by L. E. Bross
I fall apart in the arms of three boys who are there to help put me back together again.
∞∞∞
At seven, Riot and X get changed into their gear while Baz and I get to keep it casual. As we get ready to go, I keep glancing at the guys, feeling more vulnerable than I’m comfortable with after what happened in the game room.
I shouldn’t worry though. Every time I catch one of their gazes, all I see is unconditional acceptance. And hunger. God if someone could spontaneously orgasm from just a look, I’d be writhing on the floor.
I probably will be later.
Ry’s promise echoes in my ears, sending a flush of heat between my legs.
He grins like he knows where my thoughts are going.
Just as we’re about to leave, my phone vibrates.
I’ll be there at eight. Don’t forget our deal or you’ll pay.
I stare at my phone until the guys notice.
“What’s wrong?” Baz is the first one at my side and I show him my phone.
“How does he not know the pictures are gone?” My eyes go wide. “What if he had backups somewhere? Or printed copies?” My heart is clawing its way up my throat. “Baz?”
I hate how weak my voice sounds now.
“Impossible,” Baz says. “The tracking software I use is my design. I can follow the path of anything digital. I think…he just doesn't realize they’re gone. I left the folder on his phone, but it’s empty. He must not have checked it.”
“So you are one thousand percent sure he has nothing?”
At his nod I relax a little and exhale.
“Absolutely sure. Well, there may be some questionable porn on his phone now.”
X chuckles and Ry wraps his arm around me. The comfort of being around them is something I could get used to. I hope I’ll get the chance. It seems like every time we get close, something happens.
It’s hard not to constantly wait for the other shoe to drop.
“If Baz says he’s sure, then he is. He’s a fucking genius with computers. You’re good, sweetheart, don’t worry.”
I catch Ry and Baz sharing a look, but when Riot nods, I let out a breath. If they believe it, then I have no room to doubt it. I push aside the unease and try to focus on the moment.
“Well, we should head to the race and kick some ass then.”
The bikes are already loaded into the back of the pickup so we all climb in and head to the track. Since Baz isn’t racing, he stands with me to watch. I look for Meri on our hay bale, but she’s not there. I guess since Trey isn’t racing, she didn’t come.
More and more people arrive until there is a bigger crowd than last time.
“Ry’s racing,” is the explanation Baz gives me when I ask.
The races start like always but it looks like there will only be two heats tonight. The first one starts at eight, just as my phone starts to vibrate. I don’t even bother to look at the screen. It buzzes continuously for half an hour and I get sick satisfaction from knowing that Trey is probably at the house wondering where the hell I am.
I wish I could see his face when he discovers that the blackmail folder is empty.
Finally, it’s time for the second heat and I tune out everything except the racers. The energy in the crowd shifts and people press forward, getting as close to the track as possible.
Ry and Luc line up in the middle of the pack at the top of the hill, but I don’t see X.
“Where’s X?” I ask Baz.
“Said he was having trouble with his throttle. Going to sit this one out and watch from the top.”
I turn my attention back to the line and see Ry and Luc fist bump.
There’s hope for them yet.
The lights blink red, orange and green, and the roar of the bikes taking off fills the air. The sound raises goosebumps on my arms and I hold my breath as the bikes rise up over the first hill, soaring through the air in front of me.
Riot’s a bike length ahead of Luc and the rest of the pack are right on their heels.
It’s amazing to watch them control the bikes. To get that much air and land without wrecking. They make it look easy. Especially Riot. He flies higher, goes faster, and rides harder than anyone else out there.
The strength and determination to get that good is part of who he is. He tackles everything with the same fierce dedication. I suck in a shaky breath. Tonight is going to wreck me in the best way, I already know.
After tonight, there’s no going back to the way it was.
Whatever happens with Belle, I’ll have these Lost Boys by my side.
When the bikes come around again, the lead between Ry and Luc has grown. Riot’s putting it all out there tonight and it makes my blood turn to liquid fire watching him.
“He’s crazy good,” I half shout at Baz.
