Her Champions: A high school bully romance (Bad Boys of Jameson High Book 3)

by Taylor Blaine

  I had to let him in. We all knew that.

  Even Dominick with his smug smirk knew we had to let Vlasi in. He couldn’t be more satisfied.

  If I let Vlasi in, things would shift in Dominick’s favor. I had to do something.

  I moved back to the door, my back facing Dominick and everyone else. I reached up as if to adjust my bra and I removed the needle from its spot under the bra band. Tucking it along the inner line of my wrist, I moved with a longer stride toward the door.

  Pausing in front of the panel, I reached out carefully with my left hand and turned the lock, pulling the door open and staring into the worried eyes of Vlasi Ivanovs. He glanced behind him, rocking forward on the balls of his feet.

  His eyes matched Sonya’s; except where she was dead, this man was severely alive. “I came as soon as I got the message from the girl. Where’s Dominick?” His thick Russian accent only served to infuriate me, but I tamped my anger down.

  Scanning him, I slowly opened the door, letting him enter the locker room. No one else tried to get in with him. No bodyguards, nothing.

  I stared at his back, certain there was a bulge under his shirt that had to be a gun. He wasn’t stupid. He wouldn’t come into a situation like that unarmed.

  Not to mention, he thought I thought he was on our side. How long was he going to try to stick with that story before showing his true self?

  I followed behind him, wincing as he spoke to me from over his shoulder. “It sounded like you were going to die from the things the girl said. I’m glad you’re still alive.” I could almost hear the so far in his voice that he’d left off.

  Mom kept her gun trained on Dominick, but her eyes widened as she realized she was surrounded on both sides by men who collaborated together.

  “Dominick, you’ve gotten yourself into quite a predicament.” Vlasi’s slight shoulder rounding and impeccably ironed button-up shirt gave away the formality of his age. His red bulbous nose suggested a history of long bouts with alcohol and there was something in his eyes that left me feeling like a piece of luggage he could dispose of as he saw fit.

  I swallowed, moving more fully behind him as quietly as possible. He must have seen me as inconsequential because he ignored me. He even ignored Stryker as he addressed my mom, Danielle and Dominick – but mostly Dominick. “You’re supposed to have these things in order, Dominick. This makes you look weak and I can’t be associated with weakness. Do you think the Romanovs will be intimidated by you or respectful of any territory you claim for us? No.” He tucked his thumbs into the straps of the black suspenders he wore over his beige shirt.

  He slid his right foot back into a stabilizing stance and I recognized the move for what it was – he was steadying himself for something, probably to hold his gun when he pulled it out.

  I flicked my gaze past his shoulder to meet Stryker’s gaze with mine. Was he trying to tell me to run with those silvery eyes of his? Or maybe he sensed the feelings I had for him and he wanted to reflect them back. If I didn’t do something to tip the scales back to a more even keel, I would never find out.

  My fingers tightened around the metal needle and I slid it up slowly to feel the sharper point with my fingers. The tip wasn’t sharp like a real needle or even like a pencil used for writing, but it was sharp enough that with enough force, it would go through flesh.

  Vlasi would have to be my target. If I killed Dominick, there would be too much room for error since Mom’s gun was already pointing at him and it would take her a moment to figure out what my plan was which would leave Vlasi uncovered. Danielle was no longer an option.

  I had to kill or at the very least severely injure Vlasi Ivanovs, the head of the Russian mafia in the inland northwest.

  The import of the moment hit me harder than any boxer had ever hit me. If I failed, we would all pay more than my dad would for some unpaid debt. We’d all be held accountable for trying to take the life of the head Ivanovs.

  Dominick would get his pound of flesh as well.

  I didn’t have a choice. There was nothing left for me to think about.

  Vlasi casually reached up with his right hand and scratched at his neck as he said something I couldn’t make out through my mental haze. Then his hand moved to scratch his side.

  He was going for his gun. I could tell. Figuring out my opponent’s moves was why I did so well at fighting.

