Finale: A Dark Gang Romance (Academy of Stardom Book 4)

Dax steps onto the dance floor, his arms folded across his chest as he regards us both.

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Xeno grumbles, pulling back and drawing me upright as we both turn to face him.

“What is it? What’s happened?” Panic rears its head as my thoughts turn immediately to Lena.

“Lena’s good. She’s with Gray. The ghosts are guarding the flat.”

“Why, where are the others?” Xeno asks, as we gather our things from the table.

“Gone straight to Hudson’s office. We should head there now. He has some news.”

“They’ve found David?” I ask, both filled with hope that we can finally end this nightmare once and for all, and fear that nothing is ever as simple as that.

“Not exactly. But Max and Bryce have managed to uncover some information. Come on, we should go.”

Less than half an hour later we’re stepping out of the escalator and into the penthouse of the Freed brothers’ office building. The place is swanky as hell, with floor to ceiling windows that provide an incredible view over central London, minimalist decor that screams money, and all the technical equipment any self-respecting multi-million dollar businessman should have at their fingertips.

“Good, you’re here. Come on in,” Hudson says, waving us over to the huge conference table situated in the centre of the room. Already sitting at the table are York and Zayn and two more men I’ve never met before but recognise from the photos I saw dotted around their huge mansion when we stayed there. I give York and Zayn a tremulous smile and they smile back, if a little guardedly. It’s obvious they’re as anxious as the rest of us to find out what Hudson knows.

“I’m Pen,” I say.

“Nice to meet you, Pen. Sorry about my brother, he can be a complete dick sometimes,” the dark-haired of the two says with a grin that instantly transforms his face. He’s tall, built, and has an impressive, groomed beard.

“Apologies,” Hudson says, pointing at his two brothers in turn. “This is Max and Bryce.”

“It’s good to finally meet you at last. Louisa had nothing but kind words to say about you,” Max, the smiliest of the three, says to me. He’s got a flop of hay-blonde hair, tan skin, and is dressed down in a loose hoodie and black jeans unlike his brothers who are both wearing suits.

“Right, now that we’ve got the introductions over and done with, let me show you this. Please, take a seat,” Hudson urges.

Xeno squeezes my hand and guides me towards the table, pulling out the chair opposite York, who winks at me when I bite on my lip worriedly. “You good?” he asks quietly.

“I’m okay,” I reply, nodding.

York frowns but doesn’t press further, we both know I’m not okay, but there’s really not much either of us can do about it right now. I just need to put on my big girls pants and just deal with whatever this turns out to be.

“We’re just waiting on Grim and Beast to arrive. They’re coming up in the lift as we speak,” Hudson explains, looking briefly at a second laptop opened up on the table. I can see from where I’m sitting that the laptop must be connected to a camera in the lift, because Beast is currently pressing Grim up against the wall and kissing her passionately. He has her chin gripped in his tattooed hand and is thoroughly fucking her mouth with his tongue.

Max notices and chuckles. “I’ve never understood what she sees in that arsehole, but right now both of them seem to be enjoying the rush of hormones pregnancy brings. I miss those days with Louisa,” he says, glancing at me and winking.

Behind us the lift doors open and Beast and Grim step out. Her cheeks are flushed, and Beast is grinning like the cat that has just got the finest cream. “Alright everyone?” Beast asks, one arm slung around Grim’s shoulder, the other carrying her coat in front of him. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what he’s trying to hide.

Max shakes his head. “Good to see you, mate. You too, Grim. Enjoy the ride up? We certainly did,” he says, amusement dancing in his eyes.

Grim narrows her eyes at Max, then shoves her hand against Beast’s chest, clearly blaming him for their little indiscretion being caught on camera. Rather than responding to Max’s very obvious ribbing, she approaches me and gives me a peck on the cheek. “You doing alright?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” Squeezing me on the shoulder, she rounds the table and sits down on the empty seat between Bryce and York, focussing her attention on Hudson. “Let’s see what you’ve got, Hud.”

