Montana Falls (Red Diamonds #5)

Chapter Eight

T he lights in the gym were low enough that the early hour didn’t bother me as much as it should have. I could almost convince myself it was still late, and that I’d had a long night. Rather than the disgusting truth. Not long after we’d all passed out in the lounge from a combination of stress and too much Chinese food, I’d been woken up by Linc at the crack of dawn to come and spar with him because he was a bitch who couldn’t sleep and I was the only one in the hotel who could beat his ass if I wanted to.

And sure, I was happy knowing I was a badass, but seriously? Couldn’t he have fought at like midday or something? Maybe given me enough time to digest my dinner or have a fun dream about firemen. Or more importantly, my boyfriend as a fireman. Yeah, that would have been far nicer than Lincoln forcing me to fight him on four hours of sleep, a belly still full of food and beer, all whilst leaving behind a half-naked Misha, who’d been cuddled against my chest.

A swift right hook cut off my internal complaints and vivid daydreams of drowning the older Leroux man in the pool on the other side of the double gym doors so I could go back to my boyfriend.

“You’re slacking.” Lincoln stepped back, wrapped hands in front of his face again, ready to strike once more. “You could have blocked that.”

“I’m tired.” The yawn that escaped backed me up as I did my best to concentrate and hold my position. “Go again.”

He swung again, but this time I blocked him as I lunged forward on the blue mat. “Tough shit. We need to stay sharp. Look how easy John found us yesterday, and we weren’t prepared. We need to be better prepared for anything .” He hit out once more. “Plus, I couldn’t fight Logan with his stitches, and Saph was sleeping on Kody, so I didn’t wanna wake her. That leaves you, so stop your whining and hit me.”

He didn’t need to explain why he hadn’t asked Misha, either. It was partly because we both preferred to leave him to sleep, but it was also because it wasn’t a fair fight. Mish may have been training more and doing his best to get stronger, but he was still skinny and soft. I fucking loved him and was more than aware of how hot I thought he was. But the point remained that it wasn’t going to be fun for him, or a decent enough training session, for him to be fighting either me or his brother. He’d get the shit kicked out of him and he would not enjoy that.

“Sorry, dad.” I snorted and swung back, narrowly missing Lincoln’s jaw. “Maybe if we did this at a normal time and not in the middle of the night, I wouldn’t have a problem. But it’s not even seven and you know I have an affliction to being awake before double figures.”

The speakers on the wall that had been playing a random mix of pump-up tunes, switched to something far more up our street . It was just enough of an added bounce to my step that I got into the fight a bit more, and actually tried. Or at least, tried as much as I could without breaking Lincoln’s pretty face and having him whine about it all day long.

“We have stuff to do today that cannot wait around for you to get in your eight hours of beauty sleep.” He snorted and ducked around another couple of punches of mine, only irritating me more.

I was too tired to lose. I wanted to punch him at least once. A great punch that was filled with love and bruises. One that would make him remember why I was the only one of us who’d been paid for violence with my hands. I hadn’t needed a weapon. I was a fucking God. A hot one with a big dick and…

“You listening to me, princess?” Lincoln interrupted my internal pep talk with far too much sass for a man I could flatten, like a pancake.

I kinda want pancakes. I wonder if Kody can somehow magic some into my belly for breakfast?

“Princess? That’s what you call Saph. Should I be worried you’re flirting with me now?” I laughed and jabbed Lincoln, managing a shot to his kidneys that made him grunt in pain and made me spitefully happy when he stumbled back on the mat.

“You fucking wish.” He snorted and hurried hit me back, taking advantage of my laughter and catching my ribs but without enough force to hurt. “You’re not my type, you cocky bastard. I was just pointing out that you’ve got an ego and a princess complex that you ought to work on.”

My brows wiggled. “But if you were into guys,” I teased.

The only Leroux boy I wanted into me had already confessed his feelings. Unlike my girl, I had no desire to get a set of them. I was more than happy with just the one. But it was always fun to mess with people.

“Then I’d show Kody the time of his life and fuck him so good he got pregnant.” Lincoln laughed harder and lowered his hands, waving off our spar as finished, his mind clearly changing. “Shut up and give me three laps of the room. I want to see you struggle hard enough that your big mouth stays closed.”

“How mean. My mouth isn’t big. It’s perfectly sized.” I did as he asked anyway, even if running wasn’t really my thing. Not unless it was toward a football, sex thing with the people I loved, or one of Kody’s snacks. Those were things that I could happily run for, but there was none of that in sight.

Shame.

The minute I finished the laps, Lincoln blessedly decided he’d done enough, and we called it quits. Both of us were panting, sweaty and feeling the burn just enough that it would ache for a few hours, but not bad enough we’d need to collapse upstairs and be entirely useless for the rest of the day. An important fact, considering we were on the hunt for John and the others still.

A quick shower later in the far too white and empty gym bathrooms, we headed back upstairs, bickering about the best ways to prepare for another attack from John, not that either of us thought it would happen. We were all still sure it was a fluke. He hadn’t been there for us. He’d definitely come for one or both of the twins.

Maybe. Hopefully.

