“Oh.” I study him—how pale he looks, the uneasiness stirring through him. “You don’t like her very much, do you?”
He shakes his head then picks up my phone from off the table. “I absolutely and utterly despise her more than I do anyone else in this world.”
I can’t help but think of the scars on his side and wonder if she was the one who put them there, but I don’t dare ask.
“Who’s she delivering a message from?” I ask instead, not really believing they’ll tell me. But it doesn’t hurt to try to get a bit more info from them. Maybe if I do, I can get to the bottom of why it seems like I know Zay.
“Our boss,” Zay answers, stuffing his knife back into his pocket. “So basically, Jax’s dad.”
I nod like I understand, but really, I don’t. “Mobster stuff, I’m guessing?”
Zay gives me curious amused look. “You say that so casually.”
I rest my arms on top of the table. “I think I’ve already proven I don’t get scared very easily.”
“Yeah, you don’t.” He glances at my side. “You never did show Jax and me what happened to your side.”
Not wanting to go back to that subject, I divert. “So, you guys own this diner?”
“Yep,” Zay replies, cracking his knuckles. “But don’t try to change the subject.”
I tuck my arm to my side protectively. “Nah, I think I’m going to.”
Zay leans in, his lips parting, but Hunter speaks first.
“If you want her to trust you, then you gotta give her a reason to,” he tells Zay while pushing a few buttons on the phone. “Maybe if you show her your scars like I did, she’ll trust you like she trusted me.”
“Like hell I’m going to do that,” Zay blasts him with an appalled look, then his eyes darken as his gaze lands back on me. “Besides, if I want to see her scars, I can. I don’t need her permission.”
“You do if you don’t want your fingers broken,” I throw back at him.
His lips curl as he slants even closer to me. “I’d like to see you try, princess.”
“Then how about you try to lift up my shirt?” I challenge. “But let me emphasis on the try part, because you won’t get very far.”
He shakes his head in astonishment. “You still got that death wish, don’t you?”
“Nah, I just really like breaking fingers,” I quip. “Especially fingers that belong to a brooding douchebag who thinks he can always get his way.”
Zay grips the back of the seat as he slants so close to me that our lips almost touch. I refuse to lean back, though. Refuse to lose whatever the hell this challenge thing is going on between us.
“Dude, I can’t tell if Zay wants to hit you or fuck you, little raven,” Hunter remarks with a pucker at his brow, his gaze dancing between the two of us. “Maybe a little bit of both.”
Zay shifts his cold gaze to Hunter. “Don’t,” he warns.
“Don’t what?” Hunter asks, batting his eyelashes innocently.
Zay curls his fingers into fists as he leans over the table. “Don’t imply that shit.”
Hunter taunts Zay with a smirk. “Imply what?”
Tension ripples in Zay’s body as he shakes his head and slumps back in the seat. “You really get on my nerves sometimes. You know that?”
Hunter nods with a grin. “And yet, you still love me.”
“That’s debatable right now,” Zay grumbles as he folds his arms across his chest, his attention drifting to the hallway where Diane and Jax went. “I really don’t like that we’re not back there with him,” he changes the subject. “He should’ve taken us with him.”
“You know he can’t,” Hunter tells him as he pushes a few more buttons on the phone. “Until our little raven takes the oath, she can’t share in this part of our lives yet—not until she’s vowed the Oath of Silence. But we couldn’t just leave her out here alone either and Jax knew that. That’s why he went back there with her. Besides, Jax can handle Diane.”
So many questions flood my thoughts, one being: “Why can’t I be out here by myself?” I flick a glance around the mostly empty diner. “There’s literally, like, no one here. Well, unless you’re afraid I’m going to rob your diner or something.” I faintly smile. “Which honestly, doesn’t sound like a bad idea.”
Zay smirks at me. “Go ahead. It’ll just give us a reason to chase you down and torture you.”
