Some Way

by Tiffany Jade

  Certainty.

  "Never again, Liviana. You're mine now." He pulls back a little to look at me as he speaks. A smile tugs at my lips with his words.

  "Am I now?" I ask, scooting back on the counter, just to mess with him a little bit. He chuckles and lets me scoot a little ways back before he grabs my hips and slams me back into him.

  "You've been mine since you kicked my ass at beer pong, and you know it," he whispers into my ear as he holds onto me.

  "GRAY!" Dax's voice interrupts from the living room.

  "You know, I might end up killing your brother one day," I groan as I bury my face in his chest. Grayson laughs as he grabs my chin and tilts my face up to his and kisses me.

  "I'll help," he helps me down off the counter.

  "You know the last time this happened, I didn't see you for a couple of months," I say as we walk towards the door. Gray just smiles and walks me over to my apartment.

  "And look what happened, I couldn't stay away from you." Opening the door for me he pats me on the ass as I walk in.

  "I'll be back Queen. Promise."

  "I am not going to a fucking basketball game." Dax is walking around the apartment getting ready for the dumb ass meet up Father has set us up with this morning, while I watch from a sprawled out position on the couch.

  "It's not a game dick wad, its practice, basketball season doesn't start for months." I roll my eyes as he tucks his 9 mm into his waistband.

  "Same shit." I know I sound like I'm bitching, well fuck it I am bitching. Every time I get close to Liv, some shit has to blow up in my face and I'm stuck dealing with it.

  This time however, it looked like we might actually get close to finding something. It didn't stop my frustrations though.

  In a world where most people, me included, are used to being able to literally locate anyone with little more than an internet search, it was beyond fucking annoying that Devlov had somehow managed to sneak his son into this school with no one being the wiser.

  Dax tries to hand me my Sig. "The quicker we get this bullshit over with, the quicker you can get back to your girlfriend, so quit whining like a little bitch and let’s go. Plus, we get to hang out with Liam again, it’ll be like old times."

  Grunting as the gun lands on my stomach when Dax just decides to drop it, I reach up to flip D off but he just grins in response. Like hanging out with Liam was any consolation for having to go to anything college organized. He grew up in the life too, his family moved from New York to L.A. while we were still in high school so Liam could play sports without as much of a target on his back. I didn’t expect that to ever come bite me in the ass.

  Standing up, I adjust to make sure everything is hidden and we head out the door.

  Grayson is going to fucking kill me.

  Dad had told me who our other contact was but I knew that if I had told him, he would not be here with me right now. And at the end of the day, I needed him to get this shit done. As the basketball team started filing out of the building I took a deep breath preparing myself as we both stepped out of Gray's truck.

  "Do you even know who Liam has up his sleeve?" Gray asks as we both lean up against the front bumper. Glancing over at him, I see his jaw clench as he watches, with guarded eyes, everyone coming outside. Mentally sizing them all up, for sure.

  "Uh, yeah," I clear my throat. Two guys break away from the group and head for us, Liam’s giant ass standing out.

  "You're fucking kidding me." Gray throws a glare at me as he heads back for his door. "Fuck no."

  "Bro stop." His hand rests on the handle as he looks up at me. "The more help we have the quicker this is all over with. Put your feelings aside, I need old Grayson right now." I swear to God he growls as he angrily heads back to me.

  As if I didn't already have enough proof of just how over the edge he was with Liv, this proved it. While Grayson had never wanted to be involved in all this, he had always been good at it. Great actually.

  His competitiveness, need for perfection, and drive to do anything to get what he wanted, had always made him a mother fucker you did not want to mess with. And as strong as he may have felt about things, he had always been able to put aside his personal shit to handle business.

  Until Serafina had come along.

  While they hadn't started on the best terms, he had eventually fallen for her, and thought she had fallen for him. He had let his guard down for her, he'd gotten hurt for her. I had thought he had lost control when it was her, but with Liv...

  "Ah, boys, just like old times yeah?" Liam smiles as he reaches us and pulls us both into a hug.

