The life I had before her.
The life I should have been thinking about.
But fuck. All that disappeared when I turned my head and faced Lola. Her hair hung loosely around her shoulders, the wetness dripping down onto her T-shirt, creating a wet pool over her shoulder. I was fascinated as it grew, becoming bigger and bigger the longer I stared.
“So…” She cleared her throat and glanced up at me. Her hazel eyes bore into mine, silently telling me something I already knew. There was no way I could walk away from her after all of this was over. But did I really have a choice? “This is your place.”
“Yeah,” I croaked out, my voice deeper than usual. It was so quiet in this room, and yet the silence seemed louder than ever. “What do you think?”
It was small talk, something I’d never been good at. I was a get-to-the-point kind of guy and didn’t mince my words, but with her, it was different. I didn’t want to be abrupt, I wanted to ease her into things, show her me in a way no one else had ever seen. How the hell had this happened?
“It’s...nice.” She shrugged and leaned back against the sofa, bringing one of her legs with her and pressing it against her chest. Her chin leaned on her knee, and she flicked her gaze around and then looked back at me. “I’ve seen worse.”
I grimaced, knowing she was talking about the drug dens we’d been searching. I had a feeling that wasn’t the first time she’d had to go looking for her dad or stepmom, and the thought had my fists clenching.
“I—” The ringing of my cell cut me off, and I pulled it out of my pocket, cursing when I saw who it was. Clicking the answer call button, I brought it to my ear but didn’t take my eyes off Lola once. “Hut.” She flinched, her chest moving as she took a deep breath, but as soon as she did, a mask slipped over her features. She was locking herself away right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.
“Where the fuck are you?” he growled over the line, the obvious sounds of a party almost drowning him out. “You were supposed to be here when I got back.”
I leaned forward, still not looking away from Lola as I answered, “I forgot my cell at my place, so I came back to get it.” I gritted my teeth, hating I was having to explain my whereabouts to a jumped-up kid who didn’t know what the hell he was doing half the time. No, that wasn’t true. He did know what he was doing because, if he didn’t, he’d have been behind bars right now.
“Well, get the fuck back here. We’re having a meeting with Carson, and I need you there.”
“Be there in fifteen,” I barked out to him and ended the call. If he needed me there, that meant two things. One, he didn’t think things were going to go well, and two, he was starting to trust me.
I stood and stretched my arms above my head, giving off a vibe that nothing was fazing me, but it was so far from the truth. The closer I got to Hut, the more I wanted to bring him down, but then there was Lola. What would happen to her once he was away? Would she survive—what the hell was I thinking? Of course she’d survive. She was going to college and trying to better herself, which meant she wanted out.
The thought had my eyes widening. How had I not realized that before? How had I been so stupid? She wanted out, but would she help herself by rolling on Hut? I wasn’t so sure, but I’d do my best to try.
“I gotta head back. Crew business.”
She nodded as she stood, grabbing her bag and moving toward the apartment door.
Neither of us spoke as we made our way back to my car, and it wasn’t until I was pulling up outside her house, the sounds of a party now having disappeared that she turned to face me.
“Thanks for letting me shower at your place.”
I grinned. “Anytime, kid.”
She shook her head and opened the door. “I may hold you to that, old man.”
I threw my head back, a brash laugh escaping me. I shouldn’t have been letting my guard down, especially not when Hut was so close, but I couldn’t help it. She brought out a part of me that had been buried for so long, I thought it’d disappeared. It hadn’t seen the light of day since...fuck.
Thoughts of my past sobered me, and even though I felt sick to my stomach, telling myself this was just a job allowed me to push it all aside. Out here I was Brody, part of the crew. It didn’t matter what I was in my normal life or who I surrounded myself with, because right now, all that mattered was taking Hut down. And Lola, a voice in the back of my mind whispered, but I ignored it and pushed out of the car.
I followed her up the path and jumped over the step. If Hut or anyone noticed we were together, no one said a thing as we walked inside. Lola didn’t say another word. Instead, she headed right for the stairs.
