He nods. “I understand,” he says. “But just know that no matter what I’ve done or how I acted, I've always loved you. I always will, and despite what you might think, everything I’ve done has been to protect you.”
“You have a weird way of showing it.”
“I know,” he says. “Just do me one favor.”
“Anything.”
“Get yourself out of the Wolves. You should be living back in Bellevue Springs with your rich boyfriend and perfect life. Put all of this behind you and find real happiness. I want you to have the world, and it’s taken me a really long time to figure out that I couldn't give it to you.”
I nod, already down with the idea of leaving the Wolves behind. The second I can, I’ll be out of there and leaving it to Christian to take over.
We hear the sirens in the distance, and Nic cringes. “Shit. This is really happening,” he says, looking like the kid I first met when he was only seventeen years old.
“Yeah, it is,” I murmur, pulling back to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry that it had to come down to this, and I’m sorry that I stood here with a gun, intending to kill you. If I could have it any other way …”
Nic nods, not needing me to finish off that thought, and instead of prolonging the moment, he looks up at Sebastian, Kai, and Eli. “Here, help me up,” he says, holding a hand out to Kai.
I quickly scramble off him, knowing he must be in extraordinary amounts of pain after being shot less than twelve hours ago.
Kairo takes his hand and after he pulls him up, Nic instantly wraps his arms around him. “Widows are yours now,” he murmurs. “Take care of them better than I did. Get rid of all the bullshit, and make it a brotherhood like it was always supposed to be. Watch your back, though. They won’t all agree with that.”
“You sure, bro?” Kairo asks, his brows rising. “It’s not too late. I can get you out of here.”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I have to do this. Just try and avoid gang wars. They tend to fuck things up.”
Kai laughs, and as Nic moves onto Eli, I can’t help but watch every last second. “I don’t know how long I’m going to be put away for, but from now on, you’re my eyes and ears out here. You need to keep Kairo grounded. Make sure he doesn’t fuck it up like I did.”
“You got it, bro,” he says, folding him into his arms and clapping Nic on the back. “I’ll move your mom into my building. She’ll be taken care of too.”
They hold each other for a second longer before Nic turns to Sebastian. “I don’t know where I’d be without you, bro,” he tells him. “I need you to look out for O, make sure she’s keeping out of trouble, and keep this rich fucker in line.”
“You know it,” Sebastian says, glancing back at me with a bittersweet smile.
The boys hug it out, and as the sirens get louder and louder, Nic finally turns to Colton, and holds out his hand. Colton takes it, and they meet each other's stare. Nic’s hold tightens on Colton’s hand, but it’s nothing he can’t handle. “If you ever hurt her,” Nic says, his voice low and terrifying. “I will hunt you down like the fucking animal that you are.”
“If I ever hurt her, I’ll welcome it.”
The boys remain locked in a heated stare, and then finally Nic nods, and their hands drop back to their side. “So, what now?” Nic asks, looking down at me.
“Now we wait,” I tell him as the siren begins to deafen me. “You tell the cops exactly what you’ve done, and you pay for your crimes, giving justice to the people who need it most. Maybe even meet with a therapist while you’re in there. God knows you need it.”
“That easy, huh?”
I nod. “Yeah, it really is.”
Sebastian scoffs from behind us, walking into Nic’s side. “Just don’t bend over in the shower,” he tells him. “And I highly suggest not acting like a bitch in there. You know there’s bound to be some Wolves.”
Nic grunts, not fazed at all. “And plenty of Widows. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be good.”
The cops turn the corner, and suddenly the deserted street is lighting up with blue and red flashing lights. The cops get out and walk toward our small group as Eli discreetly kicks the discarded gun under the Audi, trying to make this transition as peaceful as possible.
Nic instantly stands taller and faces them with his hands out, ready to be cuffed. “It’s time,” he tells them, already knowing each of them by name. After all, they were all investigating Kian before he died, and that investigation then fell onto Nic's shoulders. “I’ll tell you whatever you want to know.”
