"Tell me you're mine, Alice." Angel groans as he pushes in and out of me, harder, faster. "Tell me, Alice," he shouts.

  “I’m yours, I’m yours,” I scream as my body wants more from him.

  “No one will touch you,” Angel says.

  I open my eyes and see him looking at me. The passion, the hunger, everything is for me.

  “No,” I say, and he kisses me again.

  Pulling out of me, he turns me around on my stomach, leaning up a little as he pushes inside me again.

  "Angel," I say, moaning out his name. His hand moves to my front and rubs my clit. "Oh, fuck," I scream. God, this is amazing. Perfect. I want it every day.

  My moans get louder, and in the blink of an eye, I'm on my back again. Angel pulls on my nipples, pinching them hard, so hard.

  “I’m coming,” I scream as he starts kissing my neck, biting my shoulder. His mouth on my skin only turns me on more. The need squeezes my throat with each thrust, but it loosens as I scream. My body starts to jolt as my walls tighten.

  "Alice, come for me," Angels says, and I do. I come so hard my body is still shaking from it.

  Angel doesn’t slow down, and soon our bodies are soaked in sweat. Angel interlocks his fingers with mine, and increases his thrusts, pushing harder, so much harder. My pussy tightens around him, and I feel every inch as he hits every nerve inside me.

  Angel kisses me again, hard, and then stops. He takes my ankles and rests them on his shoulders. He uses all his strength to fuck me harder. Fucking hell, it's deep this way.

  Angel watches me as I moan, knowing that I will be coming again. His thumb teases around my clit.

  "Oh, fuck, Angel," I scream. He’s just pushed me over the fucking cliff.

  Angel moans out my name, and I moan with him as we both come together. His fingers dig into my hips, as I feel him come inside me.

  Angel starts to go slower, and collapses on top of me. He takes my nipple between his teeth and bites, making me moan again. My body is hyper sensitive, but Angel doesn't have to do anything to get me excited.

  I moan as Angel pulls out of me. How the hell can I feel so lost already?

  "Don't worry. I plan on doing this again, every second of the day if I can." Angel rolls on top of me again, and I start laughing.

  “Before we do, I might need two minutes to clean up,” I say. I can’t believe I just had sex with him without protection. What was I thinking?

  Angel kisses me. "Sorry, heat of the moment." Another kiss follows. "Nothing to worry about." Another kiss. "Trust me."

  My hands slide down his neck, slowly moving to his button. “Then trust me,” I say in a low voice as I undo his first button. His eyes darken a little then he sits up.

  I grab a shirt from the side of my bed, and put it on before moving to sit on top of his lap.

  “I like you naked,” Angel says, making me smile.

  “I like that you like me naked. Since you’ve said no one touches me, no one touches you. I’m yours, so you’re mine. Right?” I ask as I unbutton the second button on his shirt, my eyes on him as I continue to the next. Not breaking eye contact with him, I move to the next.

  “Only yours. Only you can touch me,” Angel whispers as I reach the last button. He holds my hands as I place them on his bare shoulders. “It’s not…”

  I place my finger on his lip. "Shh." I kiss him as his body tenses up. He kisses me back and my hands run down his back. My lips stop still against his. My fingers move from one scar to the other, then another. Leaning closer to him, I look over his shoulder and see his back covered in silvery pink snakes and realize they’re scars. I can't say how many are there, but it's enough. The ones on his right shoulder blade look like tally marks.

  I move back, my gaze meeting his again, and my hand moves back to his shoulder and down his arm. I feel the same bumps, the jagged edges. Moving my gaze to his arm, I see the same thing again…one long cut down his arm.

  "Look at my chest, Alice," I hear Angel whisper, but for some reason, I can't. I can't see it anymore.

  I get off Angel's lap and walk over to the window with my back to him. I ran away from a family like this. I knew this before having sex with him, but seeing the scars, feeling the injured flesh has made it so much more real. Real that they can find me, and that maybe Angel can't save me.

