Defiance Falls Boxed Set: The Complete Defiance Falls Trilogy

by Dean, Ali

  Cruz stopped kissing me at the same time the cabin light flickered back on.

  “This place is sick,” someone said.

  “Man, we could’ve been crashing here all this time instead of in the field.” That sounded like Nick, the football captain.

  “Yeah, and it would be trashed by now too,” Emmett retorted.

  “Or burned down,” Bodhi added.

  I slid back down Cruz’s body, and had just gotten my footing when the group turned the corner.

  “There you are!” Nick said. “Hi Hazel.”

  I gave him a tight smile as I attempted to straighten myself out. Cruz remained behind me, probably trying to use me to block the situation I’d felt through his jeans. I was so tempted to reach behind me and check it out for myself, but I managed to exercise some self-control.

  My cousins stood there with their arms crossed, smirks on their faces. I couldn’t exactly blame them for busting back in here. We shouldn’t have started anything with more than a dozen guys outside, about to come in any second.

  Landon came around the corner then and asked Cruz, “How was jail, man?”

  Then a few more guys from the soccer team, who wanted to know what the counterattack was going to be.

  Once the cabin was packed tight with teenage boys, Cruz finally gave them something more than one-word answers.

  “I know you guys want to have our backs and go after Mayflower Academy and the Malones. But we’re not doing it tonight.”

  The horde of athletes grumbled as they bounced in place, needing an outlet for the energy they’d been riling up ever since witnessing the parking lot arrest this morning.

  “Tonight, let’s party. We should celebrate my bail release, right?”

  There were cheers, shouts, and then everyone was talking about getting alcohol and inviting girls.

  Once the attention was off us and people were going back outside, I turned around to face Cruz. “You really want a party right now?”

  Cruz leaned forward so his forehead rested on mine. “Hell no. I want to be alone with you.”

  I took a long slow inhale and closed my eyes before releasing the breath. I was so turned on still, it was painful. It would be torture to be near Cruz all night. “We either need to find somewhere to be alone. Immediately. Or I’m going to have to ditch you for the night.”

  Cruz’s grip tightened at my threat. “You’re not ditching me.”

  “Guess we better get lost then.”

  Cruz’s nostrils flared. “We’d have to leave the Lake if we wanted privacy.”

  I let out another sigh and moved to rest my cheek on his shoulder. I couldn’t have our lips that close without kissing him. “Yeah, you won’t be able to get away with that.” There were too many people wanting to see him after what they witnessed this morning. Not to mention the whole safety thing. Now that I knew the truth, I wasn’t sure sneaking off alone was all that smart. We needed the guys acting as our security team. Or maybe all together we were a little army. I wasn’t sure. It was more like Cruz and I had the bigger targets on our backs, and our four guys were helping protect us? Man, there was still a lot to wrap my head around and understand.

  “What about your dad?” I asked. I hadn’t seen him in years and Cruz never talked about him. I knew it was Cruz’s grandpa who’d picked him up today, and his uncle who got him legal representation.

  Cruz’s expression shut down then and I frowned at the distance I immediately felt between us. “Let’s not talk about that right now.”

  People hollered his name from outside. The pain on Cruz’s face now was fresh. It wasn’t a past hurt, like his mom. He was living it. I wanted to take some of it from him but I knew now wasn’t the time.

  “All right you two,” Bodhi said as he popped his head into our space. “Time to detach yourselves and act like you’re celebrating something.”

  Someone tugged my hand away from Cruz’s chest and I heard laughter. I looked over at Emmett, who was pulling me. Bodhi took his hands and exaggeratedly peeled my body off of Cruz. “We got our girl tonight, Cruz. You go pretend like this game with the Malones is fun and brainstorm some revenge prank. Maybe we can even enjoy ourselves a little.”

  Right. Enjoy ourselves. The only enjoyment I craved right now involved Cruz Donovan and his lips and body. Otherwise, there was nothing else that could distract me from the world the guys had just revealed to me. The world I was now, most certainly, a part of.