  "Nice to see you again, brothers," Dean reaches out with a fist, bumping knuckles with both of us. Grayson stays dead silent, his jaw so locked it looks like it could shatter. His eyes never leaving Dean. I elbow him and he tries to shake it off.

  "How's our boy feeling?" he grumbles out, nodding towards Aaron's figure, limping down the stairs out of the gym. Liam and Dean both chuckle darkly.

  "Pretty sure he hasn't looked in a mirror all morning, think that shiner might have got him over his addiction of checking himself out." Liam turns and waves in Aaron's direction, who seeing the four of us, rushes, as quick as his fucked up legs will let him, away.

  Lucky for him, I'd been able to control Grayson enough to stop him from beating his head against anything solid enough to kill him. But I'd bet money the dudes jaw would never close right again. I have to elbow Grayson again as his hands begin clenching at his sides.

  "Bigger fish, bro," I remind him. He nods, finally collecting himself and looking at Liam and Dean. Yeah, this girl has him twisted in all sorts of ways.

  "Well, looks like we have a lot to talk about," I gesture the guys to the truck. "Let's go get some drinks?"

  "Hell yeah," Dean smiles as he throws his duffle bag of gear into the back of the truck. Liam copies and they both climb into the back seat. Grayson takes a deep breath but heads over to the driver’s side without any prodding.

  "So basically all we know is that he goes to this school, plays some kind of sport, and is going by an alias?" I ask, making sure I've collected all the bullshit available to me during this fan-fucking-tastic lunch date. Dean nods as he finishes off the last of his beer. "Cool, so this is going to be a cake walk." I finish the rest of my drink too and wave the waitress down to bring me another.

  Eager to please she rushes over quickly with another bottle, making sure to push her tits together as she reaches out and hands it to me, she winks.

  Not interested sweetheart.

  Ignoring her, I turn back to the boys.

  "And we are sure it isn't Aaron?" Dax questions. I had already brought it up, a part of me hoping there was a chance so I could kill the fucker without anyone blinking.

  "He was one of the first we looked into," Liam admits. "But we figured out real quick he was way too dumb and in no way trained well enough to be a professional criminal. And on top of it all his parents are just investment bankers out of Denver. No criminal history there at all. Honestly I'm still not sure how they raised such an asshole," Liam shrugs as he starts running down the list of people they've looked into and proven they had no connection to the Devlov's. I can feel my eyes begin to glaze over as the time passes when a buzz in my pocket pulls me back into the moment.

  1 New Message

  Queen: You still in LA

  Smiling, I send her my location.

  Queen: Well I'll be damned

  I keep my promises Queen

  Queen: You're going to have to prove that one

  I will. Aren't you in class?

  Queen: I am

  Queen: I'm hungover

  Queen: And I kind of want to die

  Queen: But I'm here

  I'll send you food when you get home, then go to

  bed. I'll be out for the rest of the day but I'll

  see you tomorrow k

  Queen: Sending me food?! I like kiss ass Grayson, I'm going to get mad at you more often
>
  "GRAYSON!" Dax's voice is joined by an elbow to my ribs. "How long ago did we lose you?" he asks as the three of them stare at me with smirks on their faces.

  "I got it all don't worry." I slide my phone back in my pocket and take a pull from my bottle. "So what's the plan?" Liam shuffles around and pulls a paper out of his back pocket, unfolding it and laying it out in the table.

  "We got a lead from one of the local families that Devlov's son is in Theta Chi, I so happened to have snagged an invite to their kegger tonight. You guys in?" Not even consulting with each other both Dax and I nod our heads, Theta Chi here we come.

  Chapter 13

  I don't know what had gotten into Grayson, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying it. Honestly, it was like a switch had flipped and he had just turned off the asshole. It made me really wonder what had happened while he was back home. And while I was still a little apprehensive, because let’s face it, a lot of guys are really good at fooling you into thinking they are good, I guess a part of me was really grabbing onto the hope that this sweet, caring Grayson, was the real guy underneath the tough exterior. The really hot, tattooed up, muscles for days, jaw clenching, hot flash inducing tough exterior...

