Sinners' Playground

by Caroline Peckham

  JJ barked a laugh and then snatched the cap from my head before placing it on his own.

  "Hey," I snarled. "That's mine."

  "We'll call it a trade. That shirt and glasses cost around two hundred dollars and I'm guessing your cap doesn't come close to that."

  "Actually, it cost me the exact same as the glasses," I replied, pursing my lips at him because everything I was currently wearing had been free. "But I'll take that two hundred bucks if you wanna buy them off of me?"

  "Wait a second," he said, reaching out to pluck the glasses from my face and staring into my eyes like he was seeing a damn ghost and all of the hostility fell from his expression in a heartbeat.

  My heart leapt right up into my mouth, twisting in this pathetic little mockery of all the things I'd used to feel for him before I could lock that shit down.

  "Rogue? I…is it really you?" he breathed like he didn't actually believe what he was seeing with his own two eyes. "Fuck me, you got hot in the last ten years-"

  My fist snapped out and caught him in the jaw as hard as I could before I followed it up with a swift knee to the balls because fuck him and then I was gone. I turned and ran and growled at myself for ever even considering coming back to this cursed place and the boys who haunted it.

  JJ started chasing me while swearing about his bruised junk, but the mutt appeared from nowhere and leapt at his ankles with a furious snarl giving me a better chance to bolt.

  I ran for the Jeep, grabbing the screwdriver from my pocket and wrenching the door open as I reached it.

  I leapt in behind the wheel, jamming the screwdriver into the ignition and starting the old car up with a whine of protest.

  I yelled out for the mutt to hurry his hairy ass up as he raced after me with JJ right behind him and the second the little dog leapt into the car, I slammed it into reverse and swung it out of my spot, side swiping the Mustang as I went and caving in the rear side.

  JJ started cursing me but I didn't care, I just needed to get the fuck away from him and this place. I shouldn't have come back here. This had been a terrible idea. I just needed to set my gaze on the horizon and keep driving until I couldn't even see Sunset Cove in my rear view mirror.

  I pulled out across a busy intersection, slamming my foot down on the accelerator and the Jeep chose that moment to give up on life. One second I was flying along and the next I was rolling to a stop in the middle of the fucking street as a beat up orange Mustang GT swerved across the road in front of me.

  “Stop!” JJ yelled in a tone that said he was used to people listening to him and I flipped him off as I looked around for another escape route.

  I cursed my luck, reaching beneath the passenger seat and grabbing my skateboard then yanking it out into my arms.

  Horns were blasting as people swore and shouted for us to get out of the fucking road but I ignored them all, climbing over the seats into the back of the car and leaping out onto the street as JJ vaulted out of his own car.

  “Rogue, come back here,” he demanded but that was a solid no from me.

  He lunged at me and I ducked away from him, plucking the mutt from the front seat, lowering him to the floor beside me and dropping my skateboard on the sidewalk.

  "Don't you dare!" JJ yelled and I tossed him a smirk as I leapt onto my board, kicked off and shot away down the hill.

  I had to focus on where I was going as the mutt raced along beside me and by the time I could look back, JJ was nowhere to be seen.

  I laughed to myself as the sea air pulled at my hair and I sped down towards the seafront with victory sailing through my limbs. But I felt sick from seeing him too. Heart sick. Stomach sick. All the sicks.

  That was it. I had my answer. Messing with the Harlequin boys was a seriously bad idea and I just needed to get the hell out of dodge before they came looking for me again. I'd grab myself a new ride, steal some cash and be gone before nightfall. It wasn't worth the risk of staying. I’d forget about the keys and the secrets and all of it in favour of just never having to see any of them ever again.

  Just as I closed in on the bottom of the hill, an orange Mustang shot out of a side road right in front of me and I screamed as I tried to stop the inevitable from happening before slamming into the hood and tumbling straight over it.

  I fell on my ass on the other side, my elbow grazing on the asphalt as I lost sight of my board and my dog too.

  "Mutt!" I yelled, five seconds before the little white dog bounded around the hood of the car and started licking my face with abandon.

