by G N Wright
I hate to admit it but Jace is right. I thought I knew the whole story but it’s clear there is something more going on here. I need answers and she is the only one who can give them to me and yet I know she is the last person that will. Asher obviously knows, he has too. He said it loud and clear last night that they have never lost touched or stopped seeing each other the last few years.
If they never lost touch, then surely, she is on Donovan's side. Asher never spoke to me after Elle left but he did try to reach out after his father murdered mine. I told him to burn in hell and to take Elliot and Elle with him. At that point, my grief was so fresh I didn’t give a fuck about reason just facts.
“Yeah we are out of the loop. She is shady and guarding who knows how many fucking secrets,” I snap back at him.
“Look Marcus, I love you, you're my brother and I will always have your back but I have to tell you, I think you have things wrong about her,” he looks nervous to say that out loud and I don’t blame him after everything I’ve said.
“Yeah brother, I have to agree with Jace on this one,” Linc adds.
“She came back for a reason,” Jace continues.
My head is fucked from what I thought I knew and from what I have heard this week. I don’t know what to think.
“She never even reached out to me, not once, not even when my dad died,” I say after a couple of minutes of silence passes.
She was my best friend. My only friend really, unless you count Asher which I don't, I only used to put up with him because of Elle. Just us until I met the guys. I have spent over three years fucking pissed at her for leaving and hateful at her for what happened to my dad.
“I needed her,” I add so quietly it’s almost a whisper. “How can I trust someone who left me?”
“Elle was your friend and it sounds like something happened to her that sent her running from this town and I think you are lucky she even came back,” Jace is trying hard to mask his pain but I can see through it, his anger isn't aimed at me right now.
“She was just a kid,” Lincoln says solemnly like he knows something I don’t.
“Elliot Donovan said it was because of her that my dad was murdered because of something she did.”
Even as I say the words aloud, they don’t hold the same conviction as they did a week ago. Do I really believe that Elle, my Elle, would do anything that would result in murder? What if this whole time I have been blaming her for something that didn’t happen and if so why did she leave? What would make Donovan lie about her unless he did something to her. No that can’t be right because then why would she cut me out and turn to Asher.
“And you believe that low life piece of shit? The first rule of this town is you can’t trust a fucking Donovan,” Jace snaps again.
“Yeah and she's got one on her fucking arm!” I bellow back at him.
Jace laughs now for the first time since this conversation started “Yeah, well that’s just your jealousy, bro.”
Jealousy. Of course I’m fucking jealous. How could I not be? Asher used to be on the outside, it was me and Ells against the world and he was our third wheel. Now I am the one left out in the cold, the one she looks at with disdain while she looks at Asher like he is her everything. The pain at losing my best friend is just as bruising as losing my father. I’m left with nothing while Asher gets everything.
“You’re right but still, she’s with Asher now,” the words taste bitter on my tongue.
“She seems cool, I like her, and I have never seen you get your head fucked with by a chick.”
I want to laugh. Of course, she is fucking with my head. She has had permanent fucking residence there, has since we were kids, and we had our first play date.
“I feel like I have hated her for 3 years for leaving and everything else, how can I just turn that off?”
“You just gotta decide if it's worth it,” Jace says.
“What's worth it?” I ask, confused.
“Everything,” he smiles at me before grabbing his bottle of water from the table and leaving the room.
Chapter 13
ELLE
For as rich as Elliot Donovan is you would think he would have classier ways kidnapping young girls. You would never think one of his favorite hunting grounds would be the dive bar on the south side strip.
I’ve been digging into his business for over two years and I know so many sick and twisted details of his fucked up little sex ring that it doesn’t even shock me anymore. He is clever. I’ll give him that. You would never know about his sick perversions if you didn’t know what to look for. He covers his tracks well.
He prays on the young and vulnerable. His main M.O. is to take the girls who are forgotten and left behind so nobody notices them or cares when they’re gone. I was the first exception from what I’ve gathered but certainly not the last.
He has since upgraded to stealing girls of the elite families and putting them into compromising positions to use as blackmail against anyone who might even think about opposing him. The threat is normally enough to have even his most defiant opponents fall back in line. If they don’t, well, I hate to think about what happens to those girls. Either way, Donovan reaps the fucking benefits.
His organization gets off on making little girls break.
I wonder if I'll get off on breaking them.
I spy my first target. Nate ‘Octo’ Maxwell, he is known around town for being one of Donovan's biggest drug runners, supplying everyone with the goods but I know of his true crimes. He preys on girls in bars by drugging them and carrying them off to their worst nightmares. He’s got his fingers in so many pies that he’s been nicknamed the octopus. I shit you not, the fucking octopus!
I’ve been sitting in a back booth for almost two hours watching him fucking drool over a girl who is no more than fifteen. He’s got his arm around her and has been plying her with free drinks since I got here. She is completely out of it and not just from the free booze and I wish I didn’t have to watch this, but I need to make sure my timing is right.
