Go Full Circle (A Go Novel Book 5)

by Scarlett Finn

  “And you think I could?”

  “You don’t understand the pain,” she said, resting a hand on his stomach. “Something leaves you. A space forms inside you and it grows. It grows and grows until you’re sure you’re being consumed from the inside. I wanted to be a shadow. To be invisible… the only time I felt anything was when I lay in this bed cursing you for leaving me… I wanted to hate you for abandoning me, and I’d scream into the pillow calling you every name under the sun. But my night would always end the same… I’d beg you to come back to me. I’d barter with every God I’d heard of, pleading with them to give you back to me.”

  His hand moved over her hair, stroking her as she watched her finger move on his stomach. “I came back to you,” he said, his gaze locked on the ceiling. “But you know I’d never do that again. So if I’m gone… I’m really gone.”

  “I know,” she said. “That’s how I know I won’t make it. I just won’t be able to make myself breathe anymore.”

  “If you go anywhere, I’m coming with you. It’s as simple as that.”

  A tear slid from the corner of her eye, but she didn’t react to it. “I can’t bear to think of this world without you in it, whether I’m in it or not… You have so much life in you, so much potential, this world needs you. You’d find a way to be happy again.”

  “Without you, there’s no happy,” Ryske said. “Have you heard about how I tried to tear down the world when you were just stuck across town? I’d go nuclear if something permanent took you from me.” Another tear slipped from her eye. She slid her hand flat onto him and he rested his on top. “But, hey, why are we talking like this is a done deal? We have a plan. We’re going to beat the bitch.”

  Rising to rest her upper arm on his lap, she held her temple on the heel of her hand. “You know you have to keep our people safe,” she said. “If I go back to jail—”

  “What if you don’t?” he asked. “What if we run Fi out of town? Let’s make plans for the win.”

  “We go home, we have sex, we wake up on Saturday morning,” she said. “Those are the plans if we win.”

  “Cool. Simple. Easy to remember… Sex comes after going home, right?”

  He winked, making her smile, but she dipped a fingertip into his navel. “Those two could be switched. Downside is, we’ll be in the car with a bunch of other people. They might object to sex in the backseat.”

  “We’ll ride shotgun,” he said.

  Dragging the back of her fingernail up the center of his torso as far as she could reach, she then scratched it back down. “No,” she said. “You sit shotgun… I’ll ride.”

  One side of his mouth rose higher than the other. “Works for me, babydoll.”

  “We do have to talk about Zance.”

  “Why? What’s your hard on for that guy?”

  “I know he hurt you,” she said, not liking that Ryske was frowning again. “But he told me what happened, everything.”

  Pushing onto his elbows, he forced her to roll onto her back so her head was on his lap again. “Everything? How the hell did—”

  “We were in bed and kinda drunk,” she said. “I think he needed to tell someone.”

  Dropping onto his back, he groaned and flattened his hands on his face. “Man, I love stories that start with you drunk in bed with other guys.” After another huff, his arms flopped out to the sides outstretched. “Let me have it. What happened?”

  She winced. “I… I want to talk to Dover first.”

  “First?” he asked, rising onto his elbows, so he could look at her. “What the hell, Trink?”

  Harlow put a hand to her cleavage. “I trust you with the story completely. I just think maybe I should find out what Dover knows and what he doesn’t… There’s a chance I’m going to need your help tracking someone down… if we get through tomorrow and Dover is on board.”

  “Hmm,” he said, his eyes narrow on her. He only peered at her for a moment before shifting his weight onto one elbow. Grabbing her thigh with the arm he’d freed, he pulled her legs apart.

  “What are you…” Harlow’s voice faded when he began to circle her clit. “Oh, that’s not fair.”

  “If you want to come, you’ll tell me the secret,” he said, moving his fingers in a slow stir of her hormones. “Come on, baby, talk to me.”

  They’d kept their own secrets from the rest of the group before. Ryske hadn’t told them when she confessed who had killed Hagan. Harlow could tell Ryske anything in the world and he’d never reveal it until she released him from her confidence.