My heart rate quickens as I recall what happened yesterday, but I remain calm on the outside and mirror his smirk. “Yeah, yeah, you say that now, but when you actually start to go through with the torturing, my bet is you’ll chicken out and save me.”
Zay’s eyes widen then narrow. “Keep it up and I’m gonna prove you wrong. In fact, I have duct tape and rope in the trunk that I can go get right now.”
“Go ahead and try. I’ll fight you,” I tell him. “Just like I did yesterday.”
“It didn’t work out that well for you yesterday, though, did it?” he challenges.
I’m about to throw back a snarky comeback when Hunter interrupts.
“Zay, Zay, Zay, brother, friend of mine, you are getting in deep fast,” he says with a grin, but a drop of nervousness resides in his eyes as he trades a look with Zay.
Zay grows quiet after that as he sinks back in the booth.
Again, I’m left feeling perplexed.
What is it with these guys and their coded conversations and looks?
Hunter gives Zay one more pressing look before fixing his attention on me, a smile gracing his lips. “We’re not worried about you robbing us, though that’d be cute to watch.” He stretches his legs out underneath the table, his foot bumping into mine, but he doesn’t move it, leaving it resting there. “We’re worried who might see you sitting here all by yourself.”
“Again, I stress, there’s no one here.” I point at the old man sitting in a booth. “Well, except for that old dude, but I really doubt he’d try to do anything to me.”
“Maybe, maybe not. And just because it doesn’t seem like anyone else is here, that doesn’t mean there’s no one watching,” Zay mumbles, pinching the brim of his nose.
My eyes widen. “What?”
Zay shrugs, lowering his hand to the table. “Someone’s almost always watching you. At least, that’s the mentality you have to have in this town because, more than likely, it’s true.”
“You mean, someone’s always watching you guys?” I ask, glimpsing around the diner, wondering if there’s like cameras around or something.
But that just seems crazy…
Cameras are angled at me as I sit in the padded room with the doctor walking toward me…
I yank myself from the memory, highly aware that my body is shaking.
What was that?
Why were their cameras everywhere? Because they thought I was a killer?
“It’s not just us,” Zay says and I do my best to focus on what he’s saying, but the memory haunts my mind. “Everyone in this town is usually keeping an eye on each other. The people who are part of the five families do it to protect themselves, because anyone can attack at any time if someone pissed off the wrong person. As for the people who aren’t part of the families, they still have to keep their guard up.”
I recall something Katy said to me yesterday, about there being a lot of sexual assaults in this town that get dusted under the rug. “Why? I mean, what’re they so afraid of?”
Zay leans closer to me, an almost menacing look dancing in his eyes. “Getting beat up, killed, raped, drugged, set up. If it’s a crime, it’s a risk here. And the police won’t do anything about it. Either the bosses pay them off or get rid of them if they won’t be bought off.” He pauses, assessing me. “Does that frighten you?”
Hunter brushes his foot against mine, either playing footsies with me or trying to comfort me. “If you are, it’s okay. We won’t let anything happen to you.”
“I’m not afraid.” Although a tiny part of me is. But it’s nothing I can’t handle
. “I’m just … trying to figure out why this town works like that. I mean, how did five mafia families even end up here?”
“It’s a long story,” Hunter explains vaguely, “that involves a lot of corruptness, distrust, and backstabbing.” He glances at something over my shoulder and his expression plummets. “And while you probably need to hear it, we don’t have time right now.”
I track his gaze and spot Jax and Diane exiting the hallway.
Diane instantly makes a beeline for the door, not even looking over at us as she hurries out of the diner, while Jax takes his sweet time returning to the table. He has a knife in his hand, and when he reaches our table, he stabs it into the table then fixes his gaze on me. “It’s time for you to take the oath. This can’t go any further until you do. And if you’re not going to, then you need to leave, because I have stuff to talk about with my brothers and I can’t do that in front of you until you’ve taken the oath.”
I glance from the knife stabbed into the table then up to him. Part of me knows I should be afraid with how much these guys seem to like pulling out knives, but I’m not. I don’t know why. Don’t know what’s wrong with me.
