I slip out unnoticed as everyone by my pool is focused on the execution about to take place. As the man behind Sadiq raises his gun, I raise mine as well. I’m faster than him because he thinks he has all the time in the world. My bullet slams into his forehead and his gun goes off. It’s doesn’t kill Sadiq, but slams into his right shoulder, knocking him over. I manage to take out one other man before the remaining two begin opening fire on me.
I take cover behind the bar in my outdoor kitchen, thankful that I chose steel and tile instead of wood when it was being constructed. It won’t hold forever, but it may last long enough. I hear a yell and then a curse. The gunfire stops long enough for me to look up and see Sadiq with a gun in his hand, a third man on the ground, and the fourth pointing his gun at him. I take the shot, watching him fall beside my friend.
Running over to Sadiq, I hear yelling coming from behind me, and realize my mistake. I never checked the second floor of my house, and of course they would send more than six men here. I think of Nev as I wait for the bullets to hit my back, but instead, I hear rather than feel the shots that are fired.
Turning, I see my sister and her best friend standing behind me, and only one man left on his feet. “You will pay for this, Dylan Gallagher. You don’t know who it is you killed, but you will pay.”
The man sets off a smoke bomb, and although the three of us race after him, he gets over the back wall of my property and roars away on a four wheeler before any of us can get a good shot off. I don’t know who I killed, but I believe him. Sadiq may still be a target, but I’ve got an even bigger bullseye on my back now as well. I thank Ellie and Jade, before running back over to check on Sadiq.
It looks like he just has a flesh wound, but we won’t know until he’s seen by a doctor. We all go inside, and Jade starts to clean his wound while Ellie tries not to throw up—she’s always hated the sight of blood.
“Thank you,” I tell her as everyone else starts to arrive.
She shrugs. “Bros before…well pretty much everyone else. Always.”
“Sisters, too,” I tell her, pulling her into a hug.
We all move out of the way as Kendrick looks over Sadiq. He determines that it is indeed just a flesh wound, and stitches him up, right then and there. I keep Ellie’s head buried in my shoulder until Aiden runs in and takes over. I look around at everyone gathered here, but the one woman I want to see is missing. I don’t even know if she knows what’s going on, and I think about calling her, but that thought is put on hold when Reina calls us all into the living room.
“I had to notify Elizabeth Mason about what went down here. She’s sending a crew over, and I’m afraid that Sadiq and Dylan will have to stay here until they’ve arrived. After that, I’m taking you both to our apartment building. I should’ve done that in the first place, but I thought this place was secure, and I also foolishly thought we had a little more time. I’ve been distracted, and I’m sorry that my inability to juggle everything going on put you both at risk.”
“You did not put us at risk, Reina. The risk has always been there. I don’t know how they found me, except that maybe with all of Dylan’s publicity today, someone dug up his friendship with a Muslim man. I tried to avoid as many photos as I could, but I know there are a few floating around.”
“It was definitely Dylan,” Ainsley says, looking at her tablet. “The stories about his five-some have been overshadowed by exactly what you just said, his friendship with you. There are some pretty nasty racial things being said, and yeah, I don’t even know what to say about some of this stuff.”
The fuck? I’m not sitting by and letting this happen. “Racial things? I need to make a statement. Now!”
“No, Dylan. You need to hide until we find out who we’re dealing with,” Reina tells me.
“I’m not hiding from some racist assholes.”
“She’s not talking about them. We heard that man—he said you killed someone big, and that others will come for you,” Ellie reminds me.
Could this day get any worse? I lost the respect of a lot of people, I killed some bad men which may get me killed in return, and oh yeah, I lost the woman I love. I don’t care about the fans, because if they can’t deal with an active sex life, or my friendship with someone from another culture, I didn’t really want their respect anyway. What I do care about is Nev. I said I wouldn’t chase her, but when I thought I was going to die, she was who I thought of, and now I know that I’ll do anything and everything I can to get her back.
Chapter 18
Neveah
I stand in the hallway, pressing myself against the wall so that no one sees me—so that Dylan doesn’t see me. I came here afraid that he might die, and while I was relieved to hear his voice when I walked in, what I just heard has done something to me. I’ve been slowly changing since I met with Gavin, but I wasn’t sure I would ever jump off the cliff into acceptance of what I was feeling. I have now. Faith and I have had many talks about her need for justice, and I can finally admit that I understand it.
I not only understand it, but I feel it deep in my bones. I don’t care who Dylan killed, but I do care about the men who are going to come for him. I will not let that happen. I cannot allow some bastards to kill the man I love.
While everyone is still talking, I tiptoe across the hall and down the stairs. I walk to the gun safe, and use the combination Dylan told me. Opening it up, I grab my gun—the gun he gave me. I’m going to need more than this gun, but I know where to get what I need.
Getting off the estate is easier than I thought it would be, but that’s only because law enforcement hasn’t made it here yet. I’m guessing there’s a fight going on over jurisdiction, but I don’t really care about any of that. I rode here with Reina, but I walk out on my own, calling an Uber to pick me up at the entrance to Dylan’s gated community. The guard at the gate saw me come in, and waves as I walk past him. I’m thankful because my ride pulls up less than five minutes later, where a cab may have taken an hour to get to me.