“Why do you think all these people come? It’s not to see a bunch of amateurs riding in circles.” He winks and I shake my head. The guys that race Ry aren’t amateurs. They’re all hellishly good.
But Riot is better.
As the bikes come around again, Baz pulls his phone from his pocket. It reminds me that mine has stopped the incessant buzzing. Trey must have finally given up.
Even over the bikes I hear Baz suck in a breath. His dark eyes glitter under the track lights when he looks at me.
“I’ve got something.” His gaze widens and my heart slams into my ribs.
“The chip?”
When he nods, I grab his arm and we push through the crowd.
Once again my phone starts to vibrate. I should have put it on silent before we left. I’m done giving Trey any more of my time, even if it’s just a thought.
Once we’re on the outside edge of the crowd, Baz looks toward the hill and I see X jogging toward us.
“I texted him,” Baz says, scrolling through his phone and typing in various intervals.
“‘Sup?”
“Got notification that the decryption is done.”
X’s eyes go wide and he steps to Baz’s side.
“What’s it say?”
The lines in Baz’s forehead get deeper the more he reads.
“So it looks like Peter transferred money to an anonymous account right before he committed Wendi.”
“You think he paid off the doctor?” X asks as Baz scrolls faster.
My phone won’t stop vibrating with new messages, but I ignore them. Maybe tomorrow I’ll get a new phone so he doesn't have my number anymore. Trey can jump off a cliff for all I care. This right here, this is what matters.
We finally have some answers.
“I don’t think so. The account belongs to… Peter’s transferred a total of four hundred thousand into an account linked to… Trey?”
I squint at his phone. “That doesn't even make sense…”
“Maybe you’re not the first person in this house that Trey’s been blackmailing,” X says with a growl.
“What the hell could Trey have on Peter? He owns the world’s biggest security software company.” I glance at X but he’s focused on what Baz is doing.
The whine of the bikes in the background pulls at my attention. I want to watch Riot. To assure myself that he’s safe. Like my eyes on him will make sure he doesn’t wreck.
It’s illogical, but I can’t help what I feel.
I want to keep all these boys safe, now that they’re mine.
“His father’s the sheriff, maybe he knows something about Wendi?” I try to make a connection in my head, but Baz shoves his phone at X.
“What the fuck is this?” X’s gaze moves over the tiny screen. “Is that…”
“Yeah, I think it is.”
Baz drags his fingers through his hair and looks at X. He’s acting really weird and they keep doing that thing with their eyes where they talk without saying anything.
“What’s on the chip?” I finally ask.
Baz flexes his jaw and he looks at the phone again, like he needs to see whatever's on there one more time. His gaze flickers to each one
of us and it stops on me. Confusion and disbelief war with each other inside his eyes.
“I think… I think Trey is Peter’s son.”
“What?” The word explodes from my lips. “Peter has a son?”
“Not that we knew. Let me see if I can find anything else…”
“Ever!”
I turn toward the parked cars when I hear my name over the noise of the bikes. Meri races toward us and skids to a stop. Mascara is running down her face and she’s crying and trying to catch her breath.
“Thank god you’re okay,” she sobs, throwing herself at me and wrapping her arms tight around my waist.
“What are you talking about, Mer?” I can feel her shaking in my arms and I meet X’s startled gaze over her shoulder.
She pulls back, but keeps her fingers tight on my arms.
“Trey called me earlier and he wasn’t making any sense so I went to his house. I saw the texts he sent you and I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but he said he was going to make you hurt in the worst way possible. I tried calling you a hundred times but there was no answer. I thought…”
Her shoulders shake when she breaks down again, but when she lifts her terror-filled eyes to me, my entire body goes cold.
“He took his father's gun and ran out. I called his dad and he knows, but I had to make sure you were okay.”
I look at the guys in alarm as dread crawls through my veins.
“We need to get you out of here,” X growls, stepping up to my back and wrapping himself around me.
The crowd cheers as the announcer calls last lap.
Baz crowds close, too, looking at the people around us. There are hundreds here tonight. Trey would blend right in. The back of my neck prickles with a million tiny bee stings.
