How much more twisted can this shit get?
With a sigh, I sit up and reach for the body wash, but the second I pop it open, my senses are assaulted with the overpowering aroma of coconut and something else as equally disgusting.
I quickly shift to my knees, open the shower door, and lean over the toilet.
My stomach is damn near empty, so liquids and dry heaving it is. A chill runs through my body as sweat beads form at the crown of my head.
Fuck!
I hate this. The shit Donley had Vienna inject me with is taking its day-after toll – one of the many reasons I touch nothing harder than the green.
As soon as I wipe my mouth, I submerge myself underwater and run my hands over my hair, using the bubbles in the water to wash my body off – thank hell the shampoo and conditioner were unscented.
I drag myself from the tub and dress as quick as I can without getting sick again, then drop onto the toilet to brush out my wet hair.
I feel like I got hit by a fucking truck. Still, conversations must be had today.
I swear to God you can hear the hard hit of our pulses echoing against the high ceiling and bouncing back, wrapping around our throats and cutting off our airways.
Give them Zoey instead.
What. The. Fuck.
My chest aches and I can’t even fucking force myself to look at my brother, but I do when he stumbles a bit, falling back and dropping to his ass on the leather ottoman.
His hands slide through his blond hair, coming back to drag down his face. His skin is pulled tight, hands still covering half his face as his tortured eyes hit mine.
My lungs fucking fold, not an ounce of oxygen left to feed my body.
Cap isn’t breathing either, his face starting to turn colors, and Royce cusses, quickly dropping in front of him.
He shakes his shoulders, but Cap never breaks my stare.
“Breathe, brother,” Royce tells him, his head snapping my way, worry in his eyes when Cap refuses.
Doubt he’s hearing Royce right now, he may not even be seeing me, even with his gaze locked on mine.
“Cap,” I rasp, and unsure if it was loud enough for him to hear, but suddenly his hands fall, his arms flopping to his sides as his chin meets his chest.
He knows.
He knows, never in a million years would we turn our backs on our niece, my brother’s daughter, for anything.
For anyone?
My chest stings. I’m pretty fucking sure a knife right through it would hurt less than the realization of what’s in front of me.
My baby... or his.
I drag my eyes back to my dad, who now sits forward in his chair, eyes taut and face pained.
“I’m sorry, son. I was hoping you were still simply my boys who would take my word as gold and let me make the move, then allow me to be here for you during the aftermath. I never wanted this to hang over your heads. This is not how it was supposed to be.”
“But this is what you planned when you brought her here.”
He hesitates, but only for a second before giving a curt nod.
“So why not take her straight to them?” I ask.
If he had, we wouldn’t know her as we do, wouldn’t care who she was or the reason behind any of this shit. It wouldn’t matter, Zoey wouldn’t be at risk. We wouldn’t be standing here cracking on the inside, facing decisions we could never make.
Acid lining my tongue as I say, “I wish you never dropped her here.”
“Maddoc!” Royce snaps. “The fuck, man?”
I ignore him. “What’s the reason behind all this? Why wasn’t she with Graven the second you found out she existed?”
“I was waiting, hoping Collins would find someone else and we’d be clear until the next generation came, worry about it then, bring her home without telling her who she was, watch out for her, offer her a place here, but then...” He trails off, looking toward Captain.
I follow his line of sight, finding Cap staring right at him.
“But then Zoey was born,” Cap rasps. “The first female Brayshaw in decades, or so they would have thought.”
“Yes, son,” our dad whispers. “Everything changed in that moment.”
“Tell me the fucking truth,” Cap speaks, but his words don’t match the defeat in his tone. “Did you do this? Did you have a hand in Mallory giving her away, hiding her from me? Are you the reason I almost lost my daughter completely?”
My head snaps toward our dad.
“No, son.” He shakes his head slowly. “I knew nothing about her until you hired our men to watch out for her. As soon as I learned, I brought in Maria. I made sure she was the one who would care for her. I knew she was the only person whom I could trust with my granddaughter, if not us or Maybell.”
Cap shoots to his feet. “Maria Vega, you know her? She’s good? She’s... she’s safe?”
“You had her checked out, have had her watched. You know this, Captain,” he tells him.
Cap slams his palm against his desk, dipping into his face. “I know what I’m told. I don’t know the truth. We know better than anyone, anything could happen behind closed doors.”
“If you really believed that, son, you never would have put her back in her car.”
“Say it,” Captain demands.
He relents. “She is safe, loved, and will be very much missed by that woman once we bring her home.”
“And when will that be?” Cap pushes.
Our dad winces, his eyes hitting mine briefly and I drop my chin to my chest before meeting Cap’s stare.
This is why the decorator thought she’d be preparing the room across from Captain’s for Zoey – it would be empty for her.
“Madman,” Royce whispers and Cap’s eyes tighten.
“No...” he whispers, shaking his head, eyes pleading and completely fucking wrecked.
He loves her like I do. They both do.
I give a small nod, gut twisted and tight. “She can come home when Raven is delivered.”
No one speaks for several minutes, but it’s the loudest silence we’ve ever suffered.
Our dad is the first to break it.