Even without the Donovan paycheck he is the type of narcissistic asshole who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer. They use him for his boy next door good looks that lure in the girls but all I can see is a sick fucking rapist who needs to burn in hell.
The girl slips from her stool and he shoots his arm out to catch her the black tentacles of ink on his arm curving round her to keep her up right. He tosses some bills across the bar to cover his tab and starts towards the back of the club to the entrance that leads to the alley.
Showtime.
The adrenaline that starts to burn in my veins fuels the fire in me that was started on the night I was broken. I have been working towards revenge for so long that the feeling of it finally being put into motion makes chaos flow through me. I can’t wait to paint the walls with his blood.
I follow him as he drags her along with him, she is fully passed out now and honestly it takes everything in me to not fucking kill him right here, but it will be a lot cleaner outside. The fact that no one even bats an eyelash at him dragging an unconscious girl out back tells you enough about the caliber of people that frequent here. Everyone knows who Nate Maxwell is and who he works for, they don’t dare interfere as they are too scared of the repercussions. Sadly, I’ve already experienced some of the worst Elliot Donovan has to offer so I have no qualms about dealing with this low life.
I stalk him from the darkness as he makes his way outside and over to a van that is waiting for him, he flings the back door open and practically throws her inside.
The rage is real.
I step from the shadows and call out his name.
“Nate Maxwell,” he startles and turns towards me quickly and I see recognition hit his eyes after a couple of seconds.
“I never forget a pretty face, princess,” his eyes rake over me and he licks his lips.
I have to fight the bile from making its way up my throat, I am going to enjoy this way more than I th
ought.
“And I never forget an impotent rapist cunt,” I snap at him and his face is a mixture of lust and glee. Sick bastard.
“Oh girl, you should have stayed in whatever hole you have been hiding in, but I am glad you didn’t,” his glare turns sinister. “Mr. Donovan is going to be happy with my hunting tonight.”
He lunges at me, but I anticipate his attack and have already pulled my knife from its concealed sheath and as he slams me against the alley wall, I plunge it into his side. He grunts in pain and falters slightly, but it doesn’t weaken him enough, I guess he has a lot of practice at subduing young girls.
He twists my arm until I drop it and then pulls the knife out and throws it to the floor as he barks at me, “You fucking little slut,” his insult makes me roll my eyes considering the only time I have ever been fucked is against my will. I dig my fingers into the stab wound I left, and he yells out and immediately releases me.
He recovers quicker than I expect and punches me hard in the face and I see stars and have to bend over. Fuck that hurts. He retreats to grab something from his van and on his return, I can see rope in his hand. Oh, fuck no, not today Satan. I stand up straight and I feel blood trickle down my face and onto my lip and I dart my tongue out to taste it. Oh, he is going to fucking regret making me bleed.
I duck down to the ground as he lunges for me again, I throw my knuckle dusted fist right into his dick as hard as I can and the scream he lets out is like a symphony to my ears. Fuck. I have always wanted to do that to someone and trust me Nate Maxwell is a prime fucking candidate.
I can feel my face swelling from where he hit me, and I would love nothing more than to plant a bullet in this sick fucks skull but I don’t want to draw too much attention.
I bend down to retrieve my knife but a gasping noise from the van distracts me. I turn to make my way towards the girl when a hand reaches out and grabs my ankle. The hand yanks me to the floor before I can reach the van. My head slams into the ground and the impact makes me dizzy. Nate uses the distraction to climb on top of me and pins me down with my arms locked tight into my body. It’s a good thing Zack trained me with some of the best, otherwise I would be well and truly fucked right now. I need to think and fast.
The blood pouring from his side soaks into my lace bodice and I know it won’t be long before he passes out from the blood loss. I ready myself to headbutt him when his excited pissed off stare suddenly turns vacant and he lets out a grunt as his body becomes dead weight on top of me.
His body is on me for seconds before it’s being hauled off and I am greeted with a face I never thought I'd be happy to see. Lincoln reaches out his arm to help me up and as I stand, I see my knife poking out of the back of Nate’s back. I think I might be in shock because I don’t even know what to say.
He is standing there, green eyes alive with intensity and looking right at me. He is dressed head to toe in black and there is a black duffel at his feet. He reaches out and tentatively grabs my chin and tilts my face to the side to survey my injuries.
I am definitely sporting a black eye and a cut on my eyebrow.
“You okay?” his stare locks me in place and I just nod.
He leans down to check Nate’s pulse which I know is now non-existent and then he studies our surroundings taking in everything he sees.
“You seriously came here alone,” he snaps and it’s not a question.
I huff at him. Like I haven't been training for this type of shit for three years.
“I can handle myself, Lincoln.”
He just shakes his head and looks pointedly at the dead body at our feet. Okay, I guess he caught me in a compromised position, and he helped me just at the right time but hell if I am admitting that to this cocky asshole. I could of handled it without him, it’s what I trained for.
“I would have been fine,” I snap at him.
“If you say so.”
“Whatever, stalker.”
“This stalker just saved your life,” he says, and I notice his frown when he clocks the cameras.