  My breathing smoothed out and I slid the needle down into my fist so that the tip protruded from the space between my thumbs and fingers. The other end barely made it to the other side of my palm.

  I took a deep breath and shifted forward, lunging with everything I had as I swung my arm in a modified right hook and slammed the needle into Vlasi’s neck.

  It didn’t go in the first time, but I knocked him down. He hadn’t been expecting an attack from behind. They never were when a girl was involved.

  Flipping the needle around in my grasp and straddling Vlasi’s side where he’d fallen to the tiled flooring, I raised my arm and braced my other palm on the closed end of my fist and used the power of both hands to drive the needle into Vlasi’s jowly neck. He didn’t have a chance to react as he stared up at me, fear in his eyes and the opening of his mouth.

  I drove that needle with all the force I could muster until I felt it grind into hard vertebrae at the back of his neck. Blood spurted around my hands and I pulled back, jumping off his body to make sure I didn’t get any more on me than necessary.

  He clutched at his throat, trying to get the needle out that was lodged in his flesh. But the piece was too short and his neck too thick to let him get a solid enough grip on the slippery piece I’d used.

  He rolled to his side, gurgling on the blood. I backed up, holding my hands in front of me.

  What had I done? Panic surged through me and I couldn’t breathe. I stared down at the bright red evidence on my flesh as I struggled to get even one gasp through the tightening in my throat.

  Suddenly, Stryker stood beside me, holding me in his arms as he maneuvered me around the side wall and to the sinks. I could still hear Vlasi as he fought for life, but there wouldn’t be any way he could survive what I’d just done. Not even if we called an ambulance.

  Surprisingly, no one else responded. Dominick and Danielle watched in silence as Vlasi beseeched them for help with his eyes. Mom just kicked him back when he reached her as he crawled forward on his stomach, squirting blood on the tiles in front of him.

  Stryker blocked my view, pushing me in front of a sink and turning on the water. The echoes of the rushing water covered some of the death throes coming from the dying Russian.

  Stryker carefully took my hands and ran them under the warm water. Together we watched as the water ran a bright red and then pink as it rinsed the blood from my skin. He even grabbed soap and sudsed up my fingers to get the remnants of my killing from under my fingernails and in the cuticle linings.

  My kill. I started shaking as I realized there was no more noise coming from Vlasi that I could hear. No more noise meant I’d succeeded. He’d died. I’d killed him.

  This time, when I’d killed someone, I’d done it intentionally.

  This time. Because I had killed twice now and I couldn’t believe they were both from the same family. Father and daughter. One had been innocent. One had been a part of whatever messed up life my mom had forced herself to become a part of.

  The way my body shook, I doubted I’d be able to find a normal sensation again. Why was everything so confusing?

  Stryker pulled some paper towels from the dispenser and dried my hands with the rough brown paper. I lifted my eyes to stare at the angles of his face.

  Tears welled in my eyes and I shook my head as he lifted his gaze to study me, questions in his own features.

  “You had to do it. No one blames you for that.” His comforting tone only left me more bereft.

  He didn’t understand that I was a killer now. How could he care about me when I killed people? “I’m a killer. Tha
t’s two. You… You can’t love me. I’m not good enough.” He had no idea how much I felt that statement in that moment. I wasn’t good enough. Not for him. Not for anyone. My mother had just watched me kill someone. How could she ever see me as anything but a killer?

  How could I ever see myself without the shadow of my actions in my eyes.

  Lifting his hand, Stryker wiped his thumb heavily under my eyes on my cheeks to remove the heat of my tears. “I can’t help loving you. I fought it. I’m done fighting it. I just want to live long enough to love you the right way.” He ducked his head and pressed his lips to mine, the heat explosive and calming all at the same time.

  He didn’t deepen the kiss as if he knew I was on some kind of emotional tightrope and anything could push me over. He pulled back, stroking my cheek and shaking his head. Then he grinned. “I can’t imagine life with you would ever be boring.”