All the guys were in the kitchen, but I stayed near the front door, watching as she moved and hoping like hell she turned back when she got to the top. I didn’t know why I was so goddamn eager to see her face once more but fuck if I could deny I wanted to.
“Brody, that you?” Hut called from the kitchen, but still, I didn’t move. I waited, watching each of her steps and burning each curve of her body into my mind. I’d touched that body, I’d run my hand over that body, I’d—she paused at the top of the stairs, and my breathing picked up.
Her head turned, a smile on her face that damn near had me stumbling backward. She mouthed, “Thank you,” and I shot her a wink, feeling all out of sorts.
“We’re heading out,” Ford told me as he ambled into the main room. At the sound of his voice, Lola spun back around, most likely heading to her room.
I nodded and glanced over at him. His shoulders were tense, and something swirled in his eyes. We were going into a meeting with Carson, which caused some concern but not the amount he was emanating right then. He was on edge, something Ford never showed, and it could only mean one thing—the guys had got to him. Jord told me he was going to approach him, but I didn’t know when.
“You’re with me and Ford,” Hut’s voice demanded. I turned my head to look over my shoulder, taking note of the flat line of his lips.
I said nothing, deciding to stay silent and observe each of them. I walked outside and headed for the SUV, spotting Jace, Quinn, and Ted. I narrowed my eyes at Jace but he didn’t seem fazed one bit, in fact, he looked like he was having the time of his life.
“Jesus,” I mumbled as I pushed into the SUV.
“What?” Hut asked, his gaze finding mine in the rearview mirror.
“Jace is high as a kite.”
Hut huffed a breath out, a tired one that told me more than any words ever could. “I know. The fucker will get his head shot off if he’s not careful.” I wanted to agree with him, but not for the same reasons. I’d slit the bastard’s throat if he ever touched Lola like he did earlier tonight.
My fists clenched over my thighs, my breaths coming in choppy spurts as I remembered the way he’d manhandled her like he had any fucking right to touch what was mine.
Mine?
Fuck. What the fuck was I thinking? She couldn’t be mine, I couldn’t—shit. I was driving myself insane, but damn if I didn’t enjoy thinking about her. It was wrong, on so many levels, but I couldn’t bring myself to care. I couldn’t bring myself to walk away from her. I couldn’t…
Stop fucking thinking about her.
I shook my head, trying to expel my thoughts and pay attention to what was going on around me. We’d made our way out of the neighborhood and headed onto the freeway without a problem. I recognized the route we were taking and mentally tracked it in my head. There were only a few places that Hut deemed safe, and he was using them more and more often, which meant he was getting sloppy.
“I need you at my back,” Hut said, turning in his seat so he could look at me face-to-face. “Some shit is gonna go down, and I need to know my two best guys are behind me. Got it?”
“Got it,” I replied, not a second of hesitation. The fact that we were now his “best guys” meant we were getting somewhere. I was sure Ford had been turned from the way he w
as acting, which meant his best guys were also against him.
It’d be easy to let one of his enemies take him out, but it wouldn’t solve the problem we were having. Someone else would just take over his territory, but if we locked him up, we could purge the streets of his product.
The car slowed the closer we got to the meeting point—one of Carson’s clubs—and I pulled my gun out, making sure it was fully loaded and ready to go if we ran into any trouble.
Ford pulled the car to a complete stop, but he didn’t turn the engine off as we all filed out, ready for the meeting that would take place in the back of the lot because there was no way he’d go inside and be surrounded by Carson’s men. Hut was careless at times, but he wasn’t stupid.
Jace, Ted, and Quinn pulled in behind us and exited their car, joining on the outskirts. They were there to be seen, but not overly. Carson wouldn’t like it if he felt surrounded.
None of us spoke a word as we waited, the darkness surrounding us with only one streetlight to illuminate the space. The glow from that one bulb allowed there to be areas we could see in, but my gut told me there were people in the shadows. Jord kept tabs on me through the tracker I wore in my watch, so whenever I couldn’t reach them, they all knew exactly where I was. I had no doubt they’d followed us here.