The cops don’t hesitate and instantly step into him, cuffing him behind his back and reading his rights. They start pulling him away, but Nic stops and looks back at me with love shining through his eyes. “While I regret it all, I’ll never regret you,” he tells me. “Maybe once this is all said and done, we could work on going back to how it used to be.”
A small smile pulls at my lips as Colton steps into me and curls his arm around my waist. “Yeah,” I whisper, longing for that day, though knowing that it may never come. He’ll be locked up for a very long time. “I think I’d like that.”
Nic nods and not wanting to drag this moment on, he starts walking toward the cop car ready to make amends for everything he’s done and finally pay for every single one of his crimes. It’ll be a long road, and who knows how long he’ll be in there for. I just hope when he comes out the other end, he’ll finally have become a better man, someone that we can all be proud of.
It’s bittersweet watching him walk away but deep down, we all know it’s for the better. With me in charge of the Wolves and Kai now taking over the Widows, this world is going to be a much better place. We can finally begin to turn everything around, and my hometown can start to be somewhere that doesn’t need to be feared.
Nic is put into the backseat of the cop car, and not three seconds later, the cruiser is pulling away, and Nic is driven off into the metaphorical sunset. It’s not exactly a horse and carriage, but for now, it'll have to do.
“Come on,” Colton tells me, gently pulling on my waist. “Let’s get out of here. I need to prepare my lawyers. They're going to have their work cut out for them this time.”
“Okay,” I tell him, glancing back at the boys. “Just give me a second.”
Colton nods, and I turn back to the boys, who all stare at me with big puppy dog eyes. “Don’t,” I say, feeling the guilt washing over me. “Please don’t hate me.”
Kai shakes his head. “We could never hate you,” he tells me, pulling me in for a big hug. “Am I a little surprised that you tried to shoot him down? Sure, but is it anything that the rest of us haven't done before? Not exactly.”
Sebastian hijacks our hug and throws his arms around the two of us. “It’s for the best. Nic is going where he needs to be, and hopefully, he’ll seek out the help that he needs to find the old him.”
“Yeah, what he said,” Eli adds, joining in on the group hug. “Now, get your ass out of here before any of our guys see us fraternizing with the enemy.”
I roll my eyes and pull away from them, knowing that this isn’t goodbye. “I’ll catch you dorks later,” I tell them. “Try not to burn down anyone else’s homes for a while.”
“We make no promises,” Sebastian calls after me.
I can’t help but laugh, hating how easily those idiots can make me forget about the heaviness of the day. I make my way back to Colton, knowing that either the boys or Colton’s security will take care of the Audi again, and as I go to open the car door, my phone buzzes in my jeans pocket.
I hover in the open door, feeling the eyes of the guys on me as I read over the text.
Christian - Consider Snake handled.
I raise a brow as Kairo calls out. “What’s that about?”
I glance up, meeting his gaze as I try to cover my surprise with how quickly the Wolves get shit done. “Wolf business,” I tell him.
Kai shakes his head, unable to help his grin. He winks and the little
gesture fills my chest with happiness. Assuming my message is about some form of payback, he raises his chin. “Bring it on, pretty girl. I’m looking forward to it.”
I roll my eyes, and drop down into Colton’s car, and as he takes off down the street, leaving the Audi behind, I work on my reply.
Ocean - Nic got arrested and will be locked up for a very long time. I know that’s not exactly what you had in mind, but as far as I’m aware, the war is over. You can all sleep soundly tonight. Then tomorrow we figure out how the fuck I’m supposed to faze myself out and leave the Wolves under your command.
After hitting send, I drop the phone into my lap and look over at Colton. His hand instantly slips into mine, and as he glances at me, I can’t help but feel like shit. “Sorry for slipping out of your room like that.”
He shakes his head, squeezing my hand, and rubbing his thumb back and forth. “Don’t worry about it,” he tells me. “I had the security set up with an alert. I knew you were going to go, I just hoped that you didn’t. But it’s all over now.”