“Coming right up,” he replies, typing some kind of command into the laptop. A moment later a grainy image appears on the screen, but it’s all pixelated and I can’t quite make out what it is.

“Pregnancy suits you, Grim,” Bryce whispers under his breath, whilst Hudson types some more, his finger clicking on the mouse as he tries to make the image clearer.

“Thank you, Bryce. I like the beard,” she reaches up, giving it a playful tug.

“All I did was kiss my woman. Nothing wrong with that. How was I supposed to know these fuckers have cameras every-fucking-where?” Beast grumbles, plopping down in the only empty chair left, which happens to be the furthest point from Grim. She smiles over at him sweetly, but I can tell he’s in deep shit. Clearly public displays of affection aren’t really her thing, even though it totally wasn’t his fault.

“Hudson, as much as we all enjoy watching Beast squirm, do you want to fill us in on why we’re here?” Xeno says, squeezing my thigh beneath the table.

“Interpol has managed to pull up footage of a man fitting the description of your brother entering a shopping centre in Waltham Forest about thirty minutes after Jefferson saw him leaving the flat the night your mum was murdered.”

“About fucking time!” Zayn says.

“Face recognition technology has confirmed a ninety-five percent match based on photographs of your brother from three years ago before he left for Mexico,” Hudson explains. “Once I’ve been sent the footage, I will forward it onto you so you can officially identify him.”

“Okay,” I reply with a curt nod.

Dax shifts in his seat beside me, his hand closing over mine. “So where did he go after that?”

“He entered the underground station situated beneath the shopping centre and got on the Central Line towards Epping,” Hudson says. “They managed to trace him all the way to Debden, but then lost him. The cameras at Debden station were vandalised the night before he took the journey.”

“How fucking convenient,” Beast says. “I’ll give him props. He’s a conniving son of a bitch.”

“Fuck!” Xeno exclaims, banging his fist against the table top.

“My thoughts exactly. Anyway, there’s more,” Hudson says. “Give me a minute, the footage sent over isn’t the best and I need to just sharpen it up a little. He twists the laptop screen around so that it’s not in my direct line of sight.

“I didn’t know you were a techy,” Beast remarks, looking mildly impressed.

Hudson shrugs, his attention focused on the screen in front of him. “I guess you could call it a hobby… Here we go.” Grabbing the remote control that’s sitting on the table beside the laptop, he presses a button and the wooden panelling making up one wall in the office starts to slide open, revealing a huge TV screen. “About an hour ago Max got a call from a friend of ours, a man called Maguire Fitzpatrick. He sent this footage over to us after his security team found it when searching through their CCTV.”

Xeno leans forward. “Wait, who’s Maguire Fitzpatrick?”

“He’s the owner of a number of shipping ports in the West Country,” Hudson explains. “We’ve been waiting on him to get back to us.”

Bryce shifts in his seat and rests his forearms on the table, interlocking his fingers. “After Max and I met with him and explained what we needed, he got his security teams to search through the CCTV footage at each port he owns for any unusual activity over the last few weeks.”

“And?” Grim prompts.

“And this is what they just sent me,” Hudson says, clicking the enter button on his laptop. “What you’re looking at is footage of a fishing boat that docked at Newlyn Port just over three weeks ago.”

On the TV screen a grainy image appears of a fishing trawler pulling into the dock. We all watch as several fishermen walk down the gangplank. I’ve never seen a fishing boat in real life before, but as far as I can tell nothing looks out of place. Beast must think the same because he leans forward in his seat and says, “Fucking brilliant, the guys have hauled a pretty big catch… And?”

“Just wait,” Hudson urges.

Maybe half a minute or so passes then two men step out of the cabin that sits on the deck of the trawler. One is an older man wearing a fisherman’s cap and overalls and the other is wearing a hooded jacket and jeans, and even though he’s facing away from the camera, I know who it is.

