Montana Falls (Red Diamonds #5)

Chapter Six, The Present

I t took exactly one hour and thirty three minutes after my shower for Price, Kody and Misha to walk through the door to our hotel room. Or suite, I guessed. It was a giant space made of concrete, dark woods, and metal. I figured the owners had gone for an industrial sort of vibe and it was working. Even if it was mildly annoying that my feet kept slapping against the ground as I paced throughout the entire place, past the three double bedrooms with their attached bathrooms, and around the open plan lounge, kitchen and diner.

It wasn’t like I enjoyed getting my steps in. But it was that or sit on the couch stressing and overthinking my migraine back, barely fifteen minutes after the painkillers and self-induced orgasm combination had made it go away.

My only other source of distraction was my men. Logan was panic making tea with the fancy leaves and stuff, now that I’d checked his stitches hadn’t come out since our shower, just to keep his hands occupied. Before that, he’d made random conversations, offered me snacks, and spent a solid fifteen minutes brushing and braiding my hair. Which was honestly a feat because braiding was hard enough without my hair being short.

At the same time, Lincoln had done a bunch of push ups like a weirdo, drank multiple coffees, and was now getting progressively more antsy as time went on and he attempted to relax on the couch and watch TV. He wasn’t paying attention to the F1 racing, not when he was busy glaring at me hard enough that I expected lasers to shoot out of his eyes.

“Sit down.” He barked his orders, and I laughed loud enough for it to echo.

“No, pendejo . I am busy doing important things your tiny brain does not comprehend.” I sassed as I stomped harder.

He scowled at me as he paused the TV and chucked the remote on the glass coffee table. “You’re slapping your feet like a penguin, and it’s distracting. So sit your ass down.”

“You are the penguin.” I glared. “And make me sit. Or else shut your mouth.”

The sheer attitude in my tone was enough to rile him just the way I liked, and I knew any moment now my distraction plans would come to fruition.

“You think I can’t make you?” He chuckled darkly. “I could make you do anything I wanted with a handful of minutes and the right motivation.”

“You are a man. You need a while to get the engines running again before you can back your attitude with something I’ll actually listen to, bunny.” I grinned viciously and just knew I was in trouble.

Unfortunately – and fortunately - as he was one second away from jumping to his feet and forcing me to sit down, the suite doors opened and the rest of my men finally returned.

“Thank God.” Forgetting all about my irritation plans, I rushed toward them, jumping at Misha first because he was the closest.

He was covered in blood from earlier on still, and I hated seeing him that way. Even if he instantly assured me that he was fine, and everything was sorted out.

“How did you get those gangsters to us so fast?” He asked, as I wrapped my legs around his waist and clung to him for dear life, pleased when he held me easily. “We were barely speaking to the twins for more than two minutes before a few cars pulled up and we had security.”

“I called in a favor to a… friend.” I replied. “A girl I went to a school with once upon a time.”

“Well, whoever she is, we owe her one. Her guys did all the hard work and saved us one hell of a headache.” Price leaned down, kissing me before he hurried into the large concrete kitchen, stripping off his bloody clothes and chucking them into a pile in front of the washing machine, as he waited for Kody to do the same.

It was a nice sight. A very nice sight.

“What happened, papi ?” I simpered a little as Misha walked toward the large, soft black couch, dropping me onto it as gently as he could before he headed to the others to strip and clean up, then returned to take a seat on the end of the couch.

His gym routine was clearly working wonders because he didn’t even struggle the tiniest bit. He’d never been weak, but now it seemed that holding me even easier and I was so happy for him. I knew how badly he wanted to get stronger and feel more confident, and despite the current situation, I couldn’t help but smile at the knowledge that he was getting a little closer to his goals.

“Well, Hades said what she knew. She came downstairs because she heard something, and saw her mom sitting on the ground right before she took a shotgun to her head.” He explained. “And I’m pretty sure it was because she lied to you.”

“About which part?” My brows pulled.

“Being in contact with her sister.” He waited for Logan to finish making his tea and join us before he continued. “Hades told me in the kitchen she’s almost positive she saw Cassie some point last year, which means Shannon wasn’t telling the whole truth. Plus, Shannon made a weird comment as we were leaving, and got me to promise that we would keep her kids safe.” He leaned into the cushions with a sigh. “And the twins’ dad wasn’t all that shocked she was dead, even if he was devastated.”