  I scrambled back up to my feet with a curse and came face to face with JJ Brooks who was grinning from ear to ear as he took me in.

  "Just like old times, eh Rogue?" he teased. "You never could skate for shit."

  He grabbed me before I could turn and run and I kicked and cursed him as he dragged me around to the back of the car and popped the trunk.

  "Don't you dare!" I yelled as I tried to punch him again, but he just laughed as he slung me inside and threw the lid closed a moment later.

  "Let's go and see the boys," he called cheerily from somewhere beyond my sweltering prison.

  "JJ Brooks, let me out of here right now!" I screamed as I kicked and thrashed.

  "Yeah, yeah, I will do soon," he replied. "Now quit your yelling or I won't be bringing the dog with us."

  I fell silent at that, rage spilling through my veins as my hands balled into fists and I glared in the general direction of his voice.

  "Get my board too," I demanded. "And I want my fucking hat back."

  I stood at the kitchen island with pages of notes spread out on the cream marble, resting my palms flat on the surface. It was hot today and Chase had opened the sliding doors so a breeze blew in from the pool area ahead of me, the high walls around it doing far too much to block that breeze though. Chase was lying outside on one of the sun loungers with a cigarette in the corner of his mouth and a rum and coke in the other one. It wasn’t even ten am.

  I had a half drunk protein shake beside me made with fresh fruit and soy milk. I’d started looking after my health around the time I inherited my position in the Harlequin Crew from my dad. His legacy defined my blood, my enemies, my status. But I ran the gang differently to how my dad had. And I prioritised protecting the people closest to me from our rivals for as long as fucking possible. So I would make sure I was always fit and healthy to ensure I was the best I possibly could be at that role, but I couldn’t do much about my ability to dodge bullets. That’s why shooting first and asking questions later was my way of life. I’d seen too many good people hesitate when they were faced with a tough decision and end up dead for it. So I became a bad one to protect those closest to me. I’d take a hundred bullets for JJ and Chase so long as they took none. And I’d fire a hundred into a hundred skulls for the same reason.

  My gaze drifted to Chase again as smoke coiled up around him and he rearranged his junk within his black swim shorts. He was making a good effort at pissing me off lately, and it was time to smooth over the tension building between us. I was a strict as shit boss, but I tried to be a fair one too. If he needed to make more decisions to settle this restlessness in him, then I needed to accommodate that. He and JJ were the only people in the world I made allowances for when it came to being a leader in the Harlequin Crew. I didn’t take direction from anyone; I gave the orders, and if they weren’t listened to, there were consequences. But my brothers were family, so I’d had to work on my limited ability to compromise for years to satisfy them within their roles beneath me in the hierarchy. At the end of the day, I’d be lost without them. And I didn’t plan on losing any more members of my family than I already had. So compromise may have been a bitch, but she was a bitch I was willing to be fucked by from time to time for their sake.

  I placed down my protein shake and headed to the sliding door, stepping outside where the sun beamed down on my naked chest, making my tattoos gleam. I wasn’t covered in them like some of the Harlequins were, I’d c
hosen each one because it represented an important moment in my life. The good, the bad, the good that had turned bad, the bad that had gotten badder. It was all there. A story only I knew how to read, though JJ and Chase would have had the best chance at translating my flesh. But not all of it. Some of my marks were secrets. And there was only one girl in the world who knew their meaning. Even though she’d never be around again to see them.

  “Hey, brother,” I called to Chase and he pushed his aviator Ray Bans up onto his head, stirring his dark curls as he lodged them into it. His deeply bronzed chest glistened with factor thirty tanning oil, defining his abs even more than usual and making the ink on his arms look like it was poured over him.

  He pushed to his feet, draining his rum and coke in one long gulp, before putting the glass down. “Wanna swim with me, Foxy?” He jumped at me, grabbing my arm and trying to wrestle me towards the pool. Fucker was definitely tipsy.