  "Oh my God, he was serious!" Jenna's voice following a knock on the door pulls me out of my thoughts. She jumps up and throws the door open and sure enough, he had sent us food. And not just a little bit, the poor delivery guys’ arms were full of bags from places all over town. I get up to help Jenna grab things as we both start giggling.

  "Awwwwwww," Jenna coos as she holds up a bag from Sunnies, looking in she starts tsking. "Homeboy even got you your macarons. What the hell is going on?" I shrug because I'm just as confused. The delivery guy smiles and waves as we take the last bag and he heads down the hall.

  "WAIT! Don't you want your tip?" I shout after him before he rounds the corner.

  "Your man already covered that ma'am. Very generously, I might add." With a grin, he turns on his heels and walks away.

  "Very generously, I might add," Jenna quotes in a faked deep voice. I roll my eyes as we set all of our food on the counter. Spreading out the bags I smile as I notice that all of them come from places Jenna and I had told the boys about that they needed to check out.

  "Well no half-assing it for that Demonte huh? Teach me your ways girl!" Jenna reaches for one of the macarons and takes a bite, dramatically rolling her eyes back as she chews. "Ugh, still the best! But seriously, how do I get Dax to spoil me with every food I've ever mentioned to him?!" Grabbing my own macaron and biting down I giggle.

  "I thought you and Dax were just friends?" Jenna hands me a coffee cup that came along with the order. I take a sip, checking, and sure enough, caramel iced latte, with almond milk and extra ice. He had a good memory, I'll give him that.

  "We are just friends, but friends can send their friends food right?!" She smirks as she unpacks the rest of the food. Giant bacon cheeseburgers come out of one of the bags, perfect hangover cure.

  "Yeah apparently friends can do a lot of 'friendly' things," I wiggle my brows at her before taking a bite. Okay, my turn to be dramatic.

  Best food ever.

  "We look at it as a matter of convenience." Jenna takes a bite of her own burger, and chews before continuing. "We tried to tell you two to stay away from each other and it obviously didn't work," sweeping her arms across the buffet's worth of food in front of us. "So, shouldn't we get ours while ya'll are getting yours?"

  We both bust up laughing.

  "Well you two are the only two getting anything!" I tell her when our laughter calms down. "So like, you're welcome!"

  "Super appreciate it lady, cause Dax is...damn." Jenna sighs with a content look on her face.

  "Nope, no, don't wanna hear it! You don't get to brag when I'm not getting any!" Finishing up my burger, Jenna puts some fries in front of me. And as full as I already am, I can't help but start eating them too.

  "But I can tell you all about it! I mean they are twins, so it's got to be similar right?!" Jenna winks before cracking up.

  "We can compare notes if anything ever happens between Gray and I okay," we shake on it as we both fall back into another fit of giggles.

  "If anything happens...HA!" Jenna scoffs. "I'll pay your half of the rent next month if it hasn't happened by the time its due." She sticks her hand out for another shake.

  "Deal."

  "Are you sure he's up for all of this?" I have to ask Dean as I watch Liam flip upside down for yet another keg stand. Pretty sure he was on his fifth and we'd only been here for an hour.

  "You'd be surprised at his alcohol tolerance," Dean replies calmly as he takes a drink from his own cup. Guess some things do change as you get older.

  Shrugging, I run my eyes through the crowd again. Dax is off in a corner with a group of girls, supposedly looking for leads, but judging by the amount of times he's pulled out his phone I'd bet he'd gotten the numbers of the whole pack.

  "That chick has been watching you since we got here," Dean nods across the room at a hot brunette. She's wearing a tight red dress that's hugging every one of her curves, her tits pushed up and together so tight it honestly looks uncomfortable. Noticing that I am now watching her she licks her lips and winks.

  "You're in bro," Dean elbows me.

  "Na man, I'm good." Deciding to fill up my own drink, I head around the counter.