“Dude, what the fuck did that table ever do to you?” I ask, arching a brow at Jax.
Hunter snickers then sticks out his fist in my direction. “That one deserves a fist bump.”
Smiling, I bump his fist while Jax shakes his head and pulls his knife out of the table and sets it down. Then he fastens his gaze on me.
“No more jokes. It’s time for you to decide,” he tells me. “Either you take the oath and become one of us, or we take you home and you can forget everything that’s happened. I’m not about to have secrets in this circle, but until you take the oath and make a promise of silence to us, I can’t just say what I want and need to.” He places his palms down on the table and leans toward me. The scent of his cologne touches my nostrils and I’ll admit, it smells really good. Almost as good as this diner smells. “So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to run from us or fly with us, Ravenlee?”
It’s weird to hear one of them say my real name and I question why he’s using it now, when they’ve all been so content on calling me their raven.
I mull over what he’s asking, feeling conflicted. I’ve never been one for being put on the spot or for making decisions on the fly. Usually, I procrastinate for as long as possible. But I can tell that Jax means what he says.
The thing is, I’m still not even fully certain what I’m getting into if I take this oath and become part of their circle. All I really know about them is that they’re part of the mafia, like to torture people, carry around knives, and they’re impressed when people defy them and do crazy shit. Well, impressed enough to bring them into their circle.
“How do I even take the oath?” I ask. “I mean, what am I promising?”
Jax smiles. Actually fucking smiles. But it’s not a warm smile. No, it’s completely and utterly sinister, a taunt that would make most freak the heck out. But I’ve seen a lot of scary stuff in my life, so I don’t spook that easily.
Then Jax slowly shakes his head. “No, if you do this, you go in blind. That’s how it works.”
I glance at Zay, who’s watching me with a smirk, and then at Hunter, who looks amused and less pale than he did earlier. Then my eyes land back on Jax and his sinister smile. I really have no reason to trust these guys, and really, I don’t. But a part of me, the one I pretend doesn’t exist, doesn’t want to be alone all the time anymore.
Freak.
Murderer.
Loser.
Maybe, just maybe, being part of their circle will put a stop to the whispers.
And besides, if I want to find out if I really know Zay without him knowing, getting close to him might be my best option.
“Fine,” I say with a shrug, but it’s mostly bravado. I’m nervous. “I’ll take the oath, but I’m not moving in with you guys.”
As their grins grow, I worry what sort of fate I just sealed for myself, of what I’m about to lose. But not enough to back out.
And really, it’s not like I have anything to lose.
Raven
After I agree, everyone sort of relaxes. It makes me sort of concerned over what I’m getting myself into, but not enough to back out.
“So, now what do I do?” I ask after a couple of seconds go by and no one does or says anything.
“Now, you take the oath,” Jax sinks down in the booth beside Hunter.
“And then we’ll discuss this whole moving in thing some more,” Hunter adds with a grin. “Because you can argue all you want, but it’s gonna happen.”
I feel like banging my head on the wall. And I thought I was stubborn.
I decide to put a tack in that for now, though, and focus on this whole oath thing.
“Yeah, but what does that entail?” I question suspiciously.
“What do you think it entails?” Hunter wonders, observing me with amusement.
I give a shrug. “I don’t know. Letting you guys shove me off a bridge? Torturing me? Cutting me? The list of ideas filling my head is pretty endless.”
“But they all share one trait.” Hunter thrums his fingers against the table and I realize his fingernails are painted black. “They’re all morbid, which means you think we’re morbid.”
I shrug again, not bothering to even try to deny it. “From the first time I met you, you’ve threatened to hit me, push me off a bridge, make me your sex slave, and told me you were gonna kill me, tie me up, and torture me. So, why wouldn’t I think that?”
“And yet, you’re still here.” Zay stretches his arm along the back of the booth, his fingers brushing my hair. “So either you don’t scare very easily or you like to be tortured.”
