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

By the time we reach Rocks, the club is being eaten alive by flames. Thick, black smoke billows up into the sky, smothering the surrounding buildings in a noxious blanket and blocking the light from the street lamps that line the road. The smoke is so thick that the second Xeno and I step out of the car my lungs fill with the acrid smell and I’m choking on the stench.

“Jesus, fuck,” I mutter, my eyes watering as I pull my scarf up over my nose and mouth.

A few locals are gathered nearby filming the fire with their phones, no doubt uploading it onto fucking social media to get more views or whatever the fuck these vacuous pricks need these days to get their kicks. I can’t help but snarl at the twats, my bad mood worsening with every passing second.

“Come on. I think I see Grim and Beast,” Xeno says, indicating for me to follow him.

Yellow police tape is pulled right across the street, from one lamp post to another, and a cop car is parked just beyond it, the engine off with its blue light still flashing. Further along the street, parked closer to Rocks, are two fire engines and their crew who are battling the fire that’s doing its best to spread to the neighbouring buildings. To the left, a good distance from the fire and the apparent stream of smoke that is blowing our way and not theirs, is Grim and Beast.

“That heat is intense,” Xeno remarks, ducking beneath the yellow tape and walking straight past the cop car, giving nothing but a cursory glance at the police officer who looks like he’s just stepped fresh out of the police academy.

“Stop! You can’t go down there. Can’t you see there’s a fire? This street has been cordoned off for a reason. I have orders to keep everyone back until it’s safe,” the cop blurts out as we stride past him.

“That’s my club,” I respond, cutting him a look that tells him I’m in no fucking mood as I continue walking. “And I don’t give a shit about your orders.”

Xeno gives me a look and I shrug. Whilst Jeb never made a will, as his only next of kin I get it all. The club, his house and all his possessions will pass to me once everything’s gone through probate and his estate is settled. The fact I killed the bastard has no bearings on the outcome, given Interpol covered it up and I literally got away with murder. Truth be known I don’t fucking want any of his shit, least of all this club. All of it was bought with blood money, a lot of it mine.

“Stop!” the young copper orders, but it’s half-hearted. I’m pretty sure, given Beast and Grim are already standing way past the barrier in the shadow of a darkened alley, that this young cop is either affiliated with them or his partner is. When we reach the pair it’s obvious the latter is true.

“Cheers, we appreciate the info,” Beast says to another police officer as we approach. This cop is a lot older, and given the relaxed way he is with Beast and Grim, well acquainted with the pair.

“You’re welcome. I’ll get back to the kid. He’s new, wet round the ears and eager to impress. You know what I mean?” the copper replies, giving Xeno and me a curt nod. We may not have met before, but he certainly knows who we are.

“Yeah, I hear you. Is he good though, right Benny?” Beast asks, flipping his gaze to the kid who’s currently watching us all and looking nervous as shit. I hold in a laugh, pretty fucking apt name for a bent copper.

“I wouldn’t have partnered with him if I didn’t think he was.”

“I’m glad to hear it, but I need you to make sure he’s on our side before we reel him in, yeah?”

“Of course, Beast.” Benny nods, turning his attention to Grim. “It’s good to see you, Grim.”

“You too, Benny. Next time you’re at Tales the drinks are on me, okay?”

“That’s very generous of you. Thank you.” He casts a look over his shoulder, jerking his thumb. “I’d better get back to the lad.”

“I didn’t know you had bent coppers on your payroll,” Xeno scoffs . “Do the punters of Tales know you entertain the enemy as well?”

“Good evening to you too, arsewipe,” Beast replies, folding his arms across his chest and scowling. “How Grim chooses to run her business is none of your damn business.”

“Well, actually, when her name’s still on the deed to our clubs, it fucking is,” Xeno snaps back, clearly still fucked up over our interaction with Pen earlier and taking it out on Beast and Grim. Not the wisest move of the century, though I don’t blame him. I’m still feeling out of sorts too.

It ain’t every day the girl you love almost turns her back on dance and the brother you love holds your knife to his chest, ready to die if she didn’t change her mind.

