Fall and Rise of the King (Kings Duet) Read online

  I watch as her hand moves to her face. Even though I can't see it, I know it's to wipe her tears away. I can hear it in her voice. "I want you to go get your girl, the girl you always wanted." Vinny walks out of the office, not saying a word. He hasn't said much since this nightmare started. I watch Alice as she turns her head so the camera can see her face, but you can't see her body fully. Since this all started, she hasn't turned to the camera so I can see her, and I wish she would. I wish she’d let me look at her. "Angel, I fought, I did, but I don't know how much more I can fight. I'm tired. I'm hurting. Find me, please…" Her voice breaks off. "Angel…"

  "He can't save you." Harvey walks through the door and looks up to the camera. A moment later, the sound turns off, and all I can do is watch.

  Alice stopped with the Morse code yesterday. Harvey wasn't saying anything we needed to know. That's what Vinny told me, and I didn't question him.

  "Greg has been dropped off," Pike says as he comes to stand next to me.

  I enjoyed every moment we had Joe's son in the basement. I enjoyed hearing him scream, and I enjoyed it more knowing it was all being filmed. Even though I’m sending him back, I wanted Joe to see how much pain I put him through. Pike dropped him off. It might not be in one piece, more like a few, but he left him with the video.

  "The others?" I question. Every family who bid on hurting Alice will get what's coming to them. The only reason I stopped with Taoke's family was because my dad made a very good point.

  "Angel, wait until we have Alice. If you hurt them, they'll hurt her more. Once we have Alice, they can't hurt her."

  I agreed because I can't watch her being beaten anymore. I have a list, though, and I'll make sure they all suffer.

  "We're watching them all," Pike says.

  I nod, letting him know I heard him.

  “Angel,” my dad says. I turn my head and see him walking closer to me. "I know all this is…I don't know what you have planned in your head, you've been very closed off, but the person downstairs… Do you really—“

  "Are they here?" I ask.

  The moment they hung up on me, I knew they’d be the only ones who can do the things my family won't. My enemies hurt Alice. They touched her. That should make me hurt the women in their life, and that's what I'm about to do, but I don't have to lift a finger.

  "Angel…"

  "The moment he marked Alice, the moment they touched her, I called them," I shout. There's no way I am about to let them get away with touching my world.

  My dad stands in front of me, blocking the view of the screen. Harvey's sitting at the desk watching Alice lying on the floor.

  "Son, I know you’re going to make them all pay, but if you go down this path, our name—“

  "Dad, you know I'm going down this path so our name will still be respected. If I didn't care, I’d do it myself. So, whether the family backs me or not, this is how it's going to happen. Put your votes in." I turn to face Pike, Vinny, Warren, and Craig.

  Warren nods. "I'm in."

  "I don't know who you’re talking about, but I'm in," Vinny says. There's nothing he won't do right now for Alice.

  "I'm in," Craig replies.

  "You know I'm in," Pike says.

  "Let's do this then." My dad turns back to the screen as do I.

  I watch as Harvey stares at Alice. I glance to the side as the names continue to bid for her.

  I look up at the door, and there she is, the one woman who has been more loyal to this family than my own mother. Natasha Clark. She became a part of the family about ten years ago when grandad called on a friend to send some help. When she turned up, we all wondered what she could do. She can do a lot, and I plan on her using all her skills.

  We don't touch women, ever, but that doesn't mean I can't get someone else to do it for me. The only rule I have is that Natasha can't kill them. She can cut body parts off or torture the hell out of them, but we send them back alive.

  "Angel, I'm sorry it took me so long. I had to finish something off." She stands between us all, and I don't have time to tell her what's happening or what I want from her.

  "Pike will tell you everything." I turn to Pike. “Bruce's wife first."

  The Midlands are going to regret messing with me when I'm finished with them. They’ll soon fade into past, a family no one will even know about.

  “Angel—"

  "Natasha, they have my queen,” I interrupt. “Do whatever you want to them.”