“It’s all over,” I confirm. “All the threats are gone, no more Widows, no more Nic.” That thought instantly sends a pang of guilt soaring through me, but in the end, it’s where he needs to be.
“You’re going to be alright, Jade.”
“Are you sure about that?”
“I’m fucking positive.”
Christian’s reply comes in a second later and has the last piece of the puzzle finally sliding into place.
Christian - Sounds like a good fucking plan to me.
Chapter 37
Charlie flies through the air, screaming out as he curls his body into the fetal position, only to go crashing down into the pool, sending a wave of water slamming down over all of us.
Drix squeals and instantly goes in after him as Casey and Cora screech, trying to protect their hair that they just dropped a bomb on at the salon yesterday. Though if I have to be blatantly honest, their hair looks no different than how it did when they first walked in there. They seem to love it though, and that’s all that matters.
Jess steps toward the edge of the pool and instantly starts shaking off the water that drips off her arms, and I watch as Drix ducks down under the water and swims right to the edge. As Jess is distracted, Drix comes up, wraps her hand around Jess’s ankle, and yanks her into the water, sending yet another cocktail flying to the bottom of the pool. She hardly has a chance to scream before she crashes down into the water.
I can’t help but laugh as I sip on my drink, absolutely loving this day. It’s so perfect. I wish I could have had this all along. The past five months have been the worst kind of roller coaster, but at the same time, I’ve come out the other end with these new, incredible friends who I couldn’t live without. It’s just a shame that other friendships had to be tested along the way.
Two warm arms circle my waist, and before I know it, Colton’s lips are teasing the sensitive skin of my neck. “What do you think you’re laughing at?” he grumbles, his arms suspiciously tightening around me as his voice gets lower and lower.
“Don’t even think about—AHHHHH, PUT ME DOWN YOU BIG, FAT COCK-SUCKING, DICKWAD,” I screech as Colton yanks me off my feet and bounds toward the water, laughing like a freaking hyena, refusing to ease up on me.
I scream, scratch, hit, flail, trying everything in my power to free myself, but nothing stops Colton from flying through the air, sending us both out into the center of the deep end.
We crash down into the water, hopefully sending another wave of water over Jess, and we instantly swim right back up to the surface. I suck in a deep breath, more than ready to bust the fucker, but Colton is nowhere to be seen.
I glance around, my anxiety instantly coming up and sending me into a panic. Where the fuck is that little turd? I look around, unable to find him anywhere, so I do whatever any girl would in my situation; I swim as fast as I can.
Bodies start dropping into the pool from every direction, and getting away seems almost impossible. I kick my legs as fast as they’ll go, knowing he's bound to be up to something. As I finally come into the shallow end of the pool without being dragged back, I finally start to relax.
Ha. Fucker. Whatever his plan was, he missed me.
I can’t explain why that makes me feel like such a badass boss bitch, but it does, and I freaking love it.
I come up into the shallow end, and as I come up for breath, I smack face-first into a hard body and end up swallowing a mouthful of pool water as I try to gasp in surprise.
Ah, shit.
Colton looks down at me, a shit-eating grin across his face. “Looking for someone?” he questions, stepping into me as I hastily try to back up. I don’t know what he thinks he’s going to do to me, I’m already in the pool. It's not like he can throw me in all over again.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, taking another step back.
A sparkle hits his eyes, and I scream before diving back under the water. Colton instantly comes after me, his strength in the pool like nothing I’ve ever witnessed before. He catches me in seconds, and his hands curl around my waist, twisting me until we’re swimming together.
We get down into the deep end, both of us right down at the bottom of the pool. I’m quickly running out of oxygen, but I don't care. Not now that his eyes are on mine.
His fingers trail over my face as my hair floats out around me like a massive brunette halo. As he winks, a smile cracks across my face, letting the last of my oxygen bubble up in front of me.
