“That’s harsh, man,” Hunter mutters.
“Harsh is what I need to be,” I say, feeling a hint of guilt over what I’m saying, but I shove it down with the rest of my feelings.
Feelings I never let out. It’s what I’ve been trained to do. To bottle up everything inside me. To be in control. I spent a lot of my childhood not being in control, my father and mother controlling my every move. When Zay, Hunter, and I moved in together and I got a taste of freedom, I took all of the control back that was taken from me. Now, I’m the one that does the controlling.
Hunter heaves a sigh. “Yeah, I get what you’re saying. We come first. We always have.”
As silence skips by, I glance back at Zay. “You good with these rules and looking into her more?” I ask as I slow to a stop in front of the gate to my father’s three-story house.
All the porch lights are on, lighting up the night, yet the place carries so much darkness for me.
Zay nods, but for a crazy second, I swear I see him hesitate.
“You didn’t find something out about her already, did you?” I question as I put the car into park.
He wavers. “The place Raven and her family lived when she was younger was in Kingsley’s territory, but I couldn’t find any connection between them and Raven’s family, so I think it’s okay. Plus, her last name is Wilowwynter, which I’ve never heard of before.”
“I hope so. But we should look into it more just to be safe.” Because if Raven is somehow connected to the Kingsley name, she’s definitely not going to be a part of our circle since the Kingsleys are the Capperellies’ number one and pretty much only constant rival.
The used to be a part of our town until they moved to the city. But we still have no association with them, and it's an unsaid rule that if you do, you'll be punished.
But all my worries about Raven dissipate as the gates open. They’re technically the gates to my father’s place, but for me, Hunter, and Zay, they feel more like the gates to Hell.
Chapter 14
Hunter
Jax and his stupid rules. It’s driving me crazy. Yeah, I get that he’s always kind of been the “boss” of our group, but only because he likes to boss everyone around. We don’t technically have a leader, and it’s worked for us since none of us have ever been good at following rules.
When we were younger, we used to get into trouble all the time. We still do, but I've learned how to sweet talk my way out of stuff, like this morning with Mrs. Elmford, the secretary at the high school. No matter how many times she acts like she's going to turn down my request for a pass to get out of class, she always ends up giving me one. Every single time. It's why I was so thrown off when I tried to flirt with Raven in the office, and she basically turned me down. Not that I ever gave up. No, I'm pretty damn persistent, especially when I meet the most amusing, gorgeous girl I've ever seen.
For the most part, I like that I'm this way, can charm anyone I want to. But when things get serious, I start to struggle to keep the darkness inside me. It happens occasionally, and I've had a few breakdowns. Jax and Zay have seen me at some of my worst moments, and it wasn't pretty. But nothing about my life has been pretty. And from the age of eleven to the age of thirteen, darkness mostly surrounded me, the few exceptions being when I was around Zay and Jax. They're the reason I escaped the darkness—escaped her. My stepmother, who is still my stepmother, but I rarely see her. At least when I get my way. But tonight, things don’t seem to be going my way, something I realize as Jax, Zay, and I enter the spacious meeting room in his father’s house.
A long mahogany table runs up the center of the room in front of the fireplace and is surrounded by chairs and surveillance cameras. And sitting in one of the chairs is Diane, my wicked witch of a wench stepmother.
She’s wearing a red dress, a leather jacket, and a diamond necklace is around her neck. At first glance, I’d guess she was going out clubbing for the night, but this is how she always looks, overly dressed with sparkly things decorating her. But she’s kind of a sparkly thing herself, about fifteen years younger than my father. The only reason she married him was for his money and power. She doesn’t love him, doesn’t care that he sleeps around. Doesn’t care about anything except what she wants. And she’ll do anything to get it.
Anything.
My stomach churns as she smiles at me.
“Boys,” she greets us, her eyes lingering on me.
I hate when she looks at me. I often dream about a day when I can gouge out her eyes so she can never look at anyone again. But my father has made a rule that she’s off limits, and if we break any of our father’s rules right now. If we do, Jax, Zay, and I aren’t getting out of this hell at the end of our senior year. And we want out more than we want anything else.
“Why’re you here?” Zay glares at her as he sinks down into a chair.
