Chapter 31 Mila My clothes hangers rattled on my leaf through my wardrobe, and I plucked out a dress for the evening. Purple again, with a halterneck, silver studded gems around the neckline, and a floaty short skirt. I paired it with silver heels then finished my makeup, my stomach tight when I glanced in the tall mirror that still gave me shivers. For the first time in over a week, Convict and I would be apart for hours. I didn't like it. No matter how I felt about him imprisoning my brother, not that Kane seemed to give a damn in his one-word answers to me since, but Convict didn't get why that was an issue. Kane was claustrophobic, one of the few things I knew about him that wasn't easily seen. I'd guessed it after seeing how he always drove with the window open, even in the rain, and how he could never sit in a booth at a café. He saw it as a weakness, and I'd never reveal his secret, but I didn't have to. Convict should never have ridden roughshod over my family. Even with that hanging over us, I still couldn't shake a strange sense of loss and apprehension. I'd also received another shitty email. Anonymous: All those boats sitting in the dock. What a legacy you left, Marchant. Fuck you for everything you've done. Fuck the sender. Tonight, I had my own worries, and they were all shaped like a man I'd obsessed over. Outside the bedroom, Convict leaned on the opposite wall in the hallway, the grey shirt I liked so much open at his throat and rolled up on his forearms. I stopped and stared, more than a little stuck on how badly I wanted him. Holding back had been an exercise in pain. Every night, he showed me what I was missing, spending hours between my thighs. He never resisted the pull. That was all me. I let him fuck me and showed him nothing in return. I didn't recognise my stubbornness. I didn't know how to stop it either. Convict's gaze travelled up my legs, heat in his eyes along with concern, urgency, and a dozen other emotions. That heavy focus sent a crackle of electricity over my skin, alerting me to the danger he presented. We'd barely been apart in a week, and now he was leaving on a road trip for hours that suddenly felt like days. I wanted him so badly I couldn't breathe. "Fuck it." He shoved off the wall and caught me up in his arms. His mouth landed on mine in a bruising kiss. I returned it. If he expected me to push away, both of us were failing. We crashed into a hot and wet attack. Our teeth clashed, but we didn't slow, only built and built into a fever. I wound my legs around his waist, and Convict turned me to the wall and reached between us, cupping me through my underwear. He didn't speak. No taunting me about how wet I was already. Nothing but a return of his mouth to mine and the opening of his jeans. I tucked my head to his shoulder, needing this more than I could say. He freed his dick then pulled my lacy underwear aside and pushed inside. I gasped open-mouthed. Without any kind of foreplay besides the kiss, it burned where he stretched me open. It was like being back in the basement again, with the roughness and the spiking emotions, but that was where the similarities ended. He held still. Supporting me one-handed, he used the other to wedge between us and tease my clit. "I'm going to miss you tonight." He spoke against my temple. "As much as I need to learn about myself, I'll be thinking of you the whole time. Understand?" His fingers kept moving until desire rushed in and the burn turned to pleasure. He jacked his hips to fuck deeper into me, beginning a rhythm in time with the circles he made with his hand. Waves of delicious friction centred on where he touched me. In his arms, I rocked, chasing that need. Sᴇaʀ*ᴄh the ƒindNoᴠᴇl.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "You might not like me right now, but I'll make it up to you. Give you what you need. Do whatever it takes. Feel how much I need it? How badly I want you to look at me again?" Inside me, he thickened, thrilling multiple pleasure centres at once. It boosted my scattered state to the stratosphere. Usually, he held back until the very last minute, ensuring I got mine repeatedly first. I was deep in lust with him being out of control. I crushed him with my arms and legs, wanting nothing more than to keep him in place. Convict's strokes sped up until he was hammering into me. "Only you, Mila. I've only ever wanted you, and that is never going to change." It triggered the approach of a fast climax. Abruptly, I came, and with such sweet relief I could've sobbed. Convict groaned, tucked his