Raya snaps out of it and rushes over to me, some of her blonde hair falling out of its clip with her movement. Quickly, without a care for her clothes, she takes me into her arms, and I finally fall apart.
This is why I’ve ignored her and haven’t stopped working. I’ve been trying to hold everything in, trying not to think about the shit show that is my life right now but it’s all coming out.
She pulls back first and cups my cheeks, and her eyes race between mine as she says, “Okay, one Psycho is an idiot if he did sleep with her after sleeping with you and an even bigger one if he doesn’t fight for you like I always thought he would.”
I sniffle because yeah, she’s been his biggest cheerleader.
“And two, why in the hell was Mama Clara held at gunpoint for?” she asks in shock, and more tears fall.
I admit, “She has breast cancer, or had, she’s in remission,” Raya’s eyes widen, and I choke out, “She didn’t want to call dad, and her job wouldn’t pay for her insurance, so she went to the Hyena Gang.”
Raya pauses, her whole body freezing, and more tears fall as I grab her wrists, holding them tightly as her past washes over her, a past my big brother has no clue about.
Her father was on shift at the fire station when there was a call of a house fire. The parents and two of their children managed to escape, but the dad couldn’t get to the littlest kid’s room, so Chase ran in without a second thought to save the little girl.
Both never came back out again…
The father admitted to being in debt to the Hyena group, that he borrowed money and believed they were the ones who set fire to the house with the whole family inside but the police never gained any evidence proving they did it. Neighbors, however, were very aware just not willing to speak up and while Grace Averie has found love again, she’ll never be able to fully process and mourn her first true love knowing his killers are still roaming the streets. The same killers who were in my mother’s living area holding her at gun point.
“The Hyenas?” she confirms, and I nod, causing her to squeeze her eyes shut as she chokes, “They’ll kill her and everyone she’s associated with, Ives.”
I swallow hard, knowing she’s right.
That family, the one her dad tried to save, is gone. They disappeared. People thought they skipped town until the mother’s body was found in the river, bloody, bruised, and used.
The rest are presumed dead.
I admit, “They weren’t aware of me or my family because she changed back to her maiden name.”
Raya opens her eyes, locking them with mine, and whispers, “They know who you are now, though?”
“They do,” I confirm, “they also know the link with the club.”
She sighs with relief, knowing the small group won’t try something with the Dark Angels, but tenses when I admit, “Mama refuses for the club to know, even though they want their money. Ray, she borrowed five hundred thousand, meaning she owes seven.”
“No,” she rasps, and her tears fall, already seeing where I’m going with this, she shakes her head and takes a few steps back.
“I offered them my savings and to make up a payment plan, but they wouldn’t hear of it,” I continue, and she shakes her head and pleads, “Please, Ivy, no…”
“The new leader wants me,” I finish, and she turns away, gripping her hair before she turns and snaps, “One night will never be enough, Ivy, never, you know this, you know what they are capable of!”
I flinch at her words because, yes, I know what they are capable of. I was the one who found her that fateful night when she tried to get her revenge for her father. She was seventeen at the time, and Skylar, Blade’s half-sister, and I were walking home from the library trying to get a hold of her when we saw everything go down.
Skylar did what she had to do while I tried to save my friend.
Her mother was inconsolable when she met us at the hospital. She’d lost her husband, and her daughter nearly died wanting to get revenge for her father, to get rid of the whole gang, something Venom is not aware of.
“He doesn’t just want one night, Ray, he wants a wife,” I admit, and she shakes her head in denial.
“I-I, oh god, I won’t be able to be there for you, Ivy, to fight this for you, you know this, they’ll recognize me!” she snaps, full of horror, and I nod again.
After Skylar did what she had to for Raya, we made a pact to make it look like the two guys had killed the person who attacked them before they had their lives taken from them, and so far, none of them know that she’s the reason they are dead.
After getting Raya to the hospital and calling for help, Skylar went back to the scene with her mama while I stayed with Raya. I’m not one hundred percent sure how they did it but what I do know if that I managed to wipe away the footage with some of the knowledge Venom taught me and years later, everyone is none the wiser but they know a firefighter was killed in that fire. They knew he had a family but because Grace remarried they never touched her, believing she sent her daughter away, or that is what the guy that showed at the Grace’s house was told.
The tattoo on his neck showed the Hyena symbol, even though he was dressed in a suit. Grace acted quickly, knowing they would want to tie up loose ends. It just took them a while to find where Raya and Grace lived and it helped she re-married a lawyer that was attached to the Dark Angel’s meaning they couldn’t touch her.
Raya can’t stand by me without outing herself because if she sees the man who ordered the house fire, the bald guy – Talen – then she’ll try to kill him, and as much as she loves Gregory like a father figure, no one can replace her father, her best friend.
