by Smyth, R. A
“Alright, alright, well what about a...lustrum,” he purrs, looking at me while raising his eyebrows up and down in a suggestive motion.
“Definitely not,” Aiden insists at the same time Preston barks out a “No.”
Barrett sighs, looking back at his phone where he’s clearly looked up a list of possible name ideas. “A pentad?”
I scrunch my nose up. “That sounds like we’re in some sort of demonic cult.”
Ty laughs at the idea. “What about The Fuckable Five?” He suggests, clearly a fan of Barrett’s idea to name us, and getting in on the fun with his own suggestions.
Barrett nods his head at Ty’s suggestion, like he’s seriously considering the name. Aiden sighs wearily, already having had enough of this topic of conversation.
“Jesus Christ, do we really need a name?” Preston snaps, just as exacerbated as Aiden appears. “Can’t we just say we’re in a relationship?”
“I...can’t believe I’m saying this, but I agree with Preston.” Aiden states, shaking his head like he can’t comprehend how his life got to this point, where he agrees with Preston Donaghue, of all people. “Who gives a fuck what we’re called?”
“Fine,” Barrett concedes with a sigh. “We can just say we’re in a relationship, for now, while we work on something better.” He looks expectantly at Ty, only seeming satisfied when Ty nods his head in agreement.
I shake my head at their shenanigans, happy to see them all getting along in their own way and making an effort with one another.
Chapter 3
After breakfast Aiden and Ty drag their still weary bodies over to the sofas and collapse onto them, while Preston and Barrett tidy up from breakfast and I grab a quick shower.
It’s not long before we’re all chilling in the living room, Preston dragging me into his lap as soon as I’m within reach. Initially, I worried Aiden or Ty wouldn’t be happy about Preston’s display of possessive affection. It’s one thing to say we’re all in a relationship, but it’s quite another to see it. Thankfully, Ty just gave me a small smile from his position on the opposite sofa, and Aiden didn’t even bat an eye at my new seat, so I’m taking that as a promising sign.
Reassured, I finally settled back into Preston’s embrace, enjoying this closeness. Other than yesterday when we had sex, we’ve never been close like this before. Preston has wrapped himself in barbed wire, preventing anyone from getting near him. Because of that, I feel like, most of the time, he wouldn’t appreciate soft gestures, like hand holding or cuddling. I’ve never been able to picture him doing that. Sure, he’s a ‘drag a girl into his lap and kiss her senseless’ kind of guy, but he’s definitely not a ‘let me hold you and snuggle together’ person; or at least, I didn’t think he was.
I love that he is putting aside his default setting of keeping people at arm’s length in order to develop a connection with me. It shows me how serious he is about making this relationship work.
However, I also know he’s an alphahole and a huge part of the reason he just dragged me into his lap is probably because he’s demonstrating his dominance to the other guys. If he was a dog, he would have peed on me. Thank god he didn’t do that, at least.
Whatever the reason, I soak up his thick muscular arm wrapped around my waist and the feel of his hard chest pressed against my back, taking a deep breath of his freshly showered scent, along with the hint of firewood and clove from his aftershave.
Ty grabs my socked feet and lifts them onto his lap, slipping a hand underneath the joggers and stroking his fingers over my ankle. The soft touch feels amazing, making me relax even further into Preston and sending my thoughts to a dirty place.
Unfortunately, I can’t spend the day soaking up their soft touches. Today is not a normal Sunday where we can relax and enjoy our last day of freedom before going back to school tomorrow—assuming Ty, Aiden and I can ever go back. No, instead we have a fuckton of shit we need to discuss and work through. We need to come up with a game plan for Kirk and his gang, and we need to deal with Steven and Kurt.
“Right, we have a lot to get through today,” Preston speaks up, calling us all to order. “Should we start with Kirk?”
