craig has one of the guards in the basement, what you want me to do?” He asks as we both get out of the car.

  "Let Craig have some fun," I tell him as we enter the bar. The music is playing, and I feel her in the room immediately. I look towards the bar, and there she is swaying her hips as she gets a drink ready, I've not spoken to Alice, or even been in a close encounter with her, but fuck does she have something about her.

  Before Pike can notice, I look forward as I walk down the stairs to the basement.

  I’ve been waiting for this day, the day where I can bring my enemies so much pain it will last for years.

  Pike taps on the door, letting Craig knows it’s us. As the door opens, I stand there looking at David sitting on the chair, not a bruise on his face. Yet.

  I light up my cigarette as I stand in front of David, his body already trembling with fear. As Pike puts a chair behind me, David jumps at the sound. My lips curl and the devil in me comes to life.

  "Happy to see me?" I ask as I watch his eyes pleading with me not to hurt him.

  “I was told to—”

  “By who?” I cut him off, and he jumps a little in his chair, making me smile on the inside. I’m not going to show them that their fear is bringing joy to me, not this early anyway.

  David stays quiet. I don't say anything else to him. There's no point. He knows what I can do. He's scared, which only means two things. He knows nothing or is terrified of them.

  Standing up, I leave, knowing that Pike will let Craig know what to do.

  The moment I get to my office, I stand by the window wanting to get another look at Alice. She and Drew are off to the side, taking a short break, and other staff is getting the drinks ready for the customers.

  “Craig asked how much fun he can have. I told him to start small.”

  I hear Pike laughing behind me.

  “Ash!” Pike shouts his name, loud enough to bring my attention away from Alice.

  “Yes, sir?”

  I turn around to face them, and realize Pike’s just going to order a drink for us.

  “Tell Alice to bring us our drinks, and tell her that from now on, she’s the one to do so,” Pike tells him.

  Fucking dick.

  Ash doesn't say anything and leaves. I watch him walking down the stairs, over to Alice, and Pike comes to stand next to me.

  “I think you need to at least talk to her. You keep staring like this and she might find it a little creepy.”

  I can hear the cheerfulness in his tone, but he needs to know that I don’t want a girl getting in my way. Not until I’m finished.

  Ash walks over to Alice, and leans in closer to her, His hand is on her waist, and my blood boils. I need to make it clear to him that he better keep his hands to himself. Her eyes move to the window and meet mine, but only for a split second. I watch their exchange and can tell she's telling him no and that someone else can do it. Ash shakes his head. She doesn't know what she’s doing, but he does. What the Frost family says, you do without fighting it. But for some reason I don't think it has anything to do with my family. Something else is stopping her, but what?

  She leans in closer to Drew. I can only guess it’s to tell her what Ash just said, and Drew’s face tells me that she knows the rules. Warren’s been telling her the rules.

  Alice walks behind the bar again and starts getting everything ready, and my body tenses as the same guy from this morning wraps his arm over her shoulder again, and she starts laughing at something he just said.

  “Who is that?” I don’t need to point. Pike knows where I’m looking.

  “Luke. He started working about week after you went to prison. He hasn't given up on asking Alice out. I feel bad for him,” Pike tells me, as I continue to watch them both laughing. I bet her laugh sounds as sexy as her lips look when she smiles.

  Number one rule: know everything there is to know about the staff working here, and everyone in their family. We never know when someone will come for us, and tonight that is my work. The pile of files on my desk is about every single member of staff here, even the ones that worked here before I went to prison. I want to know them all again.

  As Alice starts walking over, she's stopped by a customer. His hand curls around her arm, but she pulls it out of his grip. She looks over to the door and shakes her head at Vinny, the bouncer, then tells the guys something, and continues to walk over to the stairs.

  I walk over to the desk and take a seat when I hear a knock on the door. Pike opens the door, and I glance over as Alice walks in. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

  You can see that God was showing off when he created Alice, because he created the most beautiful women in the world. The forest is calling me as I look into her green eyes. Her flawless olive skin is so perfect, so angelic. No wonder every guy is trying to get with her. She’s fucking gorgeous.