head beside mine, and thrust hard for three more beats. He stilled and pulsed into me. Both of us gasped for air, clutching the other. For a long minute, I didn't want him to let go. But by degrees, he set me down on my heels and stepped away. The lust in his gaze shuttered. "Go clean up. I know you won't want to wear me all evening." I did as ordered, but with the strangest sense of regret. When we arrived at the warehouse, Convict led me to the central corridor outside the office and made a public display of kissing me stupid. In my ear, he whispered, "Thank you for playing your part." If he meant with the kiss, nothing on my part was an act, but all too quickly, he was leaving with Arran, and Cassie had hooked her arm through mine to lead me into the lift. Him walking away felt like my heart was separating from my body. It took a long moment for me to realise we weren't heading into the nightclub. "Where are we going?" "Genevieve's place. She's made cocktails and mocktails, and Everly baked something." I hadn't met Everly, though knew she was Shade's girlfriend. She was also lovely, welcoming me with a hug and apologising for the fact she wasn't drinking due to her pregnancy, one hand to the oversized hoodie that covered her stomach. I congratulated her and concealed my shock. Surely babies didn't mix with gangs and sex clubs, but then again, it felt like a different world up here at the top of the building. On the eighth floor, the red-brick apartment had polished floorboards, arched windows with a view over the glittering city, and a gleaming kitchen. A fluffy brown cat wound around everyone's legs, purring up a storm. Cassie got behind the kitchen counter where Genevieve had bottles, a shiny cocktail shaker, and fruit on a chopping board. Pendant lights lit their station. Cassie took frosted glasses from a silver freezer and dipped the rims in a liquid and then into salt. "Margaritas," she explained. I tilted my head at her, or more specifically at the t-shirt she wore over a red microskirt. "Skeleton Girls Detective Agency," I read. Cassie grinned. "Last year, there was a spate of murders in Deadwater. We investigated them. I had shirts made." "Those are too cute." "Aren't they? Pertinent for tonight as well." Genevieve rattled the cocktail shaker then tipped the contents into four glasses, while Cassie prepared a fifth, sans the alcohol, and handed it to Everly. "Are we expecting anyone else?" I asked. There were four of us but five glasses. I took a deep sip of mine, the sourness of the lime exploding over my tongue, followed by the burn of the tequila. "Lovelyn. With her access to police information, she's my new best friend." A knock came at the door. Cassie hopped in glee. "That's her. The fun can begin." She trotted over to answer it, giving a hug to Lovelyn, then lingered to talk to the man who'd escorted her. It was Riordan, Cassie's boyfriend. He snaked an arm around her, muttered something about her being a wild girl, then drew her in for a hot kiss that had me exchanging a look with the other women. Lovelyn giggled and greeted the rest of us, taking a seat at the kitchen counter next to me. The pendant lights lit the blonde highlights in her waterfall of sleek light-brown hair, and her dove-grey sweaterdress had tiny purple flowers stitched onto it. "Got to hate being single. I feel like the odd one out. All of you are matched up." I pulled a face. "If it helps, I'm barely talking to Convict right now." Genevieve uttered a laugh. My mistake slammed into me. In all my thoughts on the evening, I'd settled on the positive of spending time with the women here. But in that, I'd forgotten that I was supposed to be a convincing partner to Convict. I'd agreed to play a role and had betrayed him with one sentence. But the wife of the mob boss only handed me a glass with a sympathetic smile. "Equally if it helps, for the first two weeks of being with Arran, I wanted to strangle him." I widened my eyes. "What did he do?" "Everything. He was overbearing, controlling, hostile, I could go on. But also, it was a two-way thing. We didn't trust each other. Luckily, the game rules have a way of fixing that." "They do?" Cassie bounced back over, her energy infectious. "Now we're all here, I officially commence a meeting of the Skeleton Girls Detective Agency, welcoming two new members in Mila and Lovelyn. Ladies, do you accept the invitation?" Lovelyn and I exchanged a bemused glance then nodded in unison. Cassie beamed. "Excellent. Solid choice. On tonight's agenda is the recent murder of a young