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

“D-Neath is that you?” Clancy asks, her voice sounds odd, quivering, like she’s been crying.

My throat tightens. My stomach flips over. I want to throw up, but I can’t do that given York’s hand is pressed over my mouth. Hauling me back against his chest, he wraps his arm around my waist like he’s afraid I’m going to snatch up the phone and give us all away. He’s right, because that’s exactly what I feel like doing. I can’t believe it’s her. I was so certain it was Tiffany that D-Neath has been fucking.

But Clancy?

She’s my friend. Our friend. She wouldn’t betray us.

She wouldn’t.

I flick my gaze to the rest of the guys. Xeno is shaking his head in disbelief. Zayn is scowling and Dax has his attention focused on me, a look of sympathy in his gaze.

“D-Neath?” she questions again, and it spurs Grim into action.

Stepping towards D-Neath, she cuts me a look. I can see the questions in her gaze, and the anger. Grim is all about loyalty and right now she’s as confused and as hurt as I am, though she hides it better than I do. She jerks her chin at D-Neath who is looking between us all. He’s as stunned as the rest of us, and something about that makes my thrashing pulse calm a little.

“Is this Clancy?” he asks, a question in his voice as he stresses her name.

That question changes everything. York lets me go and I bend over sucking in lungfuls of air. I feel him rub my back as I try to regain control of myself as quietly as possible.

“Y—yes,” she stutters out.

Straightening up, I step forward, wanting to snatch the phone up and find out why Clancy is answering Tiffany’s phone, and why she sounds so upset. This time Dax catches my hand and pulls me back, shaking his head. He raises his finger and rests it against his lips. Something’s wrong, that much we all know. Grim looks at D-Neath tightly and nods. She wants him to continue with the conversation.

“Where’s Tiff, Clancy? I’m surprised you answered her phone… This is, erm, awkward,” he says, playing the part well.

“She’s…Oh, God!”

Dax’s releases my hand and throws his arm around my shoulders pulling me tight against his chest. He knows this is bad. We all do. Under normal circumstances Clancy would’ve questioned why he was calling Tiffany, and given her own suspicions about D-Neath having an affair, would’ve given him a piece of her mind. She likes and respects Madame Tuillard just as much as I do. So for her not to say anything is a huge sign that something is terribly, terribly wrong.

“She’s what, Clancy?” D-Neath asks, his voice surprisingly gentle.

“She’s in the hospital. My step-mum and Dad are talking with the doctors now. Everyone thinks she took an overdose of a street drug called Dancing Shoes.”

“Fuck!” D-Neath exclaims, taking the word right out of our mouths.

“Wait, hold on,” Clancy says, her hand folding over the mouthpiece. We all wait as the muffled sound of people talking comes through the loudspeaker. There’s more static and then Clancy speaks, “Sorry, the doctor and my dad returned. I’ve left the ward so I can talk to you in private.” Her voice wobbles, but she holds herself together. “I didn’t even like her all that much, but she didn’t…”

“But she didn’t, what?” D-Neath asks as Beast quietly unties his other wrist.

“But she didn’t deserve this. I wouldn’t wish this on my worst enemy.”

“Is she conscious?”

“No. They don’t think she’s going to make it. All her organs are shutting down. It’s happening so fast. She’s dying. There’s nothing they can do.” Her voice cracks as she tries to get a hold of herself.

“Which hospital is she at?” D-Neath asks, standing. He takes a towel from Beast and presses it against his split lip, wiping away the blood. For a man who talked about Tiffany like she was nothing more than a good fuck, he sure seems concerned about her. Maybe he isn’t a complete arsehole after all.

“Chelsea & Westminster.”

“I’ll be there within the hour,” he says, and I’m not sure if he’s saying that because he genuinely cares about Tiffany or if he thinks it’ll somehow get him out of this mess.

“No! You can’t come here.”

“Why?”

“Because the police are looking for you.”

“Looking for me? Why would they be looking for me?”

“She left a suicide note. She said that you were her lover but that you didn’t want her anymore after you found out her dad was the man you stole The Pink Albatross from.”

“What? Her dad was Nicholas Allen?” D-Neath slams back down onto the chair in shock. Clearly he had no clue. He looks at us with wide eyes, disbelief casting his features in shadow.

