by Eve, Jaymin
Dante scrubbed his free hand over his head again. “You remember how my old man was in the Grims before me, right? That’s how I ended up involved?” I nodded. “Right, well when Selene and I were kids, we were out playing in the yard, just messing around on our bikes, and someone with a grudge against my dad decided to drive by and start shooting. Just... opened fire with an AK-47. I don’t think they were even really aiming for anyone or anything, but they hit Selene.”
I sucked in a breath, pressing my fingers to my lips to keep from screaming or crying or something. What the fuck was wrong with this world? The only thing that kept me calm was knowing that she had survived.
“She got taken to the hospital, but...” He trailed off, his head bowed as he picked at his fingernails, clearly remembering the day. “There were complications. She needed more surgeries and rehab. It was all so expensive, and my parents had no insurance, no way to pay. The best the hospital was offering was palliative care. Selene was dying, and they wouldn’t do anything to save her unless we could pay.”
“And that’s where Catherine stepped in?” I breathed out, partly horrified and partly grateful. Catherine’s obsession with control had saved my friend’s life.
Dante nodded. “She wanted someone to keep an eye on you, make progress reports, shit like that. It seemed like such an easy gig, you know? Make friends with some kid and check in with this rich bitch every now and then. In return, she’d see that Selene got all the care she needed to make a full recovery.”
I licked my lips, stunned. “Why you?”
Dante shrugged. “Gang connections. My dad had been doing dirty work for Delta for years, and we were so close in age...” He sighed. “I guess it wasn’t hard for her to assume that the son of a gang leader might value money higher than morals.”
“Stop it,” I scolded. “You didn’t value money over morals. You valued your sister’s life. I can’t...” I broke off, my voice cracking. “I can’t blame you for that.”
My best friend’s gaze shot up to my face, his eyes full of hope and desperation, and I clenched my fists tight to steel my resolve. “But that was almost ten years ago, Dante. Ten years. Did my friendship mean so little to you that you kept this secret all that time? That you kept reporting on me? Do you have any idea how violated that makes me feel? How used, and how downright stupid?”
His face had fallen with every word, and my heart cracked further. “I know, and I can’t even begin to apologize to you, Riles. By the time I stopped seeing you as a job and started seeing you as...” He paused, flicking a lightning fast glance at Beck. “As a friend, it was too late. Anything I said would have ruined what we had, and I wasn’t willing to risk that.”
I gaped at him. “So you’re saying if I hadn’t found out, you never would have told me?”
“Never.” His jaw was set, and I couldn’t totally wrap my head around what I was hearing. “Catherine made my dad sign a contract. If I told you everything, or refused to keep working for her, then my family would need to pay back the cost of Selene’s health care. Millions of dollars. But if it was just money, I probably could have handled it.”
I let out a heavy sigh, feeling my shoulders sag even more than they already had. “She threatened someone you love. I’m starting to understand the way Delta works, now. When money isn’t enough of an incentive, threaten to kill people.” As I said those words, another horrible, bone-chilling thought popped into my head. I was almost too scared to ask, not wanting to hear the answer... but all the same, I needed it.
“Dante,” I croaked, licking my lips again. “Did you ... did Catherine kill my parents?”
The pained look on his face said it all, and I dropped my face into my hands with a shuddering sob. Almost instantly, a warm body wrapped me in a tight hug, and I knew it was Beck. His smell was so familiar now, it might as well be my personal fragrance, not to mention that instant feeling of calm and safety that his touch brought to me.
“I’m so sorry, Riles,” Dante whispered, and I cried harder. “I didn’t know for sure. I swear, if I’d known for sure I would never have let you go out that day. I would never, ever intentionally let her harm you.”
I pushed back from Beck, wiping my eyes with the heel of my hand and glaring at Dante. “But you knew something was up. You tried to stop us that day, I remember. You came over and asked my dad if he could help you fix your heating. You knew and you still didn’t say anything!” Tears were pouring freely from my eyes, so much that my vision was blurring and my nose was all blocked up.