“The cameras are fake, and I cut off the ones on the street,” he swings his gaze back to me as I speak, clearly shocked.
“I’m not stupid.”
“I didn't think you were, but I am being paid a lot of money to have your back.”
“The man who is paying you also paid to have me sufficiently trained.” I make a show of gesturing to my knife and gun.
“Oh, so you are smarter than you look,” he gleams at me and I roll my eyes at him.
“Don’t make me dick punch you too,” I snap at him, flashing him the duster on my fist and he smiles.
What the fuck am I going to do with him. I don’t have time to worry about him right now, the dead leech at my feet takes precedence.
I need to call for help and I debate whether I should get Lincoln to leave first but then I think fuck it. He did just help me kill a man. Guess I’ll have to trust him a little. I pull my phone out and dial the third number on my speed dial.
“Hey, it’s me. Yeah, I’m okay but I need a clean-up and a safe house, and can you get Doc to meet me there?” I speak quickly into the phone to Zack’s head of security without using his name, I ain’t trusting Lincoln that much. It’s also why I only ask for Arthur by his codename.
Lincoln watches me closely and I can tell he’s trying to work something out. He is looking at me like he is expecting me to freak out or something, which I guess isn’t too farfetched considering the last time he saw me I was having a panic attack. I see his mind working trying to piece together what is happening and I can see when he thinks he gets it because he tilts his head to the side and frowns even deeper than before.
“What?” I snap after I end the call.
“This is the octopus dead at our feet.”
I roll my eyes of course he knows who it is. I should have seen this coming when he told me he had been working for Zack. Has Z told him what’s going on here? And if he hasn’t, should I? I mean it is going to be pretty easy to figure out if he is going to keep fucking following me.
“And?” I say dismissing him as I make my way over to the van to check on the girl.
“I know exactly who this lowlife works for. I’ve been watching you for hours, so are you really going to try and act like I’m stupid?” he looks at me expectantly.
I honestly don’t know how to even answer him. I mean he just saved my ass and he obviously knows more than I imagined but how can I open up to him, he’s still a Rebel.
“Look Linc, I appreciate your help, but I have got a dead body to dispose of and an unconscious girl to tend to. So, can we do this another time? Like, maybe never?” I say as I reach out and check over the girl for any injuries.
She looks even younger up close and it makes me want to cut the dead piece of shit on the floor even more. Fucking bastard. Of course Lincoln ignores me and comes over to help me.
“Are you going to make stalking me a habit?” I ask distractedly.
“Yep,” he replies obnoxiously, and I groan.
Fuck it. Z obviously trusts him, and it looks like I won’t be getting rid of him anytime soon.
“Fine. Two conditions. One, Marcus does not find out about this. His safety is a top priority to me, and I won't have any more Riviera blood spilled on my watch.”
I expect him to fight me on this, but he simply nods and responds, “And two?”
“Two,” I exhale. “Two is you don’t ask me any personal questions. I am not an open book and we won’t be sharing secrets or trading stories. You can help me with this no questions asked, or I can easily add losing a tail to my skill set.”
He holds his hand out to me and I look at him confused and he just shakes his head and grabs mine to his and we shake on it. He then turns and reaches into his duffel and starts pulling out plastic sheeting and tape. Fuck me, what the hell have I got myself into here?
Chapter 14
ELLE
It’s Monday morning again already and I f
eel a sense of Deja vu as the dread fills my stomach as I enter the Hallows High parking lot. I can’t believe it has only been a week since I came here, so much has happened.
I am beyond exhausted after my busy weekend and no amount of foundation or concealer is covering up the bruises on my face. The swelling has decreased, thankfully, but you can still quite clearly see the black eye I am sporting.
I am purposely running late to avoid any extra attention, but I’m not surprised to see Lincoln leaning on his car waiting for me as I pull into the spot next to him. I get out and slam the door shut and head straight to him, no point in delaying the inevitable.
“King,” he nods at me and then reaches out to tilt my head up and to the side.
I don’t normally let people I don’t know touch me but if Z trusts him enough to follow me then I have to remember I can feel safe with him.
“Guess your weekend activities are standing out loud and clear,” he adds.
I scoff, "What have you never seen a girl who likes it rough before?"
His jaw tightens, "Don't try saying that shit to Marcus, he will lose his shit."
"Marcus is of no concern to me," I snap back.
"I thought we'd agreed to a truce. So, you can cut the bullshit."
I laugh, "We did. I let you help me clean up a murder that if I remember correctly, you committed. I agreed to allow you to continue stalking me, but those things will stay between us and not be told to anyone, specifically Marcus.” I rush the words out in annoyance at having to even entertain this conversation with him.
"Okay," he says simply.
"Okay?" I muse slowly. Not the answer I was expecting from him, I was readying myself for him to put up a fight, why is he just agreeing with me?
"Yeah, okay. Look, I love Marcus too. He's my brother, but he’s already in this whether you like it or not, we’ve got our own thing with Donovan and his crew. But if you need someone to have your back and you think the only way to do that is to keep secrets, I’m in”.
