Angel (A Reverse Harem Bully Romance): The Brotherhood

by K. M. Raya

  “I was wondering if I could ask you something?” I hold my breath, waiting for her to yell at me.

  “What part of leave me alone don’t you understand? Get out of here, you d—don’t need to see any of this.” Her eyes shutter and she turns her head away in shame.

  She’s lashing out, but I think a part of her is still aware because her eyes flash with intelligence and guilt.

  I’m not giving up yet. I need information and she might be the perfect person for what I’m looking for.

  “You used to work down at the Black Building, right?”

  The bottle drops from her hands and clatters to the ground. Vodka pours out but I make no move to grab it. Grace whips her head in my direction, her eyes are blown and she’s sweating around her brow.

  “Excuse you?” she asks me, but I can’t stop now.

  “You worked for Giles Montgomery, right? I wondered If you could tell me about what goes on there . . .”

  I’m pushing my luck.

  “Why would you want anything to do with that vile man? If youre fucking him, let m—me just tell you right now little girl,” she hiccups before leaning forward and placing her elbows on her knees. “Run far away. Run away and d—don’t even look back.”

  Her warning settles like acid in my stomach. She may be wasted, but there's something dark in her eyes that makes me sit up a little straighter.

  I scrunch my nose up in disgust, “I’m not fucking Giles, trust me on that. I just need to know some things about him. I’m sort of . . . friends with his son and I think he might be hurting him,” I risk telling her because I honestly don’t think she’ll remember any of this in a few hours.

  Grace surprises me when she throws her head back and cackles. The sound is almost offensive in the quiet of the room. She’s laughing so hard that her shoulders shake. But I just stare at her and wait.

  “Oh, dear—you must be new here. Of course he is! that poor boy’s been kicked around since he could walk. Old news, little girl.”

  She reaches down and fumbles with the nearly empty bottle and only manages to roll it even farther away.

  “So it didn’t start right after Charlotte Faux died? I thought he might just be lashing out because they'd been friends?” I ask her.

  “Died? Hah! D—on’t make me laugh.”

  Her eyes turn bitter and cold.

  “Lottie didn’t die . . . she was m—murdered! Fucking murdered!” she shouts at me, spittle flying from her mouth. I watch as reluctant tears form in the corners of her eyes. “There's a difference,” she mutters.

  “I’m so sorry Grace. Uh, I saw the photos in the hall. Were you guys close?”

  That sobers her just a tiny bit. She smiles sadly, flicking her eyes towards the window as if lost in thought.

  “The best.” She hiccups again. “We were like sisters. I was Giles’ assistant a long time ago, but before that we all grew up together in this goddamn town. Been close since the first grade until—” She trails off, clearly losing herself in thought again.

  “Until someone killed her?”

  She sniffles.

  “I was told the Cassini’s were responsible, do you know anything about that?”

  She scoffs.

  “Yeah, I bet that’s what those bastards told people.” She laughs bitterly. “I heard them that day, you know—in Giles’ office. They didn’t know I was there, but he was yelling so loud—”

  ‘Holy shit, here we go.’

  “Go on,” I urge her.

  I should feel bad for taking advantage of a drunk woman’s loose tongue, but I really don’t.

  “Giles learned something about Cassini that day . . . something bad. When he told Cole, he flew off the handle and all I remember is him storming past me and running for the elevator. Giles saw me there outside his office and told me to get home. I thought I’d be okay, but he knew I heard them.”

  She takes a deep breath as I listen with rapt attention.

  “What did you hear?”

  Grace’s eyes flicker to mine, sorrow shining from within.

  “Why the fuck am I telling you this?” she asks in frustration.

  “Please, Grace—”

  “Charlotte was meeting with Alexi for months . . . in secret. But I guess she let it s—slip.”

  “Let what slip?” I’m sitting on the edge of my seat, needing to know.

  Her eyes bore into mine as if she’s debating on whether or not to tell me.