  I jump a little when I feel Angel's hands on my shoulders. "You need to look at my chest, Alice." I feel his breath on my neck, as he begins to turn me around. "Open your eyes, Alice." Angel lifts my head to look at him. As I open my eyes a tear escapes. He gives me a nod, and takes my hand in his. He places it on the side of his abs and I take in a sharp breath as I feel the hard skin under my hand.

  “I don’t think I can,” I tell him. I don’t think I can do this.

  "Alice, I promise you that I won't let anything like this ever happen to you, but it will happen to me. It has happened to me. These might not be the last scars, but these will be the worst," Angel tells me as he wipes the tear from my cheek. "All this was in prison, two, maybe three, are before that. But now that I have you, I don't plan on going back there."

  My eyes still on his, I close them as I put my head down, preparing myself to see the scar. Before I open my eyes, I take a deep breath in then look down at his chest. Even though the skin felt burnt, I can’t see the burn mark. I stare at the tattoo covering up the mark up. A beautiful crown with a chess piece through the center of it, and three skulls beneath it. My trembling fingers move along the outer rim of the scar. Even though he covered up the scar, I can still feel it.

  Angel holds my hand, but I continue to keep my head down. I don't have any words. What words do I say?

  “Alice, let’s get back to bed,” Angel says.

  “Worried someone can see me through the window?” I joke.

  “I’m getting the windows boarded up. No one gets to see what’s mine.” Angel kisses the top of my head.

  "I think you made that very clear at the bar. Everyone in Sinwick knows I'm yours now." I look up to see him peering down at me. My finger moves to the scar around his eye. Softly moving my finger across the raised flesh, I whisper, "I'm yours, Angel Frost."

  "I'm yours, Alice. So from now on, you want to dance, you dance at my bar."

  I can't help but laugh and roll my eyes at him.

  "You can hate it as much as you like. That’s the way it's going to be." He takes my hand and pulls me towards the bed.

  “Can I at least…”

  “Alice.”

  "Fine. I will only be at your bar, the same bar that was hit tonight. Is that really the safest place for me to be?" I sit on top of him, and he sits up, wrapping his arms around me.

  "It can get hit as much as it fucking likes. For you, it will be the safest place." Angel grabs the back of my neck, and I lean closer to him and kiss him.

  “Now that we understand each other, I’m going to spend the rest of the night showing you how much you’re mine.” Angel flips me around as I start laughing.

  I get ready to enjoy my night with Angel. I smile in the knowledge that this will be my night for the rest of my life.

  Chapter 10

  Angel

  Tonight might have been the longest I've slept in two years. Alice cuddled next to me, and her body gave me peace. The moment her skin left mine, I was wide awake and the nightmare was there. It was as if she were the barrier fighting my demons away for me.

  I turned to see why she left me and realized she was turning on her stomach, still fast asleep. Almost two hours I slept, two hours of peace, where nothing came for me. Now, I’m restless. I get out of bed and dress.

  I inhale on my cigarette, as I lean on the wall, looking out at the dead silent street. Not a car in sight, all you can hear is the traffic in the distance. I glance over at Alice sleeping. Could she be any more beautiful? I look back out the window as I think about my night with her.

  I didn’t want her to see my scars. No one should have to see them. But how long can I hide them from her? I want to be buried inside her every night. It’s best she saw them now.

  I was so relieved that she didn't ask about how they got there. Even if she did, I wouldn't tell her. There is no need for her to know. I lie awake every night still feeling the pain.

  I want to protect Alice in every way, and not just making sure that no one touches her. I don’t want her to have any emotional pain either, and my story will give her that.

  When Elijah came to the bar and asked where the girls were, I lost it. I told her not to go, but she did anyway. I came to her apartment tonight to make her understand that she needs to listen, but she looked so fucking sexy in her nightgown. I lost it at the sight of her. I needed to taste her, have her, make her mine for good.

