“So what do we do?” I ask, glad beyond all rational belief that I am not the leader tonight.
“We play a very careful game,” Victor says, nodding his chin at Hael and Aaron. “Make sure everyone stays in pairs tonight, and put guys on all our houses. We're going to be proactive, not reactive. Mitch will not bait me into making a move I don't want to make.”
“Are we sending any guys to the drive-in?” Hael asks, sipping on a Dr. Pepper. Sounds like Mitch and his clowns are at Wesley's. They better not mess that place up; it's the only decent burger place in town. Victor shakes his head once, rubbing at his chin in thought.
“No, but I want you and Cal to head over there and see what's going on. Mitch knows we didn't touch Kali; everyone knows it was Stacy and her girls. This is just an excuse to get us riled up, and I don't like it.” He turns around to look at me, and exhales sharply. “And you, trailing Oscar and leaving campus by yourself? I'm pissed.” I open my mouth to protest, but Vic puts up a palm to shush me. Frankly, I'd like to bite the tips of his fingers off, but our entire crew is here, and he is the boss. “Listen to me, Bernie.” Vic walks over and crouches down in front of me. “If my mother is working with the Charter Crew, then she'll have a plan in mind. Her best bet is to catch me in a crime … or make me a widower.”
The blood drains from my face as Vic reaches out to touch the side of my throat, fingers playing across the bruises there. The look he shoots Oscar's way is toxic, but when he turns back to me, he's all leader, all matter-of-fact and shit.
“You will go home with Aaron and Oscar; the rest of us will monitor the Charter situation from afar.”
My blood chills and I frown, but I can't argue against Vic's logic.
“Fine, but I want a full report in the morning.”
Victor grins at me and presses a scalding kiss to my cheek.
“Yes, my queen,” he says, rising to his feet and turning back to the gathered Havoc crew. “Alright, friends, it's time to divvy up responsibilities.” Victor goes about directing people while Oscar finishes his cigarette and then heads straight for Aaron's Bronco.
“Stay safe,” I tell Callum and Hael, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek. “If either of you dies, I'll be furious.”
“Duly noted,” Hael replies with a grin. Callum just winks at me, which I don't like. I give him a look before peeling off to follow Aaron to the Bronco. Thank god Sara Young hasn't found this place yet, but I'm worried it's only a matter of time until she stumbles upon it.
“I bet that hurt,” I remark absently as I catch up to Aaron. “Getting her lips sewn shut like that.” He smiles wickedly at me and shrugs.
“Can't say I have any sympathy for her whatsoever.” He opens his door and pushes his seat forward. Oscar is already sitting in the front, elbow on the window, gazing out into the night. The front seat is supposed to be my spot, but I decide to let it go for now and climb in without a word.
We'll have it out later, me and him.
“What happened to Kyler and Timmy?” I ask as Aaron starts the engine and we pull away from the curb.
Oscar turns back to look at me, his face scratched and bloodied from the fight. It makes him look like the very thing he just proclaimed that he was most definitely not. That is, he looks human.
“They're just lucky that law enforcement is involved in their brother's case,” Oscar says, and that's that. Guess I'll have to wait until school tomorrow to see what he's talking about. That is, if either of the boys even show up.
“Let's get the girls from Jennifer's,” Aaron says, cringing when he sees the time. “It's a little late, but oh well. They can sleep in the car on the way back.”
We do just that, taking them back to Aaron's and tucking them into their beds.
As soon as they're asleep, I burst into Oscar's room, intending on giving him verbal whiplash, but he's asleep, too, lying on the queen-sized bed in the corner with his sweats and hoodie still on. He looks so damn tired that I end up just sitting on the edge of the bed and studying his sleeping face.
After a minute, I decide to curl up in bed beside him, tucking my body against his. Even though it's clear from his breathing that he's still out cold, Oscar throws an arm around my body and holds me close.
In the middle of the night, I wake up and find him standing over me.
“They're back,” is all he says, turning and leaving the room as I sit up and rub the sleep from my eyes. The bed still feels nice and warm behind me, like maybe Oscar didn't get up all that long ago. I climb out of the covers and head down the stairs, finding the boys outside smoking joints.
