"Maybe just leave the talking to me, yeah?" I suggested. "You can nod to let me know you understand."
"Do you want me to kiss your fucking feet too?" Chase snapped.
"Don't tempt me."
He glared at me like I was the reason for every bad thing in his life and I just kept on smiling because I was pretty sure that if I didn't, I might crack. I might remember the boy he'd been and how much I'd loved him. I might remember how fucking shit he'd had it and how often I wished I could help him find a way out. And I didn't want to remember any of that. I wanted to remember the fact that he'd left me on that fucking ferry and had been willing to let me go to prison for years rather than have me back here when I'd done nothing at all to him.
I placed the cigarette between my lips and arched a brow at him, waiting for him to get the hint.
Chase cursed as he snagged his zippo lighter from his pocket and flicked it open, holding the flame out for me while I inhaled deeply to get it to light. Being my little bitch looked good on him.
I plucked the cigarette from my lips again and breathed my smoke into his face. "Tonight, you and I will go on a little adventure and you're going to take me to get your key," I said firmly. “And if you don't, I'll tell Fox exactly what you did to me on that ferry. Now, I'm guessing you might be wondering whether or not you could just lie and say I'm crazy, but don't you worry your pretty little head about that, Ace. Because I have the voicemail you left me to back me up."
"What voicemail?" he grunted, his brow furrowing.
"I'm not all that surprised you don't remember, because it was pretty obvious that you were shit faced at the time. But never fear because in amongst your ramblings you managed to make it dead clear how much you'd wanted me gone. So there won't be any confusion at all over that if I play it for your fearless leader. So tell me, Ace, do you want to find out what Fox might make of that? Or do you wanna play nice with me and give me that itty, bitty key?"
His jaw was tight and fists balled, but I could see my answer in his sea blue eyes as I took another drag on my stolen cigarette.
"Fine," he gritted out just as the sound of JJ and Fox returning drew our attention.
"Good boy." I flicked the cigarette at his feet and tossed him a wink before sidestepping him and heading back over to get some food.
JJ and Fox reappeared and apparently we were all just going to ignore Fox's bleeding knuckles and what I was willing to bet was a house full of fairly destroyed furniture too.
Chase's gaze burned a hole in the back of my head as I took my seat at the table again but we both knew there wasn't anything he could do now apart from play my game. And though I was certain he was trying to come up with a hundred strategies to beat me at it, I was confident that I would be the one who came out on top in the end.
So I sat down to enjoy my lunch with the feeling of the sun on my skin and smiled to myself because this day was going even better than I could have planned.
***
I sat in the chair by the window, looking out of my locked balcony door, watching the dark sea rolling up on the shore beneath the darker sky and waiting.
I didn't doubt that he would come. I had him all figured out now and for all of his pretty words about only wanting to rescue his brothers from the heartache of me tearing them apart, I knew what he was. And that was a fucking coward. He'd taken one look at me after all those years and had seen nothing but a threat to the little slice of calm he'd carved out for himself. And I could understand that. He had it good here. He had his boys and he had power, somewhere safe to call home and no one to push him around. He hadn't wanted me causing ripples. But that had never been his choice.
I'd had a place right here for just as long as he had. The only difference was that my spot had been left empty for a long damn time. But I was starting to think he was realising just how easily this perfect little family could turn on each other.
They'd turned on me and then Maverick a long time ago. Their love was a fickle, selfish thing and if it suited them to turn on him next then they would. I saw that now and he did too. Which was why I knew he'd come.
The door pushed open behind me and Mutt growled low from his position in my lap, knowing what Chase was just as well as I did. I smoothed a hand down his back, tickling his little white ears to calm him. I wasn't afraid of the mean old Harlequin. He was my little bitch boy now.
"Are we doing this or what?" Chase hissed as I looked over my shoulder at him and I got to my feet, placing my dog down in the warm spot I'd vacated.
