“Nuh-uh dad, later for that.” I turned back to the phone. “Now what did you find out? The sooner you get me what I want, the sooner we can get back to your deal, but I’m not leaving here until my boy is cool.”
“I don’t see what the big deal is, his name hasn’t even been called.”
“You don’t worry about that shit, do the cops have any leads or not?”
“So far it doesn’t look like it. So what now?”
“Now we wait and see.”
“For how long?”
“As long as it takes.”
“Kevin…”
“There’s no discussion here, I’m still pissed that I had to find this shit out the way I did.”
“This is why there’s no communication with the outside when you’re working on something, we can’t afford the disruptions.”
“This is my fucking life you idiot, you’re the disruption.”
“Yes, but the work you’re doing is important.”
“So is this, Jace is my boy, his girl was almost killed and left for dead in an alley. Now his ex skank is in the hospital fighting for her life apparently and you don’t think I would find that shit important?
I know you assholes think I’m part machine with your shit, but my heart is all- human, and like I said, Jace is my boy. You better make sure none of this comes back on him and if it does…”
“What, are you asking me, to cover up an attempted murder?”
“You want to know what the fuck the Rus is up to with their fuckery?”
“You do realize you’re trying to blackmail an Agent.”
“You do realize I don’t give a fuck, and hey, my clearance is higher than yours.” I hung up the phone because he wasn’t saying shit I wanted to hear.
“Son, you’ve got to take it easy on that guy.”
“Why dad?”
“Well, I don’t know, wouldn’t it make working together easier if you two got along?”
“No.” I left it there before heading up to my room to grab my keys.
From what I’d gathered today, none of my boys were involved, though the first time I heard I would’ve bet my left nut that Jace had done her.
That’s the reason I’d told the men who thought they were handling me to get fucked and headed for home. If he’d been involved I’d been ready to call in every favor I had to save his ass. The dumb fuck, I told him to stay away from that fish, I knew that bitch was rotten from day one.
It only took five minutes with them to know that they were all clean though, for which I was grateful. My favors don’t come cheap and I would hate to waste one on the likes of her ass.
One down, one more to go, and this one was going to be the harder of the two.
“Valerie, I’m coming to you.”
“Track where are you?” damn it was nice to hear her voice after all this time. Each time it was killing me more and more to leave her, but I had made that decision a long time ago and I can’t go back now.
“I’m home, on my way to get you.”
“Really? Don’t play with me, I thought your anger management thing was for at least another month.”
“Nah, I got time off for good behavior.” I jumped into my truck and headed for her. “Hey, how come you’re not down with Jace’s girl?”
“Who, that Sian chick? She’s cool, we say hi in the halls and shit but you know I don’t roll like that. I stays far from the Barbie brigade.”
“I told you about that stupid shit. Jace is my boy, she’s his you’re mine, what the fuck!”
“Fine damn, I’ll call her up and make a play date, shit.”
“I told you about your smart ass mouth too girl.”
“Yeah-yeah, what you gonna do about it?” I heard Dej Loaf playing in the background and shook my head. The little Hollywood princess swears she’s a thug. The only thing she knows about that shit is what she sees on TV, with her Manolo Blahnik wearing ass.
“You been my good girl while I was gone?”
“You know I was, but swear to fuck this is the last time. Next time your ass gets into some shit I’m not waiting around.”
“Kill that shit babe you ain’t going nowhere. You sure everything was cool while I was gone?”
“You know it was you had your crew clocking my ass each time I left the damn house.” I had a lot more on her than she knew and always knew what she’d been up to from one day to the next.
It was one of the stipulations this last time before I went away. Just because my friends didn’t know what was going on in the real world around them, didn’t mean that I wouldn’t protect them from it.
Jace and her were my top priorities when I was away. Her for obvious reasons, and Jace, because he was the realest motherfucker I know, and he’s had my back more times than I can count.
“You missed me baby?” Time to bring it back down. I know she gets crazy with that first phone call after I’ve been away, and mouthing off is her way of dealing.
“You know I did, but Kev it’s getting harder to deal.”
“I know baby.” I couldn’t promise her that it wouldn’t happen again because it would be a lie, and I try not to do that too much, well no more than was needed to keep my secret hidden.
“I’m at your gate baby open up.” The surveillance camera scanned me before the gates disengaged and slid open.
As I rode down the long driveway to the home fit for a princess, my heart was finally at peace. She’s the only thing I hate about leaving.
Each time I do, I lose a piece of myself, and like she’d said, it was getting harder and harder.
She came flying out the door as I was climbing out the truck. I saw the tears from this far away and opened my arms for her.
She ran and jumped into them, and I enfolded her little form against my much larger one.
“It’s okay babe I’m here.” Gone was the mouthy girl of just a few short minutes ago, and in her place was my needy babygirl.