  Parting her lips in a whisper of a moan, she rocked her hips against his stimulation. “That’s so good.”

  “I know,” he said. “You’ll get a big finish soon as you tell me the truth.”

  “He… he thought he was doing the right thing,” she said, opening her mouth wider to yelp at the rising need building between her thighs. “He thought he had no choice.”

  “Baby, I don’t—”

  “Floyd knocked up his aunt,” she said.

  Ryske’s fingers stopped moving. Without the stimulation, she was left hanging. Harlow blinked open her eyes to find him staring at the door.

  “He…”

  Realizing what a shock the news was, she sat up. With her fist on the mattress at the other side of his thighs, she held her weight on a straight arm.

  Harlow kissed his lips, but he didn’t respond. “There was a baby,” she said. His stunned eyes locked onto hers. “Dover has a sibling… that’s related to Zance.”

  “A boy or a girl?”

  “He doesn’t know,” she said. “Audrey was killed before the baby was born. They delivered and the baby was put up for adoption… That’s all he knows… they wouldn’t let him near the baby. He’d just lost his aunt. He was a mess, and a kid alone, something he’d never been before…” Stroking his face, she kissed him again, but he was still too stunned to respond. “He’s been alone since, Ryske.”

  “He knew where we were.”

  “He couldn’t face Floyd who’d refused to marry Audrey… I don’t know how that went down. Maybe Dover does. Maybe he doesn’t. I don’t know… Zance did what he did for his aunt… He didn’t want to leave, but he had to stand with her.”

  “Fuck,” he exhaled, rubbing a hand over his mouth. “I… fuck.”

  “Let him come home,” she said, stroking his arm. “Please.”

  “How?” he asked. “The guys won’t—”

  “They will. You were closest to him. If they know you’ve forgiven him, they will too… But I was thinking, maybe…”

  Though he was still processing, he must have sensed her tone of coaxing. His gaze grew suspicious as his eyes drifted to hers. “What?”

  “What you said to Dover about an empire, it’s not a bad idea,” she said. “I know you were thinking of stripping the club and selling it. But… what if we didn’t?”

  Dubious, he leaned back to inspect her. “What are you thinking?”

  “Get Zance to run it. Then he’s part of the team, but not on top of you guys, you know, until things get comfortable.”

  “You want to keep Pothos and—”

  “No,” she said. “God no… I think you should run it as a legitimate nightclub and hotel. I’d get rid of the hoity-toity clientele and just make it a regular joint where people can go for fun. Run it legit.”

  “And all the bedrooms are…”

  “Strip them out, knock down some walls, make the place bigger, turn some into party rooms for private functions… You could have different floors for different things. Have a wine bar, maybe a restaurant, if you want. Have dancefloors and DJ booths. I don’t know… it’s just a fun idea. Turn the whole place into a hotel if you want. It’s across town, so you couldn’t be there on the premises all the time while you’re running the pool hall at Floyd’s. But we have it, it’s a business with the infrastructure in place, you could do a floor at a time.”

  “And we’re getting the money for this from where? We s
till have to pay Marlowe back, I know you won’t—” She winced again, which cut him off. “I gave him the money from the safe deposit box.” She’d told everyone the money was in there, but not that it was spent. “We’re square with him.” Ryske’s brows just rose. She hooked her hands around his neck. “I will get money from the sale of the apartment. I don’t know how much, but it will be enough to get us started on something… I promise to tell Rupert to give you the money if, you know, I don’t make it.”

  “Enough with that. You’re going to make it,” he said, still thinking, though she didn’t know if his mind was occupied by the Zance revelations or her suggestion. “I guess we could keep it, see how Zance does… But we’d have to kick out everyone connected to the Hagans and Parratt or Yarker.”

  “Agreed,” she said. “If nothing else, it’s an income for a while.” She grinned and squeezed herself closer. “I already have an idea of a name.”

