by Lily White
This is bad.
Seriously fucking bad.
His eyes finally move away from me and look around the room.
“This is what we have. Governor Callahan has a recording of Ivy torching the pavilion back in high school and has threatened to leak the tape and arrest her to protect his interests.”
Sawyer chuckles. “Well, damn. And we thought our fathers were bad. Sucks to be you, Ivy.”
Tanner arches a brow at that, but keeps going.
“We have the phone records from JJB Tech that show the Governor had been in touch with the company during the period of time prior to Jerry sinking the company.”
My eyes fly up at that, and Tanner glances at me. “They were in boxes of stuff Luca had yet to go through. After we found them, that’s how we knew to go after you at the cabin.”
At least that question is finally answered. I’d wondered how they figured it out.
“So this is what we do. Taylor, you should already know your one job is to figure out how to decrypt the files on that flash drive. Mason, I want you to go into the office tomorrow and prepare documents that will counter any charges Governor Callahan can demand against Ivy for the fire. Jase and Sawyer, I want you to go speak with the state prosecutor that owes us a favor to ensure he’s on board to refuse filing charges against Ivy if the Governor demands it. And Ezra and Damon-“
He pauses, eyes both of them, and rethinks his game plan. “You two are out of commission on this one since your faces look like fucking shit.”
The twins both grin, then go back to glaring at each other.
“And Shane, you stay on finding Brinley and getting close to her.”
Tanner runs a hand through his hair. “Tomorrow, Gabe and I will work on drawing up a lawsuit against Governor Callahan on behalf of Luca. Mail fraud alone for him having that envelope will set the ball rolling, and we’ll figure out what else to add to it with the information we have.”
His eyes turn back to me. “Until we get everything in place, you need to stay somewhere safe. Daddy can’t arrest you if he can’t find you, so I suggest you stay at Gabe’s-“
“No,” I say interrupting him. “That’s not happening. I’ll stay at Emily’s house.”
“He’ll look for you there.” Tanner glances at Gabriel. “Take her home with you-“
“I’m not going with him,” I snap. “I’ll stay on the fucking streets before going anywhere near him.”
“Stop being stupid,” Gabriel says from where he stands near the bar. “I think you’ve done enough idiotic things to land us where we are.”
Teeth grinding, I refuse to look at him.
My eyes lock on Tanner. “I’m not staying with him.”
“She can stay with me.”
All our heads turn Ezra’s direction. He laughs and shrugs.
“What? She can’t go to Emily’s, and Gabe’s an asshole, so I can’t blame her for wanting to stay away from him. She might as well come to our house since nobody will get past us to get to her.”
He has a point. If it’s muscle that’s needed to protect me, I’d put money on the twins being the best choice.
Tanner stares at them, looks at me, and back to them. “Yeah, but Ivy has a habit of pissing people off. If that happens, who can get past you to save her?”
Also a good point.
“Absolutely fucking not.”
Everybody turns to look at Gabe, even me this time because I have to admit I’m enjoying the rage simmering behind his eyes as he stares down Ezra.
His jaw tics once as his fingers blanch over the glass he’s holding like his life fucking depends on it.
Fuck him.
“I’ll stay with Ezra,” I announce, my sweet smile in place when Gabe’s stare slides my direction with disapproval rolling behind it.
Tanner sighs. “What the fuck ever. I don’t care. Ivy stays with Ezra and Damon. Now everybody needs to get the fuck out of my house. I’m tired and pissed off and don’t want to deal with this anymore tonight.”
Works for me, I think. I’m tired and pissed off, too.
Pushing up to my feet, I start walking in Ezra’s direction only to have a hand lock over my arm.
“Let me go.” I try to yank my arm from Gabriel’s fist, but he only scowls at me before dragging me back to the kitchen.
Once inside, he kicks the door shut and pins me against a wall with his palms planted on either side of my head. His furious green eyes stab daggers into mine.
