by Sarah Bailey
“No, you’re just a loner boy,” I said, giving him a wink.
“Fuck off.”
“Aw, fuckface, you know I’ll never leave you.”
He scowled. I wrapped an arm around his shoulder and gave him a squeeze.
“For someone who professes to love me so much, you aren’t half cruel.”
“Me? Cruel?”
Rhys gave me a look.
“Calling your best friend, fuckface, isn’t cruel?”
I smiled and nudged his nose with my finger.
“No, it shows how much I adore you.”
“Whatever.”
He smiled back even so.
“You two are cute as fuck,” Raphi said.
“Ugh, shut up. We are not cute and don’t let your brother hear you say that.”
I let go of Rhys, who grabbed his drink and took a gulp.
“Oh, why? Does Cole get all jealous and possessive over you?”
“Maybe.”
He wasn’t that bad. Cole was secure in the knowledge I was his, so he had no need to be jealous. As for being possessive? Perhaps a little, but it didn’t bother me in the slightest. I liked knowing he wanted me that much. It made me feel special. After all, I was the only girl Cole had ever been with. The only one he wanted. And I was sure he wanted it to stay that way.
“That does not surprise me. He gets it from Rory and Quinn.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“What do you mean?”
Raphi rolled his eyes before tapping his fingers on the table.
“Oh well, according to my dad, when my parents were in the early stages of their relationship, Quinn was super possessive of Mum. Like on an extreme level. He calmed down after that, but you know what he’s like.”
I was well aware of Quinn’s reputation. Strict and completely unyielding. And yet he loved his family in his own way. You could see it in the way they all interacted together.
“And Rory?”
“I think out of all of my dads, he’s the most devoted to Mum. He would do anything for her, even stuff which makes him uncomfortable since like… you know what he’s been through.”
“Ash seems pretty devoted to him too.”
Raphi smiled.
“She’s devoted to all of them. I mean shit, they’ve been together for like basically twenty-seven years. Doubt anything could break my parents apart.”
The fact that the five of them had stayed together this long and worked was no mean feat. I knew it was hard enough to maintain a relationship with one person let alone four. I admired Ash for that. And just in general. She was such a kind and caring soul.
“I do love your family. They’re pretty amazing.”
“But you love my brother the most.”
I reached over the table and slapped his arm.
“Shut up.”
Raphi laughed.
“What? It’s true. And I’m happy for you. None of us liked it when you two broke up.”
He looked away, his eyes hardening. I knew he was thinking about Jonah’s involvement in it and my heart sunk. I wished those two would sort out their differences, but I had no idea what it would take. It was clear as day to me they both still had feelings for each other.
“Yeah, well, that’s in the past now.”
“What’s in the past?”
I looked up to find Cole standing over me with that heart-stopping smile on his face. My heart thumped hard in my chest.
“Nothing.”
He leant down and kissed me.
“Hmm, I don’t believe you,” came his murmured breath against my mouth.
“I’ll tell you later.”
He pulled away, ruffled my hair and smiled again.
“I’ll get another round in. What are we all having?”
A few minutes later, with drinks duly noted, Cole walked off to the bar.
“You two are sickeningly in love,” Raphi said.
“Would you stop it? Why is my love life the number one topic of conversation this evening?”
“Because me and Rhys have abysmal ones.”
“You mean non-existent,” Rhys said, fiddling with his straw.
“Harsh… but true.”
Raphi had been going a bit crazy at uni with girls, but that had petered out recently. I think he'd got whatever was going on with him out of his system. At least I hoped so.
“This one views dating an anathema,” I said, slapping Rhys on the shoulder.
Rhys crossed his arms over his chest and gave me a look.
“You know why.”
“Okay, but being demi doesn’t exclude you from ever feeling attracted to people. If you got to know a guy, you might find you like him and actually want to date him.”
Rhys continued to stare at me.
“I’m never dating. Ever again. Not worth the hassle.”
Cole placed a tray on the table before plonking himself down in the chair next to me and hooking his arm around the back of mine. I reached over and rubbed Rhys’ arm. I didn’t like to push him, but he got in his own way far too much.
“What are we talking about?”
“Dating,” Raphi said.
“Well, that’s a pointless topic considering you two are shit at it.” He pointed at Rhys and Raphi in turn. “We should definitely talk about something else.”
“Well, since you brought it up, you get to pick our topic.”
Cole gave his brother the finger then leant closer to me, nuzzling my hair with his nose.
“I missed you,” he whispered.
I squirmed in my seat.
“Me too.”
Cole turned back to his brother with a sly smile. I had a weird feeling rush over me like someone was watching me, but no one was as I glanced around so I don’t know where it came from.
“If you’re that hard up for dates, I heard from Rora that Colleen’s sister is still on the market.”
Raphi’s face drained of colour and his fist clenched around his glass. I snorted. Mimi Lintott had always had a crush on Raphi.
“Hell fucking no. I am not going there, not that desperate.”
“I’m sure she’d let do all sorts of dirty things to her if you were that way inclined.”