I was dressed already and waiting for him, my white Converse Allstars silent as I crossed the carpet to join him. Although it was late, the day had been hot so I'd chosen a pair of stonewashed denim shorts to go with it and a Nirvana band tee which belonged to JJ. I'd tied a knot in the shirt beside my right hip to make it fit me better, but the way Chase was scowling at it told me he knew who it belonged to and he didn’t like me borrowing JJ’s clothes.
He jerked his chin at me like I was some dog for him to command at will then turned and strode away down the corridor. I glanced at Fox's door as we passed it, but all was silent inside.
We descended the stairs and I followed Chase through the living space towards the garage door which he unlocked using a key in his pocket.
I stayed silent as he crossed the space to his bike which was parked up near the exit and I watched him as he grabbed a leather jacket from the hook on the wall and shrugged it on so that it hugged his muscular body and stretched over his broad shoulders.
He took a second jacket from the hook and tossed it to me without really looking my way and I caught it automatically.
The tags told me it was new and I arched a brow as I found it in my size, clearly bought specifically for me, the brown leather supple and expensive.
"You worried about me, Ace?" I mocked, snapping the tags out and shrugging it on.
He tossed a glance my way, his gaze appraising as he took in the look of it on me before shaking his head.
"You can thank Fox for your wardrobe. He bought that before you ran off on us in case you ever needed to come out on my bike with me."
"Ran off? That's cute," I mocked, taking the white helmet he offered me next and fighting a smirk at the skull printed on the back of it.
Chase secured his own helmet then climbed on and waited for me. I had no desire to get any closer to him than absolutely necessary, but I wanted this damn key so I wasn't going to let a little asshole aversion put me off.
I climbed on behind him and wound my arms around his waist tightly, feeling him stiffen at the contact like even that was too much of me.
His abs were firm beneath my hold and my thighs hugged the backs of his, making me all too aware of the powerful body I was currently wrapped around, but I chose to ignore that.
Chase started the engine up and a heartbeat later we were tearing up the ramp and out of the underground garage towards the exit. The men posted at the gates pulled them wide for us and Chase let the throttle go as we raced out of them and turned right towards the town.
The wind whipped around us, a taste of coolness to it blowing in off of the sea which made salt coat my lips and fill my lungs with the taste of home. Fuck, I hated that. Why did the one place I felt settled in this miserable world have to be the one inhabited by the men who had destroyed me?
Chase rode fast and angrily, weaving around any cars we happened to meet on the dark roads at high speed and causing adrenaline to crash through my body as I had no choice but to cling on tight and just wait for us to reach our destination.
I wasn't even sure why I was surprised when we finally pulled up at the end of The Mile and Chase cut the engine, parking as close to Sinners' Playground as we could get on the road.
I released him and got off of the bike, unclipping my helmet and tossing it to him as he followed me.
He tugged his own helmet off too and hung both of them on the handlebars, his dark curls falling haphazardly for a few moments and remindin
g me of the boy he'd once been before he pushed a hand through them to tame them again.
"Why am I not surprised?" I asked, my gaze moving from the face of the man who'd betrayed me to the pier which stretched out into the sea. I shrugged out of my jacket and tossed it on the bike where he'd already left his. It was too hot in the Cove for it tonight.
"Because some things are better left in the past. Like this place and those keys too."
"And me too, right?" I added and the dark look he gave me said he wished that were so.
"Let's just get this over with." He turned his back on me and tried to walk away but I caught his arm just above his elbow, his bicep flexing as he looked down at me in surprise.
"Oh no, Ace, this isn't over after tonight. I told you, I want all of the keys. Which means giving me yours won't even come close to buying my silence. Don't go thinking you can blow me off or waste my time over this. You wanted to know what I've been doing in all the time we spent apart and I can sum that up pretty simply for you. Because what I learned was how to be ruthless. How to set my gaze on what I need and take it. So don’t go kidding yourself that I won't follow through on my threat to you. And that means your choice is simple. Your boys or your keys. Because if you don't give me one, I'll take the other."
