Page 36 of Hers To Keep
“Don’t even think about it, doll,” I sneer, as she quickly dries her hands on the sides of her apron. “Now get lost,” I add, and she’s quick to clean herself up with a panicked look leaving us immediately.
“Well shit, I’m surprised you didn’t kill the fucker?” Bass says, but I’m not sure if he’s joking. “Wait, you didn’t kill him, did you? I mean he did fucking disappear.” If only I’d gotten the chance to.
“No, I didn’t kill him, although I should have. But I asked Wesley to get rid of him. It’s why he’s gone. Apparently, it’s bad for business to be caught handling his girls that way, without his permission.”
“Either that or he was jealous Macallan got to touch your girl. You know Wes has a fucking hard-on for her, it’s only fucking obvious.” I could strangle Bass for his fucking inappropriate comments, not caring at all if he’s my best friend.
“Fuck off, Bass,” I shout, pissed off at his insinuation, my hands fisted at my sides.
He raises his hands, backing away as he apologizes, “All right, but I still don’t get what you want us to do?”
Here it goes, the moment I’ve been dreading. I know he’ll be on my side but once this comes out, there is no going back. “Tomorrow, we need to crack down on who exactly it is that’s spreading information about The Gallows. I had two girls come up to me today at school. Two of them asked about the club my family owned and how they can get in to work there.”
He looks over at me, a knowing look taking over his face. “Itmust be how Damon Drake found us. I’m sure he followed us, but he had to have heard rumors to even know where to begin.”
I nod. “Exactly, so we need to crack down on who it is that’s talking. It’s not only bad for business, but it shows a weakness we can’t afford to have.”
Bass laughs to himself, shaking his head as he grabs a bottle of bourbon from the bar behind us, and brings it to his lips, not bothering to pour himself a glass. “They already think there’s shit going on between us, a flaw in our reign. I mean fuck, Ace, you’ve been MIA the last few months, ever since the girl came around, you’ve slacked off on your Horsemen duties. You’re barely even at the academy, and when you are, you’re oblivious to what’s been going on. People talk, there are rumors of an uprising. People are still pissed about those fucking punks and Scarlett being here. We can’t afford to show any kind of shift in our order. Especially not now.”
I drop my pool stick on the table beside him, moving over to him until we’re standing face to face. I place a hand upon his shoulder, his gaze moving from the table to mine. “Which is why I need you guys to show our strength now more than ever.”
“What does that even mean?” he asks, his tone now more serious than earlier.
“I need to step down for a while, not publicly but behind the scenes. I’ve got bigger problems than some fucking petty high school kids with nothing better to do than talk shit. There’s some serious shit going on between Wesley and Scarlett. He keeps fucking threatening her and I’m afraid of what he’s capable of doing.” I admit it for the first time out loud, but the look on Bass’s face reveals this is nothing new to him. He feels it too.
“So, what are you going to do about it?” he asks, a hint of worry in his tone. “You can’t go against him, Ace, it’s too fucking dangerous.” I know he won’t immediately understand why I must do what I’m going to do, but if anyone will back me up, it’s going to be him.
“She’s just, I can’t lose her, man. I’m falling for her,” I admit, clearly stunning Sebastian as he stares blankly at me.
“Ace,” he says, shaking his head somberly.
“No, listen. I don’t know when or how it happened, but it did. And I know it won’t be easy, but there’s no going back for me. Everything about her frustrates me, pisses me the fuck off, and fuck if she doesn’t drive me crazy with her defiant behavior and fuck you attitude. But I can’t function when I’m not around her, not to mention the thought of her being in danger irks me beyond measure.”
“Fuck, man. You got it bad,” he says, playfully patting me on the back as he smirks at me.
“No shit,” I say, laughing for the first time today. “But he can’t know. He’ll do anything to stop it.”
“So then what are you going to do if he does?” I step around him grabbing the pool stick and leaning forward aiming for my ball. I hit the mark looking back up toward Bass as he watches me intently waiting for my response.
“I’m going to bring him down for everything he’s ever done. Everything about this world, his world, is wrong, and if I can destroy it, I can destroy him. Then she will be safe.”
Bass stands stunned by my admission, worry clouding his gray eyes as his scowl deepens, his thick, dark brows creasing in the middle of his face. “You’re talking about going against the devil, Ace. Do you know what that means?”
I nod, moving over to meet him. “Yes, I’m going to need my brother at my side.”
Chapter
Twenty-One
SCARLETT
Spending the week before Christmas at the Grayson’s is the one thing I wished for, and for once in my life, it came true. I knew it was a long shot to beg Agent Servite to let us spend the holiday with them, a whole week out of the confinement of our boards at the academy, but out of the “kindness” of his heart, he agreed.
I know there will be repercussions for this wish I was granted; nothing ever comes free with him. But I figured because the kids who replaced us at the foster house had been lucky to find forever homes, going back to visit would be plausible. Right now, as I sit here at our old stomping grounds at Dixie’s Arcade in Pleasant Hills with my “siblings” beside me, nothing else matters.
I’ll dance with the devil all year long for this one week of peace.
So the six of us are back, Stella in tow, refusing to spend the holidays with her cousin and uncle in Los Cabos, lying out on the beach sipping margaritas. Why she turned that down, I’m not sure,but I wouldn’t want to spend a holiday with my father’s twin, a constant reminder of him and what she blames him for. She’s had to spend the last few years with them but this time, she has us.