“Fuck off, Cole. I’m not… that’s not… it’s none of your business what I’m into. I’m not like our parents who put it all out there, thank you very much.”
Cole snorted and put his hand on my shoulder, giving it a squeeze.
“No? Don’t want the table to know the truth, huh?”
“Shut. Up.”
Cole could hardly talk. He was dominant and controlling in the bedroom. Only last week he’d tied my hands to the bedposts with some of my scarves because I’d teased him too much over dinner. Not that I’d complained in the slightest since he proceeded to give me multiple orgasms before getting himself off by fucking me into oblivion.
“We’re all aware you’re into guys and girls, no one is judging.”
Raphi looked like he wanted to kill Cole. That was an extremely touchy subject. I put a hand on Cole’s thigh, warning him to drop it. I did not want tonight to devolve into an argument.
“Let me guess, Cole pissed you off again, am I right?”
We all looked up to find Duke standing there with his arms crossed over his chest and a grin on his face.
“Who invited you?” Raphi muttered.
“I invited myself when Cole told me where he was going. You forget to invite your big brother?”
Raphi shook his head whilst Duke grabbed a chair and sat down with us, popping the drink he’d bought down.
“I thought you were going out with—” Cole started.
“She’s busy,” Duke cut in.
I glanced between them. Cole had his eyebrow raised. Duke looked as if he was daring Cole to continue. And if he did, he wouldn’t like the consequences.
“Who’s busy?” Raphi asked, looki
ng between them as well.
“No one.”
“Have you got a secret girlfriend or something?”
“No. As if.”
Cole snorted and rolled his eyes. Clearly, Duke was seeing someone and he didn’t want to talk about it. That surprised me given how much of a player the boy was. It would take some woman to make Duke Scott settle down. Then again, according to Cole, Xav had been the same until he met Ash. Like father. Like son.
Raphi narrowed his eyes and pointed at his brother.
“I don’t believe you.”
“What’s there not to believe?”
“For starters, Cole wouldn’t bring it up if it was no one and secondly, you’ve been really cagey recently.”
Duke shrugged and sipped his beer, eying Raphi with some amusement.
“I don’t have to run shit by you, little bro. As if you confide in me about your love life.”
“I don’t have a love life.”
“Hmm, yeah, okay. I’m sure you’re not still pining over Meredith’s brother like some lovesick fool who ruined the only good thing in his life.”
The whole table went silent. Raphi looked like he was about to get up and storm out. Then he leant back and gave his brother a hard stare.
“At least I didn’t fuck up a fourteen-year friendship with the only person who cared about me outside of my family.”
Duke’s face fell.
“Shut up.”
“See? Not so nice to throw around accusations now, is it?”
The two of them continued to stare at each other. Cole’s hand on my shoulder tightened and Rhys looked plain uncomfortable. Considering this was his first introduction to Duke, it didn’t surprise me in the slightest.
Duke reached over and ruffled Raphi’s hair.
“I’m sorry, man.”
“Me too,” Raphi replied, giving his brother a smile.
“Now, you going to introduce me to your friend here, Mer?” Duke asked, turning to me.
“Duke, this is Rhys. Rhys, this is Cole and Raphi’s older brother,” I said, waving between them.
Duke stuck his hand out which Rhys shook, although I could see the reluctance in his eyes. He didn’t like touching people he didn’t know, but Rhys was nothing if not polite, so he didn’t object.
“Shall we get off the morbid and miserable topics and on to something far more interesting then?” Duke asked with a wink as he sat back.
“Yes, please,” Raphi replied with a nod.
And thankfully, for the rest of the evening, there were no further arguments. I enjoyed spending time with Raphi and Duke, but I couldn’t shake the feeling someone in the room was watching us. Every time I looked around, there was no one there. The last time I’d felt like this was two years ago when I’d been sat in the library at school and Cole was watching me. Except this time, Cole was right next to me so it couldn’t be him.
I had no idea why I felt this way. And no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t shake the ominous feeling it gave me. I put it down to the weirdness of this evening. It’d set me on edge. Because no one could have any real interest in our little table, could they?
Chapter Thirty Nine
I walked into the staff room completely knackered after the day I’d just had. It felt like everyone and their fucking son was trying to get their car repaired. We’d all been rushed off our feet with absolutely no let-up. I was looking forward to getting home as Meredith would be over for dinner. She would make everything better. All I wanted to do was curl up in bed with my girl and forget about the world for a few hours.
I walked over to my locker, wanting to get out of my overalls and into my regular clothes. Definitely needed a shower when I got in.
“Hey, Cole.”
I stiffened when I realised it was AJ’s voice.
What does this dickhead want?
“Hey, man,” I murmured, pulling open my locker door.
“You up to much this weekend?”
I shrugged.
“Working tomorrow, so not really.”
I glanced over at him. He was washing his hands in the sink, but he had this smile on his face which set me on edge. Like he knew something he shouldn’t. The guy did my head in. I hadn’t seen him do anything else since that day with his two friends, but I didn’t trust him.