Honestly, it just seemed too suspicious for timing and had made us sure that John was working with his sister again, who I was far more concerned about. He’d turned up in England just as we had at his other sister’s house. There was no way that Cassie hadn’t been the one to tell him where to find Shannon and the twins. There was no way that she wasn’t here too. Plotting, waiting, lurking. Whatever else it was, sadistic fuckers enjoyed doing when they weren’t stealing people and murdering.

Unlike Sapphire, I hope she stayed away. I didn’t want that freak within shooting distance of my girl, let alone closer. Because as much as I would always defend Sapphire and do my best to keep her safe, I wasn’t a match for a stalker. One who had decades more on me, and somehow knew every tiny little thing we did or where we were.

Someone who could take my girl and hurt her beyond compare again…

Lincoln pushed open our suite door, a little too happy for my liking considering it was still early and I was getting more nervous with each second that passed.

“Honey, we’re home.” He called out through a slight yawn I wanted to copy as I looked around the room, seeking my favorite people first to find out if I could sneak in a good cuddle and nap.

They weren’t weird morning people, but there was a slight chance Lincoln had infected them with his early morning bug.

“Good morning.” The yawn finally escaped as I entered the room.

Mish was in the same spot on the couch he’d been most of the night before his nap, but seeing as he’d changed clothes, I had to presume he’d had a break at some point whilst I’d been gone. As much as it sucked that I couldn’t sleep with him again, I did like knowing that he had got up and changed, so was showing signs of caring for himself just a little.

I didn’t want him sliding back into how he’d acted after his dad’s death.

“Hey, papi, how was the workout with El Diablo ?” Sapphire was lying on the couch beside Misha, her head in Logan’s lap as he braided her hair.

She lazily moved between napping and watching our boyfriend work his pretty little ass off. If she’d been watching Misha overwork, she would have said something too, so I didn’t worry for now, even if I made a note to keep an extra close eye on him for if he needed me to pull him back to earth again.

“As good as it could be in the middle of the night. How come you’re all up so early, too?” I blew her a kiss she caught with a grin.

“Mish had a notification on his laptop, and then we decided to just be awake.” She yawned. “I hope to find John before breakfast and celebrate his murder with waffles and chocolate and berries.”

“Ooh, what about pancakes?” I turned, finding Kody making his fancy coffee. “What do you say, Chef? Can you whip it up or shall we order?”

“I can make it if you order the ingredients.” He narrowed his eyes at me. “And if you admit my dick is bigger than yours.”

“I’ll tell you anything you wanna hear, sweet cheeks, if it gets me some of your food.” With only a small groan about the aches in my muscles, I headed into the kitchen, grabbing the pot of coffee off the side and a new mug for me as I repeated the rather graphic description of just how much better Kody’s dick was compared to mine, that even Sapphire groaned at hearing.

It was worth it, though. For pancakes and waffles and the rest of whatever else he could magic up.

The others had cups on the coffee table, so when I joined them; I topped their cups off to a murmur of thanks, even though Logan pulled the tiniest of faces at the fact the hotel room had run out of his tea already, and we had to wait another hour before we could call reception and ask for more.

I personally thought it was preposterous that an English hotel ran out of tea. Surely the lifeblood of their country should have been stocked up in a pile as big as a mountain.

“Here you go, Mish.” I poured his large white cup up near the brim and handed it over, doing my best not to spill it or scald myself as I sat down and handed it over. “I added extra sugar, so it was as sweet as you.”

“Thanks.” He kissed me in between sips of his coffee. That he didn’t even bother to wait to cool down. “I needed this. I think I found something, but I’m running on like two hours of sleep and I don’t know if I’m imagining it.”

“Go on, boy genius. Tell us all your secrets.” I settled into my seat as Kody and Lincoln joined us from the kitchen, the pair bringing coffees with them. Kody’s looking far fancier than ours, and definitely not from an instant pot.

Misha started rapid fire talking the moment they sat down, his lips moving quick enough I swore they blurred.

“So I found the CCTV cameras in the area around where Shannon lived. Plus, the doorbell ones and anything I could hack into, like the bus stops and speed cameras.” He flipped his laptop around, showing a view of the missing car of ours, Delilah climbing out of it.

“You found them?” I perked up.

“Yes, and no.” He pointed to the screen. “I saw Delilah taking this phone call when we were still in Shannon’s house. But like two minutes later, you see this.”

A figure with their back to us, black hoody covering them, snuck up on Delilah and the car. The poor kid was stabbed in the gut a second before a needle was jammed into her arm and she was forced into the backseat, right before Beni was chucked out and the car sped away.

“So they truly had no choice but to run away, like Henley said?” Sapphire sat up instantly with a frown. “Delilah is hurt, and Widow is being controlled. This is no betrayal; it’s just more bullshit we need to fix.”

“Pretty much.” Misha moved the camera again. “I tracked the car for a few miles, and eventually it went here.” He clicked a few buttons, skipping forward nearly an hour. “The feed cuts out when they get to the airstrip – it’s a private one, with a plane that belongs to one of John’s businesses. They got on a plane about three hours ago.”