Beast snarls, but Grim just rolls her eyes, swatting at Beast’s chest. “Just cool it lads. It’s hot enough here as it is, we don’t need you two causing a scene to add to this shitstain of a night.” She turns to face the burning building, her skin cast in an orange glow making her look as fierce as her reputation, like some sexy arse fire demon from the pits of Hell. Beast throws his arm over her shoulder and glances over me at the top of his head, eyebrows raised. I look away, not in the least bit interested in getting into a brawl with the man. Grim might be hot, but Pen is the only woman who lights my fire.

“What’s the deal then?” I ask, wanting nothing more than to wrap this up and get back to Pen. We’ve still got shit to iron out and I’ve got a motherfucking headache.

“The place is a write-off,” Beast remarks. “Ain’t no saving it now.”

The firefighters are working hard to put out the fire, but just like Beast said, they’re losing the battle. Pretty soon the place will be gutted. Not that I give two shits. I never wanted it anyway. The only happy memories I had of that place were the ones with Pen in them, but they’ve long since been overshadowed by everything else that’s gone on. Besides, after the carnage of a few weeks back, the place is bound to be haunted by all the men we killed from Dante’s Crew. I deal with the ghosts of the men I’ve killed on the daily, I don’t need to own a place that reminds me of that fact.

“What do you know?”

Grim lets out a heavy sigh, and it’s only then I notice the shadows around her eyes and the tightness around her lips. Being the owner of Tales and having a reputation like she does must be pretty fucking difficult to manage at the best of times, without adding pregnancy to the mix.

“Benny’s one of my men on the inside,” Grim explains. “The reason we found out about the fire tonight even before the fire brigade did was because Benny happened to be first on the scene. He’s aware that you and I have an affiliation. He thought I’d want to know, and he was right.”

“Well then, we owe Benny a few drinks too. Give him the details to Jewels nightclub. He can bring his other half and the evening will be on us,” I say, before Xeno can jump in and stop me.

“Fuck sake, why not invite the whole police force and be done with it,” he mutters under his breath instead.

“And speaking of your nightclubs,” Grim says, ignoring Xeno’s outburst. “I’ve got my lawyer to draw up some papers transferring Jewels and Chastity back into your names. As soon as this shit is over it’ll be done. I did have a question though, should I be adding Pen’s name onto the deeds?”

“Yes,” both Xeno and I respond simultaneously. We haven’t discussed it directly with Pen, but it was a unanimous vote between the four of us. We want her as our partner in life, and in business. What’s ours is hers. That goes without saying.

Grim smiles. “I thought as much. I’ll be sure to get Pen’s details added.”

“So what are we looking at here?” Xeno asks, folding his arms across his chest as we watch Rocks turn to ash before our eyes.

“Well, this fire wasn’t an accident,” Beast remarks more than a little sarcastically.

“David or Santiago?” I ask.

“Maybe some other fucking crew looking to stir up shit?” Xeno offers, clearly hoping that’s the case. It’s much easier to deal with a threat that we can see than one we can’t. We’re all fucking pissed off that David has managed to enter the country and murder his own mum without being caught. None of us have any fucking clue where the cunt is right now. The fact we haven’t heard shit at all from Santiago is fucking with our heads too.

“Honestly, given what happened recently, I didn’t think David would have the balls to act again so soon. I figured this would be Santiago sending a message via another crew. I was wrong.”  Grim pulls out a padded envelope from her handbag, handing it to me.

“What’s this?” I ask, taking it from her, frowning at the name penned in black ink on the front of the envelope. “It’s addressed to you.”

“Fucking genius right here,” Beast jokes, winking at me. I ignore the fucker.

“This was delivered to Tales just before we left to come here. I opened it up in the car on the way over after we called you. There’s a note inside and something else too. You might want to be careful pulling it out.”

“Grim, I don’t like surprises. Want to give me a heads up?” I say.

“It’s a note and a… severed toe.”

My hand hovers inside the envelope, my fingers brushing against a piece of paper. “You’re shitting me, right?”