  The party was getting started outside. No one else had arrived yet, but I had no doubt that would change soon. Every once in a while someone’s parents went out of town and there was a house party, but otherwise, nearly all of the big parties for Defiance Falls High happened at the Lake. It was almost eleven PM, but I’m sure there were smaller gatherings going on the first Friday night of the school year, and everyone was just waiting on word about Cruz and the Lake.

  “Is it always like this?” I asked my cousins.

  Bodhi and Emmett were headed toward the tool shed by the cabin to grab more chairs.

  “Like what?” Emmett asked.

  “You guys host the parties, are the center of attention, but you’re just pretending? There’s really something bigger happening.”

  Bodhi looked around, checking we were alone. “The Lake parties are sometimes like a cover, sure. A distraction. We want the Malones to think we’re just good friends who play soccer and party together. We never wanted to give them a reason to think that our group is more than that. I mean, on the outside, no one would think we’re up to anything other than being normal high school dudes, right?”

  I smiled. “You had me fooled, that’s for sure.”

  Bodhi threw an arm around me as Emmett unlocked the shed. “But the cover is also fun. It’s not totally a cover. I do like to drink, fight, and flirt.”

  “Just flirt, huh?” If the twins tried to tell me they were virgins too, that might be the biggest shocker of the day.

  “I was trying to keep it PG for you. You might be the older cousin by a couple months, but you’re still a lady.”

  “You’re ridiculous.” I shoved Bodhi, laughing.

  Emmett turned to us with a couple folding chairs in hand. “Bodhi meant to say, he likes to drink, fight and fuck. Personally, I like long walks on the Lake, nice conversation, gentle caresses, followed by sweet and tender --” I cut him off with a hand to his chest.

  “Okay. I get it. Don’t need the details.”

  I grabbed a couple of chairs from him.

  Despite everything I’d discovered tonight, the twins were still the same juvenile boys I’d always known. They might deal with heavy stuff like faking suicides of mafia bosses, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t act like horny immature teenagers.

  I shook my head, taking comfort in this. By the time we’d made a second trip to the shed for a beer pong table, more cars had arrived. People were hyped up, excited to hear about Cruz’s day at the courthouse, wondering how the Malones had pulled off such a stunt. They were laughing about it, predicting what Cruz and his squad would come up with to retaliate. I knew the Malones had a reputation for being ruthless, but didn’t anyone think it strange the Malones had used their grandfather’s supposed suicide to pull a prank? It had only happened ten days ago, still fresh.

  There was a herd mentality though, and I saw it before my eyes as I took in the cars arriving, the gossip flowing, the bodies moving toward the crowd gathering by the water. They built up the story they wanted to believe.

  Bodhi was holding the other side of the beer pong table and he suddenly stopped walking. I looked over to find him staring wide-eyed at the drive, a horrified expression on his face. I swung my gaze to where his was frozen and spotted a blue sedan slowing to a stop a little ways from where the other cars were parked.

  I heard a curse and then the other side of the table dropped and Bodhi was jogging over to the car. Emmett popped out of the shed with a bag of ping pong balls in one hand and Solo cups in the other. He loo
ked at me, the table, and then in the direction Bodhi had run.

  Another curse, just as panicked, fell from Emmett’s lips and the next thing I knew, he was right on Bodhi’s heels.

  I narrowed my eyes at the parked car. The headlights were still on and I could only make out a silhouette in the driver’s seat. It was a girl, I could tell that much. She must not have been a threat because Bodhi leaned his head in the open driver’s side window. Emmett stopped a few feet away and then turned around. He scanned the crowd. When another car started down the drive, Emmett turned back and took position beside Bodhi.

  My arms started to cramp and I realized I was still holding my side of the table. As I lowered it to the ground, it dawned on me what Emmett was doing. He was blocking the driver from view from the car passing by. But as the other vehicle’s headlights shone on the parked sedan, I was able to make out the driver.

  My breath caught in my throat as it registered who I was looking at. Her hair was different, teased and wild, but it was the singer from that night at Patriot Taphouse. The night I’d heard about Flynn Malone’s death. Ruby Firestone. Cruz had come to see her.