“They took a plane?” She bit her lip harder as she got to her feet, starting to pace. “Fuck. They could be anywhere.”

“John wasn’t on the plane. Just Delilah, Widow and some Vice Kings. Plus, that same person in a hoody that I’m presuming is Cassie.” He shook his head. “The flight manifest says they’re heading back to Diamond Grove. Cassie is taking them home, presumably to use as some sort of leverage for you.” He said. “The only bright side is I forwarded a clip to mom, and she said that Delilah would have been dead from that stab wound long before she was on the plane, unless someone stitched her up. So I guess they aren’t going to instantly kill her if they didn’t just let her bleed out? They must have taken her to a doctor or something before they got on board and need her for another plan.”

“Then we shall go after them.” Sapphire turned to us all, face set stern, Montana mask firmly in place. “We can take the plane out as soon as they can refuel and have it ready, and-”

“Not yet.” Lincoln got up, grabbing her and pulling her back down on to his lap, no doubt to physically restrain her from running right out chasing monsters. “You need to send Beau and the other Red Diamonds after them first to see if they can intercept them at the airport. If not, then they can find out what might be happening over there before you go in, guns blazing.”

She spun on his lap, glaring at him, and I instantly realized it was a good thing it wasn’t just me she was with. If she’d looked at me that way, I would have let her have anything she wanted and been seriously happy about it.

She was so fucking hot when she looked pissed off and dangerous. It was ridiculous.

“What? Why would I send them and not go?” She asked.

“Because it might be a trap.” He tugged on one of her short braids. “You can’t go running into danger when it could be exactly what Cassie wants. Instead, you can let other people check things out first. Then we can all go after if it’s fine and we can actually help, not get hurt.”

Sapphire cocked her head as I took notes from Lincoln’s behaviour for any future days where I needed to be sensible and get her to listen to me.

“You wish for me to wait.” Her eyes narrowed.

“I want you to be smart, princess. I want you to make sure we don’t lose you again.” He nudged his chin at her. “In the last twenty-four hours, you were shot in the face and only just missed dying. Logan was shot and needed stitches, and Shannon was killed. I feel like there’s been enough drama, even without including everything that’s happened since we met. So yeah; I want you to wait. I want us all to stop being hurt and playing right into the O’Malley’s hands.”

“Plus, John is still here, and if his gangsters have gone, then he’s on his own. I presume it’s so he can go after the twins again, which means we may be able to catch him and deal with him easier.” I pointed out.

Sapphire opened her mouth like she was going to argue, but quickly snapped it closed when Logan and the others started to pipe up with more agreements to be smart and do what Lincoln said.

“Losing you all was hell, and being gone was the same. Not to mention all what we lost.” She muttered, as she almost collapsed in retreat, slotting her head into the nape of Lincoln’s neck and sighing. “If we can avoid those things happening again, then ok. We do this your way, bunny… and we go after John and wait for Beau and my Red Diamonds to check things out first.”

Even Misha side eyed her a little as Lincoln asked, “You’re agreeing with me?”

“Yes,” she mumbled into his throat. “I agree to do as you said.”

He placed his hand against her forehead. “Hmm. You don’t feel warm.” He moved his hands again, copping a feel of her ass as he chuckled. “No, definitely not warm.”

“What are you talking of, pendejo ?” She swatted him away with a snort.

“I’m presuming you’re ill, so I’m checking for a fever.” He grinned as she tried to fight against his hold and failed.

He started to tickle her, and I knew we were about to have World War three on our hands.

“Price,” she squealed when I got to my feet, “come save me. He’s being evil.”

Within a handful of steps, I snatched her up into my arms and took her back to my chair, chucking her down into the seat before I stole back my phone.

“Behave yourself whilst I order groceries.” My command was as firm as I could make it.

“You are ordering them?” She cocked her head. “Thanks for the assistance, papi .”

My cheeks reddened at her praise. “It’s cool. I can do groceries, easy. I’m a responsible adult and almost husband.”

“You’re not gonna be a husband if I kill the princess before we get her into her dress.” Lincoln smirked from his seat. “If she keeps listening to my orders, then I’ll let her have her day.”

Sapphire stared between the two of us, an evil glint in her eyes that I did not trust in the slightest.

“I can’t wait until all this is done and we have to take a trip to fully cement you as my Red Diamonds minions.” She drawled, hand sliding onto Misha’s thigh.

“A trip? Where?” Logan asked.

“Just a little town in the middle of nowhere.” She grinned hard enough to make me shiver. “It’s nice and snowy and we own a cabin near this pretty, icy lake. It will be your final task before you are allowed to serve me until we all die.”

Kody snorted as I stretched and cracked out my limbs, debating whether I could bring myself to have a bubble bath or if the feel of all that water on my body would only up the ante on my nerves.

“You gonna drown Linc in the lake?” Kody asked, filling my head with vivid daydreams of our girl shoving Lincoln into a big icy void and how hot she would look in faux fur.

“Something like that.” She hurried to change the subject to something I also found more important right now. “Anyway, what is the shopping list for breakfast and when is it coming? I’m starving .”