Some girls could cry and still look pretty. I wasn’t one of those girls.
“Riles, I swear I didn’t know for sure. And your father seemed determined to ignore me,” Dante insisted. But it was too late; my rage monster was in full beast mode.
I detached Beck’s arms from me and stood, my chair scraping across the floor with a harsh sound. Just as I was about to really blow my fuse, the door opened and that same uniformed officer sauntered back in.
“Everything okay here?” he asked, eyeing my aggressive posture and Dante’s tear-streaked face. “I gave you extra time, but Saunders is on his way back and he won’t be happy to find anyone questioning his suspect.”
I stared down at Dante a moment longer, dimly noticing the scratches on his forearms. “We’re done,” I snapped, storming from the room and not totally sure whether I meant that we were done talking or done with our friendship. Or both.
Beck paused me with a hand on my arm as I made to leave the station, and I frowned at him in confusion.
“I just need a word with someone,” he told me with a quick smile. “Will you wait in the car? It’ll only take two seconds.” He held out the keys to the Bugatti, and as much as I didn’t want to be alone, I also didn’t want to stay in the police station a second longer.
I grabbed the keys from his fingers. “Sure.”
But if he thought I’d be waiting patiently in the passenger seat, he was sorely mistaken.
4
When Beck joined me a few minutes later, my hands were caressing the Italian leather steering wheel. My feet sat lightly over the pedals, and I was listening to the sexy, low rumble of the engine idling.
“Baby, were you thinking about taking off without me?” Beck teased, sliding into my usual seat and closing the door. “I wasn’t that long.”
I flashed him a quick, humorless smile. “No, but I am going to drive us home.”
My shoulders were tight, and I was ready to put up a fight. After everything I’d been through, I deserved a quick drive in Beck’s gorgeous car.
“Okay,” he replied, shocking the shit out of me. “Take the long route. I want you to savor this.” His grin turned wolfish. “Because it’s the only time I’m ever letting you drive this car.”
I snorted a laugh as I threw the gear shift into reverse and hooked out of the parking lot we were in. “We’ll see about that, Sebastian. After all, I am your girlfriend.”
Yeah, I’d been in a state of shocked numbness earlier, but I’d still picked up on Beck calling me his girlfriend to that cop. It was a bit dumb, given everything else going on, but hearing that title made me go all tingly.
Beck didn’t reply to my teasing, just waited until I’d gotten us out on the freeway and at breakneck speed, then reached over and wove our fingers together.
I glanced down, startled, and couldn’t help noticing a smear of blood on his first and second knuckles and the swollen redness around them all.
“Quick chat, huh?” I muttered, shooting him an accusing look before returning my eyes to the road. He’d punched someone, and I’d bet my car that when I next saw Dante he’d have a black eye.
If I saw him again.
I wasn’t sure I could ever look at him and not see my parents’ faces now. Their death was preventable. A part of me had always known that there was something off about the accident, but I’d been too afraid to look closely at it, because how did I live with that knowledge?
Suddenly I w
as sobbing. Huge, gulping, heart-wrenching sobs that actually hurt my chest they were rattling it so hard. Somehow Beck took control of the car, easing us to the side of the road as I lifted my foot from the accelerator.
“Catherine killed them,” I choked out. “The only fucking people in this world who ever loved me. She just wiped them out like they were nothing more than an animal in the middle of the road, stopping her from where she was going.”
Beck wrapped his arms around me, pulling me from my seat and into his lap. His heat and energy surrounded me, and I cried against his chest for so long, that by the time I lifted my head, I was exhausted and his shirt was soaked.
When my eyes met his, I was not surprised to see brimming fury there. His hands slid up and cupped my swollen, tear-stained face, and he brushed away the trickling moisture with his thumbs. “There are two things I need you to remember, Butterfly,” he said softly. “One: Catherine is going to pay for what she has done. In every way possible, she will regret the day she hurt you.”