I stood there for the longest time absorbing the feel and scent of her as her tears soaked my neck. “Shh, it’s okay.” I lifted the hand with my ring that we had agreed to keep hidden for now. I’d had to pull a lot of strings to get the marriage license that had bound us to each other for life, but I would do it all again to protect her.
With a kiss to my symbol of ownership, I held her that much closer.
JARED
It feels like we’d barely got settled in here, before all hell broke loose. I didn’t even really have my bearings as yet, so to speak. There was too much going on too fast, and that was before my sister got herself almost killed and the girl I suspected of having something to do with it ended up in the hospital.
I was just starting to relax my guard a little, testing my feet in unchartered waters, and now this. I looked down at the phone in my hand.
If I make this call it’s gonna change a lot of things, so I had to be sure. The reason for my hesitance was so dumb though, but still I had to be sure.
Back in my last school it had been harder, but here in a new place with no past judgments to live down, it felt like it was okay.
That’s what was bothering me though; the fact that I even had to think like that. I should be able to love who I want to love without having to worry about living down a stigma. And I shouldn’t be such a prick that I’d let it stop me before.
But to be fair she was the first one to make me feel like she was worth taking that final plunge for. It shouldn’t matter that she wasn’t a size four or whatever the in thing was these days. No more than it should’ve mattered when I first realized that I was attracted to women with more curves than most.
I don’t even know the correct term to use, since I don’t see her any differently to anyone else.
To me she’s just beautiful, but back home the school’s head jock couldn’t be caught dead with anyone other than one of the cheerleaders or their ilk.
For the last year and a half I hadn’t dated anyone because it was getting harder and harder to pretend. But I wa
sn’t ready to date any of the heavier girls in school either because of fear of what others might say.
Now I’m sitting here kicking my own ass for being such an asshole. I felt like I had to share that part of me with Belle before we went any farther. I don’t know why, but somehow I felt I needed her forgiveness for being so weak back then.
Seeing her, hearing her, watching her these past few weeks, I’ve learned just what it’s like for girls like her, who don’t fit in with the norm, especially here in Hollywood, skeleton central.
Her strength amazes me. I guess that’s why I felt like she was the one. Because I have the feeling that if I’m gonna catch shit for dating her, then she might be on the receiving end of some of that negative shit too.
The thought of that shit happening fills me with rage, and I know I have to protect her, because as full of lip as she is, my baby has a marshmallow core.
My baby, she’d probably kick my ass if she knew that’s how I think of her. Resting my head back against the chair, I played the pros and cons of telling her in my head.
“What’s the matter with you now?” I opened my eyes to see dad looking down at me. “Don’t tell me that you’ve got issues now too. I’m beginning to second guess this move, I don’t think it’s been working out for you and your sister.”
“It’s nothing like that dad and I don’t think Sian would agree with you. She wouldn’t have met Jace otherwise.” I smiled as he sat next to me.
“You’ve got a point but this place is strange. My teenage daughter is engaged to a guy she met a few weeks ago and is now at his home recuperating, after being almost killed in an alley. Damn, it sounds even worse when I say it out loud.”
“It’s life in the fast lane dad. But since when do you measure things in time?”
“I’m not, it just seems like we’re moving at warped speed since we landed here and it’s now hitting home. I’m not sure that I would’ve let Sian become so deeply involved with any of the boys back home, but this Jace, he seems so, I don’t know. He has more sense than I did when I was that age that’s for sure.”
“Jace is solid dad, I’m the one who’s not so much.” I felt the sting of embarrassment over my past actions. How could I have been so stupid? the only saving grace was that I knew I didn’t feel half of what I do now back then.
“What do you mean, did something happen?”
“You could say that. I fell in love.”
“Yeah? But that’s good isn’t it?”
“It’s great but I did something before that I’m ashamed of and it ties in somehow I think.”
“What say you tell your old man all about it and we’ll see what we see huh? I’m grabbing a snack you want one?”
“Nah, Jace had everything you could imagine at his last minute get together.” I tapped my stomach, which was still full, hours later.
“And your sister how is she looking?”
“She’s good but I think he’s making her crazy. He won’t let her do anything, she had to sit and watch the rest of us play all day.”
“Good man Jace. So tell me, what is it that you did at your young age that’s so horrible?”
“You didn’t ask me who I’m in love with.”
“I know already.” He actually snorted.
“What? That’s not possible, nobody knows.”
“You’re good boy but not that good. Every time she comes around here you get stupid. Not to mention the way you follow her with your eyes when you think no one else is looking.”
“Who?”
“Belle.”
“Seriously, you knew…and?” For some reason I knew that the fact that it no longer mattered was all the answer I needed, but I still wanted to hear his opinion.
“And what?” The fact that he asked that had the band around my chest loosening just a little bit more.
“Aren’t you going to tell me I can do better or something like that?”
“What the…explain yourself son. What do you mean by that?” He seemed a bit affronted by my words and that only made me feel better.
“She’s not…” I couldn’t say the words out loud because they sounded so wrong in my head.
