Page 90 of Precious Legacy
“At least you handed his ass to him,” she laughs. “He’s got everyone running laps right now.”
I grimace at the thought of my classmates dealing with the repercussions of my actions. It’s not their fault that our trainer is a jerk who’s obviously out to get me. But I should probably have handled the situation a bit better than I did. I’ve alwaysbeen a sucker for letting my emotions lead my actions, but I know after today, I’ve just made things a whole lot worse.
“I should join them,” I huff, going to stand up.
Sav stops me, grabbing my hand and tugging me back to the bench. She leans forward and rests a hand on my knee. “They can use the exercise. You need to get that lip checked out.”
“I’m fine,” I shrug.
“I know, but I’m pretty sure someone else will have something to say about this.” She points at my face, smiling humorously.
“Roman can?—”
“I wasn’t talking about him.”
My brows furrow. Either I’m not understanding her right, or I’m understanding her perfectly. Surely, she’s not implying my family, or my father for that matter. I’ve covered all bases when it comes to that side of my life, there’s no way she could know. She only knew Haldon because he’s not a hard guy to ignore. But everyone else stuck to first names.
When I shake my head to clear my thoughts, she smiles back softly.
“You could have told me,” she sighs. “I wouldn’t have told anyone.”
Time seems to stand still as I stare back at Savannah, open mouthed and empty of words. It’s not that I never trusted her, because over the last few weeks she’s become the one person I can rely on to get through some of the painstaking classes. It’s that the more people who know who I am and who my family is, the more dangerous it becomes for everyone, Savannah included.
“I know,” I say defeatedly, rubbing a hand over my face. “I was trying to keep a low profile.”
“I get it.” She smiles back at me, and it’s so sincere that I feel the guilt of keeping this from her slip away. “Is that why Prescott is giving you a hard time?”
I nod in affirmation. “That, and some shit happened last Friday.”
She chuckles incredulously and shakes her head.
“How long have you known?” I ask warily.
“Since the moment you sat next to me, babe. I had my suspicions. Everyone knows Cassidy Caruthers, but then we went to Amadeus and I saw Gambino and your twin. I recognized Roman, so it didn’t take much to make the connection.”
“Argh!” I groan, tossing the ice pack onto the bench. I feel like a selfish jerk. Savannah has been nothing but nice to me, welcoming me and giving me the friendship I never knew I needed. It felt so normal and all this time, she knew what I was hiding.
She chuckles again, standing up and kicking her sneakers off. “Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone.”
Those few words seem to lift a huge weight from my shoulders. Not that I was worried, because I feel more like I’ve let her down as a friend more than anything. “I’m sorry Sav. I should have told you.”
“It’s fine!” She strips off her tee and shorts, grabbing her clothes out of her gym bag. “But if you really want to make it up to me…” she turns around with a menacing grin on her face. “You could hook me up with Haldon again.”
Damn,I knew there’d be a catch. Although I hardly call it manipulation, I love that she’s so forward about what she wants. “Sorry, Sav. Haldon’s not a one woman kinda guy.”
“Huh,” she shrugs, buttoning up her shirt. “That’s a shame. He was a really good lay!”
I can’t help the laugh that bubbles out of my chest, and when I toss the ice pack at her, we explode into childish laughter. The surrounding air feels lighter. Knowing I have Savannah on my side—someone I can talk to outside of The Five—feels so much more liberating than I would have imagined. I don’t need to tiptoe around her or keep my lips tight when it comes to family anymore. I can tell she’s somebody I can trust, someone I can rely on to get through the next few months in the academy.
I just have to make it to the end.
THIRTY-FOUR
The wind creeps through the dilapidated building. Aside from the concrete below my feet, there’s nothing safe about this place. There are no lights, no running water; it’s completely derelict. I stare at the torn up pipes sticking haphazardly out of the wall. The cracks in the foundation are more than just superficial, because I can see the steel beams that should be supporting the building. I find myself flinching at every damn sound, glancing up at the questionable rafters, wondering if this place is about to collapse or not.
“This is it?” I grumble, pulling my cigarette pack from my pocket. I tug one between my lips before lighting it up, providing the only light besides the moon to fill the space. It’s the only thing I can do to calm my irritation, because Haldon has been searching for a new venue for my fight nights all week, and this place is way below expectations.
Since the raid last week, they’ve closed down the warehouse and stationed a patrol vehicle outside. There’s no way I can host fight nights there now, even with Haldon’s pull on the cops. We know we’re still a target to some of them, so it’s essentially back to square one.