“So you did steal the club?” Clancy asks in a hushed tone.

“It wasn’t like that. I won it…” he slams his mouth shut when Grim shakes her head, scowling at him. This isn’t the time for confessions.

“She also said in her note that you got her addicted to Dancing Shoes, that you’ve been pushing the drugs to the dancers at the Academy, that you’re basically responsible for what she did to herself.”

“I’m not. I didn’t give her those drugs, Clancy. I fucking swear it.”

“I believe you,” she says, her voice no more than a whisper.

“You do?”

“Yes.”

“But why?” he asks.

“I’m scared…”

Clancy pauses and I can tell that she’s trying her best not to fall apart. I believe that she’s genuinely upset for Tiffany, but this is more than that. She’s afraid. Grim senses it too and encourages D-Neath to keep her talking. I know what she’s thinking, because I’m thinking it too. This was David, this was my brother’s doing.

“What’s going on, Clancy?” D-Neath presses, swiping a hand over his head. “You can tell me. I promise it’ll be okay.”

“I don’t know what to think. Who to trust…”

I look at Grim, pointing at the phone and then my chest. She nods. “Clancy, it’s me, Pen,” I say.

“Pen? What…? Why are you with D-Neath?”

“There isn’t much time to explain everything now, but it’s really, really important you tell us what’s going on. Why are you so scared?”

“Us?”

“I’m at Tales with the guys, Grim and Beast are listening in too. Please, Clancy, we want to help you.”

“There are too many people around, I’m going into the stairwell. Hold on.”

Whilst she heads to somewhere more private, I take the chance to look about the room. Aside from Xeno who appears to be firing off urgent messages, presumably to Hudson, everyone else has their attention focused on the phone gripped in D-Neath’s hand.

“Clancy,” I prompt.

“There was a man…”

“A man? What do you mean?” I say slowly, my stomach flipping over.

“I had some free time today, so I decided to go home to see my dad. It’d been a while since I’d been back. Anyway, when I got in no one was home. I totally forgot that Dad and my step-mum had an event to attend for my Dad’s work today, an extended lunch with the partners at his law firm with their wives and husbands. Rather than head straight back to the Academy, I decided to grab some things from my room whilst I was there…” She pauses, swallowing hard.

“Clancy, what happened?”

“Tiffany turned up. I didn’t want to speak with her after what happened at the Academy that day she left, so I stayed in my room. I was going to sneak out once she’d gone to her own room, only I heard a male voice… Fuck!” Clancy chokes back a sob and takes a few deep breaths.

“It’s okay, Clancy. Take your time.”

“It wasn’t long after that I heard her making weird noises. I thought, at first, they were having kinky sex or something, but when I heard her choking, I knew something was up. I should’ve called the police then and there, I didn’t.” She swallows hard, takes another breath then continues. “I watched them through a gap in her bedroom door, Pen. The guy she was with had a gun to her head.”

“What the fuck?” D-Neath exclaims.

“What happened then?”

“In front of her was a bag full of these pills. He made her swallow handfuls of them down with water. She was crying and choking, trying to swallow them, all the while begging for her life.”

Beast scowls, his arms folding over his chest. He’s furious, just like we all are. “Then he forced her to write a note.”

“The suicide note you mentioned?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do then?” I ask her.

“I left her with him.” She’s sobbing now. It takes her a full minute to stop crying enough to continue, and in all that time my heart is in my throat and my legs are like jelly. “He had a gun, and I was scared. I knew if I tried to help, he’d kill us both. So I crept back to my room and called the emergency operator. I was only just giving them our address when the man entered my room. I hadn’t even told them what was happening yet. He had the gun pointing at my head…”

“Jesus fucking Christ,” York cuts in.

“He shook his head at me, and I knew if I said another word, he was going to kill me…”

“What did you do?”

“I dropped the phone. It was still connected to the operator. I hoped that he would say something, and they would know that there was someone dangerous in the house, but he didn’t say a word. Instead, he made me leave the room and sit on Tiffany’s bed. She was slumped over her desk, her eyes glazed, tears pouring down her face. Her lips were turning blue. I wanted to help her, but when I moved towards her, he just jerked his gun at me. I had to watch him gathering up his coat and bag whilst Tiffany was losing consciousness. In the distance, I could hear a police siren and I thought for sure he’d kill me, but he just smiled.”