I shuffled on the spot, the gravel under my boots crunching from the force, and then finally the lone back door pushed open. Several of Carson’s guys walked out first, and then a few seconds later, Carson appeared. The smirk that seemed to be plastered to his face anytime I’d seen him was vacant, and in its place was a flat line. He wasn’t happy—that much I was sure about.
“Carson,” Hut acknowledged, not moving from his spot ten feet in front of Ford and me.
“Hut,” Carson replied, his gaze swinging around as he took us all in. He wasn’t stupid either, knowing the two men he could see clearly weren’t the only people Hut had brought with him. His pristine shoes kicked up dust as he ambled closer to us, stopping five feet away from Hut. “Thank you for meeting with me.”
I’d witnessed Carson drugged out of his mind and also sober as hell. He wasn’t like some of the guys I knew who couldn’t be a mixture of both. He knew when to stop, he knew when he was about to tilt over the edge and become an addict. He was aware of his limits, which was more than I could say for Jace.
I flicked my gaze over toward the shadows, frowning at the way Jace was leaning against a fence pole. He looked like he was about to shimmy down it and make the ground his bed. Fuck.
“Yeah,” Hut replied, his shoulders tense. “I’m not real fuckin' happy about you calling me like I’m one of your goddamn dogs, so this better be fuckin' good.”
I could hear the silent threat in Hut’s words, and I was sure Carson could too, but he didn’t mention it as he raised a brow in return.
“Your product…” He trailed off, giving Hut a chance to say something, but when he was silent, Carson continued, “I could go to five different people within a fifty-mile radius and get better shit that you’re giving me. My clients are starting to notice, and that doesn’t bode well for business.”
Hut stepped forward slowly, his body seeming to vibrate with more and more anger the longer Carson spoke. “The fuck you talkin' about?”
Carson waved his hand in the air in the same way you would swat at a fly. “I’m talking about you cutting it.”
“It’s eighty-five percent pure. That’s what I’ve always sold, and what I will always sell.”
Carson tilted his head like a dog and watched Hut for several moments, distant traffic the only sounds. “You don’t know,” Carson finally said, throwing his head back and barking out a laugh. Even I tensed at the exchange, and nothing fucking fazed me anymore. I’d seen and done enough shit to not let one meeting bother me, but there was something to what he was saying, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on.
“Know what?” Hut growled out.
“That you have someone cutting your product lower than it should be.”
Hut stared at him, his fists clenched at his sides, taking in everything he said. “I’ll fix it.”
“Yes, you will,” Carson told him, nodding, and stepping back. “I expect new product within four days. Failure to supply won’t mean good things for you or your crew, Hut.”
Unlike Hut and his veiled threats, Carson had come right out and said it. Had it been anyone else, I was sure Hut would have put a bullet in him, but this was Carson, one of the biggest buyers in the state. Hut couldn’t afford to lose his business, no matter what happened. Having dealers on every street corner was one thing, but that wasn’t enough for Hut, he’d branched out into supplying the suppliers of said corner dealers, and now there was someone in our midst who’d crossed him.
Carson spun around and waved his hand in the air like he was the king of his own goddamn country, and as soon as the door clicked into place behind him, Hut exploded. “What. The. Fuck!” He gripped his head in his hands and paced back and forth, not caring that Carson was probably watching his every move on the cameras he had around his building, or maybe Hut didn’t know he had cameras.
I shook my head. Of course he didn’t know. I’d caught sight of them the first time we’d come here months ago, but I was trained to observe my surroundings.
“Hut—” Ford started.
Hut spun around, his nostrils flared. “Don’t say one motherfuckin' word,” he warned him. “Every single one of you fuckers better get your asses back to the house.” He stormed past us, threw himself into the front of his car, and slammed the door so loud it vibrated through me.
No one moved for several seconds, each of us taking in what had just happened. Someone had cut the product more than they should have, which meant someone was skimming drugs. One of Hut’s crew had just crossed him, which could only mean things were about to get a whole lot messier than they already were.