  That surprised him too. “A name?” When she nodded, he laughed. “Okay, give me it. What are we calling our new club?” Holding up her wrist, she showed him the most recent ink Dover had given her. She didn’t say anything, but it only took a moment for him to catch on. “Black Flame.”

  Pulling him forward, she kissed him. “What do you think?”

  “I think it’s perfect,” he said. “Though, I prefer Nightingale’s.”

  She huffed and shook her head, linking her fingers at the back of his neck again. “No, silly.” She kissed him. “That’s what we’re calling the pool hall.”

  “You…” he said.

  Grabbing her waist to flip her onto her back, he leaped on top of her and stole her mouth. The depth of this kiss was enough to make up for all the ones he’d missed before. They lay making out on the bed, letting their hands run all over each other until she felt the head of his engorged dick prodding at her belly.

  Breaking their kiss, she looked down. “You know there’s a chance that you’ll be the one to kill me, right? Your cock is determined to break me.” He smiled. “How will I be tough and menacing tomorrow when we’re having our showdown if I can’t walk straight or sit down?”

  Running a hand from her shoulder to her waist, then down to her hip, he skimmed it around to the back of her thigh. Hooking her leg higher on his body, he pushed closer.

  “Stop being so hot then,” he said. “You quit turning me on and I’ll quit taking advantage.”

  “We should get some rest,” she said as he boosted up and took her other leg to drag it under him.

  After both her legs were wrapped around him, they were still on their sides, but he began squeezing her ass, pulling her closer.

  “Just let me put it inside you,” he murmured, brushing his lips over hers. “Let’s see if it goes anywhere.”

  “It always goes somewhere,” she said, but even when she pushed on his shoulders, she wasn’t really trying to push him away.

  “I love you.”

  She laughed. “Yes, and you’ll love me whether I let you fuck me again or not.”

  “It’ll feel good,” he said, scooping a hand around her hips and taking himself in hand to begin running his head through her folds. Rubbing her clit and teasing her entrance, he persisted. “You’re already wet… Let’s see how it feels, huh?”

  She opened her mouth to say something but stopped when he eased his cock an inch into her. A shimmer of anticipation bubbled up through her. He pushed another inch and another, and then before she knew what was happening, he was making love to her.

  This time was slow and gentle. They were both tired and she had a feeling they would fall asleep as soon as this union met its crescendo.

  Rolling on top of her, he kept moving inside her, but lowered to kiss her hair over her ear and whispered, “Love of my life… of eternity.”

  Harlow came right there under him, surrendered not only to the weight of his body, but to his love. They were meant to be together, in this life, and in the next. She just didn’t want him to rush after her if this life came to an abrupt end. The truth was, that was likely when Ophelia Hagan was a part of the mix.

  37

  Piling everyone into Noon’s car had been a farce. It was like a science experiment investigating how many people could fit in one vehicle. Harlow was just pleased her father and Rupert were at work while her mom and Lena were shopping, so no one witnessed them figuring it out.

  Noon had offered to get another car for them. Given how close they were to her parents’ house, she didn’t think stealing a vehicle was a good idea.

  The first thought was to have Ryske and Harlow in the front seat. But having three people in the front would be an obvious red flag to any cruisers they might pass. Dover was too big to be shoehorned in anyway, so he got to sit shotgun. That left Ryske, Maze, and Penzance in the back with Harlow and Anwen on top of them.

  It was a squeeze, but Harlow wasn’t the one with someone sitting on her, so she wasn’t going to complain. The experience was something of a throwback to her teen years and sort of fun.

  Ryske didn’t seem to mind. His dick sure liked it. He got to make out with her whenever he felt like it. For most of the journey, his hand was up her skirt or in her bra, so she doubted it was that unpleasant for him.

  The fun came to an abrupt end when they got back home and everyone had to go their separate ways.

  Because the doctor’s apartment was within walking distance, she and Dover decided to go there first. Penzance and Anwen went to get cellphones and other supplies. Maze stayed at Floyd’s to finish his work. He was confident he’d found what he was looking for and was just decrypting files or something.

