A sharp pain shoots up my spine at the words, but I welcome it.
His fingers tighten against me, his expression not changing. “You can’t even say it, can you?”
“Why should I have to, Cap?” I shake my head.
At that, his brows wrinkle and he moves his lips back to my ear to hide it. “You don’t know this side of me, how I am with a girl who’s mine, so I’ll fill you in on one thing now.” There’s a slight rumble in his voice. “Words, Raven. I need them.”
“I’m standing here, already yours, right? So what’s the point?”
“Wrong and that in itself is the point.” His words come out sharper this time. “You’re not mine, Raven. Despite the promise we made, you’re not.” He hesitates before adding, “Not yet.”
Not ever.
That’s what we’re both thinking but don’t say aloud.
A moment later, the silence surrounding us is quickly overtaken.
First, it’s music, then the screech of tires. Gasps follow, then low whistles and laughs. Heads snap my way then the other and both mine and Cap’s follow.
A black SUV, identical to the one I drove here in pulls up beside Captain’s. Royce and Victoria both stare at me with tight eyes, but mine are locked on the passenger seat of Maddoc’s ride as it opens and a girl with sleek straight, blonde hair chopped at the collarbone steps out. I’ve seen her before, though the hair is new.
Graven Preps queen bee.
She steps around the hood, Maddoc meeting her there and the two walk over to Royce and Victoria like it’s any other day and she belongs.
It’s not and she sure as fuck doesn’t.
I embed my fingers into the skin of Captain’s chest, and apparently subconsciously attempt to move past him, but he grips me tighter, forcing my feet to stay planted where they are.
He holds firm, his way of trying to steady me on the inside, but my body is numb, my face blank, my mind void.
And somehow my chest still stings with the prick of a thousand needles.
I want to rip her head off and stick it back in the Barbie box it came out of.
The girl holds her hand out to Victoria but gets a bored blink in return. Royce and Maddoc exchange a fist bump and then the two shift toward us.
His eyes are hidden behind dark lenses, his face smooth, mouth closed in a tired, lazy line.
So much effort to look so careless.
“You’re shaking.” Cap’s words waft across my skin and I drag my eyes to his.
My throat starts to close, heat spreading across my face as I attempt to squash the sudden anger boiling. An emptiness forms at the base of my ribs, and I almost bend to erase it.
Captain’s eyes move between mine.
More worry.
No.
“Do it,” I rasp, swallowing past the clog in my throat, trying for air that won’t come.
He keeps staring.
“You wanted words, Captain.” I scowl. “Everyone is around, everyone is watching. We can confirm this right now.”
“Raven—”
“I said do it.”
Captain tugs me closer. He’s mad. “You don’t want this. You’re doing this because you’re pissed off and hurt and it’s the first time you’ve laid eyes on him since he asked you to walk away from him, since you did.”
I jerk against his hold, but his tight grip makes it unnoticeable to the prying eyes.
Maddoc spots it though, his brows disappearing under his frames.
I move my eyes back to Cap. “I was asking you to kiss me before he got here. Don’t I have the right? I’ll be your wife in three months, forever fucking you in four. I should have your mouth on mine anytime I want.”
“If I kiss you right now, he will never be able to erase it. He’ll lie awake at night, like I’m bettin’ he has the last several, and play out every move he anticipates we’ll make. He’ll think about the ways you touched him and how you’ll touch me. He’ll think about the things you liked him to do and how I’ll learn of the same. You make me kiss you right now, Raven, and those fucked up fears become his fucked-up reality. They won’t only keep him up at night, but they’ll follow him with every step.”
“That’s the thing, Cap,” I whisper, forcing my arms around his neck.
His forehead tightens, and in my peripheral, I notice Royce drops his eyes to the gravel.
“This is our reality now, and he knows it.” I push to my tippy toes and align my lips with his. “You know your brother, acknowledge what he’s doing. He took a few days to process and now he’s back. He brought her here. He’s being strong.” I swallow, then whisper, “Show him you can be, too.”
