I bet this was all part of Rolland’s plan, having me ready to go at a moment’s notice.
Asshole.
Donley tried to demand Maddoc be forced from his home until after the marriage, when we’d be expected to live on the Graven Estate, but I refused to allow that and agreed we’d stay away. Donley was pleased, so now we’re on our way to a hotel suite, where we’re to live until the party pad is gutted and prepared for us, unless the wedding comes first.
I’m almost relieved. I can’t imagine facing Maddoc right now and having to pretend we were able to wash away all we are with a simple signature.
A bitter laugh leaves me.
Relieved.
I must be sick to be feeling anything of the sort right now.
I should be flipping the fuck out, breaking windows and shattering the chilled champagne in here against the doors. I should be plotting Donley’s slow and painful death or maybe taking it out on Captain for making this happen.
I roll my eyes at myself.
Again, I’m pathetic. I can’t even find it in me to hate him right now, like a normal person in my shoes would.
He stole my choice, defending me when I didn’t want him to.
Didn’t I do the same?
I went off, offered me for his daughter like he offered himself for me?
But those are his brothers. His loyalty should have been with them over me, no matter fucking what.
A sad chuckle leaves him, and my eyes reluctantly slide his way.
“Come on, Raven. You know them better than that.” His eyes slowly meet mine. “If they knew I had a way to protect you and didn’t, regardless of where it left them, they’d hate me for it.”
“Who says I won’t hate you for this?”
His brows pull in and he lets out a deep exhale.
“You might,” he whispers, pausing a minute before he says, “But you’ll forgive me with time. They wouldn’t.”
“Is that why you did it, Cap? So they wouldn’t hate you?” It’s a good enough reason.
“No, Raven,” he murmurs. “I did it because you deserve more than this place has given you.”
I shake my head against the seat, looking away.
He’s wrong. This place gave me everything I never had, a family, people to care for. A purpose.
Am I pissed right now? Fuck, yeah, but at the world, not him. How could I be? He only did what his brothers would, what he felt was right, but that doesn’t mean this will be easy in any way, and I can’t promise I won’t ruin everything.
“I could never love you more than him,” I say, watching the trees fly by outside my window. “And I’ll never stop wanting him.”
“I know,” he rasps. “I can live with that.”
I shake my head. “You shouldn’t have to, Captain, that’s my point. You’re worth way more than what you’re getting in me. A thousand times more.”
“I lost nothing today, Raven. I’ve loved someone before, or I think I have. She fucked me over. You won’t. I can make you happy. I know who you are, and I know I can love you like you deserve. It won’t be the same for you, but you will feel it. You will smile and laugh, and sometimes you’ll even feel guilty for it just like I will. All that’s okay and expected. I didn’t stand there and ask for your life for sport. It might be a slow start, but it will be a strong finish.”
The weak in me comes back in the form of moisture stricken eyes and his hand slides into mine.
He squeezes. “Trust me.”
That’s the thing. My world is fucked, I was more or less pushed into this when I thought the day would end much differently. He was sneaky and knew, in the end, only one answer would do. Still... I trust him with my life, and it seems that’s the entire point. It’s his now.
I nod. “I do.”
The rest of the drive goes by in silence.
“You can stop pretending to be asleep now,” Cap says quietly as the car rolls to a stop. “We’re here.”
I open my eyes and step from the car when the door is pulled open for me. I glare at the smirky bastard and move up the steps, Captain falling in line beside me.
A man meets us at the desk, handing us a room key without a word, and the two of us head for the private elevator.
Of course, it’s an over the top suite with gold shit everywhere.
Captain picks up the note from the entrance table. He shakes his head, tossing it to the floor. “Food will be up in fifteen minutes, and they had clothes and shit put in the drawers and closet.”
I nod, moving to grab something so I can shower.
Escape a minute.
I tug open the drawer, an instant frown taking over.
For fuck’s sake.
Lace after lace. I pull open the closet. Dresses, glittery, long ones.
“Are they shitting me?” I tug them from their hangers, dropping them to the floor.
Captain steps up behind me and I let my hand fall, shaking my head.
He reaches over, pulling a shirt meant for him down and holds it out for me to take. “Ignore them, they’re all a part of the mind game he’s trying to play.”
I spin around, looking up at him. “He can’t really think I’ll be a voiceless statue of perfection.”
Cap’s eyes shift between mine. “If he does, we’ll set him straight quickly.”
I keep my eyes on his for a long moment before he steps back and holds a hand out toward the bathroom.
“I’ll let you know if the food gets here and you’re still in.” He turns around, moving for the balcony doors.
“Cap.”
He looks over his shoulder.
“Thank you. I know you don’t agree, but you didn’t have to do this.”
He gives a sad smile. “You’re right, I don’t agree.”
A light laugh leaves me, and I move for the bathroom, pause at the door. When I glance over my shoulder, my mouth clamps shut when I find he’s already staring at me, shaking his phone in the air.
“I’m calling him now,” he says softly. “Take a shower, I’ll fill you in when you’re done.”