  As soon as Pike took Alice home, I went back to the bar and I told Warren that he needs to fucking tell Drew not to push me. She needs to be the fucking angel on Alice's shoulder.

  I wanted to take Alice home. I wanted her to see how much she had pissed me off, but Vinny had Carl for me. I wanted him to see me, let him know I would be the last face he would see before he dies. Vinny cut off his finger, and that will be the first body part with a note that is sent to William. I'm going to make him fear every step he takes, so when I do ask him the name of who paid him, he will give it without even having to think about it.

  Then the fucking O'Reilly business. That is pissing me off. Dad came to the bar soon after I told him I’d killed one of them. He was pissed at me, and I don't blame him. I broke the rule to find out who they were first. I told my dad that at the moment, I would kill every single one of them until the family hiding showed their face. Dad said he didn’t think I was thinking straight, and maybe he was right. It's only been a week. Like granddad said, it takes time to catch the perfect fish. If you rush, you will lose it. Timing is everything.

  That’s when we all sat down, and we all agreed that this family is going to be playing a long game with us, and we have to be patient. They will make a mistake, and that’s when we will take them. They want to play a game with us, so a game is what we will play.

  Chess is a game of war, between two players. The goal is to crush the opponent’s mind, and that is what I’m going to do.

  I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and dig it out. "Yeah?"

  "O'Reilly came to the bar and spoke to Craig. Their boss wants an underground fight. Tonight," Pike says.

  “Time?” I look over as Alice shifting in bed again.

  “Now.”

  “Who’s fighting?”

  “From them, we don’t know. From us? You tell us,” Pike says.

  I grab my stuff and walk out of the bedroom.

  “You or Craig. I’m on my way.”

  Ending the call, I get ready for a fight I can’t afford to lose. This will be our first big move in this game.

  On the way, I call my brothers and Dad to let them know what’s happening and to get to the bar.

  ***

  I make my way down to the basement and tap the pin code for the fight room. I lock eyes with Pike as I make my way over to him. I take a quick glimpse over at O’Reilly with six of his men.

  "Who's fighting for them?" I ask as I stop in front of Pike.

  "Big guy named Killer," Pike says.

  I can't help but snicker at the name as I look over at him. He’s a big guy, and he looks a little crazy, too. We've been doing this a long time, and can always tell by the eyes who the crazy ones are.

  "How much they putting down?" I turn back to Pike.

  You want to fight in my club, you need to have money, and we don't take anything less than a hundred thousand.

  "Two hundred fifty," Pike answers.

  The number is impressive. They believe their man is a winner.

  I hear my brothers behind me, and wait for them to join us. I give them a nod, then my dad leans in closer to me.

  “You’re not fighting,” he tells me.

  I was thinking about it, let them know I'm sick of the games, but I think myself and my dad know that he won't walk out of this cage alive if I get in there.

  “Pike or Craig?” I ask them all. They consider them both.

  “I want it,” Craig says.

  I'm happy he said that. Craig is our crazy fucker. He once broke a guy’s jaw, then continued to punch him. That guy never had the same face again. Craig fucked him up good.

  Everyone agrees. Elijah and Warren walk away with Craig, so he can get ready.

  "I wasn't going to fight, Dad," I tell him when I notice he hasn't stopped staring at me.

  "You were. Don't lie to me." He looks over his shoulder, then back to me, and his eyes soften. "Alice is a nice girl," he says, then walks away from us.

  I already know grandad would be saying the same thing. Even with what we do, grandad and dad both believe that a strong woman behind us makes us stronger. But I can't have her involved in this life.

  “I see Robert’s given Alice the pass,” Pike says.

  Dad’s given her the pass, but he’s right. Alice is a nice girl, too nice to be getting involved in this shit.

  “Looks that way.” I look over at Craig as he gets ready.

  "So, where were you when I called?" Pike asks.