  “Who was the guy?” I ask.

  She looks at me for a moment then breaks eye contact. I wait a few seconds, but she says nothing.

  “You stopped Vinny coming over.” I take a quick look over at Pike.

  “Vinny, can you come up?” Pike says into the earpiece he is wearing.

  “He’s just a harmless customer,” she says. Her voice makes my cock twitch in my pants. The sound is captivating.

  “Yes, boss?”

  I look over at Vinny. He’s new, but Pike said he’s good and I won’t question him.

  "Why did you stop when Alice shook her head?" I ask him.

  “That bloke is in here every night trying it on with Alice, and I know she can handle herself so—”

  "Why do you think she can handle herself?" I cut him off, my voice harder than before.

  "Three months ago, a customer was getting really touchy with her, and by the time I got there, she broke his arm and nose."

  Alice let’s out a small laugh. “You should have moved faster, Big Vinny,” Alice playfully tells him. Then the smile is gone when my gaze moves over to her.

  "Any customer who gets too touchy with the staff, kick them out. I don't care whether they can look after them self or not," I tell Vinny, but my gaze is still on Alice. She still has her head bowed so I can't see her face.

  "Yes, sir. Won't happen again," Vinny says and leaves when I nod.

  I hear my brothers coming up the stairs. "You can leave," I tell Alice. She moves fast enough, but is still stopped by Warren.

  "Hey, beautiful, tell Drew, her friend won't be coming tonight, and I will continue to stop every guy in Sinwick," Warren tells her. He brings his hand up to her cheek to touch her, but stops when Pike coughs.

  Alice pulls back and quickly exits the room after leaving the drinks on the closest table. I grab the top file of the pile on my desk and look down at it as soon as she leaves, so I'm not sure what Pike is doing or saying to Warren. I know he won't say anything about me watching Alice so much.

  "You have a guard in the basement, and you're sitting up here?" Elijah says as he fills the glass with whiskey.

  "I'm letting Craig have some fun." I look up and see Warren and Pike both staring at me. "Did you two have words with the new gun crew?" I ask them. That was the main job for them today when I heard of kids killing others with guns. Hearing that enraged me. No kid should be holding a gun.

  We had no choice, Elijah, Warren, and I. Our grandad knew we would always have a target on our back, so we had to be prepared. He taught us how to shoot a gun, and Uncle Tom taught us to fight well enough that we cou
ld kill a man with our hands.

  They were both murdered five years ago by a family in London, and I took pleasure in getting revenge for that. We all know that one day that will come back on us, but we'll be ready.

  "They told us to fuck off. Said they've got protection," Elijah begins.

  Who the fuck is protecting them? We own this city.

  "Warren didn't like that, and things got a little messy, but they didn't tell us who was protecting them. You might have to go and do what you do."

  "And what is it I do?" I throw the file on the desk and lean back in my chair.

  “We’re the same blood, but you have something in your eyes that makes people fucking petrified to even move a muscle. You remind us of Grandad.” Elijah places a drink on the table for me.

  "Now that we’ve got that covered, and have figured out which guard you're going to torture soon. Can we get on to the more important thing we need to talk about?" Warren walks over to the desk, the smoke from his cigarette moving in front of his face.

  “And what is that?” I question.

  “Alice. Are we going to talk about Alice?” Warren looks over at Pike, then back to me.

  I say nothing and stand. I grab my jacket from the back of my chair and make my way towards the basement, but Elijah stands in front of me.

  “Maybe a girl—”

  "I'm about to beat a man to death and have blood on my hands. You think after a night like that I need to be with a woman?" I snap. I watch as he smiles and says nothing. I don't know what he's smiling about, and I don't care at the moment.

  It's one thing to fuck a girl and never seeing her again. It's a different story if she works at the bar you own. One thing about Alice, though, she will never be just a fuck.

  As they all leave my office, I look at Pike. "You're a fucking dick." He starts laughing as we make our way downto the basement to get started on getting some answers.