Storming toward the front door, I grab my keys and head to my car. I need space to breathe and sort this shit out.
Getting in the car, I slide out my phone from my jeans pocket and open the group chat:
SOS
Within seconds, I get a reply from my needy Viking.
Theo
On my way
I smile. This guy always has my back. Never one to ask questions when I need him.
Noah
What he said *finger pointing upwards emoji*
Caleb
I’ll be there in ten
A feeling of warmth spreads through me as I turn the engine on and put the car into gear. I reverse out of my drive and head to Bucky’s.
Bucky’s is dead as I pull up. I shut off the engine and sit for a second, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the headrest.
A banging on the roof of the car alerts me to my surroundings, and I glance up to see Theo’s face smushed against the window. I scrunch my face up in disgust before laughing at his antics. “Window licker,” I call out.
“I’ll happily lick something,” he shouts back, grabbing hiscrotch.
Removing my phone and smokes from the glove compartment, I get out of the car. “You disgust me, you know that?” I say, giving him a man hug.
Theo laughs, and we walk inside, finding Caleb and Noah already sitting at the table waiting.
“Fuckers,” Theo greets, slapping them both on the back before sitting down next to Caleb.
“Boys.” I nod my own greeting, throwing myself down in the seat next to Noah. I ruffle his hair, and he swats me away, glaring at me.
“What’s the SOS about?” Caleb asks.
A waitress comes over and I order a beer. Once she’s left, I reply, “Drew got into some shady shit and it nearly got Raven killed.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back the fuck up. Why’s Raven involved in this?” Caleb asks.
The guys have knownaboutRaven; both Drew and I have spoken about her in the past, but they’ve never met her.
“I honestly don’t know what the fuck is going on,” I mumble around my beer. “He’s not making any sense. He’s taken ten million out of an offshore account for something, said he needed the money because his own money’s tied up in assets, but he’s a fucking billionaire. Something ain’t adding up. The money he took out of the account was taken the same day Raven—” I pause, emotion causing the words to get caught. I’ve never been so scared as I was that night, and reliving it isn’t helping. I clear my throat and start again. “It was taken the same day Raven was attacked.”
I lean my elbows on the table in front of me, twirling my beer in my hands. “Someone had a knife to her throat. Said ‘Daddy dearest is gonna pay’ or some shit. I’m fucking furious with Drew for putting her in harm’s way. His own daughter, for fuck sake. I just wish I knew what had happened to cause this.” I finish, taking a large mouthful ofbeer, and look at Caleb and Noah, both of whom are staring at me, mouths wide open.
Caleb, being the most sensitive one out of the group, pipes up first. “That motherfucker!”
“My thoughts exactly,” I muse as I take a sip of my beer. “He won’t give me the full story, keeps palming it off as a mistake, but it’s one huge fucking mistake.” I sigh heavily, leaning back in my chair and tipping my head toward Theo. “Tips has been looking into it for me, so he knows more than I do.”
Theo clears his throat. “I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it, but… I’m not sure if Drew really did have anything to do with the attack on Raven.”
I blink, then blink again. “Care to elaborate, dickwad? Cause this is news to me,” I growl.
Theo runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t have any concrete evidence yet, you knob, so I didn’t wanna say anything.” He gives me a pointed look before continuing, “The timelines match up, but something’s bugging me. I’m working on it, though.”