  "Anything for you, Angel." She walks over to me, reaches up, and gives me a kiss on the cheek. "I'm sorry she's going through this," she whispers to me, then she turns to Pike. "Tell me who and where."

  I watch Pike stare at her. I know that whenever they’re in the same place, more when she's in London, they hook up, but it's something he won't fully share with me.

  Vinny’s phone rings and I turn toward him. "It's Ben," he says.

  "You two wait," I tell Pike. If Ben has found her, I want Pike with me.

  "Are you sure? Now." Vinny ends the call. "Ben's found her. He's sending the address." He grabs a gun off the desk.

  Relief rushes through my body. Things have happened, and there's nothing I can do to change that, but I'll stop anyone from ever touching her again.

  "Pike, Warren, and Vinny with me. Dad, tell Natasha about Bruce's wife. Craig, whatever she wants in the basement, get it ready," I command as we all get our guns ready. We leave the office a few seconds later. Whoever we find there, I want them. No one's to leave alive. If Harvey's there, he's mine. I'll kill him so fucking slowly.

  ***

  I don't think that I've ever driven so fast in my life. Pike said he wanted to drive, but I told him to fuck off. It would’ve been worse for me if I were in the other seat. I would’ve been shouting at him to go faster. It was better for me to drive, better to keep me from going crazy. I'm so close to finding her, so close to having her in my arms again.

  "I don't care who gets in your way, kill the bastards," I shout at everyone in the car. I stop the car in the middle of the road and pull out my gun.

  Before the rest can catch up with me, I walk into the warehouse and take a look around. As soon as I spot someone, I shoot the first bullet, and the others swarm me. God, Harvey has a lot of men here. We've come in blind, but I know we have enough guns with us to take them out if we need to. One thing I know is that the only job they have now is to protect Harvey and get him out of here before I get to him. I know we won't have to kill them all.

  I look around as Pike and Vinny walk up behind me. "Warren's gone around back," Pike says.

  There's door after fucking door as we move forward, stairs that go right up to the top of the building, too. We may be here for fucking hours before we find her.

  "Find me a man. Find out where Harvey's keeping her," I order. I look to Vinny as I open the next door and find it empty.

  I leave him and Pike to find one of Harvey’s men to get some answer from as I continue to make my way through the warehouse, checking every door on my way.

  Ten minutes later, still nothing. Taking a moment, I lean against the wall and focus. I'm not thinking like the king of crime. I'm thinking like a man in love. I need to put that man to the side. If this were me, what would I do?

  I look around the warehouse, taking in a deep breath as I think of everything I’d do to this place, and the places I’d take a prisoner to. Fuck!

  I dig my phone out as I start running down the stairs I've only just come up. "Pike, get to the fucking basement," I shout and end the call. I sprint down the corridor until I hit the basement. I start panting to get my breath back as I look at the three doors in front of me.

  Vinny and Pike run to me. "Take a door," I command as I walk to the far one. On three, we all kick the doors down. "Here," I shout out as I run over to Alice on the floor.

  "Where do you think you're going?" Pike says from behind me, but I don't look to see who he's talking to.

  I quickly take my jacket off and wrap it
around Alice who's lying on the floor like a doll. Her eyes are shut and she’s barely breathing.

  "Alice, it's me," I say. I need her to open her eyes—I need her to look at me. "Alice, look at me, please. Please look at me," I whisper as I pull her closer to me.

  “Angel.”

  "Call the doc! He better be at the house when we get there," I shout at Vinny.

  I slide my arms under Alice and pick her up. I look at Vinny as he walks closer and brings her arm up from where it was hanging limply. I stand there for a moment as he softly strokes her face.

  I look behind Vinny and see Pike with a member of the Jones family. Seth Jones is a man that I've never crossed, so I don’t understand what he's doing here.

  "Basement," I tell Pike.

  "Which one?" Pike asks.

  "Underground," I say as I walk out of the room.