“Shit.” I bit my lower lip, brain running with ideas, sadness and a little touch of guilt that was still running rampant in my brain. “How bad was he? He was super mad at me on the phone, but was it worse in person?”

“Not as bad as I expected.” Kody grabbed my hand from the seat next to me, holding onto it as though he could hear my thoughts and knew I needed him. “He was crying and angry, but like Mish said, it was also like he knew it was coming, and all he seemed to care about was speaking to you again when things had calmed down.” Kody paused. “I also threatened him a little, so he might not be calling you for a while.”

I gasped. “You threatened him?”

“He was being nasty to you.” Kody frowned, and I was instantly enamored by him even more for. “I refused to let it slide, and neither did the guys. So it was me using my words, or Price would have caved his head in, and Mish would have probably ruined his life or something fun and techy.”

Price grabbed some of the bottles of beer in the complementary fridge for everyone, handing them out before he took a seat on my other side, and yanked me onto his lap. I kept hold of Kody’s hand and dragged him closer, which made it a little difficult to do much else. It was a good thing Price didn’t hand me a bottle. He just poured his into my mouth in a way that shouldn’t have been hot but was.

“Thank you for defending me, papi . I appreciate it.” I swallowed and frowned harder. “And I guess I will speak to him again soon, but I wonder what he wants with me that he did not already yell at me for on the phone.”

People wanting me wasn’t a new thing, but I was extra cautious now about it. Especially seeing as I had allegedly allowed a little snake into my home to play his jester games and then betray me somehow.

The jury was out on what Widow had done and if it would be truly bad enough to warrant me making him another unsolved crime in Diamond Grove. The only reason I hadn’t so far was because I had a far better way to get to him if he had indeed betrayed me.

One that would make me a villain but be the easiest way to get him to come back to me willingly to meet his fate.

“No idea. But I think we can worry about it when we speak to him. Right now, all I care about is getting a shower and something to eat. I’m starving.” Price wriggled deeper into the couch, wrapping his big arm around Misha’s shoulders too and sighing as he held us both. “Any news on Widow and Delilah?”

We’d texted Kody to tell him what had happened since we’d contacted Beau and got back to the hotel, but even then it hadn’t been much of an update. We knew nothing about where Widow and Delilah had gone, nor about what his crimes towards me were other than him saying he had told Cassie where we were. The only thing I knew that hadn’t been shared yet was what Beau had texted me barely five minutes prior.

“Beau says Darius and Kellan have vanished, too. They left when we were on the plane, and we do not know where they are.” The urge to keep gnawing on my lips as a distraction from my frustration was strong. “He says that he plans on taking everyone to Diamond Grove for safety immediately; my Vegas house is not good enough anymore. Not with people getting in, and now with the Jester boys. Though he says Henley is her usual self and insisting we don’t ‘ act like dumb bitches and have a conversation’, so I am more confused now about things.”

I was sure she knew nothing, but if she did, that was fine. I would find out whatever it was easy enough. She was a Montana now, after all. And rule one of being a Montana was unwavering loyalty and honesty to those we shared a name with.

Sure, there had been exceptions – like my daddy’s real identity – but other than that, there were no secrets. No lies.

Henley would talk. I was sure of it.

If not… then she was very good leverage against her cousin and despite how nice I could be, if she was part of the group that had betrayed me, I would forget all about how much I liked her and the fact she was practically a kid.

That was another Montana rule.

We did what we had to do to survive, no matter what.

“Is mom okay?” Misha asked the same question Lincoln had earlier on, except he didn’t pull a face at the same time, as though trying to work out if he truly cared to ask or not.

I nodded. “Beau says she was out looking for the boys when he got to my house, and now she is making her way to Diamond Grove, to a hotel… not her home.” Price poured a little more beer into my mouth between his sips and my words. “Plus, Retta called me like thirty minutes ago too, to ask if we could meet and try to sort plans for things when I am home. She is very worried about everyone and all the bad things happening, and I think I need to give her a job again to keep her occupied away from her stress. But other than that, she seems okay.”

The poor woman had just lost her husband, her sons were at risk all the time, and she had been forced into playing doctor and house mom for a bunch of wayward gangsters. Who were either missing, running away, or doing something utterly dangerous or ridiculous. Not to mention she clearly didn’t want to go home, if she was already booking a hotel. I wouldn’t have been shocked if she started smoking weed or something just to take some of the stress away.

