Sadies Game (Ashby Crime Family Romance Book 7) Read online

  “Bullshit. You’re pretty as hell, Sadie Rose. So pretty that I’m tryin’ really hard to remember you’re only sixteen.”

  I took another sip and another until my glass was empty. Colm refilled it quickly. Soon I was feeling tipsy and tingly, giggling at his stories and flirting with him.

  It was easy to fall for Colm back then. He was funny and charming, and he made me feel like a beautiful woman, not just some dirty, worthless girl. Being around him was addictive. Being tipsy. It was a feeling I couldn’t have imagined in my wildest dreams. After that night, I didn’t want to be without him. I liked who I was when I was with Colm, and I liked how he looked at me and made me feel.

  Like I mattered.

  After that night, Colm and I were inseparable. We were only apart to sleep because I still had a curfew, but that didn’t mean we weren’t fucking, because we fucked as often as we could. Colm was insatiable, and he taught me so many things about how to please him, about what pleased me. I suspected early on that what I felt for Colm was more than a crush, more than a teenage girl sprung because of good dick, but one night just before Christmas 1982, I knew for sure.

  I was flat on my back, sucking hard to catch my breath after Colm fucked me so good I thought I pissed myself. “That’s never happened to me before.”

  Colm laughed and turned to face me, his finger sliding in and out of my pussy, making an outrageous squishy sound. “Can’t say I’ve ever made a girl squirt like that before. It was fucking hot.”

  “Really?”

  He nodded. “Fuck yeah. You know how good it makes a man feel to know he can pull that from his woman? I’m hard again just talking about it.”

  I reached down and felt his cock, hard and pulsing with need already. Again. “Am I? Your woman, I mean?”

  Colm nodded; his black brows dipped into a frown. “You’ve been my woman since that first night at The Oak Barrel, Sadie Rose.”

  Yeah, I was in love with this man who was a real man. He had a lot of money, a big dick that he knew how to use, and best of all, he treated me like a queen. Even though he had enough confidence and swagger for ten men, I found his mile-wide protective streak even more appealing. He cared about me. “I love you, Colm.”

  He grinned at my words and pressed a soft kiss to collarbone. “Love you too, Sadie Rose.”

  My eyes fluttered shut at his words, and I let my fingers tangle in his hair as I arched up into his touch. He fucked me slowly and tenderly, but so deep it was like he fucked my soul.

  That changed everything. I left for school that morning as usual, but when Mom left to do the day’s grocery shopping, Colm and I returned to get my things. The plan was that I’d never go back to school.

  “What’s this?” He held up the bloody bag that I kept in the back of my closet, and I felt my heart drop.

  “Um, just some clothes I need to get rid of.” I just told this man that I loved him, but I wasn’t sure that I could tell him all of my secrets.

  Colm looked at the bag and then back at me. “Wanna try that again, Sadie Rose?”

  I sucked in a deep breath, slammed my eyes shut, knowing that this moment was inevitable. “There was this guy, Owen.” Once I started talking, I couldn’t stop. I shared every detail from the rape to the shame to the need for revenge. “Those are the clothes I wore that night. And the knife.”

  Colm was quiet for so long that I started to plan what I would do without him. How would I explain today’s absence from school to my mom to avoid trouble? How would I go back to life without Colm?

  “That’s all?”

  I nodded. “Yeah.”

  “This,” he held up the bag and grinned. “This is no big deal. We’ll make a quick stop and burn it.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. You’re my woman, Sadie Rose. I’ll make sure no one ever finds out what happened to that motherfucker. I promise.”

  It was a promise Colm kept until the day he died. Even when I found out I was pregnant with Owen’s baby, he took me to the abortion clinic, held my hand and smiled. “That fucker’s seed doesn’t deserve the life we’re gonna have together.”

  After that day, my parents disowned me and I never went back. There was no evidence that Owen and I had ever been together after the rape. And over the years, I made sure everyone who was there that day paid the price for their cowardice. Thanks to Colm and Cillian, I learned the ins and outs of the tri-city underworld, and most of all, I learned how to cover my tracks.

