“How far should we let ‘em get?” Cap slides the key into the ignition.
I frown, sitting back in the seat. “She’s far enough.”
He turns it over, firing up the engine, and we laugh as Raven freezes mid crawl, causing Victoria to bump into her ass, then fall back on her own.
Both their eyes slice our way.
Raven drops her head back, glaring at the sky, while Victoria lays out where she’s fallen, shaking her head against the asphalt.
“Go on, Cap.” Royce pats his shoulder. “Less get our girls.”
I raise a brow at Royce who smirks.
“Ah, come on. Raven said she kinda likes her, I say we keep her, too. I’ll even share with Cap so it’s fair.” He grins, quickly dropping against the seat before Cap can reach around and nail him.
“Let them come to us,” Captain says, hitting the unlock button on the doors.
It takes a second, but Raven tugs Victoria off the ground, rolling her eyes at her, and the two make their way over.
“Ah, shit. Look at that face.” Royce nods his chin toward Raven.
There’s no glare, no bratty ass smirk or sign of sass comin’ my way. She gives nothing.
“Looks like she’s not the only one in trouble, brother.”
Looks fuckin’ like it.
Fucking wow.
Wooooow.
I’m not sure how many more private conversations I can take. I’m well a-fucking-ware they don’t have to share anything with me. I get that. What annoys me is normally they want to.
How am I not supposed to flip when suddenly this changes? It makes me want to fuck shit up out of spite.
Proving further she gets me on a different level than others, Victoria starts running her mouth, not that I want to hear it.
“So is this how it’s gonna work now, huh?” Victoria mumbles, being sure they can’t read her lips as we walk their way. “You play the good little lamb and they do what they want?”
“Shut up.”
“Bet they let Daddy start telling you what to do, too.”
“I said shut up.”
“What do you think will follow, huh? Maybe they trade you beds each—”
I spin around, slamming my forearm into her neck while slipping my left foot behind her. I push, knocking her into the car beside us, setting off its alarm.
I get in her face. “I said shut the fuck up, Victoria.”
I wait for her to shove back, to attempt to fight me off. She doesn’t.
She smirks, causing my eyes to narrow.
Footsteps head our way.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“They need to see you angry. You’re Raven fucking Carver, fighter by nature. You do what you want.”
“They know this already. Why the fuck do you think we’re sneaking out of here right now? Because at the end of the damn day, I make my own decisions.”
Her face hardens. “This is about shared information, not decisions. Don’t let them keep you in the dark.”
I study her. “How do you know they are?”
She holds my eyes a moment. “Make them talk or go to the man himself. They may be his sons, but in the end, Rolland is still in charge.”
“Victoria,” I growl, pushing harder.
“You know as well as I do, in the dark is where it happens.”
In the dark, we lose.
I shove off her right as the boys step up, and their eyes slide between ours in question, but they say nothing.
I glance to Victoria.
She stares at me a moment, relaxing when I lick my lips and look back to the boys, the boys who frown when Victoria pushes off the car, leaning an elbow on my shoulder lazily.
“What was that about?” Royce finally asks.
“Where were you going?” comes from Maddoc.
But it’s Captain that steps closer, his eyes searching hers before settling on mine.
“Don’t,” he whispers. “Let us be the ones.”
Victoria’s muscles tense, but nobody catches it but me.
I keep my eyes on Cap. “When?”
He looks to his brothers who both glare angrily and frown in contrition.
“Let’s go,” he says, moving aside for me to step past.
When I do, he slides back in place, standing directly in front of Victoria.
With her shoulders squared, she faces him head-on. Slowly, her eyes move to mine.
“She stays,” he says to me, looking at her.
“For now,” I add.
She keeps her stare steady on mine a moment before backing up, not looking at him and heading for the school.
The four of us move for the SUV, but when Cap should make a left and head for the house, he doesn’t. He makes a right instead.
“Where we going, Cap?” I ask.
His grip tightens on the steering wheel, his eyes meeting mine in the rearview mirror. “To Zoey.”
Not a single word was spoken after Captain’s announcement as we pulled from the Brayshaw High parking lot, and a half hour drive later, we come to a parallel line of palms, a path just large enough for the SUV to roll down separating them. We turn onto the gravel road lined with painted rocks and bright purple flowers.
Clean cut grass spans out on both sides, at least the size of a few basketball courts. The right side has a home playground set perfectly centered, while the left has a little plastic house with purple windows and the same purple flowers all the way around.
Speaking of basketball courts, once we get a little farther down the road, a mini court with little toy hoops placed on each side comes into view.
My chest tightens when I see the wolf’s logo painted in the center of it as if it’s the Brayshaw home court.
Like it’s her daddy’s home court.
I look to Cap in the mirror, finding a small smile on his lips.
I glance at Maddoc.
He sits tight and tense, glaring straight ahead, like he can’t bring himself to look around.
I slide my hand in his and his eyes cut to mine, the edges contracting even more.
Cool air hits me then and I look to Royce.
He’s rolled his window down, his head practically stuck outside as he takes in every inch he can get his eyes on.
