They sure did, didn’t they?
Maddoc glares, looking from me to her.
He shifts, kneeing the guy in the nuts, and he tries to collapse, but Royce moves to hold him up as Maddoc releases him.
People start to gather outside the business, but with one look at who’s out here, they turn blind eyes and head back in.
“Wow,” Victoria bites and I glare at her.
She lifts her hands, her mouth clamping shut in amusement.
Maddoc reaches into the guy’s pocket, but before he can pull out his wallet, tires screech behind them and they jerk around to look, a truck has stopped and another guy rushes forward.
“What the fuck,” Royce yells.
Maddoc moves just in time to meet the dude’s blow.
They start swinging like crazy, and then Royce and this guy start full-on fighting again.
“Damn it!” I shout and rush for the vehicle.
“Is this shit normal?” Victoria shouts after me.
“Get over here!” I yell at her and throw the trunk door open, pulling out two bats.
I toss one to her and her eyes pop open.
“Basketball players just happen to have two bats in their trunk?”
“No.” I glare. “They have four. Now shut up and help!”
But right as we round the back, we’re bulldozed by two newcomers.
The bat falls from my hand and the blonde chick who bum-rushed me kicks it away.
With a growl, I look to her.
“Oh shit,” she mumbles, bracing herself, and I spin away kicking her in the stomach, making her fall to the ground, but she grips my foot and yanks, taking me with her and rolls on top. I’m able to throw her tiny ass off just as fast.
I scramble for the bat, but right as I lift it, it’s ripped from my hand and I’m gripped from behind, the guy who had Victoria stopping me from slamming it across this chick’s fucking face.
“Captain’s here!” Victoria shouts and the guy holding onto me curses, pushing the girl behind him when she stands to try and shield her.
Victoria lifts the bat and aims it at her while keeping her eyes on the guy at my back. “Let go of her or blondie takes a hit to the head!” she shouts, and he instantly lets go, stepping back.
To my fucking surprise, Victoria pulls back, ready to slam her with it regardless, but Captain appears and yanks it from her hand doing a double take when he sees who it is.
He grips my wrists and yanks me behind him, but I move to stand beside him.
Cap holds the bat with both hands, speaking to the tatted-up guy.
“Tell them to stop,” he says of the others still boxing Maddoc and Royce.
“Fuck you, tell them to stop,” dude throws back.
“You’re not from around here.” Cap takes a step forward. “Here, you do what we say. Tell them to stop, or we’ll have half the town here in minutes to take all four of you out, not that we need the help.” He eyes him suspiciously. “But something tells me you don’t wanna be seen. You’ve already got one on the ground and the other won’t be far behind. Your fucking call how bad of shape they are when you try and leave.”
The guy’s glare intensifies, but a whistle leaves him in the next second, so Cap calls out to Maddoc and Royce and all the grunting stops.
“Who are you?” he asks.
“Fuck—”
An arm snakes around my neck and I’m dragged a few feet to the right.
“Maddoc!” Cap shouts and Victoria picks up the other bat.
The grip tightens, so I lift my legs and drop all my weight, while pulling on the arm and the guy is forced to bend his back.
Maddoc comes rushing, but I swing my leg forward, then back, kicking him square in the dick and he collapses behind me, his grip falling so I spin, but I’m shoved away in the next second and Maddoc starts pummeling him.
His opponent is quick and spins, jumping to his feet and steps back in the next second.
I glance behind me and see the rest are in a standoff, except Royce. Seems he refused to let go and has got his guy’s arms lifted from behind, his knee in his back.
“Raven?” the guy who just attacked me whispers, looking from Maddoc to me.
Maddoc’s eyes cut to mine.
I step forward, but Maddoc yanks me back in the same second.
“G?” I ask, my eyes widening when I realize it’s him.
He nods, blood in his teeth when he grins.
“What the fuck are you doing here? And what the fuck is this?” I throw my hands toward the rest of us.
“Raven,” Maddoc growls behind me.