“Wouldn’t that be funny if she did?” Hunter muses, his gaze flitting to Jax.
Jax pins him with a threatening look, to which Hunter retorts with an impish grin.
Jax opens and flexes his hands, focusing back on me. “We’re not going to do any of those things to you. In fact, I think we’ve stressed that we won’t let anyone hurt you once you join our circle.”
“Which includes you guys?” I ask dubiously, fiddling with a saltshaker on the table, feeling really restless about the situation I just got myself into.
Part of me wants to back out, but I’ve never been one for backing out.
When Jax hesitates, Hunter chuckles under his breath and mutters something incoherently. Jax must hear him, though, and gives Hunter a chilling look.
“Stop with the jokes,” he warns harshly.
Hunter just rolls his eyes then shoves the sleeves of his shirt up, rest his arms on the table, and looks at me in all seriousness. “Jax is right. We’re not going to hurt you. The oath is actually pretty simple. We’re all just gonna tell you some rules and you agree to abide by them.”
“There’s also a task,” Jax adds, causing Hunter to forcefully smash his lips together.
I eye them over suspiciously. “What kind of task?”
They’ve all grown a bit tense. Or, well, Hunter has. Zay isn’t even looking at me, dazing off toward the counter. Jax just appears as indifferent as always.
Jax’s lips part, but then the woman that Hunter spoke to earlier approaches our table with a round tray balanced in her hand and interrupts him.
She has grey hair that’s pulled back in a braid and is wearing square-framed glasses, jeans, and a T-shirt. If she wasn’t carrying food, I’d assume it was just someone here to talk to the guys, but because she is, I’m guessing she’s the waitress. I just don’t get why she’s not wearing a uniform.
“Here ya go, bosses,” she greets the guys as she sets the tray on the table beside ours. On the tray are several plates with various breakfast foods. She proceeds to put them on the table in front of us, humming along with the old school tune faintly playing from the jukebox.
“Thanks, Mable,” Hunter tells her with a charming grin.
She grins back a
s she slides a plate containing a chocolate chip waffle in front of him. “You’re welcome, honey. I put a little extra chocolate chips in there for ya, just the way you like it.”
Hunter rubs his hands together as he grins at the plate. “You’re seriously the best.”
“You just say that ’cause I bring you food,” Mable remarks as she places a plate of eggs and bacon in front of Jax. “And for you, Mr. Grumpy Pants, I put extra cheese in your eggs. Maybe that’ll get you to smile. Probably not, though.”
Jax glances up at her then does something completely wild.
He smiles. Like a real fucking smile.
“Thanks,” he tells her as he picks up a fork.
I gape at the scene, literally having no idea what to do with the exchange.
Mable notices my reaction and laughs. “Jax smiling is a crazy sight to behold, isn’t it?”
I give an exaggerated nod. “It’s like seeing a unicorn or something.”
Hunter smiles cleverly at me as he reaches for the syrup. “Look, I did make that happen for you.”
I roll my eyes, ignoring the grumbling of my stomach. “Unless Jax has a horn hidden somewhere on his body, he’s not an actual unicorn.”
A wicked grin spreads across Hunter’s face. “Well, he doesn’t technically have a horn, but he has a big c—”
“That’s enough.” Jax’s smile is no longer visible as he picks up his fork. “That’ll be all, Mable.”
Mable rolls her eyes as she sets down a plate of pancakes in front of Zay, who shockingly also smiles at her. Then he dives in, stuffing his mouth with food.
“Don’t try to dismiss me, Mr. Grumpy Pants,” Mable scolds Jax, wagging her finger at him. “You can try to act scary, but I’ve known you since you were a baby, and I can still remember the time you shit your pants because you were too damn scared to walk to the bathroom by yourself.”
I press my lips together as a laugh bubbles up my throat, but a snort still escapes me.
Jax’s cold gaze slices in to me, his lips parting, but Mable places a hand over his mouth, silencing him in a similar way he’s done to me multiple times.
The Raven Four: Books 1-2 Page 24