My chin tilts in defiance because the last thing I’m going to do is let this asshole intimidate me.
“You’re not going with Ezra.”
Laughing at that, I cross my arms over my chest.
“I’m not sure how you plan to stop me, Gabriel, or why you even care. You made it perfectly fucking clear this is all one big game to you and that you’ve won. Well, congratu-fucking-lations. Should I have the trophy engraved in your name or have it made out to Fraud? Also, would you like strippers at the celebration, or are clowns and balloon animals sufficient?””
His lips pull into a smile, and I’m about five seconds from slapping it off.
“You’ll do what I tell you-“
“Oh, we’re here again? Do you expect me to behave? I hate to break this to you, but you don’t get to tell me you’ve been using me and then turn around and make demands of me. So give me one good reason why I shouldn’t go with Ezra? Tanner is okay with it. I’m being babysat until you all get what you want.”
I can’t help it at this point. My voice comes out on a scream. “So what the fuck is the problem?”
He doesn’t flinch in response to me yelling in his face. Gabriel just stands there glaring down at me, the smile slipping only because it curves down into a sneer.
Thank God for Ezra. He walks in and prevents this from going further.
“You ready?”
My eyes stay locked to Gabriel’s, my words mimicking his bullshit statement from earlier.
“Yeah. Gabriel and I are done here.”
Slamming my palms against his chest, I shove him away. Surprisingly, he lets me, his eyes burning holes in my back as I walk off with Ezra.
I hear a faint growl behind us when Ezra wraps an arm around my shoulders.
When I turn to look at him, Ezra winks and grins before casting a look over his shoulder at Gabriel. I can almost feel the glare Gabriel must be giving Ezra, and it takes effort not to laugh.
Good.
Let him be pissed off.
He fucking deserves it.
Neither of us say anything as we head outside and climb into Shane’s car for him to drive us to Ezra’s place.
The ride is mostly made in silence because none of these guys are chatty. It’s fine with me. I’m not in the mood to talk, and it’s nice to be around people who feel the same.
At this point, all I want to do it go to sleep. Just close my eyes and forget this day ever happened.
We pull up to the twins’ house ten minutes later and I’m not surprised to see their place is just as swanky as Tanner’s.
It’s only a few neighborhoods away and has the same manicured lawns and low-lit gardens, the two-story mansion more modern with a steel and glass facade that mimics the city.
I thank Shane as we leave the car and step out to follow Damon and Ezra inside. Damon runs upstairs as soon as we walk in, leaving Ezra and I standing awkwardly in the foyer.
“Do you want to go to the guest room, or...”
His voice trails off as his amber eyes turn my way.
Pursing my lips, I narrow my stare on him and realize his inviting me here might have been intended for something more than just getting me away from Gabriel.
“Do you have any beer?” I ask.
He smiles, and I can’t deny the expression looks damn good on him. It’s rare for either of them to show any emotion, and even rarer for it to be this.
“Yeah,” he answers, looking relieved as he turns to lead me into the kitchen.
Okay. This ni
ght is getting weirder and weirder, but I go along with it. If anything, this finally gives me a chance to figure out what the problem is with Emily.
Even while the twins were fighting, she refused to give me details. All she said was it’s her fault and she shouldn’t have been with Ezra tonight.
He pulls two beers out of the fridge, pops the cap on both and walks over to a small breakfast nook in the corner of the kitchen.
Following Ezra over, I sit in the seat opposite him to commence our stare down.
The first thing I notice is this son of a bitch is absolutely gorgeous, even with the bruises and cuts from the fight with his brother.
It’s not that I hadn’t noticed before, but the twins aren’t exactly people you stare at for too long without worry of having your head ripped off. They’re more the type you admire in passing, quick glances taken before finding something else more interesting, like a speck on your shoe or a stain on the ceiling.
