"No," Saint snapped. "There's no more time for fucking. We have a plane to catch."
"A plane?" Blake asked with a frown.
"Yes. And if we don't leave now, the flight will have to be rescheduled." Saint grabbed Tatum's hand and towed her away from all of us as he headed for the parking lot.
"Am I the only one who is totally lost here?" I asked, frowning as I tried to figure out what the fuck was going on.
"He's gone all Saint," Blake groaned while Kyan chuckled.
"Hey, I'm not complaining. If there's a plane then you know it'll be one of those fancy jets he loves. The real question is, who wants to join the mile-high club?" He stuck his hand in his pocket and pulled out a lacy black thong which he'd clearly stolen from Tatum and I grabbed it before Blake could.
"Mine," I growled, claiming that prize more than happily.
"Asshole," Blake muttered.
"I'm okay with that," I assured him.
Saint had already made it to his black mom-mobile which was parked up at the front of the lot in the special parking place he'd had arranged for himself when we started attending college here. He'd said something about a sizeable donation and that had been explanation enough for his entitled treatment. Saint might have learned some of the errors of his ways, but he was always going to be a stuck-up prick. Leopards didn’t just change their spots and all that. But I liked to think the good in him made up for the bad. Most of the time.
We piled into the car and before long we were pulling up at the private airport, all while listening to Blake lament the fact that we were missing the party tonight and that he hadn't been allowed to say goodbye to anyone. Saint explained that no one was really important enough to warrant a special farewell and we all grumbled about that, texting the friends we'd made and promising to meet up with them over the summer or whenever. We couldn’t exactly set any definitive dates tough. Who fucking knew what Saint had planned?
The private jet was ready and waiting on the runway like Saint had said, all of our luggage already onboard and I just gave in to his insanity as I boarded, not caring enough to argue over it. For someone who hated surprise changes of plans, he sure liked springing them on the rest of us.
The flight took five and a half hours, during which time I managed to join the mile-high club twice, much to my pleasure. Blake and Saint had also spent time alone in the rear cabin with our girl, but Kyan had been forced to sit his turn out in his seat as punishment for his earlier stunt with a ball gag in his mouth. Saint had spent an hour giving Tatum her punishment in private and the look on her face when he was done said she didn't exactly feel all that chastised.
Fuck knew what the flight crew thought of us, but I was well past giving a shit about judgemental assholes. We were the kings of the world worshipping our queen. No. Better than that: we were the Night Keepers satisfying our Night Bound. It didn't need to make sense to anyone aside from the five of us.
Following the flight, we piled into yet another brand spanking new mom-mobile of the exact same make and colour and Tatum insisted we leave all of the windows down so that we could enjoy the west coast heat as the sun started its descent towards the horizon.
We'd all given up on questioning Saint on our destination and I let my head drop back against the headrest, holding Tatum close as I fell asleep and she leaned her head against my chest.
"Keep your eyes closed," Saint's voice jolted me awake and I almost didn't do as he asked, but Tatum's hand moved over my eyes to stop me from opening them.
I still peeked out from beneath her hand, though all I could see was her looking cute as hell, her eyes shut tight as she leaned on me, clearly knowing I wouldn't have played along if she didn't force me to.
The car came to a halt and Saint got out before opening my door and tugging on my arm to make me step out too.
"No cheating," Tatum warned before taking her hand from my eyes and I sighed as I did what they wanted, letting Saint walk me over a stone pathway before he stood me next to Blake, my arm brushing his.
Kyan moved to stand on my other side next and finally the sound of Saint and Tatum's footsteps approached us last.
"Tell me what you feel, siren," Saint encouraged and she laughed lightly like she was enjoying herself, so I held my tongue and waited for her answer.
"The sun on my face," she breathed. "A sea breeze, waves lapping against a beach. It's...so quiet here. I feel calm, safe. Happy because I'm here with all of you. What's this about, Saint?"
