by James Tate
Their fucking eyes were on me at all times. Basically everyone in the school had either heard about the incident yesterday, or they were trying to figure out why I was back in the Delta inner circle. Either way, I was sick of their staring faces.
As I left English lit, a chick a few inches shorter than me, kind of blocked the doorway.
“Seriously,” I snarled. “Can’t you stare from a distance?”
Her alabaster skin pinked across the cheekbones, and she shook her head. “No, sorry, I just wanted to say that I am appalled by what happened here yesterday. My father is a lawyer. A very rich, very powerful lawyer in New York. Let me know if you ever want to take legal action against those assholes.”
I felt the tiniest bit bad then, because she clearly wasn’t like the rest of the animals in this school.
“Uh, thank you,” I said softly. “I appreciate you reaching out.”
She shrugged. “In this fucked up world, women need to stick together.” She brushed back her long blonde curls. “I’m Sami. Just holla if you want to take it further.”
Sami left then, and I blinked at Evan. “What do you know, some rich people do have souls.”
Evan snorted. “Yeah, for now. It never lasts.”
Wasn’t that a sad, screwed up truth.
It was time for lunch, and I dumped all my crap in my locker. Maybe now it’d all actually be safe there. Everyone was already waiting for us, and I grabbed a plate full of food—teriyaki chicken with hokkien noodles—before sliding in next to Eddy. Beck, Dylan, and Jasper were on the other side, right across from me, and all three of them checked me out like they were searching for new injuries.
“No troubles?” Beck asked. The intensity he was throwing off had me all off balance.
I shook my head. “Nope. Except for a lot of staring, it was uneventful.”
Eddy leaned in closer. “Have you heard what happened to the guys? The ones who dragged you into that classroom.”
Jasper groaned. “For fuck’s sake, sister. Can you seriously not keep your mouth shut for five minutes?”
Eddy looked contrite, but she had piqued my curiosity. “Did any of them die?”
We were whispering, and I could sense the tables around us leaning closer, trying to hear our conversation. That was until Beck lifted his furious gaze, and they all backed right the hell up.
“All of them are still in the hospital,” Dylan said, his tone somber. “Most of them with serious injuries. Beck broke two jaws, four arms, twenty ribs, and about eighteen teeth between the six of them.”
Something hot and primal stirred in my gut, and I should have been scared that he was capable of that much carnage, but I really wasn’t.
“Will we be pressing charges?” Eddy asked, louder and more pissed off. “Those fuckers should be in jail. Or dead.”
She didn’t sound like she was kidding, and I remembered exactly why we were best friends.
“Delta is cleaning up the mess,” Beck said, sounding like he was over this conversation. “All six of them will be shipped out of the country, forced into the sort of reform school that makes the army look like an amusement park, and their parents are leaving Jefferson for good. In all the ways that counts, they’re dead to Delta. Dead to our companies.”
I shook my head. “And you’re not going to get into trouble at all?” I checked with him. I hadn’t really asked him last night, and I realized now that was kind of an asshole move on my part. I’d just been so overwhelmed with everything.
He shook his head, leaning back, relaxed. “Nah. The council asked for a favor from me, and for that, they’ll make sure that this all disappears.”
Unease twisted in my chest. “A favor? What sort of favor.”
Delta leaders were evil little snots. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could throw them. “I find out tomorrow,” Beck said shortly. “Actually, we will all find out. They’ve requested a full meeting again. In the New York offices. Apparently, this favor is going to require all of us.”
I paused. “Even me?”
He nodded. “Yep, it’s an all heirs request. Pack a bag, Butterfly, you’re going to New York.”
16
My official summons came later that night, when Beck had illegally entered my apartment, refused to leave, and was now watching me pace as he sat on the couch.
“Catherine is such a fucking bitch,” I snarled, trying to walk off my anger. “This is her message.”
I held the phone up and scrolled across to the text.