“She’s deadly fucking serious. Made Grim chuck up her guts when she opened it. David’s a sick bastard.”

Pot, kettle, black, I think, wisely keeping that thought to myself.

“I’m not normally so squeamish…” Grim’s voice trails off as she lifts the back of her knuckles to her lips, then swallows. We all know she’s seen worse than a severed toe before. Pregnancy really is throwing her out of whack.

“Fucking lovely,” Xeno exclaims, watching me carefully as I pull the note free and hand him the envelope with the fucking toe inside.

I hold the folded note in my hand. Even in the fiery orange glow from the fire, there’s no mistaking the blood stain on the paper. “I don’t suppose we know who the toe belongs to, do we?”

“We do as a matter of fact. Read the note first,” Beast insists.

I read the note.

“How the fuck…?” I question, snapping my head up as I hand the note to Xeno who takes it from me, swearing under his breath as he reads. “Do we know if it’s true?”

“I called Hudson who rang his contact at Interpol. He texted me just before you arrived. The coroner confirmed that Pen’s mum is indeed missing a toe.”

“That sick bastard” I exclaim, getting that twisted up feeling in my stomach. I’m not an anxious man. That’s not what this feeling is. This is me needing to vent. Usually the monster inside of me wins out on nights like this and I end up in a knife fight. That’s not an option right now.

“Jefferson mentioned to you and Dax that he thought he saw the handle of a weapon sticking out of the bag David was carrying, right?” Grim asks.

“Right,” I agree.

“The fucker went prepared,” Xeno mumbles. “But why wasn’t there any blood?”

“Once the heart has stopped beating the blood doesn’t pump out from a wound the same way as it does if the person is still alive. There would’ve been some blood, sure, but the living room has parquet flooring, and it wouldn’t have taken much to clean up,” Beast says, matter-of-factly.

“Did the coroner tell you this?” Xeno asks, sliding the note back into the padded envelope, and handing it back to me. I try not to think about the toe inside and how badly it’s going to affect Pen.

“No. Comes with the territory.” Beast responds with a shrug.

“But why didn’t we know about all of this sooner? She’s been at the mortuary for a couple of days,” I ask.

“For exactly that reason. She’s been on ice since they picked her up,” Beast explains. “The report was only concluded an hour ago. David strangled his mum and severed her toe for the soul purpose of sending another message. Then he put back on her sock and shoe, and cleaned up the fucking mess.” Beast shakes his head like he isn’t a man who’s severed body parts before. The only difference between Beast and David is that Beast does what he does because he’s protecting the woman he loves, and David does it to hurt the woman he’s obsessed with.

“He went with a formed plan in mind,” I growl, my hand instantly going to the knife tucked into the sheath strapped to my waist. Feeling the worn leather of the handle calms me a little. “This isn’t just him acting out like some spoilt fucking kid. He’s messing with Pen’s head. He wants to break her.”

“No shit,” Beast mutters.

“Why send the note to you though, given it’s clearly addressed to Pen?” Xeno asks.

“Pen works for Grim at Tales. It’s common knowledge,” I suggest. It’s the most logical answer.

“I don’t think so,” Xeno disagrees. “Why fuck off Grim, one of the most powerful gangsters in London. It doesn’t make any sense. Yes, Grim might’ve hired Pen but that means shit. As far as everyone is concerned, it was a good business decision. Pen brings in the punters. She makes Grim a lot of money. David might be a possessive twat, but he was fine with Pen working for Jeb the past three years. This is no different,” Xeno counters, giving me that fucking look again. The one where he knows shit and I don’t. Then the ball finally drops.

“Except—” I say.

“Except David wants to make it perfectly clear to all of us that he knows a lot more than we originally thought and that, my friend, is a motherfucking problem,” Beast finishes for me.

“You’re damn right it is,” Xeno agrees, locking eyes with Beast.

“Fuck!” I exclaim.

Grim folds her arms across her chest and sighs. “Looks like we’ve got a snake in the grass.”