  “Ellis is my friend . . .” I lie, hoping she’ll believe me.

  “She let it slip that Ellis isn’t Cole’s son.”

  Her words drop like a bomb, blindsiding me.

  “She knew it . . . for sixteen years she knew he wasn’t Cole’s but she lied.”

  Tears drip down her cheeks. She seems to be pretty sobered up right now, the memories breaking her drunken haze—grief clouding every other emotion.

  “She lied to everyone—even to me and I was supposed to be her best friend. Alexi and Lottie had a thing back in college, back before Fin was born and we all just assumed it ended after she married Cole. I felt like an idiot for not seeing it sooner. Alexi went right to Giles like a dumbass and of course the bastard couldn't keep a secret.”

  Her eyes glaze over in memory.

  “Next thing I know they're telling us Grace is dead and that Alexi’s son killed her. I never believed it, not for one fucking second!”

  “Giles knew I heard everything and he made me sick for it. Literally. I don’t know what he did to me—what drugs he gave me but I was sick for months after Lottie died. Then the severance package came—millions. I knew he was paying me off, telling me to keep my mouth shut. And I had no choice because I had my niece to take care of, but . . . I r—remember it all.”

  I feel like I can’t breathe.

  This is more than I ever dreamt possible.

  My brain feels like it’s short circuiting.

  The dots are all connected.

  “Who killed Charlotte, Grace?”

  Her watery blue eyes search mine. I can tell she needs someone to hear this, but she’s hesitant.

  “Grace, I need to know.” I’ve scooted down the long couch until our knees are practically touching. Reaching out, I grasp her bony hand in mine and to my surprise, she just squeezes my fingers.

  “You know who . . .” she whispers, eyes flitting around the room, as if looking for something. “I've been quiet for so long and it kills me—”

  “I need you to say it,” I urge her once more.

  “You know who it was. It was him,” she hisses. “He was so jealous and so fucking so afraid. He was afraid of what would happen to his precious position without an heir . . . so he made sure it was kept quiet.”

  I reel back in shock.

  “Cole made sure she could never tell.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Carter

  She’s been at Beth’s house for a few hours now and I’m getting bored.

  Following her is becoming tedious and I’m starting to feel a little guilty. Dad made it clear though, she’s to be watched at all times. I know her father is close with mine, but trusting the mob blindly would be stupid. There's just something about her that I can’t quite put my finger on.

  I won’t lie and say I feel nothing towards the girl. Lately, I've caught myself daydreaming of the taste of those silken lips and the feel of her wrapped around my dick.

  I thought I might have made a mistake fucking her like that in the storage closet, but I honestly don’t regret it. Although, the look in her eyes before she walked out still haunts me. There was a darkness there that hadn’t been on the surface before . . . something deep she tries to hide away.

  But right then she’d been stripped bare, allowing me a glimpse into the broken soul that hides away beneath that beautiful shell.

  I feel drawn to Angel. She’s so beautiful and admittedly mysterious that I can't get her out of my head for very long. I want so badly to hate her, but she makes it so har
d.

  My dad always tells me to keep my distance with people. ‘Never let them get under your skin,’ he says.

  Feelings make you weak according to him and that's what I’ve gone my entire life believing.

  Until now.

  So far she’s done nothing suspicious and it makes me wonder if I was wrong about her. Maybe she is just an innocent girl mixed up in a dangerous game.

  She goes about her routines, coming and going from school, jogging every other evening by the beach and occasionally sitting on her balcony to read a book. It's all very boring on the surface.

  I’m not surprised that Bethany latched onto Angel so quickly. There's this sort of magnetic type pull about her that just draws you in. Beth’s good people though. At any other school she’d be the one running things, but she knows her place here. On the outside Beth looks like any other wealthy popular girl, but I know what goes on behind closed doors.

  Her aunt is a fucking drunk—living off of the severance package that Giles was nice enough to offer her after she got sick. I’m still unsure if it was cancer or just the grief of losing her best friend.