The others mumble an agreement before Aiden takes over. It’s obvious Aiden is as much of a leader as Preston is. He’s used to looking after himself and Ty, always taking charge of a situation, whilst Preston craves that control. The two together will either be an unstoppable force that will get us through this, or they will kill one another and we will all be screwed.
“Obviously Kirk knows about Ty and I now,” Aiden states, his features furrowed in concentration as he sits forward in his seat and gets down to business. “So we’ve lost our advantage. We won’t be able to get any insight into what he’s up to.”
“What about Oliver?” I ask. Kirk doesn’t know about him, and I know he’s someone we can rely on if we need him.
Aiden nods. “He’s the only member we can trust. I’ll reach out to him later today, find out exactly what happened last night and what the blowback was after our escape.”
“Kirk’s going to be gunning for both of you, and Sophie,” Preston adds, stating the obvious.
“He is. He’s not going to just forget about the fact we escaped, he’ll be fucking furious. Everyone will be out looking for us. He won’t stop until he finds us.”
“What does that mean?” I ask nervously, not really sure I want to know the answer but knowing I need to be as prepared as possible for what’s coming. “Are we safe here? What about if we leave the warehouse?”
“We have the perimeter alarm, and we already have cameras installed on the outer door. I’ll look into getting cameras today that we can position around the property, so we can see if anyone tries to sneak up or stumbles across us,” Preston says.
“As for when we leave,” Aiden takes over, “we need to take precautions. We can’t afford to have anyone find out about this place. We would be sitting ducks if Kirk discovered it and surrounded us.”
Well, that’s not the slightest bit reassuring.
“We need to get rid of that piece of shit you call a car,” Preston continues, scrunching his nose up at the crappy Ford Aiden and Ty carjacked on their way to Crescentwood. “It stands out like a pregnant stripper. There are some cars in my garage that are rarely used. We’re less likely to be identified driving something different when we go into town.”
“Can you do that?” I ask. “Just take a car or two from your garage?”
Preston sighs wearily. “I don’t know. I have no idea if my dad will have cut me out of his will, or if he even had a will. He was an arrogant fuck, it wouldn’t surprise me if he thought he was invincible and never planned for his death.
“Either way, no one else knows he’s dead, for now. Someone will report him missing soon, so while I still have access to everything, we might as well take advantage of it and borrow his cars and whatever else we need.”
Makes sense. As far as anyone outside of the five of us, and Kirk, knows, Preston is the loving son of Charles Donaghue. He will be able to come and go from his home as normal until Charles is eventually reported dead. Without a body, god only knows when that is. It could be years.
“We will need to be careful when we’re out, to make sure that we aren’t being tailed,” Ty continues, moving on with the conversation. “Never come straight back here, take convoluted journeys and try to use quieter roads so we’re less likely to be spotted. If you think you are being tailed, try to shake them off and make sure you lose them before coming back here.”
God, he talks about this like it’s any normal day to him, but none of this is fucking normal.
“Can we even go out anywhere? Can we go into town or even to school?” It all sounds like an enormous risk. How can we possibly go about our normal lives if it will put other people in harm’s way and paint an even bigger target on our backs?
“Kirk doesn’t know our movements well enough to know where we go or what we get up to in our
spare time, so as long as we’re careful, we should be okay,” Preston reassures, holding me tighter against him.
“You should probably keep your distance from Mia though,” Barrett adds, looking at me, voicing my own thoughts. “We don’t want her getting caught up in this if your father spotted you with her.”
So much for finally finding someone I get along with, someone I would call a friend.
“As for school,” Aiden continues wearily. “It will raise questions if the three of you just stop showing up, and I don’t think Kirk would be stupid enough to do anything in a public place full of other kids. He can’t afford to have the police asking questions or the Feds taking a closer look at Crescentwood if acts of violence suddenly spiked. But…” He hesitates, watching me closely. “Ty and I can’t go back.” I’d already figured as much, but his words disappoint me all the same. I enjoyed having them at school. They were the first two people to sit with me at lunch and give me some semblance of normality for the first time in my life. I know I’ll have Preston and Barrett, but it doesn’t mean I won’t miss them. Ty looks at me sadly, as upset as I am by the news. “I don’t see that Kirk will pull Sophie’s funding and risk people asking questions, but there’s no way he will continue to pay for us. Even without the threat of him hanging over our heads, we couldn’t go back.”