Debitch: You will be in our offices in New York tomorrow by 9am. Or I will burn your apartment to the ground.
Another angry sound left my mouth. “Who the fuck says things like that? And the worst part, she actually means it. Goddamn psychopath.”
Beck’s eyes were amused, even though he was smart enough not to actually laugh at me. “You should take that message as a positive sign.”
I stopped walking and narrowed my eyes on him. “Say what now?”
He shrugged. “She’s scared by how little she can control you. I mean, these are no small, idle threats. She has her work cut out for her trying to keep you in line.”
My head was starting to ache. “I just want her to leave me alone. But since that doesn’t appear to be an option, I’m hoping to talk to Richard and see if we can get her booted from Delta. Somehow. She’s not an heir. She’s nothing. He needs to fuck her right off.”
Beck looked more interested now, standing and moving closer to me. “You have a plan?”
I nodded. “Yes. I need some sort of evidence that Catherine is not loyal to Delta. I mean, she’s Huntley blood. She’s always in the midst of the drama and fuckups. I know there is something there, I just have to find it before I confront Richard.”
Beck tilted his head, like he was considering my words. “Richard has always had a blind spot when it comes to Catherine. My father briefly contemplated having her killed a few years ago because she constantly has her nose in everything, but he refrained out of respect to Richard.”
That didn’t surprise me at all about Beck’s father. The killing part anyway. Him respecting someone other than himself was actually a bit of a shock.
“Richard doesn’t seem quite as enamored by her these days,” I said slowly. “We might have a chance.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to tell Beck about my insurance policy in Richard’s office, but for some reason, I held back again. We are not friends. I had to keep reminding myself of that. Beck might be bulldozing himself into my life, but I could not trust him. I could not fall back into that same life and pattern as before. That naïveté allowed me to be completely blindsided.
I woke the next morning wrapped in Beck’s arms, and I allowed myself the briefest of seconds of peace before I pulled away and got ready for the day. It took me longer than usual, given how sore and stiff I still was from fighting off my attackers, but it was nothing I couldn’t handle with gritted teeth and a couple of aspirin.
We were taking one car to New York City, and it turned out to be a huge Escalade, black on black, and all the fancy shit. Jasper was driving, his eyes covered by reflective glasses. “Morning, Riles,” he said when I climbed inside, throwing my duffle bag over the backseat. “You ready for the road trip?”
I shook my head, glad that it would only be a couple of hours. “Why did we need to pack a bag?” I asked. “Surely we can have the meeting and make it home tonight?”
Beck slid in next to me, Dylan on the other side, and suddenly I was sandwiched between two of the hottest, scariest dudes in existence.
Some days, I swear fate hated me.
Or loved me. Depending on what way you looked at it.
Jasper started the car and “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar blared through the sound system.
“We should grab some food when we get there,” Evan said, turning from the front seat. “I love that little deli right near Delta.”
“Fuck yes,” Dylan groaned, and I couldn’t help but smile at
him.
“Sounds like some deli,” I commented, looking at all of their faces.
“You should taste their subs,” Jasper said, spinning the wheel and getting us started. “Out of this world.”
My stomach grumbled at the mention of subs, and I licked my lips in anticipation. “Meatball?” I asked Jasper, my eyes wide with excitement.
He grinned at me in the mirror. “With cheese.”
Moaning, I sunk back into my seat. “Fuck yes, I’m so on board for that. What a shame we have to deal with our tyrannical parents first.”
“About that,” Beck said, scratching at his stubbled cheek. “This favor … it usually ends up being one thing. They have a job for us, and this time I can’t even argue about it.” He looked annoyed but resigned to this fate. “Everyone’s been a bit on edge at headquarters lately...” He looked like he was going to say more, but stopped himself and clenched his jaw.
“Hey.” I jabbed him in the ribs. “No more secrets.”