  I know what he is really asking. "She saw the scars. Fuck, Pike, you could see the horror in her eyes. Her body trembled. I never thought someone could look scared and worried at the same time," I say.

  I've told Pike little things about how I got the scars. He knows the pain they caused, and how I don't want anyone to see them.

  “After she saw them, where did you sleep?”

  I don’t answer. He knows where I was.

  “She still let you sleep in her bed. She will worry, and she will be scared, but she still let you share her bed tonight. That must count for something,” Pike says.

  I watch him for a moment and let his words sink in. I've never done the whole relationship shit, but I can't and won't let anyone else have her. Even knowing that with me, she may be put in danger, or even worse, I have to have her. She will be my distraction, and I might not be able to save her.

  Pike pats my back as we make our way to O'Reilly.

  “You know the rules—no one dies—but they don’t leave the cage walking,” I say.

  We've had fighters die in this cage. It became a place of the dead, and my dad had enough. He told everyone they could come here and let the animal out, break bones, anything goes, but no one dies. Surprising, that made us one of the busiest underground fighting clubs in England. We now hold three fights a week, and in that one week, we make more money than we know what to do with.

  We always put money to the side. We want to make sure if anything happened to us, our family is looked after. We also have a charity set up that offers money to the family of anybody who dies through gun crime. Most families take it, knowing we don't like guns in our town or city.

  I've been distracted with revenge, and this new family. I've not been working on our business. All that will change.

  “Let the best family win,” O'Reilly says as I look at his fighter.

  "We will," I reply, walking away from him.

  "You ready?" I ask Craig.

  “Yes, boss,” he shouts at me.

  “I don’t want him walking out, I don’t want him walking for a very long time,” I tell him.

  “You got it,” Craig replies.

  I walk away knowing Craig’s not a man of words when he is about to get into a fight.

  ***

  I didn't go home after the fight. My mind was working overtime. We won. Craig took a good beating. The fucker bit some of his ear off and broke his arm. This family has a strong team with them, and they are all hidden. I need to get them out of hiding. So, I'm going back to the old time, the way grandad did it.

  “Did you even go home to shower?” Pike says as he walks into the office. “Oh, fuck the chess board. This only came out when the old man wanted disastrous.”

  That is what I'm planning. It's going to take some time, but if grandad taught me anything about playing chess, you play with patience.

  "Where are the others?" I ask.

  "Elijah's gone to check on Carl, Warren is fighting with Drew, and your dad has just walked in." Pike points to the door.

  The bar doors don’t open for a few hours yet, so the only question I have is why the fuck is Drew here?

  Elijah walks into the office. "If you want more fun with Carl, you might want the doc to check him out. Cutting the hand off is a nice touch." He tells me with a smile.

  Elijah has always had a sick mind. Some of the things he would say to me scared me. He is older than me, so I looked up to him, but there were days he would talk about wanting to burn someone alive and watch them in pain. His thinking back then scared me. Now, I love every fucked up idea he has.

  The hand will be sent to William, and I’m going to take that one myself.

  “Call the doc,” I tell Elijah and look over at Warren as he walks in.

  “She’s gone. Tell the devil to relax,” Warren snaps.

  I can’t help but smile at him. Drew really does something to him. He can’t walk away, yet he can’t fully commit to her either.

  “Angel…”

  "I will go home once I have a plan," I answer my dad.

  He looks over at the chessboard. “You want to play the game, then don’t lose your queen. She will be your strength and your weakness. She can be the strongest weapon you have,” he says.

  The queen is the other thing I spent my time thinking about. My focus needs to be here on the game. I am not worrying about who is looking for my weakness. Alice will be my biggest weakness, to the point I know I won't focus on anything but her. So, I need to forget her.

  I must have fought with myself all night about Alice, but I know families will come for her. At the moment, I don't know which family I'm fighting, so how am I meant to keep her safe?

 

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