Lincoln had confided in me that he had seen a bunch of pills in her motel room, and it hadn’t shocked me. I would have needed pills too, had my husband lost his head like that.

I’d had been close to breaking myself when my daddy had been killed almost the same way, so she would only get sympathy and empathy from me.

Then vengeance when I could offer it.

“Do we have pictures of people to send to Hades? And how do we do it? Like everyone we’ve ever met who is a woman, or what?” Price finished his beer as he carried on a conversation that Misha had started during my internal planning.

As fun as it would be to get drunk, I wanted to be sensible with it. So I leaned over, grabbing Kody’s attention for two seconds to whisper and beg him to order some food from a place he found decent enough not to break his heart or kill him.

Misha had his phone out, already compiling a message filled with photos to send later.

“I’m sending pictures of everyone who works for the Red Diamonds entire company, gang and whatever else. I’ll make a list of anyone who fits into the right bracket for ages and stuff, and get it sent over to her. But not yet – I want to give her a couple of days.” He said.

“Of course.” I bobbed my head. “Hades’ mama is dead. She cannot be pressured now. We will leave it a little before we ask her, even if we cannot leave it too long.”

The poor girl. Her poor brother. Father. Maddox and his sister, too. Fuck, there were so many people whose lives were now changed for the worse and I couldn’t help but feel like it was my fault. As though Shannon wouldn’t have done what she had if I hadn’t found her and come crashing into her life…

I might not have put the gun in her hand, but I had potentially loaded the metaphorical bullets.

Glancing around the room, I found Lincoln as he sipped his beer, eyes on the wall of windows, staring into the distance of the built up city and all its skyscrapers. He looked stressed, too. Far too stressed. And he never looked that way about anything except me, which meant he was no doubt almost at the end of his patience for real.

Not a good sign. At all.

“What do we do about Widow and Delilah then? We can’t go home until we find them.” He asked with a slight huff. “I also don’t think he’s done anything wrong, despite what he said. It’s too… too basic. Obvious. Whatever. It just doesn’t make sense and with John coming to the house, I kind of feel like maybe something else happened?”

“I agree.” Misha chimed in. “I trust Darius, and he always said Widow was a good guy, too.”

I had the same thoughts. But I didn’t want to think them. Not because I didn’t want the extra work or hassle, but because all I could imagine was that Cassie had got to Widow and Delilah.

That she had done something to them I could never fix and would haunt me until I died because, like with everything lately, it was my fault.

I was failing as a leader and my daddy was no doubt rolling in his grave at the sheer amount of shit that had happened since he’d left me.

“I’m gonna look more into Widow and Delilah now though, as I didn’t get much chance whilst out; I was tracking John instead.” Misha shrugged out of Price’s cuddle, got to his feet and grabbed his backpack from one of the bedrooms before returning, setting himself up for yet another long work session with his beautiful brain.

I felt a little bad for relying on him so heavily for such an important task that nobody else here could help him with. But he really didn’t seem to mind, and it had to be done. If it wasn’t, then John would keep causing havoc and that would never do.

I would just make it up to my boyfriend later. With whatever he wanted.

“Have you tried calling Darius?” I wondered. “He may answer you because you are friends now.”

Misha nodded. “He ignored the call but sent a text to say they were safe and would be in touch. I couldn’t trace it, but that doesn’t shock me. Darius is a better hacker than I am.” He loaded his laptop, instantly beginning his hacking and tracking, or whatever it was he was going to do, in order to find our missing people as the other guys started to drink more beers.

I asked questions and showed an interest but most of it went over my head. The same as when he spoke of his anime and comic books or whatever else. I listened, remembered facts as often as I could, but didn’t understand half of it. That was fine, though. Maybe one day it would all stick in my brain or, if not, at least I was trying.

My mama had been into all sorts of strange things. At least they were strange to me. She’d enjoyed learning about bugs and tiny animals that had lots of legs and shells and wings. She’d even liked spiders, and for the life of me, I would never understand that. But it didn’t matter. My daddy had gone with her anywhere she wanted to look at her creatures. He’d had bug homes built in the gardens of our houses, flowers designed for bees planted everywhere, and took her to any sort of talk or show about her beloved tiny animals. He’d learned enough facts and things to talk of the subject for a decade and it was just for her.

Now I did the same. I learned about cars and cartoons and football. I’d watch Formula One, or an anime in a language I didn’t even speak. I’d take an interest in cooking, and boxing and whatever else I needed to because that was what you were supposed to do for those you loved.