I lift my hand over my head, and slide it along Maddoc’s neck, leaving it there in an attempt to soothe him. It works and he shifts, breathing against my palm a second, so I lean farther into him.
“Tell your people to get away from mine,” I tell him and his eyes pinch, but he nods.
He looks over, and Maddoc takes advantage of his eyes being elsewhere and puts some distance between us and them.
“We good?” the tattooed guy calls over – he must be the boss – and G nods.
He looks to me. “I need you to tell the other one to release mine.”
His?
“RaeRae?” Royce calls, having heard him.
“Down boy,” I tease to be an asshole and laugh.
“Mama said you’re free, little bitch,” Royce jokes, pushing off him and coming to stand beside us.
I look back to G and his jaw ticks, his eyes locked on Royce.
“Hey,” I snap, and his attention comes back to me. “What the fuck is this? Why was he tailing us?”
“Can you have her put that down,” the tattooed guy looks to Victoria.
Captain rolls his eyes at her, tearing the bat from her hand, and she growls, crossing her arms.
“We need to talk to you guys, but not here,” tattoo says.
“And you fucking are?” Royce glares stepping toward him.
The guy stands tall, a lazy tip of his head that almost reminds me of my boys cocksure attitude. “Name’s Alec.”
“Pansy ass fucking name,” Royce goads him and I fight a grin.
I look up at Maddoc. “Where can we talk?”
“Here,” he forces through clenched teeth, glaring at me for suggesting we let them decide.
“Brother,” Cap calls, his eyes sliding to mine.
Maddoc’s features tighten, but after a moment he agrees.
“Fine.” He steps back but keeps me at his side.
He lets his eyes travel Gio then move to Alec. He gets in his face and Alec stands against him. “You get in one vehicle. Pull out behind my brother, I’ll be behind you. You think about taking off, I’ll run you into a fucking canal.”
Alec eyes him, but the blonde at his side tugs on his arm and when he looks down at her, his entire demeanor seems to soften and he nods, reluctantly agreeing.
They start to walk toward their vehicle, but Royce pops off again.
“Pussy whipped fucker.”
Alec spins, but Gio steps in front of him.
“Just go, man. We’re here for a reason.” Gio looks back at me and winks.
Instantly my eyes fly to Maddoc’s finding his jaw set tight, angry eyes on G.
“Maddoc,” I call, and he shakes his head no, moving for his SUV.
“All you in Captain’s, group home girl, too.”
What the fuck?
Yeah, right!
I dart forward, but Royce wraps his arms around mine and lifts me off the floor.
“Royce—”
“Nope. Not this time, RaeRae. You’re in trooouble.”
“I’m not going,” Victoria snaps.
Royce spins around, his laugh obnoxious and right in my ear.
Yeah, I know how this goes...
Captain frowns as he steps toward her, and her back straightens.
In one swift move, she’s over his shoulder.
“Are you fucking joking me right now?” she shouts, bangin
g on his back.
When Captain moves along like nothing, she growls, lifting her head to look at me being carted away a few feet in front of her, my back flat against Royce’s chest, arms stuck beneath his hold.
“Really?” she says flatly. “This is how things happen when you fight them?”
I don’t bother responding, dropping my head against Royce’s shoulder instead.
He kisses my temple and I roll my eyes. “Yeah, blondie, it is. Now quiet, ‘less you wanna show my bro there what else that mouth can do.”
“Oh, how original.”
“Damn right I am, one of a fucking kind, baby.”
“Shut up, and get in,” Captain gripes and then we’re on the road.
Victoria glowers in the back seat but doesn’t try to escape like I did the first time they threw me in.
She’s handling it better than me.
Captain drives past the Bray houses, rounding the opposite side of the property and pulls onto a small dirt road, parking mid-way down.
Everyone jumps out at once, still cautious of each other.
Maddoc’s eyes lock with mine as I make my way to him, satisfaction flashing in his eyes when I move to stand right beside him.
“Giovanni Acri,” Maddoc says, eyes still on me, quickly cutting them to Gio. “Born in Stockton, California. Graduated three years ago, and no record since.”