  "Oh that's right," Dean pauses as he takes another drink. "You got Livi," he looks over his shoulder at tight tits across the room, and looks her up and down before turning back to me. "Liv's definitely hotter, I don't blame you."

  Setting my drink down my hands grip the counter as he continues on. "I mean, she is your girl right? Or can I—" before he can finish his sentence I'm in his face.

  "You can't. You're gonna stay away from her." Inches away from his face and looking down at him, the smirk on his face is not helping my anger.

  "You right, you right," he puts his hands up in mock surrender before he starts chuckling. "She's got you whipped buddy."

  You can't kill the people helping you. You can't kill the people helping you. Maybe if I say it enough times it will save this dude's life.

  Shaking my head clear I get back under control.

  "She deserves better than either one of us."

  "Cheers to that one," Dean raises his cup to mine and taps it. "No girl like that needs to be brought into this life," Dean's hands instinctively land on the Glock I had seen him tuck into his waistband on our way in.

  Fuck if I don't know that. That's why I gotta get out. I know that no matter what—I'll never be totally free, that's not how growing up in a family like mine works. But it can get better right?

  I have to get this shit done though. Finishing off my drink, I set my cup down.

  "Well maybe our girl over there knows something we need to know," Dean nods in agreement. Catching her eye again, I smile at her as I reach up and fix my hair, for some reason that seems to do something to these girls. And sure enough, she watches and bites her lip again.

  "Good luck bro, she looks like a feisty one," Dean laughs as I start walking towards her. Pushing Liv out of my head I wrap an arm around her waist as she giggles. The scent of her overly flowery perfume instantly gives me a headache, fuck me.

  I almost can't stop the laughter from slipping out as I watch Grayson wrap his arm around the red dressed chick who'd been watching him since we got here.

  I know how he thinks, and when he becomes as focused on a girl as he is on Liv, no other girl can steal his attention. I'm sure he's bitching about every one of her features in his head right now. He catches me watching and rolls his eyes to affirm my thoughts.

  I still can't believe how quick he let his guard down again after everything. But even I had to admit that there was something about Liv that was...different.

  No matter how quick things moved though, I knew there was always the concern that he would crumble again. Because no matter how strong he was, when
he fell, he fell hard. I had already seen the protectiveness coming out, he acted the same when it came to our sisters and Momma, he'd done the same with SeraHo.

  A buzz from my pocket makes the girl standing with her hip pressed up against me jump and giggle. Smiling down at her as I pull it out, she makes some played out joke about me being excited to see her.

  Ha ha ha.

  1 New Message

  ass clown: She's a dealer. Working for someone.

  My head jerks back up just in time to watch as little red dress wraps her arm around Grayson's hip and begins leading him to the back door of the house.

  Looking around, I notice both Liam and Dean are watching too. How the fuck Liam looks so focused is beyond me, dude had been drinking like a fish. But the hard set of his jaw and straightness of his spine showed that he was ready.

  Dean was definitely more laid back, finishing of his drink before meeting our gazes. With one small nod they both headed for the front door.

  "Hey sweetheart," I bend down to whisper in the ear of the girl plastered to me. "I'm going to go get us a drink, I'll be right back." She sends me a pouty look before releasing me from her grip.

  "Anything with vodka please," she whines out. Ugh. Nodding and smiling, I head away—ducking between groups of people so she loses sight of me.

  Focused completely on getting out the door to my brother, I luckily glance up before laying out the person who grabs my hand away from the knob.

  "Daaaaaax! Where have you beeeeen? You never called!" Her grip tightens on me as she slides up against me and wraps her arms around me.

  "Uh...B...B..." I stammer out, truly at a loss.

  "Becky," she supplies, pulling away with an upset look on her face.

  "Yeah! Becky! Babe! Of course I know who you are. Hey girl, I definitely called you, I think you're just ignoring me." I wrap my arms around her and tuck her head into my chest. The less drama and attention on us the better, the last thing I need is some pissed off chick slapping me...again.