“She’s not what?”
“Thin.” There I said it, but it was his reaction that threw me.
“What the fuck did you just say?” Dad isn’t in the habit of swearing, especially not in front of his kids, but I think I’d given him a shock.
“Please tell me that no son of mine is that fucking stupid. And why would you think that I would feel anyway one way or the other about what she looks like?”
“Calm down dad, I didn’t mean to disrespect you by suggesting that, it’s just that…do you remember Janice, Sian’s friend?”
“Which one was Janice, you know I can’t keep up with your sister’s friends.”
“She was the only one that wasn’t on the cheerleading squad.”
“Okay, go on.”
“Well, one day coach caught me looking at her and he ah, he pulled me aside after practice and basically told me that it wouldn’t look good for the team if I dated someone like her.”
“He what?” I think steam came out of his ears and nostrils before he jumped up from his seat.
“Dad where are you going?”
“To call your old principal and get that ass fired or disciplined at the very least. I didn’t teach you kids to believe in that bullshit, I don’t want anyone else doing that shit.
By the way I think Belle is a very beautiful girl and I wouldn’t have cared what she looked like. As long as she’s what you want that’s good enough for me.
Maybe one day soon you will bring her home and introduce her to your mother and I.”
“Dad you already know Belle.”
“I already know my daughter’s friend, I’ve never been introduced to my son’s girlfriend. I guess we need to have the talk again soon huh.”
“That’s okay dad, I remember everything from the last time.”
“Boy you were like seven, you don’t remember shit.”
He left me alone with my thoughts and the phone in my hand. I should’ve known better, even when coach had said those fucked up words to me two years ago I’d known that he was wrong; it was my own cowardice that held me back then.
Now I wasn’t about to let anyone stand in my way again.
Chapter 5
JACE
“I think I should do it.” I’d just told Sian about Mandy and what they wanted me to do. I’d given it some more thought and I couldn’t see any other way.
She hadn’t said one word the whole time I was speaking, and I couldn’t tell from her face what she was thinking.
“You want to do it?”
“Hell no I don’t want to do it, but it might be the only way to get to the truth about what happened to you that night.”
“Why don’t you let the cops do their job? I have all confidence that they’d get to the bottom of it in time. If this is an excuse for you to go sniffing around your ex well you can just…fuck off Jace Saunders.”
What the fuck? She flew off the bed and headed for the bathroom but I flew off the other side and stopped her. “Where the fuck are you going?”
“Home, and you can have this back you ass.” She tried taking off my ring and giving it to me.
“Have you lost your fucking mind Si?” What the fuck just happened here? One minute we were having a conversation and the next it was world war fucking three.
“Let go of me and get out of my way, I can’t believe you actually think it would be okay to do that.”
“Sian what the fuck do you think I was planning to do here, fuck her? You should know better than that shit.” I think I was a little shocked that she didn’t trust me.
“The fact that you even considered it is an insult, now get out of my way I’m going home and don’t you follow me either Jace.”
“How do you plan on getting there huh?” I snatched up her phone from the nightstand and put it in my po
cket before disconnecting the house phone in my room.
“Fine, I’ll walk you asshole.” She’s lucky she was still healing or I’d pop her one. Instead I stood back and watched her in action. It was the first time I’d ever seen her this pissed and boy was it something to behold.
She stormed around the room collecting her things while I stood back and watched. “You done? Now put that shit back where you got it and get your ass back in that bed before you piss me the fuck off.”
“You can go straight to hell and take your bitch with you, I hate you.”
Damn, what the fuck? Women are nuts and this one a little more so than most. I shouldn’t have said shit to her, just went ahead and did what needed to be done and tell her after the fact.
Only I think that would’ve been worse. She was acting as if I wanted to do this shit. I know she couldn’t seriously think that I wanted anything to do with Mandy, so why the fuck was she acting like this?
When it didn’t look like she was about to calm her little ass down anytime soon, I decided to take matters into my own hands before things got anymore out of control.
When she was through shoving her stuff into her bag and checking around, making sure she wasn’t leaving anything behind, I approached her.
Now I’m the one who’s pissed the fuck off. “Are you fucking insane? What the fuck is going on in your head?”
“I’m not the one who’s insane. Just what the hell am I supposed to do while you’re pretending to be with her? Oh I know, why don’t I get myself a pretend boyfriend in the meantime?”
“You wanna fucking die right.”
I dragged the bag off her shoulder and stepped into her. She thought she was bad so she stood her ground. I don’t know why I got so fucking mad at her or was I really mad at myself? Whatever it was, I couldn’t stay there because I might say something that I’d regret.
“You leave this house it’s gonna be your ass.” I threw the bag across the room, slamming it into the wall, and stormed out, leaving her staring after me wide eyed.
“What’s all the screaming about son, Sian okay?”
“Yeah mom she’s fine, make sure she stays put, I’ll be back.”
Eden High Series 2 Book 1 Page 4