But now, staring at him while he stares back, it’s the first time I notice the green flecks in his amber eyes and the height of his cheekbones that only define his square jaw better. The perfect line of his nose leads down to full lips, his cheeks dusted with stubble that matches his dark brown hair.
I also notice a faint scar above his right eyebrow and another that runs along the left line of his jaw. Briefly wondering if that’s how Emily tells them apart, I sit back in my chair and take a sip of my beer.
Ezra studies me just as closely, his brows tugged together in hesitation as he picks up a pack of cards.
“Do you play poker?”
Sadly, this is probably the second time we’ve ever had a civil conversation. “No. I know how to play Go Fish.”
The corner of his lip curls, and I damn near melt to see it. Why do these guys have to always act like thugs when they’ve got a smile as nice as that?
Ezra starts dealing the cards and drinks down half of his beer in one tug. After picking up his stack, he moves a few around and asks, “Got a three?”
It’s impossible not to laugh. “You didn’t bring me here to play Go Fish.”
He shrugs, his eyes lifting to mine. “You looked like you needed to get away from Gabe. Want to tell me why?”
“He’s a liar, a fraud and a complete dick.”
His grin tilts higher. “Fair enough. I was serious about that three.”
“Oh.” I grab my cards and look through them. “Yeah, here.”
Picking it up from the table, he tucks it in his stack. “He didn’t look happy that you agreed to go with me. Should I plan for him to show up here later?”
“Will you beat him up if he does?”
His broad shoulders shake with quiet laughter. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”
I know I should laugh at that, but it only hurts to hear it. Of course my thoughts race back to those two bruised eyes and his busted lip.
Damn it, Gabe.
“I don’t want to talk about him. Why don’t you tell me what’s going on with Emily? And also if you have a nine.”
“Go fish. Nothing’s going on with her.”
“Stop lying. You’re not very good at it.”
Another grin tilts his lips, but the expression is lost as his eyes shadow. “We’re both in love with her.”
Whoa. That was unexpected. I almost slide out of my chair, but attempt to hide my shock by picking up my beer to take a sip.
I guess my eyes give me away because he lifts a brow and sips from his beer, too. When he sets the bottle down again, he correctly guesses, “Weren’t expecting that, were you?”
“Uh...no. Not at all actually.”
“Neither was she,” he grumbles. “Got a king?”
Laying all my cards down, I brace my forearms on the table and lean toward him.
“Am I right to assume you two don’t want to share her anymore?”
A muscle jumps above his eye. “I don’t. And no, I don’t think Damon wants to either. But that’s the fucking problem. She doesn’t want to hurt him, and she doesn’t want to hurt me, so she left both of us. I’m just having a problem staying away.”
Holy shit.
“And that’s what caused the fight tonight?”
Nodding his head, he finishes off his beer. “He wasn’t too happy to see me with her, apparently.”
Frustrated, Ezra tosses his cards down and stares across the table at me.
“I can’t stay away from her,” he confesses, the look on his face making my heart melt while at the same time breaking it apart. “So what the hell should I do?”
A few seconds of silence pass before I answer, “You must really have it bad to be talking to me about this. I’m pretty sure there’s like zero moments in our history when we’ve gotten along for any length of time.”
“Yeah, well, there was one other time,” he reminds me, his amber eyes sparkling beneath the small pendant lights above our head. “How about you help me with Emily, and I’ll help you with Gabriel?”
My chest constricts at the thought of Gabe. I can’t remember what he said to me on Tanner’s porch - the absolute lack of emotion in his voice - without believing that he really has been playing me all along.
“I don’t think you can help me with him. He doesn’t want me. He said as much.”
Ezra’s brow cocks as if to call out what I said as bullshit. “And here I thought you knew him better than that. What did you do to piss him off?”
“Admitted I knew he set me up to start the fire and that I did it anyway.”
I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it’s not the laughter that booms from his chest.