I don’t respond but head straight for the bathroom. I close and lock the door, setting my knife and iPod on the counter, then turn on the water and step in with my clothes on, cold water and all.
This is fucking insane.
Arranged marriages and decades-old moves of alliance. It’s bullshit. All because a dead man made a promise he couldn’t keep.
I strip my soaked clothes off and toss them over the glass. I’m not sure how long I stand under the spray before there’s a light knock on the door.
I ignore it at first, but then it gets louder and louder and I freeze.
And then they knock again, but it’s not a hand against wood – it’s metal.
I don’t shut off the spray, but slowly step out and wrap a towel around me.
The knock gets louder, harder, to the point that the wood shakes against the frame.
I flip open my knife and slowly wrap my fingers around the knob.
Knife still in hand, I gradually turn the lock.
The banging starts again, and I get ready to push it open.
“Get away from that door!” Captain’s sudden voice shouts. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?!”
“I need—” another voice answers but is cut off.
“You need to back the fuck up,” Cap demands.
“Tell her to open the door.”
“Stay inside, Raven.”
My lip twitches.
“I need to confirm she’s in there... alone.”
My mouth drops open and Captain laughs mockingly.
I quickly dry off and slip on my underwear and the shirt Captain gave me.
“You think, after all the shit today, she’d already be locked in there with him?” Cap draws out slowly.
“I’m—”
“Leaving. You’re fucking leaving.”
I yank the door open and glare at the goon in front of me.
Hi
s eyes find me a moment before he quickly moves them over my shoulder.
So no respect from Graven security. Good to know.
“Ms. Brayshaw.”
“Fuck off, do your little inspection and get the fuck out.” I push past him, snag a throw blanket from the little chair, and walk out onto the balcony.
“He’s not here,” Cap tells him. “Now go back to your boss and report it. Be sure to let him know you’ll be the first to be fired.”
A few moments pass and then a door slams.
Captain steps onto the balcony only seconds later, a pair of boxer briefs in his hand for me.
I take them, slipping them on quickly, and tossing the stupid blanket to the ground. “I guess this is what we have to look forward to, right?”
“Wrong,” he says. “I’ll fix this.”
I nod, looking away. I know he will.
There’s a light knock on the door, and Cap looks over his shoulder briefly before glancing back at me. “You know what, I’m not hungry.”
“Me either.”
I follow him inside, standing to the side while he opens the door and tells the staff to take the food back to the kitchen.
When he closes the door and turns to me, my eyes slide to the sofa sleeper he apparently prepared for himself while I was in the shower.
I frown. “You don’t have to sleep there.”
“I do.”
“You wouldn’t have before today.”
He nods, looking from his makeshift bed to me. “You’re right. Lots happened today though, Raven. I think you need at least a night in bed alone with your thoughts.”
“Yeah, and what do you need, Cap?” I ask him.
He licks his lips, knowing it’s a fair question. “I need to convince myself I didn’t betray my brother in the worst way, and I can’t do that lying next to you on night one.”
A deep ache forms beneath my ribs and I look away, moving for the bed and climbing under the covers. “If he feels betrayed, he hates himself for it.”
“Yeah.” Captain slips under his blanket, staring up at the ceiling. “That might be the worst part.”
Yeah.
“Are we going to school tomorrow?”
“We said we would, but I’m thinking we don’t.”
“Same.” I glare at the wall. “We also said we’d let Collins back in without busting his chops, can we agree not to do that either?”
“He won’t step out of line.”
“I don’t know, he lost a lot today in his eyes. He’ll either flip the fuck out or he won’t.”
“He lost the life he thought he deserved, like we warned would happen. If he causes problems, he won’t get the chance to find another one.”
We’re both quiet for a long moment before I tell him, “You know, through all the shady shit, I gained some respect for your dad today.”
Cap looks my way, a light crease in his forehead.
“He had us both in his hands for years. He could have set this up when we were little, but he didn’t.” I shrug. “Having all he thought he wanted wasn’t worth losing you.”
“And now he might have lost us all.”
I nod. “He has to be realizing you three are more than he could have ever been, bet that’s all he ever wanted. Coming home though, being thrown back into a world he hasn’t seen this close in so long, it messed with his mind. Maybe he needs time to work out all the changes.”
“Time isn’t something we’ll be giving him anymore. He’ll answer when asked.”
“Spoken like a king.”
Despite the shittiness, Cap lets out a small chuckle and rolls over, facing away from me.
“You can turn the light off, Cap.”
“Nah, let’s leave it on.”
A small smile finds my lips, but it’s gone just as quick. The night’s closing and reality comes crashing down.
He promised no one could take me from him, that it was me and him, no matter what.
You lied, Big Man.
My head rolls against the... the fuck is it?
“Dirt or grass maybe?”
“What was he doing when you found him?”
Royce.
“Busting out the windows in the shed. With his fists.”
Victoria.
“Having Maybell call me was the right move.”
“Where’s Raven?” she asks.
“Ha!” I shout, rolling onto my knees and forearms. “Fuckin’ ha!” I push off the ground, but my legs aren’t working, and I face plant.