“You been here before, brother?” Royce asks him.
Cap shakes his head. “Pictures and video from our PI.” He places the SUV in park, sitting still a moment.
“Is it what you imagined?” I ask him.
He glances around, meeting my eyes again. “Better.”
Right then a big burly man in a suit steps from the right side of the wrap-around porch, and a second from the left.
“Security. Nice.” Royce nods.
“Guessing they didn’t know we were coming?” Maddoc asks.
Captain unbuckles his seat belt. “I will never ask to see my own daughter again.”
With that, he pushes open his door and climbs out, but the three of us have the same idea and don’t move an inch.
Cap only gets a few steps before the front door flies open and Maria’s wide eyes hit his.
She glares and takes a half step forward.
I dart for the door handle, but Maddoc’s quick, and his hand covers mine.
I slice my glare to him, but he’s not looking at me. His eyes are on the porch.
I look back just in time to see a little hand grip around Maria’s thigh. Her eyes shoot wide, her head dropping to the contact.
Maddoc’s grip tightens on mine and Royce shifts to the edge of his seat.
Her little head pokes out next, blonde hair as curly as I remember it and sitting high on her head, a purple bow locking it in.
Her head tilts up to Maria first, but when Cap takes another step, it cuts his way.
Instant, full, and the most precious thing I have ever seen – she smiles wide.
Royce lets out a sharp exhale, a soft chuckle following as she wedges her little shoulders between the frame and Maria’s
body and bounds forward.
She gets so excited she pauses to stomp her little feet, her hands extended as if he’s close enough to grab her.
I look to Captain, and of course he gives his baby girl what she wants. He jogs to her, getting to her faster. Not bothering to hit the porch steps at all, he holds his hands out and she doesn’t hesitate.
She jumps.
He catches her, lifts her up high for a moment before pulling her to his chest.
“She understands who he is,” Maddoc rasps.
My eyes cut to him in question, but he doesn’t take his eyes off them. “I wondered, but...”
But he couldn’t ask. It makes sense. Zoey didn’t get to see Captain much and for someone so young, just shy of three, it could be hard for them to grasp, especially when she goes to bed without him every night. There’s no question, though. She knows exactly who her daddy is.
Zoey looks over Cap’s shoulders right then and her back shoots straight. She pats Cap’s and points to the SUV.
“I think she sees me,” Royce whispers like she might hear him.
Cap says something to her that has her nodding, and then tickles her, and she laughs with her whole body, making the three of us follow suit.
He starts this way and our amusement halts, our bodies going stiff.
My eyes move to the porch where Maria raises a hand as if she’s going to stop him, but then her fingers fly to her lips. She takes a step back.
My eyes narrow.
She’s nervous.
Maddoc grips his handle and Royce’s eyes quickly find his. “Yeah?” he asks a little hopeful, a little nervy.
I grin. “Go.”
Royce frowns. “You too.”
I shake my head, sitting back in my seat and pulling my hand from Maddoc’s. “No. This is your time. Go.”
They hesitate a moment, and as if sensing it, Cap pauses a few feet from the hood.
The boys open their doors and exit.
Zoey’s head bobs one way to the next, and she clings to Cap’s neck more but she’s not afraid. A little nervous maybe, but she only drops her chin to her shoulder and watches them.
Both pause right in front of her and she looks to Captain.
I find myself chuckling. I’m pretty damn sure little Zoey is blushing.
Royce steps up to her first and lifts his hand for a high five.
Zoey smiles, but instead of high fiving she puts out her knuckles, making the brothers laugh together.
Zoey kicks against Captain, so he puts her down. Her little lips move and she points toward the dollhouse.
Cap nods and starts walking but Zoey, reaches up and he offers her his hand, but she wants Royce and Maddoc’s too. She tries to hold them all but can’t figure it out and frowns up at Captain.
He laughs and shrugs his shoulders at her, but Zoey smiles and grabs Royce and Captain’s hands, locking them together.
I laugh, scooting closer in my seat, holding my breath as she reaches for Maddoc’s hand. She can only grip two of his fingers, her other hand holding tight to her dad and damn if I don’t wish I had a phone for the first time. That’s a helluva picture right there.
Cap and Royce hold hands while Zoey holds Caps with her left, and Maddoc with her right. One little blonde-haired baby girl, leading all three right where she wants them.
Captain’s eyes cut back to the SUV and I still. His stares a moment and I know what he’s wondering – do I not want to meet her. I hate the moment of doubt it causes him, but when they shift to Maddoc I know, without words, having not even needed to hear it from my mouth, he communicates my reason.
He knows I want this for them, and this isn’t me not wanting to meet her, but them needing this moment for themselves – a niece and her uncles.
Movement from the porch catches my eyes.
Maria steps farther out, fishing a phone from her pocket, and I jolt for the door handle, quickly hopping out and rushing straight toward her.
Her head snaps up, eyes wide in shock.
“You.”
“Me.” I keep forward.
She glances back to her phone before looking to me again.