“I always wondered about that. And you’re fucking insane for admitting it. But we’ve always known that. It’s been years of entertainment watching you fuck with him. But that alone should tell you anything he said tonight was a load of crap.”
Confused, I meet his stare. “I don’t follow.”
“If Gabriel wasn’t into you, he never would have taken the time to fight you. He would have made it a quick burial and forgotten your name after that. What you two were doing in high school was a bunch of love taps. We all knew it. Gabriel’s the only one who didn’t.”
“So what you’re saying is-“
“I’ll help you knock his head straight, if you’ll help me with Emily.”
Although the offer sounds nice, I have to remember I’m dealing with a guy people call Violence. He might be serious about knocking Gabriel’s head around.
“Can we do this without actually hurting him?”
That damn grin re-emerges, and I’m starting to understand why Emily is having such a problem denying these guys. One is bad enough, but two of them?
She’s a lucky bitch.
And also the unluckiest woman on the planet for having to choose.
“We can.”
Intrigued, I take another sip of my beer and stare at this new ally.
“Okay, Ezra. I’ll bite. What is it, exactly, that you’re suggesting?”
Gabriel
“Wake up, Gabe. We’re almost to the damn house.”
An elbow slams into me, jarring me awake.
Son of a bitch, it feels like I haven’t slept in days, even though it’s only been twenty-four hours. I was doing fine for most of the day, but then a certain asshole decided it would be better to take his car to the Governor’s mansion after dropping mine off at my house.
The long drive put me to sleep.
Cracking my eyes open, I turn my head to scowl at Tanner. “Maybe if we’d driven straight from the office like I suggested, I wouldn’t be so damn tired.”
“Maybe if you slept last night, you wouldn’t be so tired. And that’s not my fault. That’s all on you for being an idiot.”
My scowl deepens, and I turn my head to stare out the side window. The sun is setting on the horizon, bands of red, orange and pink painting the sky. For some reason, Bob Ross comes to mind, but in the mood I’m in, I feel like ripping all the happy little trees out
of the ground before setting the world on fire with happy little flames.
“She’s better off away from us, and you know it,” I argue, annoyed as shit that he won’t let this subject drop.
All fucking day, Tanner has been harassing me about Ivy. Several times I fantasized about stapling his mouth shut or stabbing his eyes out with a pencil from across the desk.
“That’s crap,” he says as he takes a sharp turn up a ramp to the highway.
My jaw tics. “Why won’t you drop it?”
“Because you didn’t drop it with Luca and me. And I’m glad you didn’t. I’m just returning the favor.”
“You can keep it.”
He laughs. “Says the guy who didn’t sleep last night because Ivy was at the twins’ house. But you’re right. I should shut up. I’m sure after the two of them double teamed her, she’s forgotten all about you.”
Teeth grinding, I slide my stare his way with the intent of ripping his head off. “It’s like you want the twins dead.”
“The fuck ever, Gabe. While watching you and Ivy go at each other for the past eighteen years has been fun, it’s about time you accept what the rest of us have known all along.”
“Stop stealing my lines, dick. I know you’re desperate to be like me, but you’ll have to write your own material.”
He grins at that. It was the same thing I told him when he was fighting a battle against Luca.
While everybody else could see he wanted her, Tanner was deluding himself into believing his only focus was on getting the servers.
It only pisses me off more that he’s absolutely correct about my feelings for Ivy. But that’s not the problem.
“If they apply, I’ll toss them right back at you.”
“I haven’t claimed I don’t want her. My issue is the fact that every shitty thing happening to her right now is because of me.”
He doesn’t react. Instead he keeps his eyes on the road and taps a thumb against the steering wheel. “A lot of shitty things happened to Luca because of me. It all worked out in the end.”
“Luca didn’t show up at your house with bruises on her face.”
His eyes cut my direction for a split second before returning to the road.
“That’s what this is about? You had your ass handed to you several times as a kid, Gabe. We all know it, and some of us...”