  “Did you hear me, Ma?”

  Kat’s voice pulled me from the past, and I looked at her with a bland smile. “What?”

  “I said I’m not sure just alterations will cut it with this dress.” She was annoyed with me again, which seemed to be her permanent state these days.

  “Don’t be silly, Katherine. We can find more fabric and alter it so it fits you perfectly.” This dress was the closest thing I had to a family heirloom to pass on to my only daughter, and she would damn well take it.

  Kat rolled her eyes, hung the dress up with the gentle care it deserved and walked out of my expansive walk-in closet without a word. Without a look back.

  What the fuck was it about mothers and daughters? Were we doomed to hate each other from one generation to the next?

  Chapter Two

  Sadie

  “They’ve already been investigating these murders for months. If they haven’t found any evidence yet, chances are they won’t.” I admit that a small sliver of fear went through me when I heard the FBI had created a joint task force to investigate the shooting deaths of Bishop Mueller and Bonnie, but they’d been at it too long to have found anything, and I felt myself starting to relax.

  Thomas listened carefully, the way he always did. His hazel eyes were bright and intelligent, and I knew without a doubt he always had my best interests at heart. Not the family, not the Organization but me. Just me. “Do you plan to intervene?”

  “If I have to, I will.” At this point, chances were slim I would need to do anything to avoid arrest. The scene was clean. I made sure of it,. Whatever evidence the feds thought they had wouldn’t come back to me or anyone associated with the Ashby family or business interests. “You worry too much, Thomas.”

  His smile was small, but I saw it. “Or maybe you don’t worry enough, Sadie.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe you’re right, but the fact remains that I’m not worried, so you shouldn’t either. I need a drink.” I pushed away from my desk with a sigh and made the short trip to the bar to pour myself a glass of Velvet Fire. Virgil did well for himself with that whiskey.

  The phone rang on my desk, and Thomas answered it in his stiff, cultured way. “Sadie Ashby’s office, what can I do for you?” He nodded and turned to me. “Officer Howard.”

  I smiled and took the phone, ignoring the tingle that shot through me when Thomas’ fingertips brushed mine. “Howard, how are you today?”

  Howard Sullivan was one of the many law enforcement officers who were happy to earn a little extra cash for providing me with intel.

  “Good, thanks. Are you up for a friendly chat, Ms. Ashby?”

  Shit, the cops wanted to talk to me. “At the café on Washington?”

  “Yep, on Washington, but I think it’s locally owned. Our chat should happen soon.” Howard ended the call abruptly, and I turned to Thomas.

  “Bad news?”

  I nodded. “The feds are on their way here to talk to me. Jameson Ellison is coming with them.”

  Thomas gave a short nod of acknowledgment and straightened his shoulders. “I’ll get the refreshments ready.”

  “Perfect. I’ll call the boys. They should be here for this.” I looked at the half-full glass with longing and left it on my desk as I went in search of Jasper, Virgil, and Calvin. By the time the law came to my door, my sons were seated around the dining room table, Jasper to my right, Cal and Virgil to my left. On the other side of the table, Beck sat between Agent Marshall and Officer Ellison.

  It was cl
ear this was Beck’s show, and as a powerful woman myself, I respected that. Not enough to take it easy on her, but enough to answer her silly questions without my attorney present.

  “Sadie,” she began as if we were old friends.

  “Ms. Ashby,” I corrected her. “Sadie is reserved for my friends. Friends like Jack.”

  The mention of her father had the intended effect of knocking Agent Beck off her game. “Interesting, but my questions today are about more current events. The night Dietrich Mueller and Bonnie Ashby were murdered, where were you?”

  “Ah, yes. Jack and I became good friends after a while. He was such a good listener.”

  The truth was her father had been a damn good employee and losing him wasn’t something I took lightly. Not now and not then.

  “Do you have an alibi for the night your daughter-in-law was killed?”

  “He needed extra cash to help take care of his child, a smart kid too. A daughter, I think?” I let my gaze linger on Beck to let her know I knew why she was so preoccupied with my family. “Jack needed the money, so I offered him a job transporting goods for one of my companies.”