For some fucked up reason that actually made me feel better. I knew all the stories about revenge not soothing the soul, but for now, it gave me a fucking focus, and I was all onboard for Beck’s plan.
“And two?”
His grip tightened slightly, and he pulled me closer, our lips touching, his tongue darting out to slide across some of the tears that had caught on the corner of my mouth. “Two: your parents loved you very much. I didn’t even have to meet them to know this, because you are so fucking lovable. But, and I don’t say this to take away from them .... you have so much love and family in your world still. I fucking love you. An unconditional sort of love. It doesn’t matter how you fuck up, Riles, you’ll always have me. I’m your family.”
His gaze never left mine, and I could not have looked away for anything in the world. My heart was hurting and expanding and shaking, all at the same time. Beck was unraveling me at the very seams of my being, but he didn’t let me fall apart. Somehow, he was putting me back together. Better.
“Dylan, Jasper, Evan, and even Eddy,” he continued, in that same soft, sexy rumble he did so well. “They’re your family. You will never be alone again.”
Well, fuck.
I chuckled through fresh tears—pretty amazing I had any moisture left in my body to cry at this point, but apparently there was some. “You’re quite the poet when you’re not punching people or shooting someone in the head.”
Beck shrugged. “What can I say … I’m a man of many talents.”
That was very true. Very, very true.
“I love you too, Sebastian Roman Beckett,” I said, sliding my hands up into his thick dark hair. “Thank you for being my family. For having my back.” I kissed him gently before pressing my lips a little harder to his. Some of the sadness in my soul eased again, and I started to breathe more freely. I’d never forget my parents, the pain would not go anywhere, but I wasn’t alone dealing with it. And that meant a lot.
Clambering back into the driver’s seat, I took a few deep breaths, swiped at my face, and then shifted her back into gear. “I need to talk to Selene,” I said softly, pulling onto the road.
Beck nodded. “That’s our next stop, but you need to sleep first.”
I shook my head roughly. “No! No time for sleep. I need all the information so I can decide how to proceed from here. Taking down Catherine is going to take a serious sort of plan. I already have a few ideas, but I need to speak with some people. There’s no time to screw around.”
Beck’s chest rumbled as he shook his head. “Baby, come on. You can’t do this on no sleep. A few more hours is not going to change anything. Take care of yourself first, or you’ll be in no position to take anyone down.”
I wanted to growl back at him, but unfortunately that wasn’t something I’d mastered. Instead I sighed, because... he was right. Bastard. Spinning the Bugatti around, I put her on the road back to our apartment.
“Can you send someone to watch over Selene?” I asked as we neared town. “Somehow Catherine is going to find out we talked to Dante. She’s a slimy bitch who always has her finger on the pulse. If we’re not going there right away, someone should watch over her. Maybe even warn her.”
And I didn’t trust the phone.
Beck didn’t look worried. “I sent the guys there the moment we walked out of the police station. Selene might have vital information. She’s to be protected until we figure out what to do next.”
I nodded, relieved that he was taking this seriously. In my chest I felt a new urgency. We’d just entered the final phase of whatever bullshit Catherine had been planning for twenty years. This was her long game, and I was going to do my best to ensure it never came to fruition.
Debitch was going down.
5
Beck
Controlling my temper was something I’d been working on most of my life. I was born to violent and volatile parents. It was my mother’s milk, my nutrition, my lifeforce for so many years that it was second nature for me to hurt first and ask questions later.
My father had taught me to hide my violence, because the CEO of the top Fortune 500 company could not lose his shit and start throwing chairs across the boardroom. It was also frowned upon to shoot assholes in the head. I’d learned that my temper would stop other companies doing business with us and that would hurt our bottom line.
Everything in Delta’s best interests, of course.