“Do you understand now, why she must go? Why I had to bring her here now? Why I could no longer protect her by keeping her away?” our dad asks.
Royce scoffs. “Man, don’t start with the protecting her bullshit. If you really cared, you’d have sent someone there to guard her.”
“You think I didn’t try?” He narrows his eyes. “I sent many people, but Raven trusted no one, no matter what role I tried to place them in her life.”
“’Cause she’s fucking smart,” he throws back. “Still could have had someone making sure she was fucking fed, something—”
“She had that Gio guy,” Cap interrupts. “I’m bettin’ he didn’t end up with the Riveras by accident. Why not set him up there, have him pull her in more?”
“I thought about it, though I’m not sure it would have even worked.”
“Why?” I ask.
“For one, he was her friend, yes, but she still held back. And two, kids like them don’t pin against each other when outsiders ask, not even for money. They’ll take it, then show their loyalty to each other,” he says. “I couldn’t afford curiosity from either of them. As far as where he is, no, he didn’t. I led Trick Rivera, Oakley’s father, to Gio after I saw and decided his character was pure.” Our dad looks across us. “The only person we saw Raven grow a liking to outside of him, was her last principal. He would have looked out for her but leaving her there was no longer an option. Collins learned she existed, and he was determined to find her. Our only move left was to bring her here, throw her in with the other girls and hope he didn’t figure out who she really was.”
My brothers and I share subtle looks. We’re not fucking stupid – he’s hiding something.
He had to bring her here, fine. He had to protect Zoey, good.
So, why not take her straight to Graven?
�
�I am not the villain here, boys. I was simply protecting my family. She was never supposed to be expendable. I was saving her for one of you, I planned to bring back the power having someone from the bloodline provided, but I had to make a rash decision and I chose my granddaughter.” He shrugs, unapologetically. “Had I explained this to you in the beginning, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. She never would have set foot in this home, and she’d be at Collins’ side already. You’d have agreed in a heartbeat.”
“This is what Collins meant when he kept telling her she didn’t belong with us. He knew she was meant to be his,” I growl.
“You put her in the Bray house to try and distract them.” Captain frowns. “How did they figure out the new girl was Raven?”
“Besides the striking resemblance?” our dad asks, his tone off, softer than normal. “People searched for Ravina, their runaway princess, for years. Many believed she was killed, others thought she was locked in a dungeon somewhere...”
“Someone saw her,” Cap offers.
I look to him then back to our dad. “She told Raven she couldn’t be in this town long. She knew people would spot her.”
He nods. “It was the first time she set foot here in eighteen years.”
“Let’s back the fuck up a minute,” Royce snaps but his shoulders fall. “Raven... what do we do? I mean we can’t...” He trails off, licks his lips and looks away.
“We can’t tell her,” Captain stresses, his eyes hitting mine.
“Cap.” I glare. “Don’t.”
“I’m serious.” He steps in front of me, pleading eyes and fucking all. “Maddoc, we can’t.”
“Cap, we can’t keep this shit from her, man.” Royce steps closer, but his tone disagrees, and his next words prove it. “I mean, can we?”
“Graven made a move on her,” I tell them, filling them in on the bit they missed when Cap went after Perkins. “Donley drugged her, and he got a girl from our fucking group home to do it. He had a doctor waiting, pulled Raven’s fucking pants off, and stuck shit inside her, checked her. They could have done worse. She needs to know.”
Captain’s temple ticks. “If you tell her, she will be gone quicker than you can fucking run.”
My head draws back, my jaw locking shut a moment. “She won’t run from me,” I growl.
He gives a slow, mocking nod, eyes widening. “I know, brother, trust me, I fucking know what she’ll do. So do you. Don’t refuse to accept it.”
“Fuck!” Royce shouts and starts pacing, dragging my attention to him. Hands folding over his head, his beaten eyes smash into mine. “She’s too fucking loyal, brother,” Royce whispers and it hits me. “Too fucking loyal to sit back and do nothing.”
My face pales, my eyes slicing to my dad’s.
He gives a rueful smile. “She didn’t grow up here, yet she embodies who we are. She is Brayshaw by blood, at heart and will. She’ll do whatever it takes to save one.”
My facial muscles constrict to the point of pain, an instant pounding in my head taking over and dulling my vision.
I swallow, dropping against my dad’s desk, fucking struck for the first time I can remember.
“Nothing we say will matter, no move will make a difference. She’ll go to them willingly.”
Royce turns to our dad. “We need time. Can you make it happen?”
Regret washes over his face, his stare quickly cutting to Cap before returning to Royce. “There is nothing you can do, son.”
“Just fucking try to delay!” he yells, his moves growing frantic. “Can you do this for us or not?!”
“It will delay Zoey’s homecoming,” he says.
We look to Captain who gives a tight, instant nod.
“Delay, not prevent,” Cap rasps, looking away. “We have to try. We owe it to Raven.”
I keep Cap’s eyes on me, masking my face as they shift, reassurance and promise now staring back at me. His eyes beg me to see what he won’t say.
What do you know, brother?