  Noon took Ryske on his trek to Yarker’s. Getting him on side was crucial.

  Saying goodbye to Ryske was quick. It had to be. Before they went their separate ways, everyone seemed to lean closer in anticipation of some big emotional farewell between the couple. But Ryske just grabbed her ass, hauled her body to his and kissed her until she couldn’t breathe. Then he was gone.

  Ryske would do his thing, she had faith. Maze would too and Bale would come through for them.

  Finding herself alone with Dover was too perfect an opportunity to pass up. She’d told Ryske that she wanted to talk to Dover about what Penzance had revealed. Them alone, far from eavesdroppers, was an ideal moment to bring it up.

  Strolling down the sidewalk, Harlow let a few seconds pass before broaching the conversation. “How are you doing?” she asked, taking Dover’s hand. “Good? Are you good?”

  He sighed. “Okay, what’s wrong?”

  “Nothing. Why would—”

  “Just spill it, Night. The doc’s isn’t that much of a walk.”

  Her crew really did know her and Dover was right. If she didn’t spit it out, she would lose her chance. If that night went bad, Harlow may never have another opportunity to tell Dover what she knew.

  “I know this is a lot for you… That you’ve been through a lot recently…”

  “But?”

  Opening her mouth, she took a deep breath. “You know about the whole me and Penzance thing?”

  “The fake relationship? Yeah.” Dover stopped and turned concern on her. “Did he touch you?”

  “No!” she said, quick to reassure him. “No, it’s just… We had some time to talk alone and he… He told me something that I think you have a right to know. Something about why he and Audrey left the neighborhood.”

  “You know about Charlize,” he said without hesitating or changing his expression.

  “Cha… No,” she said. “Charlize… is that your sister’s name?”

  “Idiot can’t keep his mouth shut,” Dover said and started walking again. This time it was him who linked their hands together.

  “Wait a minute, you know?” Harlow said. “All this time you’ve known and… you didn’t tell the guys?”

  He glanced at her. “How do you know I didn’t tell them?”

  The question made her squirm a little. “I might have… sort of… told Ryske.
” Dover crooked a brow her way. “He manipulated me with sex, it wasn’t completely my fault. How long have you known?”

  “Couple of years,” he said. “My dad didn’t say anything. I wasn’t all that sure if he ever knew.”

  “According to Penzance, he did,” Harlow said. “In his version, Audrey told Floyd who refused to do right by her.”

  “Marry her? Yeah, he would. Dad always swore he’d never get married again.”

  “But he was so good with you and the guys. Why would he reject another child?”

  “I doubt he did. We can’t know what really happened.”

  Dover would be protective of his father’s memory, of course he would. It was possible that Audrey wanted marriage and without it, she wasn’t going to be with Floyd. It was also possible that Floyd hadn’t known Audrey and Penzance were taking off.

  Penzance had only said that he and Floyd argued about the pregnancy. Penzance might know what Floyd had said to him, but both Floyd and Audrey were dead. Their versions of events were lost forever.

  “How did you find out?”

  “I got a call from an adoption agency,” he said. “Didn’t know if it was legit at first, so I quizzed the guy. I told him Floyd was dead and that was the last I heard.”

  “So how did you know her name and…” Harlow put the pieces together. “Maze knows.”

  Dover shrugged. “We found out who she was, where she lived… She’s still a kid, a teenager, but she’s got a good life. Good parents, good grades… She’s a good girl.”

  Walking along in silence, they both focused on their own thoughts. Harlow could understand Dover’s suspicions. It should’ve been obvious that if he’d told anyone, it would be their resident hacker.

  “Did you ever reach out? Talk to her?”

  He shook his head and slipped his free hand in his pocket. “Maze and me went out there once, watched her come out of school. Didn’t make sense to screw with her life.”

  “If an adoption agency called, they must have wanted to know about you.”

  “Her parents wanted to know more about her birth parents, in case Charlize ever asked. According to the guy on the phone, they didn’t tell her she was adopted. They were thinking about telling her and wanted to have something to share.”