Captain’s palm slides up my back, his fingers sprawling out across my spine. His eyes are heavy with guilt, his jaw set in anger. He slides his lips across my cheek to my ear as his other hand comes up to sink in my hair.
“No,” he whispers. “Not yet, and not here. Our touching, eye contact, and private conversation is enough for now, but if you have to hold me tighter when you see him or if you need a connection when you feel you’ve lost one, you take what you want from me and I’ll give in return, ten fucking fold. But only for you.” He strokes my hair, kissing my temple. “Not for the sake of anyone else.”
His words hit hard, and shame follows.
His concern is me, and I’m not giving him the same. This is hard for him too. He’s admitted to feeling like he fucked his brother, more and more with every day that passes and every move he makes and I’m over here forcing his hand.
So, I do as he said, laugh it off and move back a step. I force myself to grab his hand and the others take it as their cue to move toward us.
The six of us walk for the entrance with our heads held high knowing every eye around is locked on us.
The six of us come to a screeching fucking halt when we spot Donley, Rolland, and Perkins waiting just inside the hall.
Victoria spins on her heels and heads right back outside, while the girl walking a step behind Maddoc slows. We keep forward.
Maddoc steps toward the three men. “The fuck is this?” he demands.
“Donley showed up, asking for a tour of the school,” Perkins announces as he glances around, then quietly adds, “And unlimited access to the surveillance, so I called your father.” His eyes slice toward Captain when he says it. “Seems I’m missing something.”
“Suddenly you’re on our side now?” Royce spits.
“There are no sides.” Donley grins, holding out his hands as he moves his smirk to me. “We’re all on the same team now. I’m simply... looking out for my... investment.” His eyes drop to our hands, and a gleam fills them. His smirk grows into a smile and he nods. “Safe to assume Collins isn’t causing too much trouble?”
“We’d handle it how we wanted if he was,” Royce spits.
“The surveillance,” Perkins attempts to get them back on track.
“Ah, yes.” Donley claps. “Perhaps you were left in the dark, where you belong, Connor, but your blood has agreed to become mine.”
Perkins’ eyes move to Captain, but Donley keeps speaking.
“He will take the name you were offered with your brother but couldn’t honor. Captain will become Graven, and Raven will be his bride.”
Perkins’ eyes slice to mine, then Maddoc’s and back to Captain. “Why would you agree to this? Everything was handled, your life wouldn’t have been affected.”
“What do you care about my life?”
“I’ve spent eighteen years protecting it!”
“You didn’t protect shit. You got in the way, stepped in where you were never and will never be wanted.” Captain steps toward his biological father. “You thought you could tip them off that Raven existed, they’d take her, Zoey’d come home and everything would go away?”
“It should have been that simple, yes.”
“Except you weren’t bold enough to get the job done, and we grew close to Raven while you sat back and waited for someone else to
do the dirty work. You may know no loyalty, but we do, and she has ours. Always.” Captain gestures in his face. “Just so you know, I didn’t agree to anything, I asked for this, and I’d have begged for her, on my hands and fucking knees if I had to because that’s what she deserves.”
My eyes zero in on the tight fists at Maddoc’s sides.
When I look to him though, you’d never know he was staring at me, his glasses are directed at Donley, but I feel him.
Tortured, angry, ready to burst.
Me too, Big Man.
“Right, well, I have places to be.” Donley smooths his blazer down. “Perkins, if you will, email me the links and passwords to the cameras.”
“No.”
All eyes fly to me when I speak.
“No?” Donley tilts his head. “I’m afraid that isn’t your call, little girl.”
“I’m afraid this isn’t your school, Donley.” I push forward. “It’s ours, as will be this town in a matter of days. Get used to it.”
I wanted him to get angry, but the bastard smiles, seemingly proud. “Oh, I am more than ready for you to hold the Graven name, until then I need to make sure the bargain is being held. Call it a protection plan.”