"We needed somewhere to live now that we've graduated," he replied simply and that really got my attention. "And I remembered all of the things you told me about your idea of a perfect home, Tatum. As well as considering everything the rest of us require."
"What does that mean?" she breathed.
"I asked you to tell me what you feel here, siren, because I'm sincerely hoping, you feel at home. Open your eyes."
I took that instruction to be for all of us and did as he said. I opened my eyes as he took his hands from Tatum's too, so that all of us could see this place for the first time together.
My eyebrows rose as I looked out over perfect golden sand to a narrow jetty that ran into the blue ocean with little boats docked at the far end of it. The sun was setting over the sea and the sky was blazing with orange and pink as the balmy air wrapped around us like a warm embrace.
To our right, an enormous, white stone church towered over us, blotting out the damn sky and was no doubt even bigger than the freaking frat house we'd been occupying back in Connecticut.
"Come on," Saint urged as he took Tatum's hand and tugged to get her to follow him towards the church, beckoning the three of us after them.
I glanced around, noticing a huge gate at the far end of the long drive and a tall, white wall stretching out away from it, secluding us here from the world.
I shook my head at the insanity of this place as he led us inside and a huge open space unfolded before us. It was stunning, fucking perfect really which shouldn't have been a surprise. Everything was decorated in white and blue and something about the sapphire colour on the walls instantly made me think of the colour of Tatum's eyes which I knew was no freaking accident.
There was a whole wall of glass doors which looked out over that stunning view with access straight onto the beach and beside it the most expensive looking grand piano I’d ever seen sat ready and waiting for Saint’s attention.
"Won't we get people looking in at us all the time?" I teased as I tried to wrap my head around the beauty of this place.
"Obviously that's a private beach," Saint tutted. "No one will be out there to see us if they know what's good for them and I made sure to check out the local area to be certain that those rules will be upheld."
I got the feeling this place had been built entirely for our purposes because it may have looked like a church from the outside, but the inside was like something from Million Dollar Decorators. And Saint had spared no goddamn money. The whole back wall was an arching stained-glass window which depicted five demons crawling out of hell to reach the shining queen with golden hair who stood at the surface of the world. The sunset spilled through the multi-coloured glass, casting a ripple of light across the flagstones.
Holy fucking shit.
I shared a look with Tatum as she gawped at it and Kyan started laughing.
"Where are we?" Blake asked, his eyes wide with awe. "I mean I know vaguely, but-"
"The closest town is called Sunset Cove," Saint explained dismissively. "There's enough there to entertain us if we want to spend an evening having a nice meal in the upper quarter and a much less appealing lower quarter beyond that if we require less civilised distractions."
"Tell me more about this unappealing area," Kyan said instantly, his head snapping around and I knew Saint had mentioned it for his benefit. "Is there somewhere I can fight there?"
"I'd be down for that," I agreed. It had been slim pickings for us to find good fights while we were at college, but there h
ad been a few underground cage fighting joints we'd managed to frequent when we got the time.
"Count me in too," Tatum said with a grin.
"You could still go pro, you know," I reminded her and she shrugged.
"Maybe I will now I'll have the time to dedicate to that."
"There's a fully equipped gym downstairs in the crypt," Saint said nonchalantly. Of course he’d had a motherfucking crypt built here. There were probably sarcophaguses in there too just for authenticity’s sake. "But I have also made contact with the relevant players locally. The leader of the Harlequin Crew is a badly bred ruffian with all the decorum of a crab in a bucket of lobsters, but he seems like a man of his word. I can put you in contact with him about any illegal activities you insist on taking part in. He has already accepted that we are going to be living here and knows exactly who he will be dealing with if any of his lackeys try to cause us trouble. Suffice to say, we have struck an accord, and I don't think the local criminals will cause us any issues."