“Is that the little psycho causing all this shit…?” Beast scoffs, looking between the screen and me. “What a twunt!”

“Twunt?” Max snorts, then straightens his face when Beast glares at him.

“I wanted Pen to confirm his identity,” Hudson says, before turning his attention back to the laptop screen. He pauses the footage just at the precise moment when David turns around. It’s a clear shot of his face and there’s no denying who it is.

“Yeah, that’s him.”

York catches my eye and gives me a reassuring smile. It’s enough to make me swallow down the bile I feel rising up my throat and ignore my sudden need to bolt. I hate that that’s my reaction. Instinctively, I reach for my handbag, comforted by the firm shape of the gun resting inside.

“Okay, so we have absolute proof that David’s here and we’re not dealing with some copycat fucker or rival gang member doing his dirty work, but we knew that already, right? So, my question to you, Hudson, is this: what’s the real reason you brought us here tonight?” Xeno asks, squeezing my jittery leg beneath the table.

“Xeno has a point,” Grim agrees.

“I didn’t want to tell you this news over the phone. I figured you should hear it in person.”

“Don’t tell me you’re pregnant too?” Beast asks, folding his arms across his chest and smirking.

“Funny,” Hudson reports, pressing play once again. “David wasn’t the only passenger on that fishing trawler that day.”

Grim sits forward in her seat, her elbows resting on the table as she looks between Hudson and the screen and back again. “You’re kidding,” she asks.

Hudson shakes his head. “I wouldn’t kid about something like that. Watch.”

For the next minute or so David stands and chats with the captain of the fishing boat. Then there’s movement in the cabin and another man steps out. He appears to be a lot older than David, definitely in his sixties given the lines on his face when the camera zooms in. He’s wearing a floor length black coat and a matching black fedora hat that screams old school gangster.

“Oh, look, it’s Al Capone,” Beast comments, a smile in his voice.

“Not Al Capone, Beast, but Cuba’s very own homegrown version of him. That, my friend, is Santiago Romero Garcia.”

“Well fuck me with a side of fries,” Beast remarks, darkly. “Let the motherfucking games begin.”

Grim locks eyes with Hudson, her expression serious. “Louisa and the kids?”

“On their way to the airport with my father-in-law and security team as we speak. Our jet is waiting to go. They’ll be staying in our chalet in Alpes d’Huez until this is over. Max and Bryce are heading to the airport to join them as soon as we’re finished up here.”

“You know I’m happy to stay behind. We don’t need to both go. You’re going to need back up,” Bryce says.

“The fuck you are. I need you and Max watching over Louisa and the kids,” Hudson replies firmly.

Bryce tugs on his beard in frustration. “They’re going to have an army of ex-marines guarding them, and as much as I hate the thought of being separated from them, I know they’ll be safe with Max and the team.”

“I don’t give a fuck. You’re going,” Hudson replies, and it’s clear to everyone sitting around the table who the leader of this trio is. I might’ve respected that if I didn’t feel like punching Hudson’s face in right now as a sudden rush of anger rises up my chest.

“Wait! Just hold on a minute,” I say, glaring at Hudson. “You’re sending your family away because Santiago’s that dangerous and yet you’re happy for my family, for Grim and Beast, to be in the line of fire all to get your revenge? It must be nice to have the means to protect the people you love like that. What about the rest of us?”

“Sweetheart, Grim and I are here because we want to be, and the same applies to your men. None of us are afraid of some twunt psychopath and a two-bit drug baron who dresses like he’s stepped out of a mobster movie set in the 1950’s. This is all in a day’s work,” Beast says, giving me a wink that doesn’t reassure me in the slightest.