“She said no.” Captain steps forward. “Terms were set when we left, this wasn’t in it. These are our people, we handle what needs handling. That’s not changing.”
Donley eyes him and after a few moments a deep, satisfied sigh leaves him. He turns to Rolland who wears no expression at all and pats his back. “This is the start of a beautiful thing, I can feel it in my bones.” With that, he walks away.
With a strange frown, Perkins follows after him.
Rolland steps up to Maddoc, but Maddoc says nothing, shouldering past him, past us all and takes off down the hall.
I bite my tongue to stop myself from screaming, dig my toes into my shoes to keep from running, and glance at Cap, whose face grows tighter with Maddoc’s every step taken.
Royce steps up, his tone angry but his eyes soft. He whispers, “the girl was dad’s idea. She’s nothing, RaeRae.”
I nod, swallow, and plug my earbuds in as an excuse to ignore everyone around me, but the music isn’t enough.
Nothing will ever be enough.
I have no fucking clue how I ended up here, or how I got in for that matter, but I’m standing just inside the entryway, my back against the door.
I glance around, making sure no one is near, then push off the wall.
I’m sloppy on my feet – a half dozen shots will do that to you – so I stumble a few times, catching myself on the back of the sofa as I pass it.
My eyes cut across the darkened room, finding no one coming to check out the sound.
The staff must be off duty, guards who the hell knows where.
Not here.
I keep down the hall, gripping my bat tighter when the smell of a fresh cut Cuban hits my nostrils.
I blink hard, pulling in my focus as much as possible and straighten to my full height.
My footsteps are silent, my pulse screaming in my ears as I enter Donley’s office.
His chair is turned, only the silver of his hair to be seen over the edge of the seat. The smoke of his cigar fanning out over his head.
The piece of shit claiming what’s not his, threatening what’s ours, taking what’s mine.
My lip curls, my fingers twisting against the rubber grip.
I take a single step right, raise the barrel, and with every ounce of strength the alcohol allows, I swing.
A loud growl leaves me, the snap of a bone against metal following.
He falls from his chair, shrieking like a little bitch and I walk around.
My eyes narrowing when I find a random fucking face, bloodied at my feet.
In the same second, a hard object smacks against my spine, my shoulders bowing as I fall to the floor with a groan.
My head snaps around, finding Donley standing there with a glare, a security guard at each of his sides.
Guess I wasn’t as quiet as I thought.
When one of them raises a baton, I lift my hands to block it, but my movement is too slow, and in the next second everything goes black.
The loud screech of tires has me shifting in my seat.
Headlights shine through the trees, and I glance back at the line of cars parked.
Rolland’s, Maddoc’s, and Royce’s, all accounted for.
I slowly push my door open and step out right as the brakes squeal with a purposeful, last second stop.
Captain and Royce burst out the front, Rolland behind them and my head snaps back to the town car as the rear door is thrown open.
Maddoc’s body slams against the gravel.
I gasp and dart forward, but suddenly, Royce’s hands are around my elbows, Captain already at Maddoc’s side.
I let out a breath when he pushes to his ass, his head wobbling as he does, only for my anger to flare instantly when I spot the blood covering his temple.
My jaw tightens and I slice my eyes to Donley.
“Keep a better eye on your boy, Rolland.” He buttons his suit jacket. “Or we won’t bring him back next time.”
“Fuck you,” Maddoc spits, allowing Captain to drag him to his feet, only to yank away from him.
He doesn’t look at any of us, but storms into the house, Rolland on his heels.
“Get the fuck out, Donley. You’re not welcome on these grounds,” Royce forces past clenched teeth, letting me go and rushing into the house.
Captain walks backward toward me, and Donley’s eyes shift between ours a moment.
I step forward, my body shaking.
“Raven,” Captain speaks under his breath. “Don’t.”
My feet don’t stop until I’m inches from Donley.
