by Evelyn Kiss
I surprise Teagan when I jump up, grab my bag, and head to the front. I hand Professor Ferguson the test. He reaches over to his desk and writes a big twenty on the header. Before I could even question, he whispered, “I allot for honesty.”
I smile. Twenty percent is better than nothing. That, and at least Professor Ferguson is fully aware of my no filter personality.
I’m not sure that is a good thing though. I ponder on how he probably uses that little fact to his benefit for class debates as I walk outside and plop down on the couch. I’m about one hundred and twenty pages behind on reading, and I need a crash course. I’d ask Jonah, but it’s been a while since he took this class. That leaves Tee. I’m going to have to pull the struggling friend card to get an emergency crash course.
6
The Truth
Santiago
My head is pounding. I don’t know what was wrong with the band today, we just couldn’t get in sync with each other. After about an hour, my brother called it quits and gave everyone the day off.
Too bad I couldn’t take advantage of it.
When I walk out onto the sidewalk, Maddox and Gunner are waiting for me. I am not particularly happy about them knowing where my little brother lives. This, however, is just proof they have been following me. They probably know every single move I have made since Hannah’s death, and it pisses me off. The society has access to all the people in my life, not that I had many left.
I reach my motorcycle and acknowledge my guests without making eye contact. “Am I being summoned again, or are you two just in the mood to hang?”
Maddox steps up and pats me on the back, reassuringly. “How about we hang out at the Den? It’s been a real long time since you stepped foot in there.”
I exhale deeply and swing my leg over the seat of my motorcycle, getting myself situated before telling them where to shove it and hauling ass down the highway. The urge to get away from all of this remains consistent, but I owe Teagan help. I just don’t know whether help comes in telling the Council about Rosalie and her plan, or helping her carry out.
Invading Mafia territory seems like a really bad idea, but I don’t want to let Baby Mouse down.
Gunner offers a suggestion, “I know the Den brings back memories of Hannah; it does for all of us.”
“Honestly, that chick isn’t worth all this mourning,” Maddox adds.
“That’s twice someone has disrespected Hannah’s memory today. Either you tell me what your deal was with her, or shut the fuck up.” I snap my head to the side and stare down Maddox. All day today my patience has been tested and being surrounded by all the members again as my nerves on edge. Maddox could be intimidating, but when it comes to the three of us, I beat them out on every level.
Gunner shakes his head, trying to be inconspicuous, but I catch it. I hang my helmet on the handle and get off my bike. I step to him, getting in his face and embracing the North Dragon Hannah unleashed in me.
“Whoa, Chains!” Maddox comes up to my left. They both know I could take both of them and be ready for another. Hannah made sure I was well-trained, and they both know I like the way it feels to pound into someone. I might have been a bartender, but there is a reason why I was the one who manned the Den.
This last year, I’ve done my best to channel the liberating energy from my fists to my dick. But they aren’t pretty enough to stimulate that shift. There’s a tingling in my knuckles and a threat in my clenched fist. Nothing about me right now is unthreatening.
“You are on edge,” Maddox tries to talk me down before I discolor Gunner’s pretty face. “There are somethings we should tell you.”
I switch my attention to Maddox. “Such as?”
“We will tell you, but you can’t kill the messengers.”
I tick my head to the side but unclench my fists.
Maddox glances down at the little gesture and visibly relaxes. “Why do you have to be so quick-tempered?”
I step back from Gunner and lean against my bike. “Just talk.” This day has been shit already, so what’s another verbal punch going to do?
“Oh, man.” Gunner puts even more distance between us. “This isn’t going to be good. Are you sure you want to do it here and not the Den?”
I didn’t like the way this was sounding. “Here is fine.”
Gunner raises one brow in question and Maddox nods.
“Hannah… she wasn’t exactly the girl you thought she was.” Gunner’s taking this one bit of information at a time.
I close my eyes for a second, calming my body. I haven’t been this worked up in months.
“There were others.”
I snap my eyes open. “Others?”
Maddox clarifies for Gunner, “She liked to screw multiple people at once.”
My whole body stills, even my heart.
“While she was with you.” I don’t move a muscle. “The whole time, Chains.”
Gunner speaks now. “I mean, I knew, but I didn’t think it was as bad as it was. But there’s proof.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? We were together for years!” I don’t know where they were getting their information from, but they were wrong. I would have known. “We were always together.”
“When she wasn’t working,” Gunner corrects. “She worked a lot.”
Maddox sighs as he rubs his forehead. “She tried to keep it outside the Den.”
I’m not sure who says what because their voices all meld into one as the flashbacks of her funeral come back to me. There were a lot of unfamiliar faces, and her father had argued with someone. I don’t remember who exactly, but it was with someone who wanted to have the casket opened.
A manila envelope is handed to me, and I just stare at it as I shove the memories down. Refusing to open an envelope of lies, I knock his hand down. “I don’t want this.”
“Open it,” the command comes from Gunner. “It was left at the Den, the day of the funeral.”
Stilling my breaths, I open it and pull out a stack of printed photographs.
