I let out a groan. “Do we really have to go over this again?”
“Hey, you’re the one who thanked me for saving you.” He smirks at me then turns toward an alarm box on the wall and pushes a series of buttons. When the locks to the doors click, he reaches over and opens a door, peering out first before stepping outside.
I follow him out, folding my arms around myself as the chilly night air nips at my skin. Then I peer around in awe at the wraparound porch lined with wide columns and the driveway that curves around in front and leads to a tall, iron, gated entrance.
“This place is so freakin’ huge,” I mutter as I follow Zay off the porch and to a dark car with tinted windows parked in the arched driveway just in front of the house. Then I turn back around to get a good look at the place.
It’s dark, but several porch lights are on, so I can still take in the two-story mansion lined with shutters and one of the biggest garages I’ve ever seen.
“It looks better in the daylight,” Zay says, observing me observing the house. “But the best part about it is its seclusion.”
I glance back at him. “Yeah, you guys seem to like your privacy. I guess I can kind of understand why. Well, sort of. I’m still a little bit confused about this whole five mafia families’ thing. I mean, are all of you like rivals with each other? Or do you work together?”
Zay snorts a laugh, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “We definitely don’t work together. But we’re not entirely rivals either. We just have a…” He wavers. “A mutual understanding, I guess is the best way to describe it. And as long as one of the groups doesn’t do anything to piss off another, everything is fine. Unfortunately, a lot of us get off on pissing people off.”
“I’m guessing you’re one of those people,” I say with a conniving grin.
He raises his brows insinuatingly. “Like you’re not.”
I give a shrug. “I never said I wasn’t.”
He shakes his head. “I think you’re going to drive me crazy. I really do.”
“Going to?” I question. “I thought we were already there?”
He shakes his head again, stepping closer to me. “You know, you’re the first person to talk to me this way in a long time, and I have no damn idea what to do with it.” His confession throws me off. So is the way that he’s staring at me, like I’m a complicated puzzle he’s unsure how to solve—or if he even wants to solve. But then he blinks and puts on a neutral expression. “There’s still a ton of other stuff I—we need to explain to you, but I don’t have time to do that right now.” He opens the back door to the car, indicating that my time with him is up. “Tomorrow, though, we’ll all sit down and have a talk. Then you can take the oath.”
“Sure.” I force a smile, completely doubtful that’ll happen. Because, deep down, I know something will happen that’ll make them change their minds about bringing me into their group. That’s how it always works for me. Every single time.
I move to get into the car, when he captures my arm.
“Why did you sound so doubtful about that?” he questions, his eyes shadows against the darkness.
“I didn’t,” I lie.
“No, you did. And I want to know why,” he demands, taking an intimidating step toward me.
I roll my eyes. “Didn’t I already tell you that you’re not as scary as you think you are?”
“That’s because I haven’t even tried to be scary yet.” He slides his hand up my arm then pulls me closer, his fingers trembling a bit. “Now tell me why you sounded doubtful about us sitting down and talking with you tomorrow.” He’s trying to act scary, but the way he quivers makes me feel almost sorry for him.
He hates being touched. And I can barely remember what it feels like.
“I just don’t think it’s going to happen,” I say. “I think, by tomorrow, you guys are going to realize you don’t really want me in your circle and that’s gonna be that.”
“So you think we’re going to dump you?”
“Yeah, pretty much. But it’s cool. Like I said before, I do better alone.”
He silently stares at me, a cool breeze gusting around us. “It’s going to be fun proving you wrong.” He releases my arm, steps back, then gestures for me to get in. “I’ll see you tomorrow, princess.” He aims one last smirk at me then hikes toward the front doors.
Looking away, I climb into the car and shut the door. The driver, an older guy with grey hair, greets me with a smile but doesn’t ask me where I need to go, driving forward toward the gate.
“Do you need my address?” I sit back in the seat and stretch out my legs.
“No, Mr. Capperellie gave me the direction,” he replies, pushing a few buttons on his GPS. “You just sit back and relax.”
I highly doubt I’m going to be able to do that with how wired I feel. Still, I rest my head against the window and watch the fields pass by in a blur as we drive down the hill and toward town. It takes us at least twenty minutes to get there, and by the time we're pulling up into my driveway, exhaustion has crept up on me.