I'm beyond relieved to see them all safe.
“Here,” Cal offers me up a joint, but as soon as I get close to him, he yanks me down into his lap and envelops me in his oversized hoodie. “Sorry to wake you up so late,” he says, grinning as he presses his face to the side of my neck. “But we have news.”
“Good news?” I quip, sitting back and looking down the row of boys in their pj's, several joints making the rounds amongst them.
“Not really,” Hael says, scratching his temple with a single finger. He looks exhausted, so I grab Cal's phone from his pocket to check the time. It's nearly four in the morning. “The Charter Crew took over Wesley's, smashed a bunch of windows, terrorized a bunch of kids who were just trying to grab a burger and a quickie.” He takes a drag on his joint and exhales, filling the air with skunk-y sweet smoke.
“Okay, and?” Aaron asks, rubbing at his face, clearly tired and cranky and ready for a few more hours of sleep. “What else?”
“They've padded their numbers with hired thugs,” Callum explains as my eyes drift over to Oscar. He's sitting in the chair furthest away from me and refusing to partake in proper weed culture. It's all about sharing and passing, but yet again, he refuses to participate. His iPad is open on his lap, but he's not looking at it, staring up at the round silver disc of the moon. “The only people from Prescott High that were there were their core crew: Mitch, Billie, Kali, Logan, Timmy, and Kyler. It was very clearly a set-up.”
“Holy shit,” I murmur, flicking my attention to Vic. He gives me a very slow, very lazy smile that clearly says, told ya, princess. Glad I sent your ass home? I ignore him. “So they have to be working for Ophelia then, right? I mean, to get the money for something like that?”
“At this point, I'd almost guarantee it,” Victor says with a slight nod, glancing over at Oscar. “You reckon she's keeping Mitch around, so she can play this off as just some high school turf war shit?”
“More than likely,” Oscar replies, turning back to look at us. I'm relieved to hear that he sounds like he always does, smooth and cold and calculating. Everything else about him is different right now. His lack of glasses, his casually wrinkled clothing, his bruised face. Even the warmth I can still feel at my back, from where his body was pressed into mine is different. “She can safely assume that the world will infer that anything that happens to us is a result of a petty, little gang war. If the media found out that her son's wife was executed in cold blood by a hitman, it wouldn't look very good for her. Ophelia can keep as many cops in her pocket as she wants; the people will decide her fate at that point.”
Victor stands up from his chair to pace the grass for a moment, smoking and smoothing his palm over his purple hair.
“Alright, so we proceed under the assumption that Mitch is my mother's pet. We need to untangle the mystery of Kali and Neil, however. That, and we have got to deal with Brittany. It's been too long already.” Vic snaps his fingers and points at Hael. “Text the little thot and invite her out or something. Pretend you're interested in a hookup if you have to. Just get her alone somewhere.”
I bristle at the suggestion and shift in Callum's lap, but Hael just smirks at me.
“Aww, what's the matter, Blackbird? You jelly?”
“Fuck you, Hael,” I murmur, but I know how important dealing with Brittany Burr is. Her father had my boys arrested; she broke her Havoc pric
e. The first and only time this has ever happened was during the latter half of sophomore year. My boys put a kid in a full-body cast, burned his trailer to the ground, and had his mother fucking deported.
They do not play around with this shit.
“I can be pretty charming when I need to be,” Hael says with a shrug. He's shirtless and wearing only red plaid boxers and a crimson-colored hoodie. I have to physically force myself not to look at him. “She'll show up, if only to bitch and whine at me a little. What are we going to do with her?”
“Cut her skin where Daddy can't see and leave her permanently scarred,” Callum suggests, hugging me close. It's strange, to hear such violent things come out of such pretty, smiling lips. “Then we wait for her baby to be born and finish the job. There are plenty of loving couples looking for a baby; let's give the kid to one of them.”
“I like this idea,” Vic says, with a nod. “It solves our issues in both the short and long-term. Hael, once you get her to meet you, take her to the cabin and keep her there for a long weekend. We'll scare the fuck out of her but cover it up like she's staying at a friend's.”