I exchange small talk with my driver, but don’t say much else on the short drive to the C&C building. I smile at the security guards, and use the retina and hand scan to take me down into Ainsley’s lair. No one gives me a second glance as I walk into the hub of technology—after all, I am in training, and all of us have come inside to do a project or two.
After settling in to one of the stations, I pretend to bring up some homework. In reality, I’m looking at the screens in front of me, and listening to what they’re all saying. I know they’re using facial recognition on the dead men in Dylan’s yard, and working to find out who’s behind the attack. I need this information, and while I feel a twinge of remorse for going behind everyone’s back, it doesn’t stop me. All I can focus on is keeping him safe.
Ainsley’s team is the best of the best, and it doesn’t take long to come up with names of the men Dylan killed. Ainsley is also a great teacher, so it doesn’t take me more than a few minutes to access the information I need from the terminal I’m on. Combined with Tegan’s research classes, Audrey’s physics lessons, and Stella’s style sessions, I’m more prepared when I walk out of the building an hour later. I have two bags with me, and I hope to God that what I have inside of them is enough. It has to be, or I may die right along with Dylan.
I call Matt as I wait for another Uber pickup. He answers on the second ring. “Where are you, Nev? Reina said you disappeared from Dylan’s place.”
“I had to get away. That’s why I’m calling, actually. I was hoping you’d let me borrow a jet.”
“Where are you going?”
“Somewhere that has a beach,” I say, telling him the truth about that, at least.
“Have you told Reina?”
“I was waiting to see if you’d let me borrow one before I texted her.”
“You could always fly commercial if I don’t have a jet available. Unless there’s a reason you need my jet.”
Dammit! He knows I’m up to something. Th
e Corrigan jets are covered by the Society’s power, and there is no TSA check on them. I probably couldn’t take a nuclear warhead on one, but a gun and some high tech explosive charges should be okay.
“Just yes or no, Matt.”
“You know it’s a yes. Go to the North Las Vegas airfield instead of McCarran. I’ll have a pilot and a jet waiting there for you.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Don’t forget to text Reina.”
I promise him that I’ll text her before we hang up. I fire off the text as my Uber pulls up, but I turn off my phone before she responds. I don’t need her to track me, especially if someone notices what I’ve taken before I get back. I apologize to the Uber driver for having to change my destination, but I promise a nice tip to compensate for the shorter drive.
When we pull onto the private airstrip, I realize that Matt gave in too easily. I don’t know how they all beat me here, but Matt, Aiden, Nate, Jake, and Theo are all standing in front of the stairs leading up to the plane. I’m going to talk my way onto that plane, no matter what. I have to.
“What are you all doing here?” I ask, getting out of the car with my duffle bags.
“We’ve been planning to go on a fishing trip, and when you mentioned the beach, we thought deep sea fishing would be fun,” Matt says.
“How convenient.”
“Isn’t it, though?” Theo asks with a smirk.
“I don’t need your help.” That’s a lie, and we all know it.
“We’ll only step in if it’s absolutely necessary, but we are going with you,” Nate tells me.
“I can’t put you at risk, or ask you to kill someone because of me.”
“Honey, has no one told you about me?” Aiden asks.
“Not really.”
“Let me give you the short version. You know how Faith likes to kill for justice? I love to kill for the kill. Letting me off my leash makes me so happy. So very, very happy.”
“Knock it off, Cujo. You’re scaring her,” Jake tells him. He kind of is.
“He only kills bad guys, but yes, he enjoys it,” Matt explains.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, ‘oh’. Can we get this show on the road? Deep sea fishing and death await,” Aiden reminds us.
I open and close my mouth a few times, but nothing comes out. I don’t even know what to say. I finally just settle for nodding, and walk up the stairs in front of them. This is going to be an interesting trip—and one I actually think I might come back alive from.
* * *
Dylan
Once we’re all safely inside the Corrigan & Co. apartments, I ask for what I’ve wanted since I knew we were coming here. “Do you think I could go to Nev’s apartment and see her?” I ask Reina.
“She’s not here, Dylan.”
“Oh. Is she still at work this late?”
“No. She actually came to your house with me, but she disappeared. I was starting to really worry, but then she texted me. She said she needs to get away for a little while.”
“She was there?”
The unspoken question of why she didn’t make herself known hangs in the air between us. Reina looks at me like she’s trying to figure something out, and then she says the words that give me hope. “She was actually already planning to go see you before I got the call that your estate was under attack.”
“She was? Really? Do you know why?”
“Yes, yes, and it’s not my place to tell you. Let her have her space right now. So much has happened in the last couple of days. I don’t know that I could handle it all myself. Matt’s gone fishing with his friends to try and sort his head out, and I think she’s doing the same. Not fishing, but clearing her head.”
“Is she safe?”
“She should be. Matt’s kept the family off the radar, and once I learned about everything, I had Ainsley wipe as much as she could without old classmates and friends getting suspicious. I don’t doubt the men who ordered the attack will start digging, but our people will hold them off for at least a few days. Even then, they’ll have pictures, but they won’t know where she went.”