“Maybe we should just run?” I ask, speaking aloud a question that’s been turning over and over in my mind throughout this entire conversation. Why stay here and put ourselves at risk like this? “None of us have any ties here, we could just leave and start fresh somewhere new.”
“We could…” Barrett agrees, clearly thinking through the logistics of the idea.
“Really?” Ty questions, looking surprised at Barrett’s easy agreeability. “You’d leave your family, probably be disowned and lose your money?”
Barrett scowls at him. “My parents have never been my family, and after what my dad has tried with Sophie, and the fact he made a deal to fucking own her, I’m done with all of them,” he snarls, outraged at Ty’s accusations. “I don’t care if they disown me, sure the money is nice, but I don’t need it and knowing what I know, I don’t want a fucking penny from them.”
“We can’t leave,” Aiden states, breaking the tension between Barrett and Ty and bursting my bubble of hope that we could simply run away and leave this shitshow behind. “It’s not as easy as that,” he says softly, looking at me apologetically. “Kirk will never stop looking for us. We would spend the rest of our lives on the run, looking over our shoulders. That’s no way to live...It’s not the life I want for you,” he adds, staring at me. “The only way we will ever truly be free is if we kill him.”
I sigh wearily, knowing he’s right. My father would never tolerate such disrespect. He would never be okay with just letting us go. Besides, as much as I want to run and leave this all behind us, I don’t think I could actually do it. I can’t leave those girls at The Citadel to their fates. Someone needs to help them and apparently that someone is us.
“We can’t just walk away from what’s happening here, especially if Kirk plans to expand the operation. The Citadel and everyone that’s involved needs to be brought down.” Preston says, speaking my mind and surprising me. I didn’t expect him to be the one to suggest standing up and fighting against the one-percenters and my father.
“It’s because of my father that those girls are locked up there, suffering. Because of him, Kirk is now involved and more girls will be looking at the same fate. I can’t stand idly by and let it happen,” he explains when he catches my look of surprise.
“Eh, how exactly do you propose we go about doing that?” Ty queries sarcastically. “It’s not like we can just contact the authorities. With the connections each of them have, they could easily dismiss any reports we submit.”
“We could gather evidence, maybe get video footage or documentation to prove our story?” I suggest, thinking out loud.
“That might work,” Preston agrees, thinking the idea through himself. “If we can get into The Citadel without anyone seeing us. We would need to be careful with who we give the evidence to, though. If it got into the hands of someone in their pockets, they would bury it.”
“What if we made it public, send it out to news stations or newspapers?” Barrett muses. “If the story was big enough and people were demanding action be taken, there’s no way they could brush it under the rug.”
“How would we get evidence though?” Ty acknowledges. “It would be too dangerous for any of us to go near the place.”
Before we can discuss it any further, Barrett’s phone rings, the noise startling all of us from the intense discussion.
Barrett digs into the pocket of his jeans, lifting out the phone. His eyebrows draw together in confusion as he takes in the caller ID, before getting up from his seat and heading into the kitchen where he answers the phone in a quiet voice.
Aiden and Preston continue to discuss ideas back and forth, trying to come up with a plan, but I focus my attention on Barrett as he paces back and forth across the kitchen. Whoever he is talking to, they can’t be telling him anything good. He’s frowning, and he looks confused about whatever is being said.
He continues to pace for another few minutes before he hangs up the phone, standing with his back towards us. He doesn’t immediately move back to the living room. Instead, he runs his hand over his face and through his hair and I can see his shoulders moving as he takes a few deep breaths, gathering himself before he spins to face us.