I push up off the bottom of the pool, and within seconds, I break through the surface with Colton coming up right behind me. His hands never leave my body, and somehow, I still get a thrill out of his every touch. It will never get old.
Colton pulls me in, only giving me the slightest chance to fill my lungs before crushing his lips to mine and kissing me deeply.
“Ugh,” Casey whines from across the pool, sitting on her sunbed and soaking up the rays in her new bikini that she insists on showing off every chance she gets. “Would you two get a room already? I swear, if we weren’t here, you’d probably be screwing right now.”
Colton reluctantly pulls back from me and glances up at his little sister. “Actually, I’ve already fucked her in here. There are too many surfaces to get through to bother doubling up.”
Casey’s eyes go wide as Cora’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Wait. What do you mean? Are you making your way through the house? Where else have you fucked her?”
Colton grins, his hand slipping into mine as he pulls me back to the shallow end. “Everywhere,” he tells her as Milo booms with laughter. “We hit that particular sunbed just last week.”
Casey flies up off the sunbed slamming a hand over her mouth. “AND YOU LET ME SIT ON IT?” she screeches, grabbing her towel and wiping it all over her as though that’s going to help get the DNA off. “You’re so gross.”
“Actually,” I laugh, turning my gaze on Cora. “I’m pretty sure it was that sunbed.”
Cora flies up right behind her sister and crashes into her, sending the both of them toppling into the pool as the rest of us howl with laughter. So much for their expensive salon trip.
I finally get myself out of the pool and drag my tank over my head before twisting it in my hands, wringing out all of the water. I mean, I’m already in my bikini. Would it have been that hard for Colton to just let me pull it off before tossing me into the water?
Damn. Boys can be assholes, but usually in the best kind of way.
As I grab my towel and dry off, Milo comes over to me with a new drink after mine … actually, I have no idea where it ended up. One second it was in my hand and the next. Poof. It was gone.
I glance down at the mixture and cringe. knowing Milo, this would be filled with every spirit he could get his hands on. My drink before was just juice but everyone had assumed that I was drinking right along with them. I haven’t exactly gotten around to telling them about the little bun
in the oven. I know I won't be able to hide it much longer, and an explanation will be demanded.
“Thanks,” I grumble, giving him a warm smile and wondering how I’ll get away with accidentally losing another drink.
Milo grins before looking out at Spencer, watching as he fucks around in the pool, looking happier than I’ve ever seen him before. “So,” he says, bumping me with his hip. “What’s going on with all the Wolf shit? Have you tried to kill any of those bastards yet?” My eyes go wide as I look over at him, and as he meets my gaze, he sees the cringe twisting across my face and gasps. “Spill it, bitch. What else could have possibly happened?”
I bite down on my bottom lip, feeling the same guilt sweep over me. It’s only been a few days since everything happened with Nic, and so far, the guilt isn’t going anywhere. It might take a little while to be okay with everything that went down.
“So, umm … I didn’t try to kill any of the Wolves,” I tell him. “But does Nic count?”
“What?” he gasps, his eyes wide as saucers. “I know he’s been a real douche lately but dammmnnnn. What would possess you to try and hurt that sexy piece of demon meat? He’s too pretty to be wasted like that. I mean, girllll, those tatts and that body under that silky smooth skin. I’d be his bitch any day.”
Spencer scoffs from across the pool. “Please, a guy like that would have you shitting your pants, running scared. Now, Sebastian, he’s more your speed.”
Milo has the audacity to look offended. “Excuse you, sir. I could handle him.”
“Uh-huh.”
I gape at the two of them, wondering how the hell we got onto this topic. I don’t particularly want to be thinking about any of the guys like that, though I'm not going to lie, a Widow sandwich would be sexy as hell.
“Speaking of Nic,” Colton says, coming over to me with his phone in hand before stopping and meeting my eyes. “What’s going on?” he asks. “You look like you’re thinking too hard.”
Ride or Die: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 4) Page 34