I released him as suddenly as I'd grabbed him and strode past him, hopping the low wall which separated the beach from the road and landing in the white sand and memories on the other side of it.
I kept going, heading straight for the pillar where we'd carved those handholds so long ago and heaving myself up them all the way to the top until I was climbing through the railings and pulling myself upright on the pier.
Chase wasn't far behind me and when he reached the top, he had to climb right over the railings rather than scramble through them thanks to his bulk. He met my gaze and took a cigarette from his pocket, cupping his hand around it as he lit it up.
I watched him take a drag which lit his face for a moment as the cherry flared and his gaze moved down over my shirt like he was itching to ask me something about it. But if he wanted me to tell him something then those words were very much going to need to escape his lips. I wasn't offering him shit for free.
Whatever it was clearly didn't make it beyond the dark thoughts swirling inside his mind and he turned away from me, leading the way along the old boards and heading into the amusement arcade.
He didn't hold the door for me and the fucking thing nearly hit me in the face, causing me to stumble back and curse him.
A snort of amusement escaped him and I scowled, shoving the door wide and snatching a moth eaten gorilla teddy that sat on a shelf there before throwing it at the back of his head.
A cloud of mildewy smelling dust enveloped his head and he swore as he jerked aside, turning a glare on me while I shrugged innocently.
"Let's hurry this up, ghost," he muttered, clearly wanting to spend as little time in my company as he could.
"Fine by me."
He moved further into the dark, nothing piercing it aside from the faintest sliver of moonlight which made it through the filthy windows and the orange glow from his cigarette.
He led the way to the gap between the old Space Invaders and Pacman machines and I glanced at the heap of blankets there, wondering if they were the same ones I'd slept in the last time I'd felt whole.
I should have fucking known to check here. This place had been special to all of us but to Chase it was a refuge. When his dad lost his shit, he could come here and know that no one would ever find him. He could be safe from that monster even if it was only for a little while and that meant more to him than I knew he'd ever have admitted.
I watched as he dragged the Space Invaders machine away from the wall and dropped down to one knee as he popped the rear panel off of it. He leaned forward, reaching an arm inside and when he finally drew back, a heavy sigh escaped him.
I waited him out. The scent of his cigarette reaching me and the darkness coiling around us like it was trying to conceal us from the world.
Chase got to his feet again and stepped towards me, his gaze hard and locked on mine.
"Promise me you won't use this to hurt them," he growled like my word would mean shit to him. His certainly didn't mean anything to me.
"I got you, Ace," I said, my voice echoing the past as I stepped up to him and cupped his cheek in my hand. He let me, that darkness in him seeming to give way to pain for a moment, so brief I wasn't certain I even saw it. We were just two kids with no one in the fucking world to care about us aside from each other and our crew. I'd found him in this very spot once, his jaw bruised and mouth bloody after his dad had punched him so hard he'd knocked out one of his back teeth. I hadn't said a word about that because he never wanted any of us to. He hated feeling pitied almost as much as he hated the animal who had done that to him. "Just tell me what you need to make it better," I added just like I had that day when the boy I'd loved so fiercely had been hurting so much. It wasn't even the physical pain which had been destroying him, it was that hopeless fear which enveloped him in that fucking house.
I could see the reply he'd given me then sitting on his tongue, wanting to spill free as this brutal man just stared at me and saw the girl I was.
"You," he breathed, his voice barely more than a whisper which cut me deeper than any memories ever could.
"You used to tell me such pretty lies, didn't you?" I asked, my heart pounding like I'd run a marathon. "So I guess you're just going to have to wait and see whether I'm as full of shit as you were."
I plucked the key from his hand but before I could pull away from him, he was on me, the cigarette falling to the floor and his hands snaring my hips. He whirled me around and shoved me face first against the Pacman machine, driving my cheek against the glass as my hips were crushed between the metal games console and his solid body.