Hudson closes the lid of the laptop and looks me directly in the eye. “I should’ve sent them away sooner. Admittedly, there was a part of me that wasn’t even sure Santiago would come and I selfishly kept them close by because like you, Pen, it’s difficult to part with the ones you love. I’m not immune to making bad decisions, but I am good at rectifying them. With that in mind, Lena has a ticket with her name on it. Gray is welcome to accompany her if that makes you feel better about her leaving. She can go and be safe with my family, and all the guards I’ve got protecting them will protect her too.”

“We’ll look after her,” Max adds. “We’ll treat her as family. Louisa wouldn’t have it any other way, and neither would we.”

“You want me to send my sister away with a bunch of strangers?” I ask quietly. “She doesn’t know you. She doesn’t know any of you well enough to go and live with you all, even if it’s only for a little while.”

“As soon as this is dealt with, they’ll be home,” Hudson says, trying to reassure me.

“Lena’s just lost her mum. Her world has been upended…” I counter, feeling sick at the thought of her going away and sick of the thought of her staying.

“I swear we’re good people,” Max insists. “I might have a weird sense of humour, and Bryce might have a small animal growing on his face right now, but Lena will be safe with us.”

“I don’t know… This is all happening too fast.” I chew on my lip, trying to decide what to do for the best.

“Yes, you do, Kid. You’ve been protecting Lena your whole life. You know what the right choice is,” Dax says, reaching for my hand and squeezing it.

“You should go too, Pen. No one here would think any less of you if you did,” Hudson says.

“No!” I retort, shaking my head. “I’m not going anywhere. Do you honestly think I’d let the men I love stay behind and deal with this after everything that’s happened?”

“No, I figured you’d want to stay, but the offer is there, regardless.”

“No. Absolutely not. I’m staying. Besides, I know David, he’ll only come after me. We end this together, right here and now.”

“And Lena?” Grim asks me, her voice gentle. “Is she staying put or is she going?”

Swallowing hard, I lock eyes with Hudson. “Can you guarantee her safety?”

“Yes. My family is my top priority. I wouldn’t send them away without me if I didn’t think the people guarding them weren’t up to the job.”

“Then she goes with them. I want her safe whilst we finish this.”

“Alright then,” Zayn says then stands up. “We should get going so Pen can say her goodbyes to Lena and help her pack.”

“Actually, there’s one more thing I need to say before we all head off…” Hudson begins.

“Does it happen to have anything to do with a certain Duncan Neath?” Beast asks, steepling his fingers beneath his chin and grinning a little too maniacally for my liking.

“The fuck?” York exclaims, clearly making the same assumptions as the rest of us. “You’re not suggesting—”

“What do you know?” Hudson asks Beast, ignoring York for the moment.

“Well, I know he ain’t here sitting with us right now, which tells me one of two things. Either he’s dead, or you think he’s the snake and you’re cutting him off.”

“Well, he isn’t dead—” Hudson points out.

“—yet,” Grim finishes, her eyes flashing dangerously. She looks as surprised as the rest of us, but recovers quickly. “He isn’t dead yet. By the time Beast finishes with him he’s going to wish he was. I knew there was a reason that I never liked the creep.”

“Fuck!” Xeno mutters.

“You honestly think he’s the snake?” York asks, frowning. “He can be a bit of a twat, but really, fucking all of us and Interpol over, that’s suicide.”

“I think it’s the only possibility,” Hudson says.

“But why him? He’s set to lose a hell of a lot if that’s the case,” Zayn points out.

“Yeah, starting with a bollock,” Beast interjects without so much as a hint of a smile.

“He’s the only one who knows the full extent of what’s going on. He’s fully aware of our connection with Grim and Beast and their role in this. It’s the only logical explanation… Unless it’s one of you four,” Hudson says, looking between my men. Immediately my hackles rise. How dare he even suggest that?