  Agent Beck sucked in a shaky breath. “If you can’t account for your whereabouts Ms. Ashby, you’ll be bumped up from person of interest to suspect.”

  I sat back in my chair and grinned. “Interesting.”

  “Not really, now answer the damn question.” She was getting annoyed and that would make her interrogation sloppy at best.

  “What night was that? Specifically?”

  Beck scoffed. “You don’t remember the night your daughter-in-law was killed?”

  I shrugged. “It’s been a terrible tragedy for the family. I thought you, of all people, would understand that I was too stricken with grief to worry about things like calendars and timelines.”

  She stopped shuffling her papers and glared at me. “Leave him out of it.”

  “Him? Oh, Jack.” I smiled wistfully; the emotion was genuine, and it helped get a rise out of the redheaded bitch. “The best thing about him, other than his listening skills, was the way he fucked me. Damn, he was good. He knew just what I liked, and it got him off just to get me off, a fine trait in a lover.”

  “Ma,” Jasper groaned and dropped his face in his hands.

  Calvin and Virgil remained silent, supportive and strong but silent. Agent Beck, though, was ready to spit fire at me. The bitch would probably cuff me now if she could justify it.

  “Yeah, and I’ll bet once he was of no more use to you—”

  Agent Marshall chose that moment to step in before his partner said something that would get her thrown off the investigation. “The seventeenth, Ms. Ashby. Where were you on the evening of the seventeenth, from seven in the evening until midnight?”

  I liked Agent Marshall. He was competent and fair, even good-looking in that broke cop kind of way with his cheap suits and old but comfortable shoes. He did his job, and that was it. He didn’t have a personal stake in the outcome of the cases he investigated. He was a bit like the cops Colm and Cillian dealt with back in the day. I’d have to get him on our payroll.

  “I was at home all evening. I spent part of it with my granddaughter, and I’m afraid she’s too young to confirm my alibi.”

  “You didn’t leave at all the whole night?”

  I shrugged. “Maybe a walk around the property to clear my head, but otherwise, no. I’m a bit of a homebody, Agent Marshall.”

  He nodded. “Right.”

  “Maybe Bonnie fell off the wagon, and that’s why she was meeting with Mueller. It’s no secret he was into some pretty shady things.”

  Beck scoffed at my words and leaned forward, glaring hard enough to pop a blood vessel. “Bullshit. You’ve had a beef with Mueller for years. Funny how his death benefits you most, but you had nothing to do with it. Kind of hard to believe, don’t you think?”

  I opened my mouth to cut the little bitch off at the knees, but Jasper beat me to it. “What I think is that those pretty blue eyes see a lot, but not as much as you think.”

  Pretty? As a woman trying to gain respect in a man’s world, Addison Beck wouldn’t fall for such a weak ploy.

  But her cheeks flushed, almost covering up the freckles that dotted the bridge of her nose. She flashed a smile in Jasper’s direction and leaned forward. “These pretty blue eyes see everything, and they see them crystal clear.”

  “Or maybe they’re so desperate to see some things that they completely miss others.” Jasper sat back and smiled as he folded his arms over his chest, drawing Beck’s gaze to the biceps he usually kept hidden behind fancy three-piece suits.

  Beck’s rosebud lips pulled into a smile. Her blue eyes lit up with that fire that comes from sparring with someone on your level. “Or maybe you just want me to think I’m off, so I’ll stop looking into the past.”

  Jasper shrugged. “It’s your time. Waste it how you see fit.”

  “I will, thank you.” She jutted her chin out defiantly and fell back in her chair when Marshall cleared his throat. “Since you claim to know nothing about the murders of your daughter and a local do-gooder, how about you tell us what you know about the string of dead priests?”

  Ah, the little bitch was good, trying to throw me off. I blinked as innocently as the Catholic schoolgirl I’d once been. “Dead priests? Oh, you mean the crimes your colleagues falsely accused my daughter-in-law of committing? Which then led to her being kicked out by her family and sent her on a downward spiral to drug abuse? That’s what I know about those murders, Agent.”

