"You know," Allister turned to Antoine, "I was thinking ofcomingto the party a bit late tomorrow. What do you think? When will you becoming, Piper?"
Still not in on the joke, Piper chewed on her lip and croaked out, "Uh, I don't know. Whenever Antoine wants me to come."
I grinned broadly, meeting Antoine's eyes as I flicked my finger against her clit. "Yes, Antoine. When should Piper come?"
Picking up his wine glass, Antoine watched Piper's face while he took a drink. Then pushing some power behind his voice, he stated, "Now."
Piper shuddered beneath my hand, letting out a tiny cry that startled dear Phillip who made the terrible timing of showing up then. I removed my hand and smiled up at the waiter. "She's fine. Just a bit light headed from the wine is all."
"Okay," Phillip drawled as Piper gathered her bearings. "Your food will be out in just a moment. Does anyone need a refill?"
I glanced over at Piper, bumping her with my shoulder. "What do you think, baby? Do you want some more?"
Piper looked confused for a second and then glanced around the table before narrowing her eyes on me. "No. I'm good."
"Are you sure?" Phillip asked again, not seeming to want to leave the table.
"You heard the woman," Drake replied with a chuckle. "She's good."
"Okay, then." Phillip turned on his heel and left.
The moment he was gone, Piper stood up and scowled. "You're a bunch of assholes," she growled, before storming off toward the bathroom.
The table chuckled, even Marcus, the unfeeling robot, let out a snicker.
"So, now that we're out of the house. How are going to get rid of Valentine?" Drake leaned forward on the table, his eyes rounding the chairs. "I say we jump him in a dark alley and cut his head off. Then we can cut the other limbs off. Burn them, and then dump them out of the plane home."
"Or..." His brother drew out with a what the fuck look on his face. "We could do something a little less serial killer and just stake him."
Drake huffed and crossed his arms. "Fine. Take all the fun out of it."
"The main thing to focus on is how to do it without getting caught," I pointed out with a nod. "Valentine has a lot of enemies. Maybe we can make it look like one of them did it."
"I like that idea." Wynn shifted in his chair, stroking his chin. "Perhaps at the party? There will be plenty of people to put the blame on there. Plus, our master will think all is forgiven and forgotten."
I gritted my teeth, my fingers curling tightly into fists. "No way would I ever forgive or forget what that bastard did. He deserves what's coming to him."
"Agreed." Antoine inclined his head and then turned to Marcus. "Is it possible?"
Marcus was quiet for a moment. I even tried to peek into his head but he, out of all of us, was the one with the best mental defenses. Then after a long pause, he nodded his head so slightly you would have missed it had you not been looking. "Yes. I believe so."
"So, we get Valentine away from the crowd during the party and do the deed then. How will we dispose of the body?" Allister questioned, dragging a hand through his short hair. "It's going to be hard with all those people there."
Marcus smirked. "Not that hard."
"What about Piper?" I reminded everyone with a pointed look. "She's going to need protection from our master and whoever else he brings to this thing. We don't have that many friends either."
"We can't all go when it happens." Drake shrugged. "I volunteer to rip Valentine's throat out."
"No, I want to do it," I argued with a growl. "If anyone has the right to rip that guy apart, it's me."
Drake laughed, throwing his head back. "You? You couldn't kill Darren, let alone Valentine. Let someone with experience and muscle behind their punches do it."
"Neither of you will be there," Antoine commanded, making us quieten. "Two people. Only two is all that is needed to take down Valentine. Wynn and I will do it." I groaned with the others, annoyed at missing my chance for blood. "The rest of you need to keep our master distracted and Piper safe. We don't need all of us under the ax if it all blows up in our faces."
"Fine," I grumbled. "But I get to stay with Piper. Boris gives me the creeps." I shuddered and the others gave me a sympathetic look. I didn't like to talk about it much, because I didn't want to dwell on the past, but Antoine saved me. Not just by changing me, but by stepping in to keep Boris's attention off of me. While Valentine had a thing for small blond women, Boris liked boys. Preferably as young as possible. And when he couldn't find one to fit his needs, he would turn to his household. He'd turn to me.
My dark thoughts were interrupted by the waiter bringing out our food and then Piper showed back up. This time when she sat down, she scooched her chair closer to Marcus and crossed her legs.
"So, what's everyone talking about? When do we kill Valentine?"