His hand fisted in my hair and his mouth moved to my ear as he snarled his words with a hateful anger. "Don't think I won't kill you myself if I have to, little one. I may have to play along with your games for now, but that doesn't mean I'll let this go too far. I'm trying to protect what me and my brothers have left. So for now, I'll go along with your bullshit to keep this secret from them because I don't want it to hurt them. But if it comes down to you or them then I'll happily sell myself down the river. If I have to lose them to protect them then that's the choice I'll make. And you'd do well to realise that I'm not the scared boy you remember. I bought my position with blood and foul deeds and I'm not some little bitch for you to force beneath your heel. I'm a fucking Harlequin, love. And we don't take shit from anyone."
A laugh escaped me as my fist tightened around the key he'd handed over and I pushed my ass back against him, making him grunt as he maintained his hold on me.
"Careful, Ace," I warned. "If you think Fox will be pissed to find out you tried to get rid of me, imagine how angry he would be if he found out you laid your hands on me."
"Are you trying to say you don't like it rough, Rogue? Because we all saw the marks Maverick left on your body while you were over there having a little vacation with him. So I find that a little hard to believe. Tell me, did ten years give him time to practice and make it better for you? Or was it just like old times?"
"Is that what has you so worked up, Ace?" I taunted, pushing my ass back against him again. "Isn't Rosie keeping you satisfied? Or is there some other reason you're so interested in my fucking sex life?"
"Like I give a shit about who you fuck. The point is that Fox does. He says you’re his girl and yet you went over there and fucked his enemy and the way that you and J-"
"What?" I demanded when he cut himself off.
"Nothing," he spat. "I just don't want you ruining everything we've got going here with your fucking wandering pussy."
"That might sound a little more convincing if your dick wasn't trying to bury itself in my ass right now, champ," I laughed and he shoved away from me suddenly, releasing his hold on me and s
tamping out the still smouldering cigarette on the floor.
I pushed a hand through my hair as I turned to look at him, my scalp tingling from his hold and my nipples aching against my shirt.
"I should cut your fucking throat and rid us all of you for good," he hissed, snatching another cigarette from the pack in his pocket and lighting it up.
I strode towards him, swinging my hips like I didn't have a care in the fucking world and stopping right in his personal space. "You should," I agreed. "But you won't. Wanna know why?"
"Go on then, little one, enlighten me."
"Because that really would be the end for you and your boys, and you know it. You kill me and they'll never forgive you. In fact, I'm pretty sure they'd kill you in return. So even if me being gone is what's best for them, you won't do it. Because when it comes down to it, this isn't about them. It's about you. And, selfish creature that you are, you don't want to lose them." I tiptoed up, plucking the smoke from his lips and taking a drag as he glowered at me. I didn’t know why it was so freaking satisfying to steal his cigarettes but dammit it was. "That's why I'm not afraid of you, Ace. And that's why I'm so sure you'll be a good boy and get me what I want. Because you're not trying to protect them from the truth. You're just trying to save your own ass." I blew my smoke in his face and flicked the cigarette at his chest, sidestepping him and striding away towards the exit.
I didn't look back because I didn't need to. Heavy footsteps told me he was following and I was confident that he'd be helping me track down the rest of those keys too. It was all just a matter of time.
***
Chase didn't say another word as we rode back to Harlequin House and I was happy to leave the tension hanging between us. I didn't care if he was feeling butt hurt and salty. I was the one who had been left on that fucking ferry. If he'd gotten his way, I could be looking at years in prison. He'd set me up and had been willing to let me drown, so I hoped he gave himself a stomach ulcer worrying about the things I might say or do next.
I hadn't been able to sleep since we'd gotten back though. His key was burning a hole in my pocket and I couldn't help but worry about my key and Maverick's which were yet to make an appearance. I was convinced that Chase didn't have them because his poker face wasn't as strong as he thought it was when he was caught off guard, and I'd been looking him in the eyes when I asked if he'd been the one to take them. So that left me with two suspects.
Dead Man's Isle (Harlequin Crew #2) Page 21