  I smirked, tussling with him for a moment then shoving him off and knocking my knuckles against his cheek. “We’ve got a job to plan. I thought you could pick the target this time.” I gave him a sideways grin, folding my arms over my chest and his brows arched.

  “Oh yeah?” he asked.

  “We have a list of marks.” I shrugged. “Your choice.”

  He grinned, clapping his hand to my shoulder as we headed back inside and he took in all the notes I’d laid out on the counter.

  I pointed to the list we had of possible marks. JJ’s club attracted the kind of people that spilled their secrets in his ear easily enough, especially when he was making them come for a good price, so we often got a few leads that way. But I always had our crew listening out for opportunities too, and I’d brought in a few leads of my own this month.

  “JJ’s been buttering up the daughter of an oil tycoon from Texas. They’re going to be in town in a few weeks and word is they’re buying a property on the beachfront. They’ve already put in a few orders for artwork ranging up to ten grand a piece.”

  “Nah.” Chase waved a hand at me dismissively and anger rippled through me, but I held it in check. “Too boring.”

  “Easy jobs shouldn’t be ignored for the sake of a bit of excitement,” I growled, frowning at him as he leaned over the worktop, looking down at the list and twisting one of the leather bracelets around his wrist. “We could cash in with artwork. I know a guy who can sell that shit within a couple of weeks.”

  “Well you said I could pick, Fox, so am I picking or not?” He looked up at me, his blue eyes accusing and I fought back the urge in me to force his hand on this.

  “Go ahead,” I said and he smiled broadly, eyeing the list again before tapping on one. “A ferry?” he questioned, fishing for more info on the job.

  “There’s a ferry leaving the marina in three weeks which is reportedly transporting a shipment of Cartier watches over to Ballena Island.”

  “How much?” he asked eagerly and I smirked.

  “Eighty grand.”

  “Wooah fuck!” he whooped, climbing up onto the kitchen island and kicking the notes around with his bare feet.

  “Chase!” I barked and he dropped down to lie in front of me, smirking.

  “I wanna do the ferry.”

  “Yeah I can see that,” I said, a grin pulling at my lips as I slapped his cheek lightly. “Problem is, boat jobs are high risk.”

  “I like risk,” he purred hungrily.

  “Yeah, but risk gets people dead,” I warned, my voice dropping seriously as I looked down at my friend. “And I don’t like taking unnecessary risks.”

  He rolled over onto his back, the oil on his skin making some of my notes stick to his body and I shoved him over the edge of the island, making him curse before he landed on the floor on his back with an oomph. I leaned down, peeling my notes off of him and tossing them back onto the counter with a dark smile. They’d end up burned anyway, so I wasn’t precious about them.

  “But,” I said tantalisingly, placing my bare foot on his chest to stop him from getting up. “If we plan it right, I’m sure we can reduce the risks.”

  “Yes,” he hissed, grinning as he batted my foot away and rolled over to do some celebratory press ups.

  The ink on his back was a treasure map, covering almost every inch of his flesh, and it was a place I knew well. Sunset Cove. Our home. Twisted into art was an X that marked the spot located right here. At Harlequin House. The beach kissed the back door and a security perimeter ringed this whole property. It was like a private resort, but the people living on the inside weren’t vacationers looking for their next cocktail, they were three dark princes who ruled this land with an iron fist. I took in a few more of my favourite places on earth as Chase continued his set, from Sinners’ Playground with its Ferris wheel on the pier, to JJ’s club Afterlife in town, and the boardwalk that passed Chase’s gym called Raiders. His ink marked all of our territory up to The Divide. The place where our turf met with The Damned Men’s. I wondered if Chase would tattoo our newly conquered land on his ass when we pushed The Divide another few miles back too.

  I walked to the fridge across the room, tugging the door open and tossing my smoothie in there for later. Shit got warm real fast in Sunset Cove. You had to eat food quick if you didn’t want the sun to ruin it.

  I closed the refrigerator door and a breath got choked in my lungs, my body turning to stone, my heart nothing but a heavy lump of heated solder in my chest. Because a real life incarnation of my deepest, most desperate desire was standing right there. Right in my house. My fucking breathing space. The girl I had longed for, ached for, hunted for, shattered for, was here. Impossibly. Fucking. Here.