  I have a basement in my house. I set it up the same way as the one at the bar, just in case I ever needed it. Until Alice is in the house, all my business will be there, too.

  "We've got her… Bad… I'll call him now," Vinny says.

  I don't need to ask who he's talking to. The more important question is, how's Ben planning on seeing her?

  As I reach the car, I place Alice in the back seat and throw the keys to Vinny. I look over at Warren to see if he found Harvey, but he shakes his head. There's a smile on his lips, too, then I see him nodding to the boot of his car. I walk over as Pike throws Seth into the back seat.

  I look behind me at Vinny trying to talk to Alice, but he gets nothing. It's going to take her a long time to recover after all this, but I need her to know I'm here with her.

  Warren opens the boot, and I stare at the man who's going to make Mitch regret messing with me. "Hello, John, are we ready for some fun?" I ask.

  "Where do you want him?" Warren asks.

  "The same place Seth's going.” I walk away from him and get in the car. I don't need to tell Vinny where to go; he heard me. Alice's head rests on my leg. I start to move the hair away from her face, but she flinches a little, and I lean down closer to her. "It's me. You're safe," I say softly as I bring my hand to her cheek to wipe away a tear. I glance up at the mirror and see Vinny watching me.

  Closing my eyes for a moment, I relax. I have my life in my hands again. For a moment, I need the devil to sit back. Alice needs the softer me, the caring me, the side she brought out of me.

  I look back down at her. Still, her eyes remain shut, but her body pulls my jacket tighter to her body. I place my hand softly on her arm.

  "Sleep. No one will ever come close to you again," I promise as I look out the window.

  Hell's about to open to a lot of families around the world. If it means watching everything go up in flames, then that's what's going to fucking happen.

  ***

  I make my way into the house and straight to my bedroom. I see Doc standing outside the door. Softly placing Alice down on the bed, I turn to Doc.

  "Full check. Give her everything, I don't care," I say. I kneel next to the bed and brush hair from her face again. Finally, there they are, the most beautiful eyes in the world. "I'm not leaving you. You’ll never leave my side again, and I promise that they'll all be suffering greatly for what they’ve done. Their nightmares will never end. I promise I'll never forgive myself for this, and I promise I'll make it up to you every fucking day until I die.” I need her to know there's nothing in this world I care about but her. She's my heart. It beats with her. It lives with her.

  Her hand comes out from under the covers and points to my eyes. "I want you." The words escape her lips, but only barely.

  "I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until they're all dead," I say. Her eyes move to Doc behind me. "He's only going to check you over, check… Check your stomach, the bruises, give you everything you need." I need to make sure the mark hasn't gotten infected. I need to make sure Harvey didn't give her anything because there's no way the fucking arsehole used protection. I need to know she’s okay. "I'm right here, right outside the doors.” I don't want to leave her. I want to stay by her side. I know it's going to be hard for her with Doc and me in the room. Maybe more with me in the room. I also know I'll get angrier as Doc's looking at her. I'm leaving the room to make this easier for Alice, and at the moment, that's all I care about. I plant a small kiss on her hand and stare at her for a long moment. Fuck it's hard to leave her now, but I have to. Seeing me react to her injuries will only upset her more.

  "I'm just outside," I tell Doc as I walk out the room. I'm met by Pike, Vinny, and Warren. "Warren, go get Drew—she needs a friend," I say as I take the lit cigarette from him. Inhaling, I lean against the wall and let all the anger and relief run through me. There's so much going on in my head that I have no idea where I should be starting or where I should finish.

  "Bruce's wife's in the basement at the bar. Natasha's working on her now. We've put the other two downstairs," Pike says as I look back at my bedroom door.

  "Ben wants to see her," Vinny says.

  I turn to face him. If Ben comes here, the Midlands will know.

  "He said he doesn't care how you do it, but he wants to see her," Vinny says.

  I look over at Pike. “When?"

  "He comes to London tomorrow," Vinny says as his phone rings. He walks away from us, leaving Pike and me to talk for a moment.