“Delta council falls into a whole other category, Riles,” Dylan answered for him. “With Beck about to take his seat on the board, he’s privy to information that we aren’t. We don’t need to like it, but we do have to respect it.”
Beck sucked in a deep breath and released it in a heavy sigh. “Do we, though?”
A tense silence fell across the car, and both Dylan and Evan leaned to stare at Beck.
“Say what?” Evan blurted.
“Beck,” Dylan said in a carefully soft voice. “Are you suggesting going against Delta?”
Beck said nothing, just stared out the window, drumming his fingertips on the arm rest.
“You can’t,” Jasper spoke up.
“Why not?” I asked, looking between them all. “I feel like I’m missing something here.”
Beck shrugged. “Riley said something yesterday about how we need to change things. Change Delta. She has a damn good point.”
“No, Jasper’s right,” Dylan agreed, “Even if it weren’t for all the shit they have on us in the vaults, you signed an ironclad NDA. We need to play by their rules for another three years.”
Beck said nothing, just kept staring out the window for a long while then ran a hand through his dark hair as he sighed again. “Let’s just get through whatever bullshit they’ve cooked up for us this weekend.”
No one really seemed to know what to say back, so Jasper cranked the stereo, and I slipped my sunglasses back over my eyes. It was a long drive, and I was not a morning person on the best of days. Maybe I could catch a few extra minutes sleep.
When I woke up again, my face was snuggled into Beck’s neck while my feet were tucked up in Dylan’s lap. Despite the fact we were squished up in the backseat of a car, I was stupidly comfortable and I didn’t want to move. Not ever.
“So, you guys talked things through?” Evan’s question was quiet enough that I knew they must’ve thought I was still asleep.
Beck hummed a low sound, and I fought not to snuggle my face deeper into his warm skin. “Sort of. Yes. Not really.”
Dylan chuckled, his hands lightly massaging my feet in his lap. Where my shoes had gone, I had no idea, but that boy knew how to give a fucking excellent foot rub.
“Never heard you all twisted up like this over a girl, Beck.” Dylan’s hands paused for a moment on my feet, like he was anxious to hear his best friend’s response, despite his light, teasing tone.
Fuck knew I was!
“She’s not just any girl, and you all know it,” Beck growled. “We talked. Or… we fought. But fighting with her is like…” he trailed off, and I held my breath waiting for his sentence to finish. “Like fucking electricity. It makes me feel alive like I never have before. I’ll take fighting with Riley over her silence any damn day.”
Butterflies erupted inside me, and it was everything I could do to maintain my breath and keep my body relaxed. I was enjoying the little insight into boy-chat and was in no hurry to end it by “waking up.”
“I don’t think any of us are going to disagree with you there,” Jasper commented with a dry laugh.
“Shh, shut up,” Evan hissed, and I heard the distinctive sound of him whacking Jasper. “You’ll wake her up with your snickering.”
“Ow, no I won’t,” Jasper grumbled. “Girl sleeps like the dead. When she’s not having a nightmare.”
There was an extended silence, like they all knew they were somewhat to blame for the nightmares in my life.
While I did want to hear more of Beck’s feelings, I also didn’t, because it was crumbling my resolve like it was made of cheese instead of steel.
I shuffled around and started to mumble a few sounds, like I was just waking up. A fingertip traced across my cheek, and I knew from the angle that it had to be Beck, and I let my eyelashes flutter before I opened my eyes and sleepily met his steely gaze.
“Hey,” I said clearing my throat. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to fall asleep on you.”
I pulled myself up, settling back into the seat. To my relief, the ache in my muscles was easing, and I was feeling a bit less like I’d been thrown through a meat grinder. Yawning, I rubbed a hand over my face. “What did I miss?”
They all started talking at once, each saying something different, and I couldn’t help but smile.
“That much, huh?”
Jasper laughed loudly. “You missed the start of the city,” he said, and I leaned forward to see the New York City skyline which was now proudly in view.