“Of course it fucking isn’t!” Xeno snaps before I can. He glares at Hudson menacingly, and for the briefest of moments I see the man he’s trying so hard to protect me from. Taking a steadying breath he reigns himself in. “We want this to be over so we can the move the fuck on and have a life like you have with your family. Do you honestly think we’d put the woman we love in danger? Do you think we’d risk our lives and our freedom, just to be under the thumb of Santiago fucking Garcia?”

“Actually, no I don’t, which is precisely why it has to be D-Neath,” Hudson counters calmly. “Don’t tell me you hadn’t considered it?”

Xeno grits his jaw, refusing to answer that question. “I trusted him. I shouldn’t have,” he says turning to face me. “I’m sorry, Pen.”

“It’s not your fault.”

Hudson squeezes Xeno on the shoulder. “We all trusted him, which makes this so much harder to swallow, but the fact of the matter is, Duncan could gain a lot more than he could lose out of this situation.”

“Like what exactly? Because the way I see it, he’s set to lose every damn thing, including his bollocks,” York points out, glancing at Beast who has a sudden look of bloodlust in his eyes.

“Believe me, Santiago can be very persuasive. If Duncan has bought into whatever Santiago is promising then I imagine, for him, being a turncoat is worth it.”

“For him?” I ask.

“Duncan has always hungered for power and notoriety,” Hudson explains. “The Pink Albatross wasn’t his club originally. He got it through nefarious means.”

“Well that’s a shock,” Grim remarks with more than a little sarcasm.

“The club was originally owned by someone called Nicholas Allen, a millionaire playboy in his day. Before Duncan went down for drug racketeering he won the club in a game of cards. Nicholas Allen lost everything, including his wife who left him.”

“To be fair, if this Nicholas dude was stupid enough to gamble his business in a game of cards then he deserves all he gets, if you ask me,” Zayn says. “Doesn’t mean he’s guilty of being a snake.”

“That’s a fair point,” Hudson agrees. “But there’s more. My team has been doing some digging on the side.”

“On the side, as in without Interpol’s approval?” Grim asks.

“Precisely.”

“Well, look at you bending the rules and shit,” Beast says with a grin.

“Not only did I find out about how he came to own The Pink Albatross,” Hudson says, choosing to ignore Beast’s remark. “I also found out that Duncan has recently looked up flights to various holiday destinations.”

“Okay, so he’s an opportunist and he wants to go on a holiday. That doesn’t make him a traitor. He’s with Tuillard. Perhaps it’s just a romantic getaway, and after this shit is over he wants to treat her. I know I wouldn’t mind getting away with our girl,” Dax points out, playing devil’s advocate.

Grim scoffs. “Duncan, romantic? Yeah, and I like flowers and candy.”

“No babe, we all know you love hearts,” Beast quips, drawing an exasperated smile from Grim’s lips. “What? It’s true…”

“I thought it could be as innocent as that, but given everything that’s going on I had to be certain. When my team delved a little deeper, some pretty interesting results came up on Duncan’s internet search history. Namely extended stays in Cuba, specifically at the resort our very own Santiago Garcia happens to own.”

“FUCK!” Xeno exclaims, banging his fist on the table. “I’m gonna murder that bastard.”

Now it’s my turn to rest my hand on Xeno’s leg, trying to calm him a little. “Have you informed Interpol? Surely this is enough evidence to send him back to jail?”

“Fuck Interpol,” Beast says with a growl. “Let me have a word with him. He’ll be singing like a canary after five fucking minutes.”

Hudson grits his jaw, then nods. “I was hoping you would say that.”

“I don’t want to go, Pen. Don’t make me do this!” Lena cries, clinging onto me as we stand on the Freed’s private air strip just outside of London.

On any other day, my mind would’ve been blown by the fact the Freed brothers own an airplane let alone an airport. Today isn’t that day. My heart is way too heavy to be impressed by material things. “You have to. I’ve told you what’s going on. I’ve been completely honest with you. David isn’t the only person who would hurt you given the chance. You need to go. You need to be safe.”