“Thanks for the ride,” I tell the driver as I reach for the door handle.
“You’re welcome.” Then he reaches over the seat and hands me a card. “If you ever need a ride anywhere, just call me. Mr. Capperellie has already informed me that I’m to drive you anywhere you need at any time of the day.”
“You mean Jax?” I make sure since Zay’s last name is the same.
“Or Zay.” He urges me to take the card. I do, confusion whisking through me as I glance at it. All that’s written on it is a phone number.
Why would Jax have him give this to me? It doesn’t make any sense.
“Just dial that number,” he tells me. “That’s all you need to do.”
“Okay.” I fold my fingers around the card. “Do you have a name at least?”
He smiles warmly. “It’s Zee.”
Right. I remember one of the guys mentioning that.
“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Zee.” I reach over and offer him my hand to shake. “I’m Raven.”
He puts his hand in mine. “It’s nice to meet you, Raven. I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of each other now that you’ve joined Mr. Capperellie’s circle.”
Again, I’m not sure if he’s referring to Jax or Zay.
“Yeah,” is all I say, my head spinning in confusion as I push open the door. “Thanks for the ride.” I wave then climb out, feeling completely … Well, I’m not sure there’s a word that fits how I feel right now.
Totally mystified. Freaked out. Baffled. Yeah, those might work.
Stuffing the card into my pocket, I hike toward the front door of my house and decide to shove thoughts of the guys aside for now since I’m sure I’m about to get my ass chewed out for mouthing off this morning. Plus, I never did give Dixie May her stupid makeup case.
“All right, Raven, this is going to go a heck of a lot better if you just keep your mouth shut,” I give myself a pep talk, hoping for once I can listen to myself and keep my lips zipped.
Taking a breath, I open the front door and enter the house. The instant I step over the threshold, my guard goes up. All of the lights are off in the house, except for the hallway lights upstairs. The air is quiet, too.
Where is everyone? Did they go out for a family dinner or something?
I smile at the thought as I step inside, shut the door, and head for the stairway. If I can pretend to be asleep by the time they get home, I might be able to get away without a lecture and a punishment until at least morning.
But my smile fades the instant I enter my room and my gaze falls to my bed. The lamp is on, revealing the stash of drugs that I stole from my uncle scattered across the mattress
Shit.
I spin around to run, but my uncle steps out from behind the door and blocks my path, anger blazing in his eyes.
“So you thought you could steal from me, huh?” He crosses his arms and stares me down.
He’s not a very tall man, which is strange since my dad was really tall. But he’s bulky and has a mean right hook—that I know. He’s also still dressed in his sheriff uniform even though he’s probably been off work for a couple of hours. He wears it, though, when he’s trying to intimidate me. I don’t know why he thinks it does, though.
“I didn’t steal that from you.” My voice comes out even. I’ve learned not to show fear when he gets like this. That it only seems to rile him up more. “That’s stuff I bought.” Yeah, I’m basically admitting that I bought drugs, but I’d rather have him believe that than know I stole from him.
He gives a hollow laugh as he steps toward me while reaching back for the door. “How stupid do you think I am, Raven? I’m well aware that you've been stealing from me. But do you want to know what pisses me off even more?"
I bite down on my tongue until I taste blood, resisting the urge to throw out some snarky remark.
He slowly closes the door, then click, he locks it. “That you know a little secret of mine.”
I push down the fear wanting to emerge inside me, let out a slow breath, and inch back. “I don’t know anything.”
“Liar.” He matches my move, stepping forward and stealing the distance I put between us. “You’ve always been good at that—being a lying cunt.” He steps toward me again, his fingers drifting toward his holster. “Remind me. Have I marked you with that word yet? Sometimes it’s hard to remember with all the marks I’ve put on you already.” He pulls out his knife and flips the blade open. “You make it so easy, though, with that mouth of yours. It’s like you like me cutting you up.”
Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in …
Exhale.
“Look, I’m sorry for stealing your drugs. I don’t know why I did it, but I’ll stop. And I won’t tell anyone about the stash you have. I’m a lot of things, but you know I’m not a narc.”