Yeah, it’s fucking dirt.
My eyes peel open when a hand tugs at my shoulder.
Floppy fucking hair and a neck tattoo is in my face.
“Brother.”
“Yeah, man,” Royce mumbles under his breath. “Help me out, yeah? Put your fucking foot on the ground.”
I do and he tugs me up.
A little body slides under my other arm and my head rolls that way, nothing but blonde hair getting in my face. She looks up with a glare. “Move your feet.”
I push toward her and she pulls her head back but stays under my arm.
“Bishop!” Royce yells but I don’t look away from Victoria. “Bring my truck over here, now!”
“I should take you like he took her.”
“Shut the fuck up, Maddoc,” Royce growls.
Victoria’s eyes slice to him. “What is he talking about?”
“Nothing.”
I scoff, my head falling back. “Yeah, nothing. Fucking everything.”
The dark sky mocks me. It’s empty, like my bed will be.
Not his though.
“Let me.” My head snaps left meeting gelled-back hair and a metal fucking mouth.
I should rip that lip ring right off this fucker.
Bishop shakes his head. “What, Raven disobey again?”
I tug away, throwing a punch at him but he dodges it, and I trip forward into a crate.
“Fuck,” Royce spits. “Shut the fuck up, Bishop, or I’ll lay your ass out! Help me get him the fuck in the car.”
My body is jostled as I’m tossed on a seat.
I open my eyes. Pretty sure this is my ride.
I slightly register Maybell walking toward Victoria who’s standing a few feet away.
“It’s over, Maybell. Bet you knew that already though. Can’t trust nobody. Only my brothers. And her.”
“What the fuck happened?” Bishop asks.
“Not now,” Royce growls and goes to slam the door, but I block it with my foot.
“Bishop,” I slur. “Be at the house in the morning. I need to switch your positions.”
Bishop frowns, his eyes sliding to Royce. “Why? Profits are up, I have a new fighter every couple weeks, we haven’t had an incident in—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I manage to get out. “You’re a hands man. This is a promotion. I need you on security,” I slur.
Royce cusses and slams the door.
My eyes close, nothing but long black hair and grey eyes in sight.
She disappears.
Royce slaps a hand on my back and my eyes peel open.
“Get up, Bishop’s here,” he spits.
“Fuck him.”
“Man, fuck you. You asked his ass to come here. You’re lucky I let him in. Get the fuck up.”
That’s right. Security.
“I need something for my head, it’s fucking pounding.”
“Good, maybe it’ll knock some sense into you.” He tosses me the water bottle from my dresser. “Get your own fucking pain meds, asshole, or better yet, don’t.” He slams the door against the wall on his way out.
I push myself to my feet, stumbling, still drunk on last night’s shit.
I take a quick shower, dress and meet them downstairs.
Royce and Bass are playing a silent game of pool, but put down the cues when I walk in.
“I want you on security,” I get right to it.
“For you?” Bass narrows his eyes. When I don’t respon
d, he guesses again. “Raven.”
Royce drops his eyes to the floor when I look his way.
“What will I be doing?”
“Following her everywhere she goes, no matter who she’s with. You’ll live with her, check in on her every night and morning.”
Bass looks to Royce then back to me. “Is she moving or are you telling me I’m moving in here?”
Royce’s eyes cut to mine. “You sure you get to make that decision?”
“Who’s gonna stop me?” I push.
He shakes his head with a glare.
Bishop studies the two of us. “What if I decline this promotion?”
“You’re fired.”
He nods, glancing around. “And Raven, does she know about this yet?”
“No.”
“Are you planning to okay it with her?”
“No.”
“Bishop, go,” Royce forces past clenched teeth. “I need to talk to my brother.”
“No need for secrecy. Everyone’ll find out soon.”
“Maddoc,” he snaps.
“Raven is marrying Captain. Captain can’t always be home. She’ll need someone with her when he’s gone. Someone we can depend on, someone she should be able to trust. It will be you.”
Bishop’s face goes slack, his eyes moving from Royce to me. Slowly, he pushes to his feet, moving closer to me. “What happened?”
“We don’t pay you to ask questions. You taking the job or not?” I cross my arms.
His jaw clenches and he jerks his chin, before storming past me and out the door.
The second it closes, Royce shoves me from the side, making me stumble.
He gets in my face. “You better fucking watch it, brother. You helped make this happen. You knew what it meant when we left there. I won’t let you act a fucking fool. I know this is ugly, I know this shit hurts, but—”
“Hurts?!” I boom. “I fucking wish it hurt. I want it to hurt, Royce! I want it to fucking burn me up, eat me alive, tear me fucking apart!” I shout, shoving him into the bar.
Bottles tumble over, shatter and spill around us.
Royce comes back and lays one across my jaw, and I lose my footing.
He rushes me, and my hip slams against the edge of the pool table, knocking the wind out of me. With a grip on my collar, he headbutts me, blood instantly pouring down his brow as he pulls me closer, teeth bared.
Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #3) Page 9