  “That’s not an answer, Ms. Ashby.”

  “Really? Well, it’s the only answer I have for you.” She had nothing, less than nothing on those murders, and I wouldn’t even entertain her questions.

  “Bonnie has long been cleared of those murders, which means the murderer,” she looked from me to Jasper, “or murderers are still out there. Free to kill again.”

  Jasper shrugged. “With all the sex abuse allegations that follow the church, it could be millions of people in and out of the state of Nevada. Have you looked into complaints against those priests? Former parishioners?”

  Agent Beck grunted her frustration and fell back in her chair like a child throwing a tantrum. “You’re right, it could be anyone. Including her.”

  Jasper laughed. “What motive?”

  Before Agent Beck could say whatever was on the tip of her tongue, Marshall stopped her with a hand to her forearm. “Motive isn’t everything as you well know, Mr. Ashby.”

  “No, but it would definitely help if you had one. Which you don’t.” Jasper didn’t mince words and he was fiercely protective of his family, which would not work in Agent Beck’s search for the truth.

  I let out a long sigh and let one hand dramatically drop to the table. “I’m bored with this now. If you have any further questions, Agent Marshall, direct them to my attorney. Thomas will give you his card on your way out.”

  Marshall nodded and pushed away from the table, standing tall despite the tired droop of his shoulders. “Thanks for your time, Ms. Ashby.”

  “Yeah, thanks,” Beck shot back, her voice thick with sarcasm young people thought made them sound so smart. “This investigation isn’t going away anytime soon, Sadie.”

  “It’s gone on for long enough without any leads, wouldn’t you say? Maybe they ought to put someone more capable in charge.” My raised brow sent her nostrils flaring in barely restrained anger. She’d looked as if she’d liked to throw a punch if not for that badge attached to her hip. Interesting.

  Her bark of laughter let me know just how much I got under her skin. “You can’t buy your way out of this, and as soon as I find that one little mistake you forgot about, I’m going to cuff you myself.” Beck smacked the heavy dining room table with both hands before she sent me and then Jasper a withering glare and stomped off in a huff.

  As soon as we had the room to ourselves, Virgil said, “Well, that was interesting.” His low laugh added some le
vity to the moment.

  But even that couldn’t stop the shiver of unease that went through me at Agent Beck’s words. I thought back to the murders. I’m convinced I didn’t make any mistakes in that room that night, I was sure of it. I didn’t make mistakes anymore, period.

  But Beck’s certainty had me doubting myself and my thoughts, inevitably, turned to that fucking prick Mueller and what had led to his ultimate demise.

  Chapter Three

  Sadie

  “I know you and Bonnie have seen one another.”

  Both Bonnie and Mueller were so confident that no one knew about their clandestine meetings, but they weren’t appropriately secretive. Mueller was, but Bonnie went straight from the mansion to her meeting spots with Mueller, making it easy for Thomas to track her when I asked him to.

  “In fact, you’ve been seeing her since shortly after she gave birth to my granddaughter.”

  Dietrich Mueller sat back in the bistro chair with a sigh and gave me a reluctant nod.

  “At first, she came for intel on The Crusaders,” he admitted. “She wanted to find anything she could that would end this war without risking the lives of her husband and child.”

  I rolled my eyes. “She was willfully naïve, that girl. Bonnie knew what she married into and when the reality of it became too real, she wanted to change things.”

  It was why I set up this little meeting with the kinky priest in the first place because I needed a favor.

  “Maybe, but she was struggling. Asked for painkillers several times.”

  I laughed. “And you didn’t give them to her?” I shook my head and took a sip of wine. “What a missed opportunity, Bishop. You could have gotten her hooked and sold her to one of your perverts for a pretty penny.”

  He didn’t appreciate my joke. His nostrils flared and his eyes darkened in anger. He couldn’t stop that chiseled jaw from grinding his teeth into dust, either. “Maybe that was part of my plan.”

  “Doubtful,” I snorted and took another sip of wine. “That’s the one thing Bonnie wouldn’t have done, and we both know it. So tell me, Bishop, what did you do for her?”