It didn’t matter how boring, or odd, I found certain hobbies. If they were important to those I loved, then I would put in interest. Enough interest that eventually I would know more about them – or at least that was my goal with Formula One and NASCAR, just so I could get one up on Lincoln when I knew more than he did.

After a while of us all sitting in silence bar the sounds of Misha’s keyboard, or the racing on the TV, Kody yawned.

“What do we do then?” He put his phone back into the pocket of his jeans, done with his texting and doom scrolling. “Other than wait for Chinese food and sit around for any sort of news.”

“Chinese?” I perked up a little, my mouth salivating already. “I think we just do smart stuff.”

“Like what?” Logan squeezed my thigh from the seat next to me he’d stolen when Misha had moved to the kitchen island, keeping his hand there as my new comfort blanket. “Tell us what you want us to do, Saph. Or we can brainstorm if you’re not sure.”

Playing boss was always fun, and I wouldn’t have changed it for the world. But sometimes, like now, it would have been nice to have a bossier boss who knew what to say.

Someone who wasn’t just confused, stressed, and worried.

Someone like my daddy, who had just done the job and had always been in control, no matter what. At least that’s what he had looked like to me.

“I think we rest and wait for Misha to find something or one of Ivy’s crew to, either.” I gnawed on my lower lip as I wondered if I ought to wear one of my daddy’s massive faux fur coats and an ushanka just to step into his mindset a little easier, before deciding I would look ridiculous that way. “Like you say earlier, this is not my city. And I will not risk you again to go chasing ghosts.”

As much as I hated sitting around and waiting, there was no other option. I had to be smart. I had to keep the rest of my team – my men – safe and not run around an unknown city chasing gangsters or my missing people or anything else. Trouble was, I was terrible at being patient. Maybe it was the princess in me; I wanted to do things when I felt like it and had never once been told no.

At least I hadn’t before I’d met Lincoln. Now he was the only exception to being denied what I wanted, because I got off on him saying no, and I got off even more when I pushed him further.

“I’m going to call Henley.” With only the slightest nerves, I pulled out my borrowed phone. “She may know something, and like Beau said, she has not run away, so I guess that is a good sign.”

None of the guys put up much of a protest, not that I would have listened this time to them, anyway. I had to do something, and this felt like the most sensible and least dangerous thing to do. It was just a phone call. A no big deal sort of thing.

Henley picked up on the first ring. Fast enough that I knew she had been waiting for me to call, and had been sitting with her phone in her hand.

“I know you’re mad,” she said, “like super duper mad.”

“Mad does not begin to describe it.” I drawled as I lay back, still sitting on Price’s lap, even though I was sure he was having a nap, and in danger of dropping his grip around my waist.

“Okay. I know you’re murderous . But as my new big sister, you are obligated to hear me out.” She carried on talking, her words rushing out. She sounded nervous, but not in a guilty and betrayer sort of way. More like a kid who knew she was going to be telling me something I may not have enjoyed hearing, and perhaps she was in trouble.

Admittedly, it calmed me a bit. If she was truly guilty of hiding something bad from me and being part of a villainous betrayal, I would have hated it.

“You have thirty seconds to convince me not to have you stuffed like a doll to hang on my wall.” I would give her more time to give me all the details, but once again I felt like being petty. It was a becoming a bit of a habit of mine lately, to pull my weight around just for fun.

“Cassie basically blackmailed Widow into giving her information. She contacted him all secret like and leveraged my location when I was… missing. Basically, in return for that, he told her where to find Shannon and when you were going to visit her when she asked him to. But Cassie is the one who took him and Lilah, and we have no idea what for. Widow just texted me the SOS code he told me to look out for when he rescued me, and that’s it.” She blew out a breath. “Now, are you gonna murder me or are you going to be smart and help us figure out the next steps? Because you can’t be mad that he did it. You would have made the same call and I’m biased, but I think I’m a great reason for committing evil.”

Despite being infuriated that Widow had helped the bitch ruining my life and hadn’t confessed his deal to me, Henley was right. I would have made the exact same choice in his place, and I could not be mad about it. Plus, it meant he hadn’t truly betrayed me. He hadn’t done anything that was deserving of death, and I liked that idea. I enjoyed being friends with Widow far more than the prospect of being enemies. Plus, killing him felt like killing a puppy. He was cute and sweet and friendly, and I would have felt guilty.