“Ah.” He studies me. “Princess, fancy seeing you here, since I do believe you said you would not be.”
“You better watch yourself, Graven.”
“Watch myself...” He trails off. “The boy attacked me. Or, he tried, to.” He smirks.
I clench my teeth. “I don’t care if he rams a pipe up your ass. Touch him and I will fuck you over in every way.”
His eyes narrow and he hesitates a minute. “Should I be concerned over your loyalty?”
“You should be concerned if you expected anything different.”
His frown tightens, hardening before me and he nods. “I’ll assume you’re here to gather some things, perhaps what I had prepared for you wasn’t enough. I will note this as your one and only trip home needed.”
My hands ball into fists at my sides, and I stand there, unwavering, until he finally gets in the car. The second his taillights are gone, I spin, rushing for the porch only for Royce to block my way.
“Move.”
His brows crease. “You don’t wanna go in there.”
“I don’t want to kick you in the nuts, either, but I will, Royce. Move.”
He doesn’t, but allows me to push past him, following closely behind.
Captain stands off to the side, his entire fucking face crestfallen, at a damn loss.
Maddoc, drunk and sloppy as hell, bleeding, has Rolland by the throat and shoved against the wall.
Rolland stands still as a statue, allowing it, his expression just as tragic as Cap’s.
Maddoc continues to pull him close, only to slam him back, over and over again.
“Stop,” Royce shouts, hard put as ever.
“You,” Maddoc growls at his dad, ignoring his brother. “This is on you,” he tells him, going in for a headbutt that has me wincing.
Rolland blinks but still, he doesn’t fight his son.
“Does it hurt?” Maddoc screams in his face. “Does it?” He punches his ribs. “Do you even know what hurt feels like? Have you ever cared about a damn thing enough to feel pain from inside your fucking body?” He headbutts him a second time, stumbling a little from his own force. “From under your skin?!” he shouts.
Turmoil blankets Ro
lland’s face, low groans leaving him, but I have a feeling it has nothing to do with the power of Maddoc’s hits.
“Maddoc, fucking stop, man,” Royce tries again, but he doesn’t.
He lifts his fist, but before he can swing, I take a mini step forward.
“Maddoc,” I call him quietly, and he freezes.
Every muscle in his body locks, his arms slowly falling to his sides as his dad’s body slumps against the wall.
Everyone stays quiet.
Sluggishly, he turns to me and his face falls with his shoulder. Murky green eyes, lost and desperate, give up right before me.
Baby...
He stumbles toward me, so I take a quick step forward, ready to hold any of the weight he needs me to.
The pads of his fingers come up to skim across my cheek and I pull my lips between my teeth, my nostrils flaring.
Slowly, his eyes slide between mine and he nods almost imperceptibly.
He shifts closer. “I tried, baby,” he whispers, and a silent sob shakes my chest. “I tried.”
He jerks away suddenly, rushing down the hall with my heart in his hands, leaving his to bleed out at my feet.
Hopeless, that’s what we are.
I’ve been standing on the balcony for hours, looking over what was supposed to be their city, fully and completely in just a few short months when graduation rolls around – the day they were supposed to take unlimited control.
I can’t help but think they’ll look at this place and hate it now. Hate the power hidden in the ground, hate the air that suffocates them, the hands that force them. The rules they lived to enforce and the future they couldn’t wait to start.
Everything changed.
Now Maddoc and Royce will be the second to Captain. Captain who won’t be Brayshaw but Graven.
And then there’s me, the reason for it all.
Cap steps up beside me, folding his hands and looking out just the same.
I take a deep breath. “I never wanted to love or trust anyone. Never.” I frown at the sun. “I knew only bad would come from both those things and I knew it would be at my own hand.” I look to Captain. “I warned him, Cap. I told him it would be me fucking him over later. Why didn’t he listen? Why didn’t he just... leave me alone?”
Reign of Brayshaw (Brayshaw High #3) Page 11