"You're such a psycho. I’ve heard all about the Harlequin Crew, they’re a bunch of lawless savages, suspected of putting more bodies in the ocean than the police can keep track of. And you just stroll on up to one of their most notorious members and ‘strike an accord,’" Blake laughed and Saint smiled like that was the greatest compliment he'd ever received.
“Yes, well, I suppose Fox Harlequin scented another shark in the water and realised it would serve him better to befriend us than make us his enemies. Needless to say, he is aware of what I am able to achieve if he has a need for any such services and I now have a bunch of cutthroats to call on in a pinch. Everyone wins.”
I shook my head at his back in disbelief as he shrugged that insanity off like it was nothing while Tatum grinned at me as she clearly agreed.
Saint continued to lead us through the countless rooms in the church, pointing out a studio for Kyan, an office for him, a dining room, home cinema room, games room and a huge pool which was in a courtyard to the side of the building complete with hot tub, sauna and steam room. The place was insane. It was The Temple on fucking speed. More than anyone could ever want or need and yet I couldn't take the fucking grin off of my face while we explored it, finding most of our stuff already here, packed away in closets as if we'd been living here for years rather than minutes.
When we headed upstairs, Saint showed us four individual bedrooms which ran along the rear of the church and at first I thought we all had our own rooms. But when he opened the final door to a massive room that ran the whole length of the house, that idea crashed and burned.
In the centre of the space, set up with a view looking right out over the ocean was an enormous bed. Even bigger than the one we’d had at the frat house. It must have been custom made and fuck knew how the hell the sheets were changed because it looked bigger than two super kings bolted together, and I had to believe he'd had everything about it made to order.
Tatum squealed as she kicked her shoes off and raced towards the bed, leaping up onto it and jumping excitedly.
"Do you like it?" Saint asked, looking between her and all of us, a flash of vulnerability in his gaze that halted any mocking comments on the tip of my tongue. He may have been socially lacking a lot of the time, but he really did care, and I couldn't imagine the amount of time and effort he'd put into this place and organising everything that came along with it. "There's a property close to town which would be perfect for you to hold your classes in, siren. And I've lined up football try-outs for you locally, Blake. There's a potential art studio I've seen as well and there are promising job prospects here for-"
"Shit, you really do think of everything, don't you?" I asked and he shrugged as if he wasn't well aware that he was insane.
"I try," he admitted.
"Sun, sea and sex? Yeah, it gets my vote," Kyan agreed with a laugh.
"Me too," Blake added. "But I'm gonna want a closer look at that gym you mentioned."
"I'll show you now," Saint agreed, glancing over at me and I couldn't keep him hanging any longer.
"You know I would have been happy in a two-bed apartment somewhere half decent," I said slowly and his face fell a fraction. "But, if I have to live in an obnoxiously big church with way too much space and more shit than I could ever need, then I can't imagine one that was any more perfect than this."
“Good,” Saint said, his chest puffing out a little. “And call me affected by the pandemic, but I’ve also taken care to stock a secure section of the crypt with all the food we’ll ever need if the world goes to hell again.”
“Toilet paper throne included?” I asked with a snigger.
“Obviously.” He smirked then turned to Tatum with hope in his gaze. “Is the new Temple to your liking, siren? If not, I’ll have it burned to the ground by morning.”
"Are you kidding me? I freaking love it!" Tatum exclaimed as Saint broke a smile and she leapt off of the bed again, jumping on him and kissing him hard as her smile blazed bright enough to express what we were all feeling. "Just so long as you're not expecting me to fill all of those other bedrooms with babies any time soon."
"Of course not, siren," Saint said, placing her down and kissing her softly once more. "You can have a couple of years before that."
“That’s up to me, not you!”
She smacked him as he headed for the door again, taking Blake and Kyan to see the gym and he laughed like he didn’t agree with that statement at all.
I headed over to the sliding door, opening it and stepping out onto the balcony to get a clearer look at that view as I let the idea of this place being our new home settle over me.