  Life. If we could get out of there and away from Dominick, maybe we could find some kind of happiness together. If not forever, at least long enough to brand our souls with love.

  I dropped my voice to a whisper, just loud enough for him to hear. “What are we going to do?”

  He tilted his head to the side and answered equally low. “Whatever we have to, but not including being his whore to save anyone.” Stryker rolled his eyes, bringing much needed levity to the situation. “I swear, I could have killed you myself at the thought.” He pulled me into his arms.

  I never wanted to leave, but I had to face the body I’d left with my mom and the fact that family was shittier than I’d originally thought.

  Chapter 22

  Stryker

  I ran my hand up and down the strength of Gray’s back as we rounded the wall to come back to the scene in the locker room.

  Telling her I was falling for her was the only thing I could feasibly allow myself to feel at the moment. What if I lost her because she wanted to trade herself for her father? That’s all I could think about. What if she went with Dominick because of some twisted notion that her dad was her responsibility?

  Hearing how she felt about me only gave me that much more incentive and motivation to do whatever it took to keep her with me. My fingers settled at her waist as she walked beside me and I made sure my protection was blatant. I’d die to save her.

  Whatever it took to keep her with me or safe, I’d do it.

  Maneuvering Gray to the side so she didn’t have to look directly at Vlasi, I tensed when her eyes made their way to his body anyway. He’d fallen to the side, his hand still clutching at his neck and his eyes staring in the direction of Dominick’s feet.

  Dominick watched us walk toward them, his smirk morphing into a grin, then an outright chuckle which turned into a maniacal full body laugh that made his eyes close and him half-fold over his legs. My psychotic uncle laughed like that for a full minute while the rest of us stared at him like he’d lost it. Which was a very real possibility.

  He finally wiped under his eyes and leaned back again on the bench to sit still and watch us where we stood. “You killed Vlasi Ivanovs. You don’t come back from that. You might as well work with me under my protection. At this point, you’re more screwed than…” He shook his head, his smile still evident as he sighed.

  I looked at Gray, then down at Vlasi. The man’s lifeless body looked less foreboding than it had in The Pike office with Jedediah.

  Then it clicked. My own worry faded and I started to laugh myself. I held up a hand as Dominick, Danielle, Maria, and Gray turned their shocked gazes to me. I wanted to tell them I wasn’t crazy, but maybe I was.

  I pointed at Dominick and arched an eyebrow. “Actually, Uncle. She didn’t kill Vlasi Ivanovs. You did.” Everything fell into place. Who would believe him? Turning on your cohorts was commonplace in the industry we were in and when you traded humans and moved drugs, loyalty was something with a price tag.

  Dominick blinked as what I said sank in. He shook his head slowly as he held his gaze on me. “You wouldn’t do that to me. I’m your blood. That makes us family, Stryker.”

  I shook my head. “No. It doesn’t. That makes us relatives. You’re not my family.”

  Stepping over Vlasi’s body, I pushed past Dominick and bent over Danielle, taking the gun she limply held in her hand. I tucked it in my back waistband and yanked her to a standing position.

  Patting her down, I found her cell and pulled it from her rear pocket. With a slight shove, she fell back to her butt beside Dominick on the bench. He slid over to put some distance between them, but she followed. He’d messed her up in the head and he was going to have to deal with her obsession for as long as she lived.

  I dialed Gunner’s cell from Danielle’s phone. He answered, his voice tightly controlled. “Yeah.”

  “Gunner, it’s Stryker. Where are you?” I shifted my weight on my hip, more in control than I’d felt all day.

  “I’m in a van out front. The fights are still going on but not for long and an ambulance just took Brock and Sara away. I called 911 for them. What’s going on in there?”

  I glanced around the overly bright locker room and had no idea how I was supposed to even describe to him the events of the last thirty minutes.

  “What are you doing in the van?” I ignored his question about what was going on. That couldn’t be important right then. I needed to make sure I got things taken care of to protect Gray before I took my time to describe the situation and the craziness I’d just found out about our fathers and our uncle.