  I pressed my hand to my stomach as it churned. The little hairs on my arms rose.

  Why were the twins acting so strange? Bile rose in my throat. Cruz had told me that I knew all the big stuff now, but there were clearly more secrets. And here I was, standing off to the side, uncertain how to help, because I hadn’t been clued in. Worse, something told me this was a different kind of secret, one they never intended to share with me.

  Chapter 5

  Cruz

  It was easy to banter about getting back at the Malones. Brainstorming about out-pranking them, I could get behind that. But it also made my chest burn and my blood boil. I could prank them, sure, but I could also kill.

  The guys might have been the ones who got their hands dirty with Flynn Malone, but I was the one to give the order. That was for my mom. I still had fuel for revenge, mostly related to the businesses, but until last night, it was controlled, deliberate, methodical.

  When Sean and Branden Malone took Hazel, something inside me snapped. The past twenty-four hours had been about making sure she was okay, and now, now I was letting the rage build. It burned inside of me. This had always been personal, but I’d felt slightly removed, like it was my parents’ and grandparents’ fight. It was about the generations before me, and honoring them. That all changed when they touched Hazel.

  Yet here I was, playing lawn games on a summer night, laughing and pretending I was okay. I wasn’t okay. I wouldn’t be until I’d hurt Branden and Sean Malone. Not through their parents or grandparents or businesses, but on their flesh.

  I caught purposeful movement in the crowd and spotted Spike’s ball cap. A second later he was beside me. There were too many people around to talk, but all he needed to say was “Hazel,” and I was moving. We steered our way out of the masses playing lawn games and dancing to music someone had set up.

  When we hit the edge of the woods and got some privacy, I turned to Spike.

  “She’s fine, man,” Spike started, and then shook his head. “I mean, no, I don’t think she’s totally fine, but she’s safe.”

  I watched him struggle for a second, lift his hat, rub his head, and put it back in place.

  “Spike, where is she? What’s up?”

  “She seemed cool with everything, right? Damn, our girl took it well. I thought so, at least.”

  “Spike, talk man, come on,” I urged.

  “She told the twins she just needed some space, wanted to be alone. They let her head down to the dock. We’ve kept an eye on her, but now…” Spike’s eyes wouldn’t meet mine, and he finished, “Fucking Kai Tillson showed up.”

  My fists clenched at the name of her ex-boyfriend. I was already feeling the burn of anger at the Malones touching Hazel, and now I had to be reminded of the guy who’d taken my girl’s virginity. Who was still sniffing around.

  “Heard he was asking everyone where she was, and he just got down to the dock. Bodhi was going to go down there himself to set him straight but thought you might want to do it.”

  I didn’t say anything to Spike, I just started moving in that direction. Kai Tillson was hanging on the dock, my dock, our fucking dock, talking to my girl. He always seemed to pop in right when she needed comfort, ready to be that guy, and it had to stop.

  I’d been too easy on him. He’d played the sensitive artist thing up and I’d gone with using words instead of fists. It was time to switch tactics.

  This fury had been building inside of me, waiting to be let out, since Hazel went missing last night, and now I finally had an outlet.

  When I spotted him sitting beside my girlfriend, their shoes off and their feet dangling in the water, I saw red.

  Rage I’d kept locked down tight in order to look out for Hazel last night burst free. Resentment that I’d had to sit back and let guys like Kai Tillson be with Hazel over the years rose fresh and raw to the surface. I choked on it, and then I channeled it.

  I saw them turn their heads and then it was a blur. He’d barely had a chance to get to his feet and move away from Hazel before I was on him. I heard her yelling, and maybe there was shouting further away, but it all blurred to ringing in my ears as I let my fists fly. The satisfying sensation of my fist connecting with flesh fueled me, the smell of blood shooting adrenaline into my veins. I needed this.

  But it was over too quick, with two sets of strong arms pulling me back, refusing to let me keep at it. I didn’t struggle. I knew in the back of my mind it was my guys, and they had my back. It was time to stop, I’d done enough damage. But I wanted more.