The first one shatters me. It’s Hannah with someone, in a bed. The man is sitting with his legs stretched out, and she’s sitting on him. I can’t see anything more because the bed sheet is covering their asses, but Hannah’s bra is off.
The next one. A different guy this time. Someone who looks Asian. Her legs are wrapped around his torso.
I flip to the next. Someone else at a club.
And then another picture with yet another person at what looks like a sex club.
There are at least twenty pictures in my hand. “Who sent this?”
I know I should be focusing on the fact that the woman I had wanted to propose to cheated on me. I should be pissed off that she brought me into a place where I couldn’t escape from, and it should be ripping my soul to shreds, but I couldn’t think about that now. It boiled my blood, made the beer in my gut feel like acid, and it was burning a hole in me. No, I couldn’t think about how the woman I loved. The girl I buried with my engagement ring, even though I never got to propose, was a complete whore.
Instead, I jam the pictures back into the envelope and shove it against Maddox’s chest. “Who left these? Who was watching her?”
“Her mother.”
I shake my head. This isn’t real. Why is Rosalie suddenly back in the picture?
“The Council has been searching for her ever since, but she vanished. They think she risked resurfacing for the funeral.”
My mind runs a thousand miles a minute, hoping to run from the images of the girl, I have been trying to forget, with someone else. I focus on channeling my anger, but all I can think of is being glad that fucking bitch is dead, or I’d kill her myself.
She lied to me.
She ruined my life, and for what? To have someone steady by her side while she screwed her way through half the state? “I can’t believe this.”
“It’s true, man. I know some guys who are in these pictures, and they confirmed.” Maddox trie
s to be understanding, but he isn’t exactly the gentle kind of guy, and he’s basically telling me to get my shit together and move on. “She’d go down to Chicago a lot. Some club called Unita.”
Chicago. Isabella Santini was? “When?”
“Those are from the last three years.” Gunner points at the envelope.
I just couldn’t understand what was going on. Maddox places the envelope on top of my bike. Does he think I want to see all of them? I could create a hit list and go after them, but what the hell for?
She’s dead. “Why leave them after she’s dead?”
“The package was addressed to you, Chains.” Maddox stands beside me now.
I guess he thinks I am no longer in the punching mood. He’s wrong. I don’t think I have ever needed to liberate myself more than I do now. “Who would do that. Why? How do we even know these are real?”
“I know they’re real, Chains.” Gunner has been awfully quiet until now.
Maddox tenses beside me, and I’m no longer in control of my body. It’s invading his space; I am so close to his face that he flinches. “Gunner…” I warn him to take back his words.
He doesn’t listen. “I was one of them. I’m in one of those pictures.”
The next thing I know, I hear something crack, and Gunner falls to the ground. I look down at my hand, covered in blood. “Get the fuck up!” I wasn’t done.
Maddox stands back, and Gunner gets back up, but he doesn’t attack me. He stands his ground, the blood streaming around his mouth and preparing his body for another blow. Which I deliver to his ribs.
He bends at the waist, clutching his side and trying to breathe. I place one hand on either side of his head and lift him up so that he is looking me straight in the eyes. “You are coming clean now? Why? Because I would see those pictures?”
Gunner nods in agreement.
I hold Gunner steady and look over my shoulder at Maddox who is just watching. They knew this would happen. I release Gunner with a shove and step to the side so I can have visual on both. “Why tell me now?”
“Because the Council wants to see you, and they are going to show you these and ask if you knew anything about them.”
“If I knew about that whore cheating on me, I wouldn’t have wanted to propose.”
“The Council thinks you had contact with who sent them.”
I growl, “With Rosalie? For fuck’s sake! I’m not suicidal!” For them to be doubting my loyalty, I knew I wasn’t going to like what came next.
Gunner spits out blood. “They think Hannah’s accident wasn’t an accident.”
I rub my forehead back and forth, stopping to pinch the skin between my eyebrows. It helps alleviate the headache, threatening to turn into a migraine. “Rosalie is back?” I ask for a confirmation with a calmer tone. Teagan mentioned seeing her this morning, but she wasn’t certain. “Are you sure?”
They both nod, but it’s Maddox who answers. “That’s the rumor.”
“But I don’t understand. Why address this to me after Hannah died? I can see beforehand, but what purpose does it serve when she’s six feet under?” I pause and think this through. “Unless she killed Hannah.”
Shit. Hannah used to mention her fears of her mother coming back. Teagan.
My heart beats fast in response to adrenaline. “Teagan.”
“Relax,” Maddox says. “Dax and Ace are with her.”
Problem is she wouldn’t tell them. “I got to go. I told them I would meet them to discuss business at Vonwest.”
Seems like I have a lot more to discuss than just that. “You can’t tell Teagan. Dax and Ace are currently being brought up to speed. We need to bring you into the Den. We need to take her out before anything happens. Who knows what that woman wants.” Gunner has no love lost for that woman.
I don’t blame him; she was vicious. Hannah had to get it from someone.