Meri clutches my hand and huddles close to me.
“I don’t understand what happened. Why he went crazy like this,” she says through her hiccups.
I pull her close. It’s time for the truth.
“He’s been blackmailing me, Mer. Tonight he wanted something in Peter’s safe, but I blew him off. I thought it was over.”
X starts moving us toward the hill where the truck is parked, but the crowd is thicker at the finish line now that the race is almost over and it’s impossible to move through huddled in a group.
“He wants to hurt you because of that?”
Baz steps in front of me and I wrap my arm around Meri’s waist to keep her close. X follows very close behind. Every elbow jostle sends fear skittering up my spine.
The crowd explodes as the bikes fly over the finish line, cheering and throwing their arms in the air, creating even more of a bottleneck as we try to push through.
I haven’t begun to process what we learned tonight, but Trey wanting in Peter’s safe makes more sense now. If Peter is really his father, and the information was encrypted onto a chip inside Wendi’s watch, then someone didn’t want that known.
They don’t deserve what they have.
Trey’s venomous words suddenly spring into my head. It’s what drove his anger. Why he wanted to use me to hurt the LB. Because in his mind, he was the one who should be living that life.
It should have been him.
My knees go weak and I almost fall.
I twist my fingers into the back of Baz’s shirt and try to shout his name, but it’s too loud. Trey wants to hurt me, but not like Meri thinks. Bile crawls up my throat.
He’s going after my boys.
I need to stop him.
I spin around and grab X’s shirt.
“I know what he’s going to… ”
A gunshot splits the night and for one split moment, everything goes utterly silent. I hear my heart thud heavy in my ears for one, two, three seconds.
Then someone screams.
People turn and stampede away from the finish line, causing utter chaos and panic. I try to fight my way toward it but keep getting knocked back. I see Baz grab Meri as he tries to get her out of the way. When someone shoves into me hard, I almost go down, but X grabs me from behind and yanks me toward the announcer’s booth.
The wail of sirens start and gets louder by the second.
I twist and fight to get free, but X refuses to let go as he drags me into the small building tucked into the shadows. Baz runs in with Meri in front of him and she collapses in the corner, pulling her knees to her chest. Tears stream down my face as I fight my way back to the door but X won’t move.
“X, let me go!” I scream to be heard over the chaos around us. “Riot. Trey went after Riot.”
He wraps his arms around me and tugs me against his chest, holding me tightly as he crouches down out of sight. He’s shaking and I can’t stop the tears that are streaming down my face.
“X, please,” I beg through my tears, clawing at his shirt. “Riot’s out there.”
The raw devastation in X’s eyes, the helplessness I see ravishing Baz’s face as he huddles near Meri, it kills me and all the fight leaves my body. I sag against X and sob.
He cradles my head and his body shakes as badly as mine.
“I know, sweetheart, I fucking know.”
...The story will conclude with Ever After
Acknowledgements
This is going to be short and sweet because the main thank you I need to send out is to you; The readers. OMG you all are amazing! The response to EVER LOST blew me away and I had no idea that Ever and her Lost Boys would find so much love. THANK YOU all so much!
Writing EVER FOUND was exciting and terrifying because the expectations were so high, but it challenged me to write the very best story I could. And now things are about to get interesting with the conclusion of this series!!
I want to also thank Brandy Reece and Brooke Warren for being the best alpha readers out there, Chelly Peeler of Ink It Out Editing Services, and my ARC team who are so freaking amazing I just can’t even! Those first eyes are the most nerve wracking because you don’t know at that point if you’ve screwed it all up or not!
I always thank my family, but they already know how much I appreciate them. Love you guys!
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More books by L.E. Bross
Lost Boys of Neverly Prep
Ever Lost
Ever Found
Ever After
Second Chance series: Contemporary romance
Right Where You Are
Whatever It Takes
Contemporary romance stand alone:
The Do Over
Fractured World/PNR series
Dawn’s Wicked Light
When Dusk Falls - TBD
Stroke of Midnight - TBD