“Okay, I won’t kill you.” I drawled down the phone. “I understand why he did what he did, and that you hold no blame, either. Even though I am disappointed nobody told me the truth, again, I understand.”

Henley let out a nervous laugh. “Thank god, I’m too pretty to die. Not yet anyway. I need to do some hot girl stuff first. Like get a slutty tattoo and fuck a cowboy or something.”

I snorted and barely refrained from telling her she was too young for tattoos and cowboys.

“We’re coming home as soon as we can. Once we’ve found Widow and Delilah. But when we do, we will be back in Diamond Grove. If he hasn’t already told you, I am going to ask Beau to get everyone packed up in Vegas as I don’t want to be there anymore; I need to go back home to finish everything and deal with all this… this nonsense Telenovela bullshit, that is my life.”

“You can all stay in my house if you want. It isn’t like I need a six-bedroom house on my own.” Her voice cracked and my heart broke for her as my guilt grew larger.

I’d killed the McCormack family, too. Almost all of them.

I’d ruined another little girl’s life without meaning to…

“If you truly don’t mind sharing, I would appreciate if everyone could stay with you because my house is not ready for babies or so many people yet.” I glanced at my men, hoping they didn’t mind too much that I had made such a decision without telling them first. “Except us. One because it’s safer to keep myself from you, and also because the boys and I are going to spend a few days in their home. We have… have things that need sorting.”

Nobody said anything about my idea, but they all tensed up, even Price, who was usually nothing but chilled and partly in dreamland.

“Yeah, that’s cool. We can do whatever.” Henley sighed. “I also have some ideas for what Cassie could want with Widow. They’re just wild theories, but I was talking to a… friend about crazy shit, and then got on a tangent, and now I have thoughts, so grab a snack and a drink; I’m about to run my mouth for a while.”

After twenty minutes, with a handful more promises, shared ideas and eventual goodbyes, I hung up the phone, happy to have cleared up and checked off one thing from my to do list, even if it did notch up my worrying.

And my ears were damn near falling off from just how many words I’d listened to in quick succession.

On the bright side, I had plenty of distractions from the call, and even more waiting now that I was done. This time it wasn’t shirtless men and shower sex; it was something much more sweet.

“So, Saph. The whole engagement party plan, is that still on? Because I’m not backtracking. I am now firmly in the role of fiancé, and will only move to husband, not back to boyfriend.” Price shuffled beneath me, tightening his arms around my waist, his face pushed against my cleavage hard enough to muffle his words.

I laughed. “Yes, the plan is on, papi . We just need to adjust time frame stuff. By that, I mean we need to be ready to go for the first weekend after we get back home.”

He didn’t seem scared or unsure about my faster timeline. If anything, he seemed excited.

“What happens if we go home tomorrow?” He asked.

“Then we do it the weekend. Easy.”

He pulled back so he could stare into my eyes, no doubt wanting the eye contact to ensure I was not fibbing.

“And you’re still okay with it all for real? You don’t have any second thoughts.” He asked.

“About you? Never.” With a kiss on the top of his head, I made my promise. “Even if I am mad about having no ring or grand proposal.” I teased a little.

Sure, I wanted a ring, but I wasn’t mad about it. The whole thing was part of a plan to catch my stalker. It was hardly like we had time to go to my store and have a ring made or bought for me. Plus, I had always valued my daddy’s opinion on jewellery, and without him to offer a little input for my engagement ring, I was far too sad to shop for something that I would wear until I died.

It didn’t feel right.

“Actually, we already sorted the ring part.” Price’s cheeks reddened. “The second we made this whole plan we all had a chat and made a decision about something.”

“What?” I turned on his lap so I could face everyone better, seeing as he was talking about them all planning something.

“It’s a surprise, cica .” Kody smirked at me, a wicked glint in his eyes that I did not trust in the slightest.

“A good surprise.” Logan added.

I wanted to prod and push until they caved and told me what it was. But it was obvious from the tone of their voices that none of them would spill the beans and tell me. They were going to keep their little secret until they were good and ready to tell me.

“Fine.” With an over the top sigh, I threw myself back against Price, feigning disappointment. “Keep your secrets from me.”

It was a good thing the doorbell rang, and our food arrived. It saved me the hassle of torturing their secrets out of them.

For now, anyway. I could wait until we’d eaten.