“Don’t do it. I don’t want to have to fuck you up while your security watches,” I warn, holding out my palm.
It takes her a second, but she hands it over with a not so gentle slap.
“By the way, security for a social worker, huh?”
“Security for the little girl I protect day and night.”
“When you’re not posing as a social worker and dragging other girls hours away from their homes and dropping them in new ones?”
Her eyes narrow. “Some would say I brought you home, not drug you from your home.”
Can’t quite argue with that. They are my home more than anything else ever was. “Some would be right then, wouldn’t they?”
It’s on the tip of her tongue to ask me, so I hold eye contact until she can no longer keep it in. “Why would he... why would they bring you here? Why would they allow you near her at all?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
She frowns after them, a deep sigh leaving her. “I worried this would happen. The day I read your file I thought it, but the day I met you...” She trails off, her eyes tightening at the edges. “At the school with the principal who clearly cared for you even though you were a brat, how Ravina spoke to you and how you handled her.” I tense at the mention of my mom’s name. “Your overall attitude and the look in your eye when you spoke to me. Everything about you was... refreshing. I knew it in my gut. I warned him you’d be everything they never knew. That made you dangerous for them, for this world.” She looks to me. “But at the end of the day, we all want something we can’t have.”
I fight not to frown.
What the fuck does that mean?
Her features soften some as she asks, “Which one?”
“Like you don’t know.”
“I—” she cuts herself off but decides to keep going. “I don’t,” she admits.
My brows pull in at her abashed tone.
“It was in my contract.” She audibly swallows. “In exchange for caring for her, I wasn’t allowed to look for or ask anything about them or their world.”
“You wanted to care for her?”
“I wouldn’t trust anyone else to.” She stares at me head-on.
My eyes narrow.
“You can try to read me, but I told you before, I was somewhat like you once. I can hide what I want from who I want.”
“Yet here you stand giving more than you realize.”
“Who said I don’t realize?” she draws.
I scoff. Right.
I look to the boys.
Zoey tries to push Royce inside the dollhouse, but he makes himself fall onto the grass and Zoey throws her head back, laughing at him.
She bends and hits his chest with the palm of her hands before climbing across his body and inside, where the other two must already be.
“Who were you about to call?” I ask, assuming she won’t answer.
She does. “Rolland.”
“In the contract?”
She turns away, moving for the patio set that allows her to hide back, but keep an eye on them all the same, so I follow, dropping into a chair.
“You shouldn’t judge what you don’t know.”
“I judge what I do know, and I know Captain’s daughter is here with you instead of at home with him, where she belongs.”
A playful growl catches our attention and we look over.
Captain has Zoey on his shoulders as he chases Royce around while Maddoc leans against the little house with a smile. A real smile.
Not a smirk or a grin. Eyes open and loving and on his niece.
As always, he knows when I have him in sight, and his attention shifts to me.
A thought clouds his features, resented anger and dare I say pain seeping through. The smile is washed away instantly, but the corner of his lip tips up the slightest bit.
It’s forced.
The same beat-up expression is on Royce’s face, but the moment my eyes hit his, he licks his lips and looks away.
Cap offers a reassuring smile, but his attention is quickly caught by the little one now calling on them to follow her, as it should be.
“Hu-mon, hu-mon.” She laughs. “I make it, I make it.”
My brows pull in.
“What’d you make, Zo?” Cap asks her, tickling her sides.
She runs faster.
“Hu-mon, Daddy!” she says dramatically, making me smile.
She stops and rushes back to him, grabs hold of his fingers and drags him along.
“She learned how to shoot a basket,” Maria says sadly.
My eyes slice to hers, but she only continues to smile warmly at Zoey. “She watches his games all the time, we have them all on video. He’s her favorite show. Her favorite bedtime story. Favorite everything.”
My chest aches, and I can’t even look at them as they approach the little court.
“You and everyone involved are fucked up individuals.” Her eyes reluctantly meet mine. “You think he or his brothers wouldn’t have wanted to be the first to show her that? I bet Captain has laid in bed playing out the entire fucking thing in his head. What he’d say, how he’d explain the use of her wrist in a way for her to understand. How she should stand, what she should focus on. Of all the things, this is one I know he hoped to have for himself. Her first basket.”
Maria’s tears catch me off guard, but I don’t show it. “I know,” she rasps. “I tried to avoid it, but she just wanted to be like him. She kept saying she wanted to show him, cried for a ball, so I got her one, but then she cried for the basketball hoop. I couldn’t deny her. She’s not even three and she saw, just from watching his game film, how he loved the sport. She wanted to play too.”
My ribs ache, but I push it away.
“You’re not keeping her,” I say.
To my surprise, she lets those tears fall freely, but here they mean nothing to me.
“It doesn’t matter how bad you want her, and I can tell you do, she’s not yours. They’re bringing her home.”
Maria swallows. “Yeah,” she whispers. “I heard.” Her eyes come back to mine. “But it seems something is standing in the way of her homecoming.”
From sorrow to disrespect so quickly?
Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #3) Page 6