“He smiled?”

“Yes,” Clancy whispers, shock evident in her voice. “He smiled at me and said that if I so much as breathed a word of what really happened to the police, that he would kill my dad and step-mum whilst I watched… T—that he would kill me too. He said that I should tell the police that I’d found her like that.”

“Did you recognise him at all?”

“No. I’ve never seen him before in my life.”

“What did he look like?”

“Around twenty-five I think, mid-brown hair. About 5’11. London accent, but with tanned skin, like he’d been on holiday… Shit, I probably shouldn’t be telling you this. What if he comes after my family? Pen, what am I going to do? I lied to the police!” Clancy screeches, her teeth chattering. I can just picture her now, blotchy from crying, her freckles pronounced against her pale skin, her hair as wild as her fear. God, I wish I could hug her, but my own feelings of guilt rush through me, making me feel sick to my stomach.

“Clancy I’m so sorry,” I say, hating myself for not warning her. It was stupid. So fucking stupid. If David has been using Tiffany to gather information then of course she would have mentioned my friendship with Clancy, and that only gives him more ammunition to hurt me by hurting her. He could’ve killed her. He could still kill her. That thought has me swaying on my feet once again.

“Just before he left, he said something else to me too,” she continues, not understanding that my apology isn’t because I feel pity but because I feel guilt.

“What was it? What did he say?” I ask, forcing myself to remain upright.

“It doesn’t make any sense…”

“What was the message, Clancy?”

For a moment the line goes eerily quiet. Then she swallows hard. “Eenie, meenie, miney, mo….”

The breath leaves my body in a rush and black spots dance in front of my eyes. Dax rushes to my side, holding me up whilst stars spot my vision. Hearing those four words are like a sucker punch to the gut, even though deep down I was just waiting for her to say them. Forcing air into my lungs, I grip hold of Dax and lock my knees. I can’t pass out now. This was my brother’s doing, the least I can do is stand here and listen to every word she has to say.

“Did he hurt you?”

“No. He left right before the police and ambulance turned up… Pen, I lied to them. I did exactly what he said… Oh God, I think I’m going to be sick,” she says, echoing my own struggle right now. “What do I do? Should I tell the police?”

“I don’t—” I begin, but Grim clears her throat.

“Clancy this is Grim.”

“Grim?”

“Yes, it’s me,” she says, taking the phone from D-Neath and holding it tightly in the palm of her hand. “I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? We know who hurt Tiffany. He’s a dangerous man, Clancy, and it’s imperative you’re not alone. I want you to go back into the ward with the others. All of you need to stay there. Do it right now.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

“Clancy, move your arse!” Grim orders.

“I’m heading back there now.”

“Where exactly are you in the hospital?”

“The third floor. Stairwell of the West Wing.”

Grim cuts a look at Beast who nods. “On it,” he says, tapping out a message on his phone.

“Are the police with you at the hospital?” Grim asks.

“No. They left about half an hour ago. I think they went to the Academy to look for D-Neath.”

“Then get your arse back to the ward. We’re making some calls. Once you’re back with your family I want you to stay in the ward. Don’t go anywhere until the police return, okay?”

“Why?”

“Just do it!”

“Okay.” We hear what sounds like a door swinging open and for a moment I assume Clancy is heading back into the ward to her family and my shoulders relax a little, but then a familiar laugh  echoes around the room. I freeze.

“So we meet again… How is Tiffany?”

David.

“No!” Clancy shouts her fear forcing me into action. “Pen!”

“Leave her the fuck alone!” I scream, pushing out of Dax’s arms and stumbling towards the phone. My head fills with white noise as I snatch the phone out of Grim’s hands. “I swear to fuck, David! I will kill you if you hurt her!”

There’s a struggle on the end of the line, like Clancy is trying to fight him off, then nothing. “Clancy?! Clancy?! Answer me!”

She doesn’t respond and I stare at the phone, my attention fixed on the screen, afraid that if I look at anyone else in the room our connection will be severed. There’s a lot of muffled noise, the sound of doors opening and closing, footsteps, people talking, background noise, a plane flying overhead, a car horn honking. He must have some kind of weapon because there’s no way she’d go anywhere with him without a fight.