It took a long time, but eventually, I got very good at hiding the darkness in my soul. The predator inside. But, in this moment, as I stared down at Riley’s face, still stained with the tears she’d cried on me, a black wave of fury settled into my soul. The sort of fury that had me wanting to start a goddamn war for her, to wipe out any fucker who’d ever dared hurt her.
Dante was lucky that all I’d done was rough him up a little. I could have killed him. I thought about it, and it was only that I’d be leaving Riley out here unprotected with whatever bullshit was going on that stayed my hand. Even Delta’s power would take some time to clean up murder at a police station.
“You better pray that we win against Catherine,” I’d murmured to Dante just before I left the room. “Because if Riley is hurt again, I’m coming after you.”
Just before I had stepped out the door, Dante called out my name. I could barely stand to look at his fucking face for another second, but I turned. “Catherine needs the vote to go her way,” he said. “Check your board members. She thinks she has the votes to get Huntley in, and if that happens, they’re going to kill you all.”
I didn’t acknowledge his words, just shook my head and left the room, my hands itching to go back and hit him again. The weak fucker hadn’t even tried to defend himself. He’d screwed up, and he knew it. I would not pave his way back to Riley either. If she forgave him, I would let him live, but I’d never trust him around her again.
Now, as I sat beside her, watching Riley sleep, all I had were the dark emotions churning in my soul. An anger that would not abate.
My phone buzzed in my hand, and seeing the familiar name pop up, I got to my feet and stepped out of the bedroom. “You get there?” I asked Jasper.
“Yep. We just got to her house. She’s home, and so is her cop husband. Everything is quiet, so Evan and I will just keep an eye out until you get here. Dylan is waiting to drive with you both tomorrow.”
“Right,” I agreed. “Laying low is a good plan. It’ll go smoother if Riley breaks it to her. We don’t want her to run without giving us the information we need.”
Jasper made a sound of agreement. “Let us know when you guys leave,” he said and hung up.
I was about to slide my phone back in my pocket when it rang again. Beckett Snr flashed on the screen, and I stared at it for a long moment before ignoring the call. I didn’t have time for his bullshit today, and if anything was designed to snap the sliver of control I’d gotten back over my emotions, it was talking to my father.
My mother was the same. Popp
ing prescription pills like they were the air she needed to breathe, thinking no one knew she was shacked up with her masseuse. Riley had said that Catherine was a rich woman cliché. Well so was Magdalena Beckett.
She sure as fuck was never a mother.
“Beck,” Riley called out, and the urgency in her voice had me moving my ass to get back into the room. I burst through the door, gun in hand, eyes taking in the scene in one quick sweep.
I’d learned to catalog a scene in five seconds.
But there was no one in the room other than Riley, and she wasn’t even awake.
Her arms and legs thrashed about on the bed, and she was crying in her sleep again. Placing my gun on the side table, I climbed in with her and wrapped my body around hers. Holding us both the fuck together.
“It’s okay, baby,” I soothed softly. Riley always joked that she couldn’t sleep without me. That I kept her nightmares at bay. What she didn’t realize, though, was that she did that for me as well. That and so much more. I’d barely slept more than a few hours a night before I’d met Riley, my brain and body constantly on alert.
Pretty standard when you were on edge waiting for your sociopath of a father to drag you out of bed and beat the fuck out of you. Dylan and I had that in common. Evan’s father was more about psychological abuse. Jasper’s was neither; he just ignored his son.
In our world, that was a blessing.
But when I was with Riley, my body was content.
Whatever the fuck was between us, that shit was soul deep. Riley was in my blood, and I wasn’t sure I could live without her.
She’d stopped thrashing about now, content in my arms, her smaller body wrapped around mine as I held her close. My chest ached in the way that only she brought about. Like her tiny hand was around my heart, gripping the fuck out of it.
I had one thought: we had to take these motherfuckers down before my girl got hurt.
If it meant I had to single handedly kill them all one by one, then I would do that for her, consequences be damned.