Our dad nods. “I’ll cancel the meeting I set with the other families, but we can’t avoid Donley forever. He wants to collect what his family is owed, and I can’t promise they’ll stay away. Collins knows she’s to be his and he likely won’t be quiet about it.”
“So it’s settled.” Captain makes sure to meet and hold our eyes, our dad’s too. “Raven can’t know she’s promised to Collins.”
“Wow.”
All our heads whip around to find her in the doorway, arms crossed, glare on me.
Fuck.
Promised to Collins.
What the hell?
As in, what, an arranged marriage?
What is this, the fucking stone ages?
The boys’ uncharacteristic silence has unease swimming in my gut, but I refuse to allow Rolland to see it, so I put a foot forward and walk in the room, glancing around the office I’ve never set foot in before today.
It’s everything you’d expect from a rich man’s private space, thanks to stereotypical movies and magazines.
Bourbon in the corner, textbooks from the floor to ceiling that have probably never been read, but someone takes the time to dust so it seems they aren’t for decoration. Cherry wood and leather all around, a golden cased globe at the edge of the desk and box of cigars on the other.
I could roll my eyes right now it’s so unoriginal. Nice and expensive, but unoriginal.
I drop onto the ottoman, cross my legs and lift my hands as to say lay it out for me but nobody says a damn word. They stand there frozen.
“So, we’re back to keeping secrets now, are we?” I ask, arching a brow.
Rolland sits up. “This is Brayshaw busi—”
I start laughing, cutting him off and Rolland’s eyes narrow. Mine follow.
“In that case, why don’t you spell it out for me real slow, Rolland, so I can soak it in.”
“Just because you—”
“Stop,” Royce barks. He shifts, stepping toward him. “You don’t get to insult her to save face right now. You fucked up. Own it. It’s not her fault who her mother is.”
The crease in Rolland’s forehead intensifies, and he sits forward, so I do the same.
“Raven,” he starts. “You’ve come to learn pieces of your life you didn’t know existed, but you don’t know everything yet. Right now, we’ll require you to do as asked while we work out some things.”
“Like how you plan to get me to agree to jump ships?”
His head tips to the side the slightest bit, the vein in his neck, much like the one in Maddoc’s, pulsing against his tan skin as he attempts to read me.
“You’re trying to come off authoritative, but I’ve never been one to listen, so all you’re doing is irritating me. Not that you care, but I think you’re a lying piece of shit, Rolland. You may not be able to read me, but I can you and it’s obvious you’re giving half-truths, not the full thing.
“I only caught the tail end of the conversation, but I can tell by the struck look on their faces this is far more than a pass off. Still, I guarantee there’re missing pieces and you won’t give them until you absolutely have to, when it serves you best.” I push to my feet and glare down at him. “That’s one way of being a shitty leader, allowing your men the chance to be taken off guard. Again.”
Their eyes are on me, but I completely ignore the boys, who have yet to volunteer any information.
That’s okay, though. I’m not mad at them for it, I trust their reason for the silence they’re giving me. It doesn’t mean I won’t find the answers myself, even if I have to be a sneaky bitch to make it happen.
“And you think you’re strong enough to give full disclosure where disclosure is needed?” Rolland challenges.
“You think they’re too weak to handle it?” I throw right back. “Or maybe your fear comes from the unknown. Maybe, the things you know will shake your world up a little more than you’re willing to allow.”
“Don’t assume to know all there is to know
about me.”
“Don’t assume I’ll let you decide a damn thing for me,” I spit right back. “Collins Graven can go fuck himself, but careful, asshole, or you’ll be right there with him.”
With that, I turn and walk out.
And damn if they don’t let me.
Fuck!
Royce flashes for the door, but Captain slides in front of him, halting his advance.
Royce whips around to face me, throwing his arms out. “You really not gonna go after her, what if she dips right fucking now?”
“She didn’t hear everything.”
He gives a humorless laugh. “No, she didn’t, other than the fact that she’s the future Mrs. Fuckhead Graven! Oh, and we’re fucking hiding something from her!”
“It’s the only way.”
“I fucking know, man! But that doesn’t mean she won’t leave us because of it! We said no more secrets, no more solo moves. This shit? This is what leads her to go all Raven.”
The panic in his eyes causes a cramping to shoot through my chest. Her leaving wouldn’t only wreck me, it would fuck us all.
I walk to him and hold his glare with mine, my hands firmly grasping onto his shoulders. “Royce. She will not fucking leave us again, not like this, not without solid reason and fact. She almost lost us too this last time. She won’t risk it again, not without complete fucking assurance.”
“She won’t even be mad at us,” Cap whispers, overwhelmed. “That’s not who she is.” His glare moves to our dad and mine follows.
Shame washes over his face, tightening his features as he looks to Royce, realizing the distress this is causing him. He looks to Cap next and holds his stare, and I’d swear regret fills his eyes next.
What was that?
Finally, his stare comes back to mine.
“This wasn’t a contract I made,” he says quietly. “I was just a kid, running deals and trades back then, proving myself. Raven’s grandfather is the one that set this up. He only had a son, who married a gold-digging junkie, and the two had Ravina. They both died along the way from drugs and Ravina was left in his care.
Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #3) Page 2