woman named Esther Eavis." I choked on my drink. "Did you say murder? I knew her. I thought she drowned." Cassie's eyes rounded. "Tyler said you knew her, but I thought he told you the details. I didn't mean for that to be a shock." All week, I'd waited for a news report to come out regarding Esther, but all I'd found was a line in the local press that had stated the facts I already knew in short sentences. Woman drowned, no suspicious circumstances. "We went to school together," I explained. "Then I saw her again recently. If she was murdered, why isn't there more of an outcry?" Cassie spread out her arms. "Exactly. Which is why I wanted this meeting. No one else but us seems to care." Lovelyn set down her glass. "I can tell you why she's not being treated as a priority. Sex workers never are. It's common practice for police to overlook or even ignore those they consider to be on the lowest rung of society. Mostly because everyone else does, too. If my father came across a prostitute lying in the street, he'd more likely step over her than offer help." The set of her jaw told me exactly how she felt about that. I was stuck on the sex worker label. It made sense, yet it made me feel even worse for Esther. I asked, "Why do you think she was murdered? Couldn't she have just fallen into the water and drowned?" Cassie's eyes flashed with intrigue. "Would you strip off every piece of clothing and go for a swim in Deadwater Harbour on a cold spring night? I find it hard to believe that Esther did." My mouth fell open. "She was naked?" Cassie nodded. "Lovelyn told me on the phone earlier. Isn't that right?" Lovelyn confirmed it. "Naked aside from a bracelet of plastic beads. My father is not a fan of paperwork, and he often gives it to me to manage. Therefore, I have access to all the systems, so I can do some digging." She winced and peeked my way. "It could be difficult to hear when it's about someone you were friends with." The bracelet sounded like the one Esther had taken from Annabelle when we were in the holding cell. "No, it's fine. We weren't friends. I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but I'm not sure she liked me all that much." The half a cocktail I'd consumed loosened my tongue, and I found myself spilling the history I had with Esther, from teenage years until when I'd gone to her to find Jacobs. Then onto the auction, and her presumed role in what happened to me after. Genevieve held her hand over the jewelled choker at her throat, her only embellishment to a little black dress, aside from a huge diamond engagement ring and a shiny wedding band. "She helped them use you? To what end?" I couldn't talk about going into the game, so I hedged the question. "I'm not sure, and now, I'll never know." What I really wanted to talk about was how Convict rescued me, but I was already deep into oversharing and risked messing up. Instead, I gave them the link to my family concerns, explaining that I'd been in turmoil after the funeral and how I knew Esther. "I asked for her help in finding a man called Rhys Jacobs who's manipulating my grandmother. She led me to trouble instead. Convict's now helping to find Jacobs, and once we have him, I'll finally be able to work out why he's messing with my family. I'll never be able to ask Esther why she did what she did." With the words said, I felt...lighter. No one judged me for the crazy actions I'd taken in my desperation and grief. They only seemed intrigued, even if they only knew half of it. At school, I'd had a good group of girlfriends but had lost touch when I'd moved to private school under my grandparents' guiding hands. There, they'd encouraged me to befriend specific girls whose families they approved of, but those relationships hadn't lasted. I wanted a friendship group. I didn't know if it could be these women, but for another three weeks, I was tied to a member of their crew. Maybe this was another way to make the best of it. We'd moved to the sofas mid-chat, and Everly handed out a tray of pizza bites. The curvy brunette stared at the food with one hand to her belly then leapt up and bolted across the room. Genevieve stared after her. "Morning sickness. She's suffered it for months. It should be stopping soon, but any child of Shade's is going to be trouble." She arched an eyebrow at me. "Talking of difficult men, Mila, come help me mix the next round of drinks." I joined her in the kitchen area. Genevieve set me up at a chopping board and handed me a bowl of limes. She fetched ice from a tall freezer and cracked it into the