Lena casts a brief look over her shoulder at the jet sitting on the tarmac behind us. Her eyes are wide with fear. “I don’t like flying.”

“You’ve never been on an airplane before, Lena. How do you know you won’t like it?” I point out with a small smile.

“What if it crashes?”

“It won’t.”

“I don’t know anyone…” she argues..

“That’s not true. You know Gray and you’ve met Louisa before. She’s really nice, Lena.”

“What if that’s all a front and she’s really some wicked witch who wants to torture me?”

I raise a brow. “You don’t really believe that, do you?”

“No. Of course not. Bar you, she’s probably the nicest person I’ve ever met,” she says quietly.

“You know that I wouldn’t send you away with them if I didn’t think they were good people. Think of this as an adventure. That’s all you need to do. Forget everything else.”

“But, Pen—”

“No more buts. It’s time to go,” I say, firmer this time. We both know the longer we draw this out, the harder it’s going to be. We’ve already held them up ten minutes longer than necessary. Louisa, Max, Bryce and their two kids have already climbed aboard, as well as the ten ex-marines who Hudson has hired as their security team. Everyone’s just waiting for Lena to peel herself off of me and get onboard with Gray, who’s currently standing at the bottom of the stairs leading up to the open door of the jet. He’s watching us both with professional detachment, and when I meet his gaze he lifts three fingers telling me that our time is running out.

“But what about you? Don’t you need to be safe?”

“I need to finish this.”

“No you don’t. You can leave it to everyone else. Let the Breakers finish it. Let them, Pen!” Lena’s fingers curl into my arms, pinching my skin despite the fact I’m wearing a coat.

Shaking my head, I cup her face in my hands, brushing away the tears that won’t stop cascading from her eyes. “If I go with you, David will follow. He wants me most of all, Lena. You staying here will only put you in more danger, me going with you will only put you in danger. We can’t be together right now. You have to go with them. I will come and get you when this is all over.”

“No!”

“Yes.”

“Pen, I’m sorry we need to go,” Gray says, stepping forward and interrupting our conversation, he rests his hand on Lena’s shoulder, but she shakes it off.

“No!” Lena protests.

“I’ll make sure she’s safe. I swear on my life, Pen.”

Blinking back the tears threatening to fall, I nod. “I know you will, Gray. Thank you.”

“Pen, please,” Lena whispers as the wind picks up her hair, whipping it across her face. Above us, standing in the open doorway of the airplane, is Louisa. She gives me a warm smile and I know, no matter how hard this is right now, that it’s the right decision. Lena will have Louisa to watch over her for me. I’ve only been in her company a couple of days, but I already know she’s a good woman. Far better than our mum ever was.

“You’re going to France, Lena. They’ll be snow, skiing, and building snowmen with those beautiful kids. The place sounds amazing, and as soon as this is over I’ll be there with you all. I promise.”

“I’m scared.”

“I know, but you have to be brave.”

“I’ll try.”

“Gray here is gonna watch over you for me. I trust him to look after you.”

I realise as I say those words that I really do trust him, that I’m not just saying it to comfort Lena. There’s something about Gray that screams good guy despite his standoffish attitude. My gut tells me he will look after Lena with his life, and my gut is never wrong.

“I appreciate you saying that,” he says.

She looks up at him then and a tumultuous smile pulls up her lips. “For an old guy, he is kind of cool…”

“Old?” he laughs briefly, before shutting it down and maintaining that professional mask.

“Don’t mind Lena, she thinks anyone above twenty is old,” I say, pulling her in for one more fierce hug before letting her go. “Call me the second you get there, okay?”

“I will. Speak soon, Pen?” she frames her response as a question, as though there’s a possibility that we’ll never speak again, let alone see each other.

“I love you. Everything is going to work out. Now go!”

She nods, and with Gray gently urging her forward, she climbs onto the plane and straight into Louisa’s welcoming hug.