“Got it, boss,” Hael says, yawning and saluting at the same time. Aaron is basically comatose, leaning up against the wall near the sliding glass door with his eyes closed and his arms crossed over his shirtless chest. I have no idea what cabin, exactly, it is that they’re talking about, but Aaron did say they had hidey holes all over that I didn’t know about yet.
“How did the meeting with Coraleigh go?” I ask. I'd almost forgotten about that, in the excitement of everything else. The other boys turn to Oscar, waiting for him to answer. It looks like it physically pains him to have to respond directly to me.
I imagine it’s because he knows he acted a fucking fool.
“She's panicking about us cutting off her income flow, but I did get some interesting information about two more purchase requests from Ophelia's fancy upper crust friends. I had to put a knife to her husband's cock to get it, but it worked out. Also, did you know Marcus wasn't circumcised?” I just stare back at him, but his expression never changes. “He is now. I'm not sure that I did a very good job, but if he does what we say, his dick should heal just fine.”
“Fuck me,” I murmur, and both Cal and Hael chuckle.
“Didn't he already do that today?” Hael queries, and I glare at him.
“Speaking of,” Victor starts, giving me a sharp look. “You're in huge fucking trouble for leaving the school the way you did today. You broke every rule in Havoc's book and then some. I oughta toss you over my knee and spank you, wife.”
“Screw you, Victor,” I snap back, but my cheeks flush because I know he's right. I should not have left like that. This city has never been more dangerous; the only time I'm truly safe is when I'm with my boys. “But I can't disagree. It won't happen again.” He nods briefly, seemingly satisfied.
“Good. Come here then and take your spanking like a champ. I'll give you one smack for every block outside of Prescott High that you walked.” Victor turns back to Oscar as my mouth gapes open in shock. “It was ten, wasn't it? Ten blocks?”
Oscar gives a very slow, very deliberate nod.
“You can't be serious?” This from Aaron, because I'm still too damn shocked to respond properly. “You can't spank her; she isn't a child.” So says the boy who just spanked me in his Bronco while we were having sex. But I get what he’s saying: this is different.
“She's not, but she's a member of Havoc, and she fucked up. We could beat the shit out of her, the way we did Hael when he disobeyed me and fucked that Oak Valley Prep girl against my wishes.” Hael cringes, but at least he has the decency to look chagrined by the whole scenario. “Would you prefer that? If the five of us made her bleed?”
Aaron takes a step forward, and I can see that's he done holding back. Like he said, he did it for me. He puts up with Victor for me.
“Wait,” I say, standing up suddenly. Aaron pauses and looks down at my palm as I press it against his chest. “Fair is fair. I'll take the punishment.” He doesn't like that, wrapping his hands over mine and squeezing them against his warm skin. I can feel his heart beating inside his chest.
“This is humiliating, and stupid as fuck. You deserve better than this.” Aaron pulls me close, wrapping me up in his arms as the others watch. I wonder what he thinks about me climbing into bed with Oscar? “She didn't disobey a direct order; she just made a stupid decision. If anyone deserves to be spanked, it's Hael for getting us involved with Brittany in the first place.”
“Your dick is going to get us all killed,” Callum murmurs as Hael rolls his eyes, but Vic is already shaking his head.
“No. Hael's cock now belongs to Bernadette. He will not be using it on any other woman ever again. Clearly, he has a problem. Well, we've solved that problem by adding a Havoc Girl.” Victor gives his best friend a deadly look that chills me to the bone. “I've been nice enough to share my wife with you; do not fuck that up.” Victor cocks his head to the side and gives an unruly smirk, like a lazy king. “I won’t argue that Hael doesn’t deserve a spanking, but nobody wants to touch his nasty ass.”
“Except for me,” I say, and Hael shrugs, standing up from his chair with a joint tucked between his lips.
“Alright then,” he says, shoving his pajama pants over the muscular curve of his ass. He smacks his right cheek and gives me a saucy grin over his shoulder. “Spank me, Bernie. I’ll take ten, just so all’s fair, but try not to get too handsy.”
Victor smacks Hael in the back of the head, but if Hael thinks he’s getting out of this without a follow-through, he doesn’t know me very well.