  "What do you want to do about Ben?" Pike asks.

  "The tunnel's the safest way to get him into the house." I let out a sigh as I shake my head. "When did life gets so fucked up?" I ask him. This isn't how I saw my life. Once I got out of prison, fuck, I didn't see a girl in my life at all. But, here I am. I've never been so pissed off in my life.

  "We've got her back, and we have all the names. It's just when to hit them all now." Pike taps my shoulder to look at him. "Angel, this is hard, but before we do anything, we have to find this fucking mole. Any move we make, they'll know. They’re always one step ahead."

  Pike has reminded me of the other thing annoying me. Who's betraying me?

  "Right now, I don't care about the mole, the bitch at the bar, the fucks in my basement, I just need Alice. I need her to know I'm here." I know a lot's going on at the moment, but she needs me with her right now.

  Chapter 11

  Angel

  I turn my head towards the door, impatient. Doc’s been in there for a while now. I have no idea if that’s a good thing or not. It could be that he’s checking her over twice, or he’s found a problem.

  "Your dad’s on his way." Pike hands me a glass and I down the drink. "What do you want to do with them downstairs?"

  "Live feed John, and make sure Mitch gets it," I say. I'm not going to touch him just yet, but I want Mitch to wonder when I am. "Seth, I have no fucking idea what we did to that family for them to want to mess with us. I’m going to see what Dad says first. That history must go back decades."

  Grandad told me about all the families who got in our way, and I made sure that I learnt everything about them. I’d know what business they were doing, and if they ever got in our way. I know what they all did, and the Joneses aren't on that list.

  I push myself off the wall when the bedroom door opens. My gaze moves to his hands, and I see phial’s of blood in them.

  "I'm going to test everything. I'll let you know tomorrow. I've given her something to help her sleep for now. Her bandage needs changing every few hours." Doc looks back into the room. "You have a strong one in there, Angel."

  I nod to Pike, telling him to walk Doc to his car, then I stand in the doorway and watch Alice sleeping. I make my way over to the bed and kneel at the side so I can stare at her peaceful face. All this happened to her because of me. It’s as though I'm the one who hurt her.

  "I love you, Alice." I lean closer and give her a kiss on the cheek.

  I hear the sound of running feet, and as I look over towards the door, Drew halts in her tracks when she sees me. Her gaze moves between Alice and me. I look back over to Alice
and give her another gentle kiss.

  I make my way over to Drew, and stop in front of her. “I'll be downstairs. Call me the moment she wakes up.”

  She gives me a nod and runs over to the bed. She gets under the covers and wraps her arm around Alice.

  As much as I want to be the one next to her, I need to find out why the Joneses are messing with us. I need to tell John he can walk free. All he has to do is tell me where his brother is.

  "Angel," my dad says as I walk out of the room, "how is she?"

  "At the moment, broken." I dig out my cigarette box and light one up as I walk down the stairs. I don't want to talk about this stuff close to where Alice is. She might be asleep now, but she might hear something I don't want her to if she wakes up.

  "What’s the story with the Joneses?" I ask as I fill five glasses with whiskey.

  "No bad blood until now," my dad says.

  I look at him for a moment.

  "I spoke to Ronnie the moment Pike called me. He said, as far as he knows, we haven't done anything to the Joneses. They’ve never got into our business, and we haven’t gotten into theirs. We don't know why they’ve done this."

  "Ben wants to know what the plan is to get him to the house," Vinny says.

  I look over at him and frown.

  "Ben isn't going to stop until he sees her tomorrow."

  "Tell him to meet Pike at the hotel at two," I say, shaking my head. "Warren, have you got enough security at the club?" Things are about to get ugly, and we have to make sure we’re keeping the people who work for us safe.

  "Yeah. I’ve got a few more men there. Do we have a plan?" he asks.

  I know he wants to get more of a say in the family since Elijah isn’t here now, but I know he’s not ready yet. I have to start working closer with him soon, to get him ready.