  When the red started to fade from my vision and the scene came into view, I was dumped with a cold bucket of reality. Hazel was screeching at me. Yeah, my cool and calm girl was screeching at the top of her lungs.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” she shouted. She came at me, her own fists clenched. They pounded into my chest and I realized she was sobbing.

  The guys dropped my arms and I started to wrap them around her but she pushed me off.

  “Oh no you don’t. That was insane, Cruz. I was just talking to him. You knocked him out.” She gestured to the crumpled body unmoving on the dock. “You completely fucked him up. He’s probably got broken bones. All for talking to me!” She was screeching again, and letting tears fall freely down her cheeks.

  I tried to reach for her again but she took a step back.

  “Don’t touch me. I’m done.”

  “Done? Done?” I asked, my voice raw – from fighting, from seeing Hazel like this, or from the words she’d uttered, I had no clue.

  She looked at her cousins. “Bodhi, Emmett, can one of you get me out of here?”

  Emmett was on one side of me, having pulled me off Kai, and Bodhi was behind my girl, apparently having protected her from flying fists.

  My chest caved in. I was pretty sure my fists had been the only ones flying. The guy hadn’t even known what I was about before I knocked him out. Fuck. I was an asshole. Yeah he deserved a few punches, but they should’ve at least been fair ones, with him on his feet, able to attempt defending himself. Not that he would’ve had a shot but… Hazel was turning to leave now.

  Bodhi shot me a look that I could only interpret as disappointment before following her up the path.

  “I’m going with them,” Emmett said. “You guys need to clean up this mess, but we need two on Hazel right now.”

  He was right, and I was at least grateful Hazel understood enough now to accept the protection.

  Every bone in my body twitched to chase her, make her forgive me. But I knew my girl, and she needed time. I wouldn’t give her much, but I would only make it worse if I demanded attention while she was heated. She was fire like that, and I loved her for it. Both of us got a little wild when we were pissed.

  I glanced at the heap on the dock. “A little wild” might be an understatement in this case.
/>   Spike went over to Kai and flipped him onto his back. He coughed but didn’t sit up.

  I heard footsteps jogging our way and spun around. It was Moody.

  “Em said there’s some damage I need to help clean up,” he said, pausing beside me.

  “Yeah, I fucked up. Your mom’s going to give me hell, but we gotta wake her up.” Moody’s mom was an ER doc and she’d patched us up after a few fights over the years when we didn’t want to deal with the hospital. Along with Spike’s parents, the Moodys knew enough to understand the fighting was more than teenage rebellion. Though tonight, I’d lost my shit and this hadn’t been calculated. My lungs burned and for a beat I felt ashamed. Kai had it coming, showing up on my turf and attempting to comfort her for the third fucking time in one week. He’d been told, quite clearly, she was off limits. And yet here he was. Still, I hated that I’d lost control and given him what was mostly meant for the Malones. At least there was still plenty left to give where they were concerned.

  Moody was already on his phone, calling his mom in.

  She’d patch Kai up and I’d make it worth her while, not that they needed money. Next, I had to deal with Kai. I knew for certain he could use money, but the asshole didn’t seem to know what was good for him. He might go to the cops thinking he was protecting Hazel from me or some idiocy. That would be another mess I didn’t need to deal with, not with everything else going on. Not with the Malones looking for blood.

  I had to clean up this mess I’d caused first, and then I had to make it right with Hazel.

  Chapter 6

  Hazel

  I woke to arms scooping me up. I knew who it was without opening my eyes.

  “What are you doing?” I hissed.

  He had me in his arms fireman style and he was moving us out of the bunk bed room in the basement.

  “Moving you to the guest room with the queen bed down the hall,” Cruz answered.

  We were at my grandparents’ house. The twins took me here instead of my house. They said it was safer, and they could share a room with me since my grandparents had set up double bunk beds for sleepovers when we were younger, and we still used them on occasion. But then I remembered why I’d come here with my cousins, not Cruz, and I stiffened.