  Charlotte Faux had been loved by pretty much everyone in town. She and Grace were been best friends—especially close once Grace started working at the Black Building with Giles. Her death hit us hard and ever since, there's been a rift through our city.

  The Cassini’s are an old money family who’d once been a founding family in the Brotherhood. Those fucking bastards are directly responsible for the rift.

  In a way I blame Charlotte too. If she’d been able to just keep her legs closed then she’d probably still be here. Sending Finley to do Alexi’s dirty work though . . . that’s just cowardice.

  I need to know if Angel is somehow involved with that family. I’ve seen her talking to him and too friendly for my liking. Just thinking about the two of them together pisses me off.

  It's sucks, remembering how things used to be. There was a time where I’d looked up to Fin like an older brother—we all had. He was one of us, as much a part of the Brotherhood I am.

  The day he murdered Charlotte on his father's orders was they day he signed his death warrant. When Giles found out that Alexi had been fucking Charlotte behind Cole’s back for years, he’d excommunicated the traitorous bastard and bought out his shares in the Black Building and all it’s subsequent businesses.

  Alexi retaliated by taking away the one thing that ever meant anything to Cole Faux. It’s a sick and twisted game we play here in Seaside.

  ✽✽✽

  Hours later, my phone lights up as the tracker placed in Angels phone registers movement.

  She’s leaving Beth's place and heading in the opposite direction of her house. I’m parked around the corner, so I start my car and weave into traffic, following behind her but not too close, knowing she’d recognize my white BMW in an instant.

  She’s driving pretty fast, telling me she must be in a hurry. I have no idea what could have happened at Beth's house. Pulling off of the main road, I follow at a distance as she drives up a winding driveway, heading past a set of black gates and up to a home I never wanted to lay my eyes on again.

  The fucking Cassini estate.

  Rage boils my blood as my hands tighten on the steering wheel. I don’t even follow her up the rest of the way. Turning my car around, I speed back towards my house, breaking multiple traffic laws on the way.

  “Call Holden,” I command my car, and he picks up after two rings.

  “Yeah?” he asks, but I’m already yelling.

  “Get the guys now and meet me at my place!”

  “Whoah, whoah, what the fuck, man?”

  I hang up, knowing he’ll be there. My body is on overdrive, swerving in and out of traffic. Bone deep betrayal sinks into me, causing angry tears to gather in my eyes.

  I never should have trusted that bitch. I knew I should have gone with my gut when we dragged her out into the forest. Those big, innocent eyes of hers fooled us all like a bunch of rookie idiots.

  I’d actually felt bad that night.

  I pull up to my house, barely putting the car in park before I’m out the door and striding up the stairs and into my private apartments. They guys are already waiting for me, just as expected.

  Holden stands up, “What the hell, Car, what's going on?”

  I’m so keyed up all I can do is pace.

  “That bitch played us! I fucking told you—I told all of you and did anyone listen to me? No!”

  They stare at me like I’ve lost my mind.

  “Go ahead and guess where your little Angel is right now . . . take a fucking guess!”

  “Just spit it out dude, what the fuck are you talking about?” Ellis growls before knocking back a shot of Vodka.

  Cap sits in the corner of the room, casually relaxing in the plush black armchair with a glass of whiskey in his right hand.

  “She’s at Fin’s house—I followed her there.”

  Growls and curses come from every one of them.

  The sound of glass breaking has all of our heads snapping to Captain—clutching the broken pieces of his cup in his bloody palm.

  “I was just with her yesterday—” growls Cap and all our eyes widen in shock.

  “What do you mean you were with her? What were you doing?” A part of me feels jealous, but I stuff the feeling down low, locking it away tight.

  He has the decency to look away for a moment before answering.

  “She showed up at my house after school. Her crazy ass broke into my kitchen and pulled a gun on Giles.”

  A round of ‘what the fucks’ boom through the room.