His face is drawn as he moves back towards us and he suddenly looks ten years older than he did a moment ago. “We have a problem,” he tells us before I can ask him what’s wrong. His voice is tired, hollow sounding. I don’t like it one bit and I immediately tense up in Preston’s arms.
He doesn’t move to reclaim his seat on the sofa, instead, standing at the edge of the coffee table, hovering between the kitchen and living space. “My dad is dead. Someone murdered him.”
I imagine I have the same look of shock that Ty is sporting right now. Even Aiden’s eyes are rounded in surprise at this unexpected news. I can’t say I’m sad, although I am worried about how this turn of events might affect Barrett.
“That’s strangely coincidental,” Ty says, the first to speak up. I scowl at him. That is not what Barrett needs to hear right now.
“I’m sorry, Barrett,” I murmur softly, extracting myself from Preston’s arms and getting to my feet, moving towards him. I go to hug him, but he side-steps me, putting the table between the two of us.
I frown, not able to understand why he’s suddenly keeping me at arm’s length, and I end up looking at him from across the table while he avoids my eyes, looking everywhere but at me. What the hell?
“You okay, man?” Preston asks, flicking his eyes back and forth between Barrett and I, before resting his gaze on Barrett.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine. That was Greta. She hasn’t been able to get in touch with my mom. She’s called the authorities, but I need to go home.”
“Course, man, I’ll come with you,” Preston agrees easily, getting to his feet while Barrett goes to grab his car keys and heads towards the door.
Preston steps up to me, his hand coming to rest on the side of my neck as his lips meet mine in a lingering kiss. When he pulls back, he looks at me for a long moment, rubbing his thumb back and forth over the angle of my jaw. “I’ll look out for him,” he promises in a murmured whisper against my lips.
“We’ll keep you updated,” he says louder to Aiden and Ty as he follows Barrett out of the room. I just stand there and watch Barrett’s back as he walks away. He never even said goodbye.
None of us say anything for a while. My eyes never leave the door, as though I’m expecting Barrett to come back and tell me he just forgot to kiss me goodbye.
I only look away, when Ty reaches out and snatches my hand, the touch pulling me from my inner turmoil as he pulls me towards him, situating me in his lap the same way
Preston did.
“He’s just in shock, love, give him some time.” Yeah, he’s probably right. None of us expected that news and Barrett’s got the softest heart out of all my guys, so, despite not having a good relationship with his father, and knowing he’s a piece of shit, it’s understandable that it would upset him.
“You’re right,” Aiden agrees. At first I think he’s saying Ty is right about giving Barrett time, but when he continues, I realize while I’ve been trying to understand Barrett’s behaviour towards me since the phone call, Aiden has been deep in his own thoughts, trying to make sense of something else. “It’s too coincidental. Who would murder him, and why would they choose to do it now?”
I don’t know. Ty mustn’t either, as neither of us says anything, the three of us lapsing into a heavy silence. After a while, Ty reaches forward and grabs the TV remote from the table, turning it on and flicking through the channels until he finds something to watch. None of us are really paying attention, though. I’m certainly not. I can’t stop worrying about Barrett, wondering what’s going on and how he’s doing.
Chapter 4
Fuck, I shouldn’t have left like that. Why the fuck didn’t I kiss her? I wanted to. I smack my hand against the steering wheel, pissed at myself—at the situation we’re all in—at my dad. My dad, who’s dead...and I feel absolutely nothing. I should be feeling something, right? He might have been an absentee parent, but he always ensured I had everything I wanted, well, that money could buy. He wasn’t willing to give up any of his time to spend it with me, but as far as parents go, he could have been a lot worse. I should at least be a little upset.
Yet every time I think about him, all I hear are Sophie’s words echoing in my head. He was going to...give me to Steven. It makes my fucking blood boil, thinking I’m related to that sicko. He’s as much a part of The Citadel as Charles and Kirk. On top of the deal he made to obtain Sophie, he’s been doing god knows what to other unwilling girls. The world will be a better place without him in it.