The sun had almost disappeared beyond the horizon and I leaned my forearms on the white railing as I looked out at it, releasing a slow breath and inhaling the sea air.
"Are you okay?" Tatum murmured as she followed me out, coming to stand beside me and taking my hand.
"Yeah," I said, watching the sunset as I ran my thumb over the back of her hand. "I'm just...letting go."
"Of what?" she asked curiously.
"Troy," I admitted, the sound of the waves on the shore calling to me like the softest lullaby. "I guess I just thought that we'd still get him. One way or another. But it's been years and even Saint can't find anything. I need to just accept that he's gone and move on from it."
"Easier said than done though, right?" she murmured, and I nodded, thinking about my mom, Michael, everything he'd stolen from me and how much I'd hungered for his death in return.
"Yeah," I agreed. "But I think they'd want me to let go of the idea of revenge. It's not like he has what he used to. I mean sure, I wish he was dead or at least locked up somewhere. But he lost his money, his power, his reputation. He'll live out the rest of his life alone and in hiding. And it might not be all that he deserved, but I think overall I can make my peace with it. I think I have to. Because we aren't going to find him, and I don't want him having that hold over me for the rest of my life."
"I love you, Jase," Tatum breathed and I looked at her with a soft smile as she used the name of the man I used to be.
"I love you too, Tatum. And I want to move on. Let this be a fresh start. All of us can make a real life here and I want to live it. Troy can get fucked, I don't care. All I care about is you, me and my brothers. It's more than enough."
I leaned down and kissed her, so much love and depth to that exchange that I knew letting go of this vendetta was the right thing to do. I was done living for hate. I had something so much better than that now.
And as we turned to watch the sun sinking beneath the horizon for the first time in our new home, I was happy to turn a new leaf, start a blank page and just live. Because there was one hell of a life waiting for me right here, and I didn't want or need anything else in the world. Only this.
ANOTHER FIVE YEARS AFTER THAT
I sat back in my chair, my gaze scanning the documents I'd been sent as I tried to track my son's movements. I had to admit, he was good. Better tha
n I'd probably given him credit for. And though I'd found things here and there about the fortune he was amassing over the years, I still hadn't been able to pin him down yet.
He didn't make any purchases under his real name and I hadn't even been able to uncover any of the pseudonyms I was certain he must be using. Because there was no way I would believe he was out of the game. That boy had my blood whether he liked it or not and I knew he would be buying and selling, seeking out power like he needed it to live. But he was holding his secrets close to his chest and I just hadn't caught him yet.
With a mixture of irritation and pride, I placed my tablet down on the metal table beside me, looking up beyond the white parasol I sat beneath towards the blaring sun. It was always hot in this part of the world and I'd grown tired of the lack of variation to the climate soon after arriving here. But I was stuck without alternative. It wasn't safe for me to travel while so many authorities hunted for me. And though I'd isolated myself in a country without an extradition agreement with the US in the ten years since I’d fled, I was certain bribes would be made or special operatives sent in to retrieve me if my location was discovered.
So I was left a prisoner in my own meagre, twelve bedroom home. In comparison to what most people had, I supposed it was somewhat luxurious, but when I tallied it against all I used to own, it felt awfully flat.
"Branston?" I called, placing down my empty scotch glass and looking around for my man servant to bring me another.
He wasn't anywhere in sight and when he didn't arrive after I called for a second time, I released a frustrated breath and rose from my chair to fix my own glass.
Honestly, what was the point in keeping house staff if they couldn't even keep a glass topped up?
I strode into the house, walking into the wide living area with the vaulted ceiling and the mezzanine level above it. I was bored of this place. Bored of existing in stasis with no power and even less friends. I needed to be free of this prison I'd built for myself and the key to that was in finding my son’s money. In fact, I hadn’t even been able to lock his location down since he’d graduated from Yale. It was infuriating.
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