“Fine,” I say, pulling away from Aaron and giving him a look. He’s staring down at me with some of that fiery determination that I noticed at the drive-in. He is really and truly done with seeing me pushed around or treated like shit. “I’ll spank Hael, and then Victor can spank me, and we can move on, yes?”
“Oh, yes,” Victor purrs, crossing his arms over his broad chest. “I feel that’s more than fair, don’t you? A little humiliation goes a long way.”
“I’m not humiliated,” Hael says, his ass still hanging out of his pants. “I’m turned-on; let’s get to this.” He rubs his palms together as I approach him and Callum chuckles from behind me.
“I’m filming this,” he says, lifting his phone up. Hael doesn’t seem to give a shit.
I wet my lips and take a deep breath, lifting my hand up to cup that bubble butt of his.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Channing, but I feel like you’re taking liberties with my body.” Hael snorts, like he thinks he’s so damn funny, and I smack him as hard as I can. My palm stings because his butt is just too damn toned, but whatever. I do it again, and he groans, letting his head fall back as he takes a drag on the joint. “Mm, I’m usually the one who does the spanking, but I like this. Add a little water, and my cock could cut granite.”
“Shut the fuck up,” I grumble, but my cheeks are flushed anyway as I spank him the remaining eight times, ignoring his groaning and murmured come-ons. Oscar stays quiet, watching the two of us with an inscrutable expression while Aaron frowns, arms crossed over his broad chest.
“This is the dumbest shit …” he murmurs, but he doesn’t try to stop it.
“Good boy,” Victor says, and Hael tosses him a look filled with contempt. He does what Vic says because he loves him, and he respects him, but he really doesn’t like being talked to like that. “Now, Bernie, pants down.” Vic snatches the extra plastic chair from the patio and parks it in the grass, like we’re on display in the moonlight or something. The other four boys watch from the porch as Victor sits down and pats his lap. “Bend over and let’s see that ass.”
“I fucking hate you,” I growl out, feeling my body ripple with rage. I’m extra pissed off because there’s a tiny little simmer inside my belly that likes the idea of Vic spanking me in front of the other boys. The idea of my ass being bare with all five of them around. The
possibility that at some point, we could all be naked together …
“Hate me while you’re taking your punishment, your majesty,” Victor says, patting his lap again. “Come on now, wife.”
I grit my teeth and clench my hands into fists, but I’m going to do it, if only to prove that I’m willing to take my punishment like anybody else. I know for a fact that part of Hael’s punishment was that Brittany called Havoc, that he had to get his ass kicked by a fucking cop. Oscar would not have allowed him to do that before the DNA test results unless he intended on Hael taking a beating.
Everything this group does is calculated.
Including this.
I move over to Vic, shoving my pj pants down my hips and revealing my lily-white ass to the moonlight. Victor makes a sound of dark appreciation in his throat and then pulls me down so that I’m draped over his knees.
Unstoppable rage fills me, and I have to close my eyes to keep from freaking the fuck out. This is not my thing. What happened today with Oscar is not my thing. What is happening to me? You’re letting your guard down, Bernie. Also, you’re a slutty little perv, just like the rest of the assholes in this family.
“Mm-mm-mm,” Victor purrs, rubbing my ass with his hand and then squeezing the soft flesh with strong fingers. He smacks me hard, and I bite my lip to keep from making any sounds. “Look at that ass, Mrs. Channing. Shit, what an amazing idea for a punishment, if I do say so myself.”
“Eat shit,” I grumble, but I keep my gaze focused on the grass, trying to ignore the five sets of eyes that are on me while I’m bent over and vulnerable. I will not soon forget the feeling of being watched by all of them at once. Even bent over like this, I’m commanding their attention because, let’s be honest: it isn’t Victor that they’re all staring at with feral expressions.
“Are you just going to sit there or are you going to spank her?” Aaron snaps, and Vic pauses with his hand poised in the air above my cheeks. I can’t exactly see what he’s doing, but there’s a long pause before his hand comes down and cracks me across the ass a second time. “Jesus.”
Mayhem at Prescott High Page 26