shaker. "You asked about the game rules and how they bring you closer. No one else here, but you and I have been through it, so I wanted to share the wisdom I've gained." I swallowed and nodded. She picked up the bottle of tequila. "I didn't love Arran when we were first tied together. Like I said, he drove me crazy, but the feelings hit hard as the weeks passed. It's to do with the closeness and the bond that gets forged by the experience. If two people are together every day for a period of time, and by together I mean intimate, not just work colleagues or friends, they connect. Thirty days is how long it takes to fall in love with that kind of intensity, and by all accounts, the game does that job very successfully." "It does?" "No couple has ever broken up." I blinked, stalling in my task of juicing the limes. Her words rang louder than the party chatter. I wasn't sure if it was a promise or a threat. "There are so many women who sign up for it and who are willing to do whatever it takes. Some don't like the man who catches them at first, but that changes. I'm explaining this to you because, like me, I'm guessing you didn't opt into the experience." I closed my eyes. She'd read between the lines so easily. "I..." "It's okay. Arran already knows. Tyler had been updating him daily on Convict's health and the work he was doing, then he stopped short once the game had taken place. It was no surprise that you were the woman he emerged with. Arran predicted it." "He won't kick him out for it?" "He loves him. When we were on our honeymoon, he opened up about when they met at a fight club in Edinburgh, down by the docks." I gave a weak laugh. "We have a warehouse there. Maybe we crossed paths." "Maybe you did. Like with the game, Arran and Convict fought and bled together. I'm pretty sure your man could do anything right now and Arran would forgive it. Let's just say he's come a long way in managing his very big and very strong emotions. So back to you. I'm not prying, but I know exactly what you've been through and I'm walking proof that it all comes good." "I don't hate Convict. He's just..." "Infuriating?" "An excellent word." Everly returned from the bathroom and settled on the sofa. Lovelyn rubbed her arm. I twisted my lips and told Genevieve, "He kept my brother here without me knowing. How am I supposed to forgive that? I know he's in a gang, but I'm not. I've never been near this world." "Neither had I before Arran, and he and Shade did something very similar to Riordan. He's my brother, if you didn't know. They didn't hurt him, and I got over it because he did and because it's part of the life. You get addicted to the gang shit, believe me." I finished with the limes, and Genevieve added the juice to the tequila and triple sec. She shook the shaker then poured. "I'm telling you this because one, I can see that you're struggling, and two, if you really don't want this world and the man you're tied to, you should get out now. Before more time progresses and the love comes." My shoulders dropped. "I don't want to leave him." "Right. Then piss him off in exchange and you'll feel better." I laughed in surprise, and Cassie joined us, taking two of the glasses. "Is that Convict? If he's driving you around the bend, do the same to him. Let him wonder where the hell you're going so he flies into a panic." I angled my head in question. "Where am I going?" "We've established that Esther died in suspicious circumstances and that you know some of her history. Do you know where she lived?" I nodded. She'd mentioned a block of flats when I'd asked to meet up, though we'd ended up making the arrangements over the phone. "Excellent. That plus a chat with the other women who were in the auction with you is a must to give us intelligence. Who bought them, what did they know of the deceased, and what rumours have they heard since? I feel a field trip coming on. Charge your glasses, ladies." A clamour of answers started, Everly crying off at leaving the warehouse, Lovelyn excited about investigating the police angle, and Cassie narrating the text she was sending her boyfriend who'd act as our security. She winked at me. "If Convict freaks out, tell him it's part of the Skeleton Girls curriculum: Field Trips and Fuck Yous." I stared between them. "Wait. How will Convict know that I've left?" Cassie snickered, and Genevieve covered her mouth. Even a queasy-looking Everly smiled. Cassie gave me the answer. "If he isn't tracking your every move, then he doesn't deserve the title of skeleton crew. Trust me, he'll know."