“What’s going on?” I ask, “Talk to me, Clancy,” I say, my own voice no more than a whisper. Part of me wants to scream and shout down the phone so someone comes to her aid, but another part of me is terrified that without a second thought he’d use whatever weapon he has pressed against her in an instant. Given where they are, it’s probably a knife, something he can hide between them, keep her terrified and him in control. Something he could easily slip into her body in some quiet corner of the hospital and walk away whilst she bleeds out.

“Pen, help—” she whispers.

“Shut the fuck up. Or you’ll find yourself with a severed spinal cord,” my brother replies, his voice whisper-tight, confirming all my fears. Silence fills the room momentarily, not one of us breathes as we listen to this all play out. “Get in the car. Now!” he seethes.

I know that voice only too well. I can picture him now, with his teeth gritted and a smile plastered on his face. Always that fake smile, fooling anyone who might be looking that he’s a man you can trust and not a certifiable psychopath. My heart shrivels up as I hear the muffled sound of Clancy quietly pleading with him and a car door slamming.

“Now, listen up, Penelope,” David says a few moments later, his voice loud and clear now that he’s in a vehicle and can speak more freely, “This is what’s going to happen—”

“You hurt her and I swear to fucking God, David…!” I blurt out, panic, anger and rage making my mouth run away from me.

“What, do you swear to do, Penelope? Because right now you can’t do jackshit. One more fucking word from you and I will slit your little friend’s throat. I don’t give a shit.”

“Now, let’s not talk stupid,” Beast interjects, his voice hair-raising, threatening in a way I’ve never heard before. “If you were going to do that, you would’ve by now. You need her alive, am I right?”

“Who’s this?” David asks, whilst another male voice mumbles something in the background. He has help. Santiago maybe? I dismiss the idea, from what I’ve heard, a man like Santiago wouldn’t lower himself to kidnapping, he’d just get some other sick fuck to do it. Namely my brother. I imagine whoever the other man is, he’s driving the getaway vehicle because there’s no way you can drive a car and hold a knife to someone at the same time.

“If you don’t know then I guess that poor bitch you preyed upon didn’t quite do her job properly,” Beast responds.

“Well, you ain’t D-Neath and you sure as fuck ain’t one of those traitorous Breakers my sister has been fucking like the skank-arse whore she is… Speaking of which, I’m betting they’re with you too, Penelope. Am I right?” David asks.

I cut a look at Dax who’s gritting his teeth so tightly, I’m worried he might break a few. I don’t answer. I refuse.

“Well, well, well, given you’ve clammed up, Penelope, I’m betting they’re listening in too. Still protecting them I see,” he continues. “Hello, boys, what’s up?”

“Is there a point to this, you little cunt?” Beast prompts, losing his patience.

“Ah, I know who you are! The inimitable Beast. Are you really as fucked up as they say?”

“You little chump, you’re gonna find out soon enough,” he replies. “We’re coming for you.”

David just laughs. “Yeah, you and whose army?”

“My army,” Grim interjects, her voice cool, calm. “You’ve fucked up, David.”

“I don’t think so, Grim. I think I’ve got you running around like a tit in a trance. You fucked with the wrong people, sugar tits.”

Beast snarls and Grim smiles, long and slow. David might not be able to see her face, or feel the air of confidence she gives off so effortlessly, but I can. I can, and that gives me strength. She turns to me then and nods, and without even saying a word I know she’s reminding me of the promise she made. She’ll make sure that I’m the one who gets to kill my brother. I’ve heard all the rumours about Grim, but I’ve only really seen the nicer side to her personality. She’s known to be a formidable opponent and in that one look, I can see that she will never, ever, let my brother best her or me.

Clancy will be okay, and my brother will die.

“Let’s cut to the fucking chase,” Dax interjects, taking the phone from me. He’s vibrating with anger, and I see that same violence I feel inside, reflected in his eyes.

“Ah, there they are! Which prick are you? You’ll have to forgive me. It’s been three years…”

“What do you want?” Dax insists, not rising to his bait.

“What have I always wanted? Penelope of course.”

“You can’t fucking have her!” he retorts.

“Then Clancy dies.” And with that finale statement, David ends the call.