Chapter Twelve
LOLA
I smiled wide and waved at Cade as his mom drove away, but once they were out of the lot, my shoulders slumped and my smile dropped. The last few days I’d barely had any sleep with people coming in and out of the house at all times at night. It wasn’t like usual, though. No music was pounding against the walls, no drunken parties. It was all business, and by business I meant Hut shouting the odds and telling every member of his crew that he would “find the fucker who crossed him and destroy him.”
I had no idea what it meant, but after the first night he’d thrown a temper tantrum, I’d stayed out later, and woke up earlier. I wanted to be in that house about as much as I wanted inside an active volcano—although, the similarities between the two places were uncanny. Either could erupt at a moment’s notice.
It had been two days since I’d showered at Brody’s place, and the water still hadn’t been turned on, but I honestly couldn’t give a shit anymore. I was tempted to ask Hut what was going on, but the last thing I needed was the mood he’d been in to be directed at me, so I’d kept my mouth shut. The bathrooms at the college had done a sufficient job for the time being, but I knew I’d have to broach the subject with Hut at some stage.
I leaned against the wall outside the diner, ready to be done with this shift. My eyes burned, my muscles ached, and my body just wanted rest. That’s what getting up at 4 a.m. will do to you.
“You good, Lola-Girl?” Sal’s deep voice asked, the bell over the door ringing as he stepped out and stopped beside me.
“Yeah.” I nodded and pushed myself up, pasting the fakest smile on my face as I turned to stare at him. “Just tired.”
His eyes took me in, scanning my face, most likely seeing the bags that seemed to be living under my eyes permanently at the moment. “You look like you haven’t slept in a week.”
I laughed because he wasn’t far from the truth. “I’ve been staying up late.” I coughed, knowing I was about to fill him with bullshit. “College work.”
“Ahhh.” He dipped his head back like he understood. “I
don’t know how you do all the school stuff. I barely graduated high school.”
“Yeah?” I smiled a real smile this time. “I take it school wasn’t your thing.”
He shook his head. “Nope.” One side of his mouth pulled up into a knowing smirk. “If it weren’t for the ladies who walked the halls, I probably wouldn’t have gone at all.”
I stepped past him and pulled open the door. “You were a ladies’ man then, huh, Sal?”
He followed me back into the bustling diner and barked out a laugh. “Hell yes, I was.” He paused, then said, “I still am. They flock to me like a fly does to shit.”
I snorted. “Great analogy,” I told him.
“Hey!” he called after me as I went behind the counter, and he stopped at the entrance to the kitchen. “I told you school wasn’t my strong suit.” He winked and pushed through to the kitchen. “Now get to work. You have milkshakes to shake, and plates to deliver.”
I rolled my eyes and spun around, taking over from Jan so she could go on her break.
The evening went as it always did, fast and then slow with an influx of people at certain points. By the time Sal and I were locking up, I felt like I could sleep for a week, and the thought of walking from the station to my house had me expelling a breath.
“Get some sleep,” Sal told me as he started the walk to his trailer that lived around the back of the building. “You’re off tomorrow, so use that time to rest. Can’t have my best worker breaking on me now, can I?”
I shook my head and waved. “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you in a couple days.”
I saluted him and started the walk to the station, only having to wait a couple of minutes before my train pulled in. I allowed myself to shut my eyes on the way, but not enough that I’d fall asleep. Doing that at any time of the day was bad, but at night, it would just be calling for trouble.
The train shuddered to a stop, and I pried my burning eyelids open, hoping and praying for a decent night’s sleep. I stumbled off the train and out onto the street, pulling in a deep breath of the biting cold air. It filled my lungs, waking me up more than the overly hot train. I’d been lulled into that space where I was all warm and fuzzy, my body starting to succumb to the heat, but now I was wide awake and ready for the walk home.
Fallen Duet: Brody & Lola: Free Fall & Down Fall (Easton Family Duet Boxsets Book 1) Page 13