“Whoa,” I murmured. I’d never been here before, despite living reasonably close. The city was not for my family; my mom hated the bustle and crowds and traffic. Dad never had an opinion one way or another, but he did mention once or twice that the city was no place for a simple steel worker.
I’d told him that he was too good for New York, not the other way around.
For a brief moment, grief knocked me so hard that I almost sobbed. It just came out of nowhere, and it hit me until I couldn’t breathe. There were still moments that I wished I’d died in the crash with them.
Save ever feeling this pain.
Beck shifted beside me, and like he could feel the grief pouring off me in waves, he reached out and took my hand. Dylan took my other hand. Neither of them said a word, they just held onto me. And somehow, between the two of them, they stopped me from splintering into a million pieces and drifting away in the breeze.
A single tear escaped and trailed down my cheek, and I let it fall, until I could taste the saltiness on my lips.
Until I could taste my pain.
Thankfully we were distracted by the surge of traffic around us, and I managed to get all of that sadness back into its box. Locked down.
Jasper maneuvered the huge car surprisingly easy through the city. It was clearly not their first time driving here, and despite the slow movement of cars around us, we managed to make it to the Delta offices in good time. “Which tower is Delta’s?” I asked, looking at the four huge towers, each shiny and intimidating. I couldn’t see names on any of them, but I assumed one was the Delta headquarters.
Jasper pulled into an underground parking lot, and we waited for the gates to open.
“All of them,” Beck said.
I paused. “All four?”
“Eight,” Evan corrected me. “We own the full block here.”
I sank back into my chair, slamming my mouth shut. Well, fuck. I mean, I was aware that Delta was rich and powerful. I knew they basically controlled half the world. But the real estate alone here, in the center of New York City, arguably one of the most powerful and expensive cities in the world, would be worth a billion dollars.
The underground lot was massive, and the cars in there made me drool a little as we passed them. Jasper pulled into a spot right by the elevators, and we all filed out.
The guys were changing again, adopting their “Delta personalities” as I liked to call them. Game faces on. When we got into the elevator, it powered us up to the first floor, where we had to get o
ut and cross by the huge front desk. There were four ladies there, greeting people, assigning security badges, and basically running the show.
There were people everywhere. The noise was insane, and everyone was dressed in what I was dubbing business chic. Of course, I looked like the teenager I was, dressed in jeans and converse.
“Should we be in suits?” I asked the guys as they surrounded me when we stepped further into the chaos.
Beck snorted. “Well, our parents would like that, but we live to piss them off in whatever way we can. They might be able to dictate a lot, but for now, we still dress ourselves.”
All four of them were dressed in their version of rich playboy. Designer clothes, but still jeans and Henleys, boots and white high-tops. Nothing that suggested they were businessmen. Not today, anyway.
“Excuse me,” one of the desk chicks called out when we strolled past, heading for the second bank of elevators behind them. “Everyone needs to sign in.”
Jasper and Evan laughed, both of them shaking their heads as they continued forward.
“You need to sign in!” she shouted again before she turned and hollered for security. Two huge buff dudes hurried over but got no more than ten steps in our direction when Beck lifted his hand and gave them both a two fingered salute. “Hey, Paul. John,” he said.
Both dudes relaxed then, shaking their heads before strolling back to their posts by the metal detectors at the doors.
“Name is Sebastian Beckett,” Beck said to the chick who had her mouth hanging open. “Best you learn who the fuck we are.”
We strolled away then, and I shot her one last glance, not surprised to see her face was a splotchy red, despite the layered on makeup she was sporting. Poor girl was probably new or something and now she would be panicking about being fired.
“She was just doing her job,” I said as I hurried to catch up. We waited for the next elevator to arrive, and filed inside.
“Everyone has the heirs’ photos,” Dylan told me, no sympathy in his voice. “She clearly didn’t read her welcome package. No excuse for being bad at your job.”