She flips her red hair from off her shoulder. "I've been sent here on behalf of your bosses. They wanted to speak to you themselves, but they had other things that needed to be taken care of tonight."
The bosses area our dads, but we refer to Jax’s dad, who’s the leader, as The Boss. They’re all straight up crazy and not anyone you want to piss off.
“Whatever,” Zay mumbles while Jax takes a seat at the head of the table.
Me, I stay in the doorway.
When Diane notices, she crooks a manicured finger at me. “Come sit down, sweetie. There’s some things I need to discuss with all of you.”
My jaw ticks. “I fucking told you not to call me that.”
“Call you what?” She feigns dumb, her head tilting to the side.
“Oh shut the hell up. You know exactly what I mean.” Anger sears under my skin, and she grins, getting off on it.
“That’s enough,” Jax interrupts, his intimidating gaze zeroing in on Diane. Then he leans down, pulls his gun out from his ankle holster, and sets it down on the table. “I’m going to tell you this once and only once. Stop wasting my time, and tell us the message you have for us. And don’t look at Hunter. Look at the fireplace and nothing else. If you don’t, I’ll break those painted fingers of yours right off your hands.”
She glares at him. “How dare you talk to me like that? When your father hears about this—”
Jax cuts her off with a dark laugh. “If you think my father gives a shit about you, then you’re stupider than I thought.” He uses his gun to point at the fireplace. “Now look over there and let’s get this over with. I’ve got other shit to do tonight.”
Gritting her teeth, Diane glares at the fireplace.
A ghost of a smile tugs at my lips. Jax may sometimes piss me off, but no one has my back like he does.
But my mood instantly nosedives when Diane says, “Your bosses, especially The Boss want me to talk to you guys about the new sheriff and his family.”
Chapter 15
Zay
For once, I’m not the only one riled up. Hunter has practically been crawling out of his skin since he saw Diane was the one in the meeting room. I don’t blame him, though, for acting this way. The woman is more messed up in the head than almost everyone I’ve ever met, right next to my dad.
The scars my dad put on my body… The things he used to do to me… they still scar my mind and body. It’s why I can barely stand touching anyone or getting touched by anyone, which is why no one can make sense out of why I decided to hold Raven’s cold body against mine. I can’t even make sense of it.
All I know is that way she jumped, something broke inside me. I was reminded of that day I stood up on the roof of my father’s building with thoughts of jumping. The only reason my feet never left the roof was because Jax and Hunter found me and talked me out of it.
They’ve always been there for me, and part of me wonders if I’d still be here if I didn’t have them in my life.
Some of the stuff Raven said… about being alone… those scars on her wrist and side I noticed when I held her… The pain she must feel… I can relate to it too much.
“What about the sheriff?” Jax asks, wrenching me from my thoughts of the girl with wildly sad eyes.
Diane continues to stare at the fire while restlessly thrumming her fingers against the table. “The Boss wants you to find out more about him. He wants to know his weaknesses, the stuff he can use against him if he can’t be bought off.” She crosses her legs. “He also wants to know more about his family. From what he understands, he has a daughter around your guys’ age. He also has a niece that lives with him who’s around your age too. And he wants info about why she’s living with him. And I’m not talking about the basic stuff you can learn from rumors. He wants inside information about the living situation. And inside info about the girl, which means you three are going to have to get close to her.”
I stiffen. Why do our bosses want to know about Raven?
Jax trades a cautious look with Hunter and me before looking back at Diane. “Why does he want to know about the sheriff’s niece? I can understand wanting to know more about the sheriff, but why bring this girl into it?”
Diane lifts a shoulder. “How the hell should I know? I’m just here to repeat the message and give you instructions.” She rises to her feet, still staring at the fire as she crosses the room toward the doorway. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have other things to do besides playing babysitter for you spoiled brats. Just make sure to do what the bosses want.”
Hunter sidesteps from the doorway as she nears him. Then his fingers curl into fists as she slips a smile in his direction before walking out of the room.
“She’s such a crazy bitch,” Hunter mumbles through a shaky exhale.
“She is,” Jax agrees, drumming his fingers against the table with his thinking face on.
I know where his thoughts are. Or well, I have a pretty good idea.
I shove the sleeves of my shirt up and rest my arms on top of the table. “Why do you think the bosses want to know more about Raven?”