  “Why didn’t you say anything? What, it just slipped your mind? Damn it, Cap!” I rake my hands through my long hair, gripping at the root and pulling in frustration.

  He stands, shaking the blood from his palm.

  “Give me a fucking chance, alright? I’m dealing with some shit right now.”

  “Did you fuck her?” Holden asks suddenly. His eyes are hard, burning a hole into Caps face.

  Captain raises his chin, throwing his shoulders back before meeting all of our eyes. We have our answer. Holden growls before launching himself at Captain, knocking them both into the wall.

  “Fuck you! Fuck you so much, Captain you fucking bastard!” he takes a swing at his face, his knuckles grazing his cheek and drawing blood.

  Cap swings back, surprising the hell out of me. In all the years I’ve been their Brother, I’ve never seen him come at one of us like this. He’s been beaten bloody by Giles more times than any of us can possibly count, but he’s usually the docile one of us all. This girl really has him riled up.

  “Cut it out!” I yell at the both of them, and they break apart, both heaving in gulps of air and swiping smears of blood across their noses. Caps face is a mural of bruising by now, it's a miracle I can still recognize him.

  “I fucked her too!” I tell them, biting the bullet and getting it out of the way while we’re all here confessing.

  Holden goes to say something but I cut him off.

  “And before you try and start some shit about it, I don’t fucking regret it!” My eyes lock with his, watching the anger swirling there.

  He’s jealous.

  I’ve never seen him so rattled.

  This shit’s gone too far already.

  “Clearly this chicks been playing us all—trying to turn us against each other and it's working. I don’t regret fucking her because honestly it was the hottest fuck I’ve ever had, but I’m sick of looking like a fool.”

  They all stare at me like I’m some sort of alien. Cap studies me like he’s seeing me for the first time.

  “There's no way . . . there has to be another reason she’s there.” Cap murmurs, looking lost.

  His eyes are sad but there’s an angry set to his jaw. This girl must have weaseled her way under his skin. It only pisses me off more because Cap may look like a hard man, but it only takes a little to shatter that fac
ade.

  “You really think it's a coincidence the way she just rolls into town right when Finley’s starting shit? You think it's a coincidence that she has Mafia ties? How else could he have covered up the murder? Who else but the fucking mob would have done it so cleanly?” Holden asks us, standing to his feet and casting a quick apologetic glance at Ellis—his mother's death has always been a sore subject.

  “We didn’t want to see it before, but she’s just like them. She’s a liar—using her pretty face to play is like fools!”

  We’re all standing now, each seething with anger, betrayal and hatred, both for the girl who stabbed us in the backs, and hatred for what we have to do next.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Angel

  I pound my fist on the door.

  It’s late, but this couldn’t wait any longer. After finding out what I did from Grace, I’d told Fin immediately. He’d been blindsided by the new revelation and desperate for me to tell the guys.

  It was difficult seeing him like that. Obviously these false accusations have been tearing him apart because the desperation in his eyes was potent. He’s been bitter for so long. I promised him I would do what I could but that I have no guarantee that anyone will even listen to me.

  So here I am at one in the morning, pounding on Carter's door like a mad woman, hoping to all the gods he’s home.

  The door swings open and a tall man in a sharp looking suit stands there glaring down at me.

  “Is Carter home?” I ask him, not caring who he is or why he’s there.

  He frowns, “Do you have any idea what time it is?”

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion, dude, is Carter here, or not?”

  I’m becoming impatient.

  “Let her in, Daniels,” calls a voice from the top of the staircase.

  My shoulders sag in relief when I look up to see Carter standing by the bannister, but my relief is short because he doesn’t look happy to see me.

  “Can I come up?” I ask, suddenly nervous.

  “Why not, you seem to do whatever you want regardless of what anyone says anyways.”

  He turns to walk away.

  After sending one last glare over my shoulder at Carters goon, I make my way up the staircase and follow the long hallway that leads me into a spacious room that looks more like a small apartment, it even has its own kitchen.