“Do you know?”
“No. I’m trying to give her space as well. We can find her if we need to, so don’t worry about that.”
“I trust you to keep us all safe, Reina.”
“Thank you. I would also like to help you with your PR problem.”
“Those pictures aren’t recent. They were taken at a party my agent invited me to when I was a rookie. I know I look pretty much the same in them as I do now, but what can I say? I like my haircut, and I have pretty good genes so I haven’t aged too much since then.”
I take a deep breath, and tell her the rest.
“I knew Eric had them, which is why I didn’t stand up to him about Nev that day. After talking to my parents, I realized that the world wouldn’t end if they were released. Until he had those women lie about the timing, and Nev thought I cheated on her.”
“I believe you, Dylan, and even though I said I wouldn’t tell you anything about Nev, I’m going to renege on that. She doesn’t believe you cheated, either.”
“She doesn’t? You’re sure?”
“I’m sure. The problem right now is that the public doesn’t believe you. They don’t know about Nev, but they know you said your ‘player’ days were over. There’s a ton of backlash all over social media. The key to all of this is the other two women. The fact that they didn’t come forward tells me that they either can’t be bought, or that Eric doesn’t have the kind of money they demanded. I’m going to send Stella to see them, because she can out-bombshell anyone, and they might feel comfortable letting down their guard with her.”
“Once I’m safe again, I want to hold a press conference. I won’t stand for racist things being said about my friend, and I want the world to know it.”
“We can make that happen. Is there anything else you need?”
“I want to put on a charity basketball game. There are all those refugees being resettled around the world, and I want to help them. I don’t know what they need, but I figure the Foundation is helping them, so you’d know.”
Reina smiles at me. “We are helping, but there is always something more that can be done. A charity game sounds awesome. If you can get the players, I can get a team together to help you with everything else. Maybe the recruits.”
“They might want to kill me right now.”
“Oh, I have no doubt about that, but they’ll do what I ask of them. I’ll tell them you have to be kept unharmed until you and Nev talk.”
“Thanks. For everything.”
“You’re welcome.”
She walks away, and I walk into the apartment I’ve been assigned. It’s on the same floor as Sadiq and the rest of his family, but away from the Society recruits, and the couples. I’ve also been given full use of the gyms, game room, ice skating rink, theater, swimming pools, and stables. I may be a little lonely here, but I definitely won’t be bored.
Chapter 19
Neveah
I have a good plan. I don’t know if it’s great, but it’s good. I refused to tell Matt and the other guys all of the details, but I did relent on where I hoped to end up. I may need some help getting away, and they seem eager to join in on whatever I have planned. Especially Aiden, who if I’m being honest with myself, makes me happy that we’re on the same side.
I slip on the dress I brought for tonight. It’s got sheer sleeves, and is sheer on the top and the bottom, with just enough black lace and flesh covered fabric to cover me from my breasts to the top of my thighs. A wrong move could expose more than I’m comfortable with, but dressing like a nun won’t get me in the front door of my enemy’s house.
I was able to find out about a party tonight. One where everyone in the organization is meeting, and girls are expected to entertain them all during dinner, before being sent away so the men can discuss things alone. Apparently this is a regular occurrence at this compound, becaus
e they feel like they’re safe on this little island where they own the local police force, and the people who live here are too scared to talk. After tonight, they won’t have anyone to be scared of anymore.
Before leaving for the party, I step outside of the casita I rented at the luxury hotel here, and kneel on the ground in my private yard. What I’m about to do goes against my religion, and many of the beliefs I’ve always held. I have no second thoughts about going through with it, because it’s either Dylan or these men—there’s no other option that will keep the man I love safe.
It’s not just about him, or even my father for that matter. These men will not stop hurting and killing people who get in their way. I truly do understand what Gavin told me now. There are times when people have to be stopped by one of us, because they will never stop on their own. That doesn’t make this easy, just necessary.
I pray for some forgiveness, but I can’t call it an official Tawbah for a couple of reasons. One, I don’t know what acts I’ll have to commit yet. And two, I can’t promise to never do it again. All I can do is acknowledge that I’m going to sin, and ask for mercy.
Once I’ve said all I can, I stand back up, put on my shoes, and get in the cab I hired to take me to the compound where the party is being held. I won’t have trouble getting in since I was invited as I checked into the hotel. The front desk clerk didn’t tell me what kind of party it was, thinking I was a naïve tourist. I played that up, and made myself seem eager for a good time. It worked, and now I don’t have to crash the party, which was my original plan. They’d never expect a woman to take them down, but tonight, that’s just what I’m going to do.
Despite their hubris, I’m scanned with a wand before I can pass through the front door. My ears and feet beep, but when they see the metal on both, I’m waved inside. Tsk, tsk, silly boys. My earrings and shoes contain just the right amount of explosives to blow this place up, and my purse contains a surprise as well. I couldn’t bring my gun, but I feel confident in what I have, and what I can do with it.
Neveah (Society Girls #2) Page 14