“See you in a little while.” I smile to prove to him how confident I am, before taking a deep breath and pressing the buzzer.
The gates slowly open, and Dev watches me inside before he pulls off with a loud roar that Iknowwould make Mother horrified to think the neighbors would hear.
I start feeling more and more nervous as the gates open and I take the walk up the drive toward the front door. It’s eerily quiet here. I’m guessing it’s because Mom isn’t here demanding that Gregg stand by his post, the way he usually has to when we have guests. Since I don’t live here anymore, I guess that’s what I am now.
“Dad?” I open the front door to let myself in, and hear nothing in response. “Dad!” I call out a little louder as I step inside, and when I see a blood trail on the marble floor, leading from the stairs to the kitchen, I follow it with my eyes and see that it leads to a pair of feet.
“Greg!” He’s lying on the floor with Rachel’s body lying over him, both of them still, both of them bleeding. Both of them dead!
“Dad?” I stare down at their bodies and call out again, my voice trembling as I take out my cell so I can call Dev to come back for me.
“Not so fast, missy.” I freeze in fear when I feel a hand wrap around my face and cover my mouth.
“I’ll be taking that from ye.” Whoever it is snatches the phone from my hand and crushes it under their shoe.
“I think yer father be wantin’ a word with ye.” The voice that speaks into my ear is unmistakably Irish, and it makes my heart sink like a brick to the pit of my stomach. “Come on, let's go fill him in on all you’ve been up to.”
He takes a fistful of my hair and starts dragging me back through the hall, toward my father’s office. When he opens the door, I see him, tied up and gagged in his office chair with three men, all armed behind him, and I curse myself for not letting Dev come here with me.
“There ya are. Brother, you need to get into the clubhouse right now.” Saint looks relieved to see me.
“Sorry about the face,” I smirk at him, as I head toward one of the cages and check if there are keys in the ignition.
“Don’t worry about that, did you listen to what I just said? You need to come inside, we got some information that I think you're gonna wanna hear.” I stare at him, puzzled, before following him through the yard to find out what that information is.
“What the hell is this?” I look at the scrawny teenager he presents me with when we get inside.
“Name’s Lex, I was a friend of your brother’s. I came to the funeral, but you we–”
“What ya got for me?” I interrupt him before he can ramble; I don’t have time for small talk. I wanna head back toward the Dawson mansion as soon as possible in case my girl needs me. I don’t care if I have to park on the next street. I don’t like there being distance between us when we have so many enemies on our streets.
“I don’t know if Corey ever mentioned me, but I have a talent. I’m real good with computers.” He clears his throat and lifts the lid of the laptop that's on the table in front of him.
“Are you for real with this guy?” I look up at Raze, who’s standing behind him and looking like he’s actually taking him seriously.
“Now, I…I had my suspicions about what happened to Corey. I didn’t believe that shit our principal announced in assembly about him being in a car accident. Not when it was me who he came to for those cameras he needed for that shipyard mission.”
“You gave him the?—”
“Hold up, Dev. You're gonna wanna hear this.” Ruckus holds me back from wringing the little prick’s neck, and despite the heat raging inside me, I trust my friend and hear him out.
“I’m curious by nature. I wanted to find out what happened to my friend, so I did a little investigating of my own.” He looks up at Raze sheepishly. “I’ve been watching the club. I’ve seen you and Millie together.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ judge?—”
“Hey, bro, no judgment here. Millie’s a hot piece of ass, whole damn school wanted a ride o—” I silence him when I lean forward and rest my palms on the table, my eyes daring him to finish that fuckin’ sentence.
“I ain’t your fuckin’ bro. Get to the fuckin’ point.”
“I’m smart, maybe not smart like Corey was, but I can hack into anything.” He turns his laptop screen around and shows the live footage of us having this conversation, and when I turn my head and look to the ceiling to see how, I can’t even see where the camera recording us could be hidden.
“We don’t have cameras in here for you to hack.” I look back at him in confusion.
“No, I didn’t need to hack them, because I put them there… Beach party.” He smiles like he’s proud of himself, and I’m wondering when Raze is gonna step in and beat the life outta him for putting us all at risk. Footage like that in the wrong hands could do some serious damage.
“You came here with a death wish?” I laugh, wondering if Raze is gonna ask me to hang him from the ceiling by his fuckin’ guts.
“I want in. I know you need a prospect, and I know you could use someone with my skills. If I can get a camera in here without you guys realizing, think about what else I could do.” He sits back in his seat and crosses his arms.
