CHAPTER 177: CHESS PIECES
"You made a mess of things, Daryl," the woman spat as soon as he stepped into their lair.
She was waiting for him, arms folded, eyes flaming with fury.
He barely had time to take off his coat before her words slammed into him. "You caused a scene at Toby Champion's party," she continued, her voice laced with venom. "Why did you have to show him your powers now? Huh? And what the hell is it about James that makes you all itch to get revenge so quickly without proper planning? You exposed too much. You showed your hand, Daryl!"
He grabbed her roughly by the waist and yanked her to him, pulling her flush against his chest.
"Relax, babe," he said with a smirk, brushing his lips near her ear. "I showed him only a taste. Just a warning. Nothing more. We're perfectly safe. I didn't reveal anything important. Everything is still going according to plan."
"Oh really, Daryl?" she snapped, shoving his chest with both hands. "Do you even know who James is? You haven't dealt with him firsthand like I have. He's sharp, calculating and deadly. He'll sniff out your little stunt with his damn bloodhound instincts and start building walls before you even blink."
She took a few steps back, exhaling harshly.
"He's way stronger than you. You need more than power to beat James. You need wit. You need patience. That move you pulled tonight?" She shook her head, "That was a dick move."
Daryl sighed, annoyed but clearly shaken. "So what do we do now, hmm?" he asked, voice tight.
She turned her back to him, brushing invisible dust off her sleeves. "As always, I'll clean up the mess. Yours. Timothy's. You boys never listen." She picked up her phone, tapping rapidly as she continued. "We move the next piece on the board. We don't wait for James to catch up, we stay ten steps ahead."
Daryl raised a brow, watching her pace like a general preparing for war.
She placed the call.
"Timothy," she said coolly into the phone, "it's time to move your chess pieces."
"You told me to wait," came Timothy's gruff voice from the other end, full of restrained irritation.
"And I know what you've been doing behind my back, Tim," she replied, her voice razor sharp. "Do this and we're even. I won't bring it up again."
There was a long groan from Timothy. "Fine. But when are you going to introduce me to this mysterious partner of ours?"
"Soon, Timothy," she answered, her lips curving into a knowing smile. "Very soon. You'll meet him."
She ended the call before he could respond and turned back to face Daryl.
"We begin phase two."
"come here," she said, pulling him close to her as she jumped on him.
Daryl grinned widely. "I knew you weren't going to be mad at me for long."
"Shut the fuck up," she whispered as she attacked his lips in a fierce kiss.
Daryl kissed her back with the same fierce passion as he collapsed with her on the table at her back.
He used his hands to quickly clear things from the table to the ground as he laid her atop it. He brought his hands to her singlet and tore it in one swift movement.
The woman gasped as she cooed. "Just how I like it."
Daryl smiled evily and squeezed her breast roughly, his claws coming out to play.
The woman laughed as she watched him slowly lose it. "Yes baby, just like that," she whispered into his ears.
Daryl fueled, squeezed her breast harder as he palmed her roughly on the breast. The woman gasped as she moaned loudly, loving the rough feel of his hands against her breast.
He brought his teeth to her breast as he bit her nipple hard, tasting blood.
The woman moaned in both pain and pleasure as she urged him on.
Daryl brought his hands to her shorts as he tore them off too in one swift movement. He unzipped his pants and turned her back to face him.
She got on all fours for him as he spanked her ass so hard she buckled beneath him.
He entered her in one long, deep stroke, tearing her pussy walls in the process.
The woman groaned as she moaned loudly.
"Yeah, slut, you like that, yeah," Daryl said as he spanked her ass harder, his finger-prints showing on her skin.
The woman screamed "yes" as he continued pounding into her and smacking her ass in the process.
"Fuck, Daryl, I'm cumming," she moaned.
He grabbed her breast roughly and squeezed it hard, giving her one last pump as she squirted all over his dick.
Daryl pulled her to her front as he brought out his dick and came on her face, watching her lick every last drop of his cum. "Fuck, woman, how did I not meet you first?"
"Don't do that now, Daryl, we talked about this," she said, quickly standing up, her demeanor changing as she stalked into the bathroom.
Daryl smirked as he walked in after her.
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Belle and Cassandra got to the Hutchkins mansion in a daze after their sabotage had blown back in their face. And it did not help that John had threatened to cut ties with them after they acted without listening or waiting for his instructions. Probably if only they had waited, things would not have ended this badly. Slumped down on the sofa, they felt dejected, like all hope was lost.
This was the scene Jasmine walked into as she came to check up on the girls after she heard their voices downstairs.
"Belle? Cassandra? What has your mood like this?" she asked, her voice tinged with concern as she stepped closer.
Belle rolled her eyes at her mother, clearly not in the mood to say anything until Cassandra nudged her. It was only then she started talking.
"We messed up, Mum," Belle whispered.
"Messed up?" Jasmine blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"
"We tried to expose Diana at the party yesterday," Belle said in a low, bitter tone, "we planned to humiliate her and make her look like a cheap gold digger... but James turned the entire moment around. He announced they were married. Publicly. Before the whole damn world."
Jasmine's eyes widened in shock. "What?"
"Yeah," Cassandra jumped in, frustrated. "He practically made her untouchable. No one can touch her now, not without going through him first."
Belle groaned. "To make it worse, John warned us to stay put, that he had his own plans. But we didn't listen. Now he's furious and won't even pick our calls."
"John?" Jasmine asked, frowning. "As in… John Walker? Your new guy?"
Belle nodded. "He was supposed to be working an angle through Belle… but now we've botched everything. And the whole world is dragging us online like torn laundry."
Jasmine sighed, rubbing her temple. "Oh, girls... I warned you both. I told you not to go poking at Diana unless you had the full backing. That man James, he's not like other men. He doesn't bark. He bites. Silently, and clean."
Cassandra stood, pacing. "So what do we do now, Jasmine? Because it's only a matter of time before he retaliates. He's not the type to let this slide."
Jasmine paused, thinking, her voice calm but low. "First, you both need to lay low. Apologize to John, if you have to. Crawl if you must. We can't afford to lose our alliance with him, not when there's still a war going on behind the curtains."
Belle looked at her mother, eyes stinging. "And Diana?"
Jasmine's lips curved into a chilling smile. "Diana's shielded now, yes, but no one is invincible. Even the strongest walls can be cracked when you know where to press. This is not over. Not yet. But for now… we wait."