7
Pretentious Asshole
Lexi
Teagan’s new roommates are out, so we have the whole suite to ourselves. I’m relieved Ace and Dax aren’t here because they are extremely intimidating, especially Ace. He is kind of overprotective, and it worries me.
The other day we were all hanging out at the coffee shop, and he lashed out at Jonah. Teagan wasn’t happy about it, and things have been weird between her and Jonah ever since.
“Tee, can I ask you something?” I close my book and place it on the coffee table in front of us.
She does the same. “Sure, what’s up?”
“Are you and Ace dating? I mean, Jonah mentioned backing off after the coffee shop. He said you needed some time.”
She sighs and stretches out on the couch. “That’s why he has been so distant?” She frowns and shakes her head. “He hasn’t really talked to me since the night he was helping me study.”
“Jonah’s always crushed on you. You know that.” They’ve been sleeping together since Freshman year. According to Tee, they had a no-strings-attached policy, but Jonah had lots of strings. I won’t say it’s love, since the definition of it is up in the air, but he’s definitely into Teagan.
“I know, but what am I supposed to do? Jonah doesn’t hide it.”
Not very well. “So, you and Aysen, then?”
She chuckles. “We are just friends. Our families grew up together, and both of them are overprotective. Aysen is just a lot more verbal about it.”
“Are you okay with that?”
“I’m used to it. Don’t worry.” She pats my hand and points to the books. “I have to admit, I haven’t been able to keep up with everything. Things have been hectic lately, and Ferguson’s workloads are intense.”
“Tell me about it.” I take a sip of my Diet Coke just as the door to the suite opens. I turn around quickly, and my mouth drops open at the sight of them. It wasn’t Dax or Ace, it was the person that was with them. I lower myself down on the couch, so he can’t notice me. Thank God for being below average height. I can slink down and make it look like no one was sitting here.
Teagan eyes me suspiciously as she rotates to look at them, resting her arm over the spine of the couch.
I cover my face with the few papers I had on my lap, blocking Teagan’s scrutiny. She has no clue I slept with that guy, so she probably thinks I am hiding from her suitemates. Either way, I am glad when she stands up and moves toward them, away from my line of sight.
“You’re early, Santi.” Her voice sounds completely neutral, nothing like the way my heart beats hard against my chest. I don’t usually run into guys I had one night stands with at school. That’s why I specifically choose people who don’t attend Vonwest.
“Yeah, I had some extra time.” His voice sounds so much softer around her than it did this morning. “Plus, I think we have a lot of things to discuss. Privately.”
Shit. He knows someone is here. I guess my hiding attempts are useless. I place my papers down on the table in front of me and stand up, refusing to get caught hiding from him. I turn around and face the four other people in the room.
“Hi,” I say meekly.
“Alexis?” Santiago steps forward to get a better look. All that alcohol probably messed with his short-term memory, and he can´t remember what I look like or what my name is.
“Close enough, I guess.” I puff out a breath through my teeth.
“You know Lexi?” Teagan presses her lips flat as she approaches them.
Daxton shakes his head, disappointed in our acquaintance. I get the urge to explain and clarify the situation, but Santiago goes first. “We don’t know each other. We met. We fucked. It was good.”
My head shakes back and forth in short, abrupt movements, as if his words rattled my brain. I can’t believe he just said that. My teeth clench together, so my mouth doesn’t runoff.
Aysen gives him a head nod of approval and says, “The good ones always stick around in your mind.” Aysen studies me, and I am glad I am mostly covered by the love seat. “For a while, at least.”
&nb
sp; Teagan backhands him in the stomach, but I can’t keep my mouth shut. I am not sure if Aysen’s complimenting me or insulting me, and I don’t much appreciate Santiago’s smug expression right now. “Well, I guess that means I won’t recognize Santiago in a couple days.”
Daxton shoots me a wide smile that kind of scares me. I don’t want to be on Dax and Ace’s radar any more than I already am. There is something alluring, yet intimidating behind them. Sometimes, I don’t know whether to run from them or stay and bask in their beauty.
I’m not usually intimidated by hot guys, but it isn’t their perfectly carved bodies or their chiseled features that give me the worries, it’s the menace behind their confidence. Every look they give assesses the situation, and every step they take feels like a threat. They are a perfectly twisted combination of sex and power. It’s easy to be sucked into their gravity.
Now I understand the pull I had to Santiago. He was one of them.
That explains why I was tethered to his swagger yesterday and why he had the ability to overpower my senses. He is like thunder and lightning. Illuminating every deep desire and striking me down to my core.
Santiago steps forward, sending shivers down my spine as he narrows his eyes on me. “Is that so, Lexi?”
Well, at least he finally learned my name. I gulp down an unfamiliar burning in the back of my throat. The words were burning a hole there, but they weren’t coming out. I should be saying, “Yes, the night was forgettable.” But images of his body flush against mine, pinning me beneath him as he thrust into me, spur a wave of heat through all my body.
He leans in closer, grazing his teeth against my ear just before he whispers, “Maybe you need a little reminder.”