Beauties of the Beast (The Yellow Hoods, #4): Steampunk meets Fairy Tale Read Online Free Page B

guy’s not coming back, then.” He dropped himself in a chair. It shook as it struggled to hold together under his wall-like frame. “This LeLoup guy, he’s missing some cards, you know? What’s with this thing he’s got for that sixteen-year-old girl? I mean, that’s not right.”
    “Thirteen,” corrected Franklin. “She’s thirteen.”
    “Geez, really?” asked Ruffo, smoothing his hair.
    “I am dead certain,” replied Franklin, rubbing the black eye Elly had given him.
    Ruffo rubbed his face in embarrassment. “We got our butts kicked by a thirteen-year-old girl? Man, she’s got a lot of anger and skill for a kid, but still.” He drummed his fingers on the table for a few seconds. “Okay, the official story, though, if any word of this gets out, she was sixteen.”
    “Eighteen,” offered Stefano.
    “Yeah, eighteen,” replied Ruffo. “That’s better.”
    “Yeah, and there were three of her,” proposed Franklin with a half-smile.
    Stefano nudged him with a laugh. “Hey, someone’s getting it.”
    Franklin spread his fingers flat and wide on the table. He stared at them while the two thugs continued their banter. Finally, he interrupted them. “So, am I your prisoner or not? We have to assume that LeLoup’s not coming back, so—”
    “Hey, quiet,” said Stefano, smacking Franklin in the chest, nearly knocking him clean over. “If the innkeeper hears that, she’s going to come after us.”
    “You guys can take her,” said Franklin, trying not to look like Stefano had just knocked the wind out of him, which he had.
    Ruffo leaned across the table. “That’s not the point, Franky. Do you know why we’re in here without paying upfront? Because this lady knows who we are, and she’s got friends that are ten times scarier than us or LeLoup. Heck, she’s twenty times scarier than us. We do wrong by her, or make her go missing, we’re looking over our shoulders for the rest of our lives. And that’s if we’re lucky.”
    Franklin glanced at Stefano and was surprised to see the same expression of serious concern. “Really? I wouldn’t have guessed that. I mean, she’s a petite lady, who’s what, fifty? Sixty? Renee doesn’t sound like a big tough name to me.”
    Stefano leaned in. “I heard she used to run the Carvalho gang years ago.”
    “Were they with the Fare or Tub?” asked Franklin.
    “The who?” asked Stefano, confused. He looked at Ruffo. “Tubs? I’m trying to educate the kid and he’s talking to me about bathing?”
    Franklin rubbed the bridge of his nose as he recalled that the Tub and Fare were called secret societies for a reason. He gestured for Stefano to continue.
    “The Carvalhos used to run things, unofficial like, in the northern part of Farkees. This lady, Renee—I heard she started as a slave in Kaban, and somehow made her way up. Did some nasty evil stuff on the way, and no one, let me tell you, no one messes with that old lady.” 
    Franklin couldn’t believe how impressed the guys seemed. “Well, that sounds—”
    Ruffo cut him off with a gesture. “It’s scary, that’s what it is, Franky. Now she runs this place. I don’t know why, but I ain’t asking. Maybe she wanted a change of scenery, maybe she’s been exiled. Maybe she just up and retired.”
    Rocking his chair on its back legs, Franklin flipped his gaze between the two guys. He kept expecting them to finally crack and admit they were joking, but so far, he couldn’t detect anything. “So a little lady like that could run some big… what did you call it, gang? Is that like an army?”
    “Yeah, I suppose,” said Ruffo, scratching his head. “Don’t judge her by the way she looks at first glance. Nah, this lady, she’s an example of you got to look at what’s on the inside. She’s got brains.”
    “Determination and ruthlessness, too,” added Stefano. “Without those, she’d have snapped like a… a…”
    “A twig?” offered Franklin.
    “Yeah,” said Stefano, sitting