Demetri hadn’t said anything about the note I’d left him. I hoped he’d got it and knew where it came from. I wasn’t fucking loyal to the Russian mafia, but I valued my life. My loyalty was to Demetri as opposed to AJ. The guy deserved to be thrown under the bus.
“You sure about that? Seems like you have an active social life to me.”
“I guess so.”
I spent most of my time with my family, Meredith and her friends. That was it really. I’d lost touch with people I went to school with. It wasn’t like we were close anyway. A lot of people didn’t want to know me and my siblings because of our parents’ relationship. Fucked up if you asked me. If they weren’t willing to accept it, that was their problem, not mine. They weren’t fucking welcome in my life. Judgemental dickheads could do one.
“You know, I saw you out with your friends a couple of nights ago.”
And that’s when I knew this conversation was going nowhere good.
How the fuck did he know that? Had this dickhead been spying on me?
“Oh?”
I didn’t want to let on how uncomfortable this made me. AJ basically just admitted he followed me because there was no other reason he’d have known my whereabouts otherwise. I kept that shit to myself.
“Yeah. You go to bars a lot then? Thought that wasn’t your scene since you always refuse to come out with me and the lads.”
“Not really. My brother wanted to meet up is all.”
I stripped off my overalls and started to change, wondering where the hell he was going with all of this.
“Which one’s your brother?”
“Is that any of your business?”
He laughed, which grated on me.
“Nah, probably not.”
I wasn’t about to tell him anything else. We weren’t friends. Hell, I wanted to be as far away from the guy as possible. I kept reminding myself I was going to see Meredith soon. My girl would make me feel better.
“When you said you didn’t have a girlfriend, you were lying, right?”
My back went ramrod straight.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Come on, Cole, you know what I’m talking about. The pink-haired chick you were all cosy with. She’s your girl, right?”
The last thing I wanted was for him to know about Meredith or how I felt about her.
“She’s a girl I hang out with, doesn’t mean we’re together.”
AJ shook his head as he walked over to the lockers.
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve been holding out on us. Keeping that stunner all to yourself.”
I gritted my teeth. Yes, she was stunning, but I didn’t like the way AJ was smiling nor the leering look in his eyes. Meredith was fucking well mine.
“What’s it to you anyway?”
“What’s it to me? Oh, Cole, don’t you know?”
I slammed my locker closed having grabbed what I needed.
“Know what?”
“I’ve been trying to work out what will get you on side. You’d do well if you stuck with me. I could open doors for you.”
I didn’t want doors opened for me. I wanted to finish my apprenticeship and get the fuck away from these guys. Then and only then could I keep me and Meredith safe.
“So now I know you have a girl, who you clearly care deeply about judging by the way you’re biting my head off, perhaps I can use that to my advantage.”
I dumped my helmet and jacket down on the table nearby and stormed over to him, getting up in his face. I was slightly taller than AJ so the fucker had to look up at me.
“Listen here, AJ, you stay t
he fuck away from her, you hear me? If you lay a hand on her, I will fucking end you.”
AJ’s eyes widened. I never rose to his shit, but a threat against Meredith was something else. That girl was my entire world. I would go to the fucking ends of the earth to protect her. To keep her safe. She was mine. I wasn’t about to let this fucking dickhead ruin anything between us.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, fucking really. You will be a dead man walking if you go near her. I’m not letting you come up in here and threaten my girl. She has nothing to do with you or whatever shit you’ve got going. Just leave us the fuck alone. I’ve told you so many times, I’m not interested in being involved.”
AJ smirked. He fucking smirked and it irritated me no end.
“Oh dear, have I hit a sore spot?”
“Fuck. You.”
He stepped back, giving me a smile.
“Oh, Cole, you have no idea just how much I’m going to fuck up your life now, do you?”
“Whatever. You can do your worst to me but stay the fuck away from her. She is not a pawn for you to play with.”
He shook his head, shoving his hands in his pockets as he strolled away towards the door. This fucker. He was un-fucking-believable.
“If you just joined up with me, you could have the world. But no, you’re Granddaddy’s golden boy, aren’t you? Sitting up there on your throne of fucking self-righteousness. It’s pathetic. Just you wait. You’re going to regret turning me down. I’m going to destroy everything you hold dear.”
And with that, he left. I stared at the open doorway. What the hell had just happened? That dickhead had used Meredith against me. This was exactly why I didn’t want anyone finding out about my relationship with her. Especially not AJ.
Fuck. This is all so fucked.
I didn’t know what the hell he was going to do, but it couldn’t be anything good. He’d told me he was going to destroy my life. He could try, but he didn’t know who he was dealing with. I wouldn’t let him get away with shit.
Pulling out my phone, I checked the time. I was going to be late if I didn’t get a move on. I grabbed my helmet and jacket, shrugging it on. The whole way home I stewed over what AJ had said. And no matter how hard I tried to be brave, the truth was, I was fucking scared. Mostly for Meredith. If I broke my promise about keeping her safe, it would be one broken promise too many. I’d already broken enough between us before.