  My mouth went slack and no noise escaped me at all as I stood frozen, taking in every inch of her. I didn’t believe it. My mind wouldn’t believe it. My heart wouldn’t believe it.

  I refused the truth in front of me because it just wasn’t feasible that she was standing here after all this time. This wasn’t a dream or a nightmare or some fucking vision here to taunt me.

  I’m awake and she’s here.

  I’m awake and she’s back.

  I’m awake and she’s home.

  Her hair was a dark sea of hazelnut, tumbling over her shoulders almost down to her waist, her honey brown skin kissed by a thousand suns since I’d seen it last. Her stormy blue eyes were painfully deep, dragging me in and I knew I must be imagining this, but the vision was so fucking real that I didn’t care what drug I was on so long as it remained in my blood forever.

  She was the girl who’d gotten away. The girl who I’d had to accept would never, ever walk back into my life. Until she had. Right this fucking second.

  My eyes kept roaming her features and the shock of finding her before me gave way to horror at the bruises shadowing her face, her neck. Someone had hurt her. Someone had laid their filthy fucking hands on her and marked her. Rage and vengeance collided inside me, twisting into a cold and hungry creature which longed for the death of the person responsible for this. It didn’t matter if a whole lifetime stood between the last moment I’d seen her and this moment of her return. Nothing changed my desire to protect her. From everything and everyone who sought to hurt her. I will make them pay.

  “Look what I found,” JJ sang from behind her and I realised he was holding her hands behind her back. A prisoner? Interesting.

  I schooled the shock on my face as fast as I could, but there wasn’t much I could do for my heart which was about to bust out of my chest and give the game away. Her eyes drank me in as deeply as I was drinking in her, like we were so thirsty for each other that no body of water on earth would quench us. But then that thirst in her eyes was gone and a hard wall stood in its place, blocking me out before I’d even had a second to dive in.

  “Hey,” I breathed like a fucking moron. Hey? After ten years, that’s all I’ve got to say? Fucking ‘hey’??

  “Who are you again?” she asked, her brow furrowing as if she was trying to place me.

  I grunted
angrily, knowing she was playing with me, but on some level, I feared she wasn’t.

  “Like you could forget,” I growled.

  “Rogue?” Chase rasped and she turned, looking at him where he was standing by the kitchen island, an unlit cigarette forgotten in the corner of his mouth.

  “Oh right, the Harlequin boys,” she said coldly. “Well I’m glad a few of you are here so I can tell you all to fuck off at once. If you can pass the message onto Maverick too? That’d be swell.” She tugged at her arms and JJ released her, smirking like he was having the best day of his life. And I should have been too. This was everything I’d wanted for so long, and yet the way she was acting said I was not going to get the warm reunion I’d dreamed of a thousand times. Where she wrapped her arms around me and her lips found mine because she’d missed me as much as I’d missed her. She’d have a reason she never came back. Someone had kept her away, something had happened that meant she couldn’t return to us. Why wasn’t that happening?

  JJ tsked. “We’d rather you didn’t mention the prick, pretty girl.”

  She frowned at that and the crease between her eyes was so familiar to me it made me ache.

  Before I realised what I was doing, I’d reached out and brushed my fingers over that tiny crease to smooth it out then ran my hand down to her jaw, tilting her chin up to look at me…making sure that she was real I guessed. Despite those fucking bruises, she was painfully beautiful as a full grown woman. Tattoos adorned her flesh in places and I wanted to examine them all, learn their meaning and have her tell me every single thing she’d done between the last time I’d seen her and now. A deep and unnerving possessiveness filled me over her. A claim I’d laid on her ten years ago awakening in me once more, but it wasn’t some kid’s dream anymore, it was a man’s demanding desire. One that burned inside me like a flame growing rapidly into an inferno.

  “Fox,” JJ murmured and I noticed he’d moved closer, his fingers brushing her throat where the bruises were. “This is unacceptable.”