  I blinked back my fury. I couldn’t give in yet to the anger struggling to get out. I couldn’t. If I told Gunner what I’d learned, he’d lose his shit. I couldn’t do anything to push him overboard when we were barely keeping our hands on the steering wheel of the situation.

  “Asher is waiting for Danielle. He looks like he has luggage in the back of the van.” Gunner spoke matter-of-factly.

  “You’re in the van, though?” I furrowed my brow and stared past Danielle and ignored Dominick.

  “Well, he was getting anxious and I think he was going to leave. I… uh, well, I had to stop him. He’s handcuffed and knocked out in the back by his bags.” Gunner cleared his throat like he wasn’t sure he should have been so forthcoming.

  I couldn’t help the grin spreading across my face. “That works. He was going to trade Gray to pay off his debts. If he wakes up before we get out there, make sure he knows what we think of that.” I hung up before Gunner’s expletive could fill the line between us.

  “Does he know?” Maria held the gun on Dominick with more confidence as the men against her dwindled. I couldn’t imagine what she’d been up against since she’d left Gray.

  “No. Not what Dominick did to his dad.” I wasn’t ready to face the truth completely yet either to be honest. It was a lot to swallow that my uncle had killed his brothers. I had never really understood there was that much greed in the world, let alone my own family.

  Maria nodded and her eyes met mine. She pursed her lips and softly tilted her head and I knew what she was thinking. I nodded, tightly moving back to stand beside Gray. She was a mother who wanted more for her daughter than what she’d been given. Something released in Maria’s eyes and she motioned at Vlasi’s body. “Do you think you can get him out to the van like that?”

  I turned and studied his body. His size wasn’t daunting, but the fact that he’d be limp with an obvious death problem gave me pause. I could carry him, but the massive amount of people out wandering the halls and parking lot would panic, if they saw me carrying a dead man. Who wouldn’t?

  “Not like that.” I shook my head and stared. “We need a way to transport him that would hide all of that.” I motioned toward his body and shrugged.

  “There are laundry baskets we can use.” Gray pointed toward the mechanical room beside the inner office of the locker room. “There’s one with rollers.”

  The mention of a laundry basket left me picturing a small white basket that an eight-year-old child could lift, not one
that a dead Russian dom would fit into.

  Gray left my side and I clenched my hands into fists. Having her away from me where I couldn’t guarantee her safety left me sick inside. I wasn’t sure when I would be comfortable with her leaving me, but it wouldn’t be for a very long time.

  She tried the door handle but it was locked. Glancing at me over my shoulder, she scrunched her nose. “I know there’s one in there.”

  A locked door wasn’t going to stop me from doing what needed to be done. I had no doubt that with enough force, I could pop the door open. I also had no doubt that my anger and adrenaline was enough to create the force I needed. I motioned for her to move and then in two long strides I approached the door and planted my foot solidly to the left of the round door handle. The door popped open with a shudder.

  Placing my foot back on the ground, I scanned the modest-sized room for a laundry basket.

  Gray brushed past me, her skin hitting mine and leaving behind an awareness I wanted another chance to explore. Neither of us could die, if I wanted another shot at screwing her – to put it bluntly.

  She ducked behind the door and came back out pushing a cart with a stainless-steel wire frame and a heavy cloth bag for a liner that could easily fit two men sitting inside.

  Just when I was thinking there’d be no way we could get Dominick outside without drawing too much attention with his shot leg, Gray pulls out a solution for both men.

  I arched my eyebrow as I scanned her form from head to toe. “You amaze me.” The becoming blush on her cheeks only made me want her more. The intensity of the moment, the culmination of all our fear and anger in that one day was enough to make us both hyper aware of our sensations and anything that didn’t make us feel like shit or worried.

  I needed to feel alive and I had no doubt she did, too. When we came together it was going to be mind-blowing and I seriously needed the connection to convince myself that she hadn’t succeeded in trading herself to Dominick for her father or that the entire day hadn’t been a loss.