When they frown, Royce laughs.
“You really drove a truck registered to you to fuck with people like us?” Maddoc speaks slowly. “What kind of fucking amateurs show up with a clear job without doing research? Or at least a fucking rental car if not a stolen one?”
“Excuse me—” the girl talks, so I dart forward, but Gio slips an arm between us and my three step forward.
A frown takes over all their faces and they relent.
“Fine. All right, relax.” Alec wraps his arms around the girl. “My name is Alec Daniels. This is my wife, Oakley, my brother Rowan, and Gio is one of my men.”
“Why are you here?” Captain asks, frowning at Victoria when she hops up on his hood looking bored.
“You’re Brayshaw,” Alec says.
“And?” Royce growls.
“And we’re part of the Rivera family. We never meant to fucking fight with you today, but your girl—”
“My fucking girl,” Maddoc cuts Alec off and I’d swear his lip twitches slightly.
His hand on his wife tightens.
“Right, your girl is smart and spotted us while we were trying to find out who all was in your crew so we could approach you. We haven’t been able to reach Rolland and he’s kept you three under wraps. We weren’t supposed to meet until you graduated.”
“The Riveras?” Royce’s eyes widen and he looks over the four of them.
He nods. “Oakley is Rivera by blood, we were brought in, like you. We run the Riverside district.”
Cap nods, stepping forward. “You have the fire academy as your cover,” he says, having heard of them it seems.
Alec nods. “That’s how we find and train our men. We’re the guys people call when the judicial system fails them. We step in and make it look ... natural.”
“You’re arsonists.” Royce frowns.
“No more than you’re anarchists. You take the law into your own hands where it’s needed in your community. We do the same thing, just not too close to home. Imagine our surprise when someone came to us to take down one of our own.”
“You were hired to burn our shit down?” Captain asks him, and Alec nods.
“Your home, your school, your warehouses,” Oakley supplies.
“By who?”
“That’s the tricky part.” His eyes cut to mine. “It was a female.”
All their eyes fall on mine and I jerk. “You thought I did it?”
Alec lifts his hands as if to say ‘you’re the only girl around.’
“Well, I’m poor so... obviously not me.”
“Yeah, Raven, how the hell—” Gio is cut off when Maddoc steps in his face.
“How do you know her?” he demands, disregarding everything being said in search of the answers he wants more.
Gio glares. “Ask her.”
“I’m asking you.”
I look at the blonde when she fights a grin. She sees me looking and winks, so I glare at her.
“We grew up together,” he tells Maddoc.
The vein in Maddoc’s neck is throbbing against his skin, but he stays in Gio’s face.
“Good for fucking you.” Maddoc’s hand flexes at his side. “That was then. Stay away from her, do you understand?”
“What are you worried about?” Gio goads him and my eyes widen.
I step forward, but Royce yanks me back while Captain squeezes between them.
“Shut your mouth, dumbass, or I’ll let him flip the fuck out. You’re big, too, I get it, but nothing would stop him when it comes to her, so quit trying to be a smart ass and know your fucking place, and here you don’t have one. She’s his and she loves it. Period.”
“Wow.” All eyes fly to Victoria when she pops off and she widens her eyes like an asshole.
“Look, it was our duty to notify you—”
“You could have just called, no?” I cut Oakley off.
She looks to me. “Yes, our duty was only to make sure you were aware, that’s how these top rank families work, but we came out of respect. Rolland’s helped out my father many times, I hear, and we wanted to make sure the loyalty was passed to you guys.” The blonde smiles and damn if she isn’t perfectly sweet looking.
“Anyway, we’ve been here two days, and we have to get home to our daughter now,” she says, stepping forward to shake my hand.
She moves down the line and then her husband steps up to shake the boys’ hands.
“I’ll email you the recording of the girl. She clearly didn’t know about all the family ties.”
“An outsider. Thanks, man,” Maddoc grumbles and returns Alec’s gesture.
Gio and the other guy hold back. “So, uh, we’re gonna stick around another night or two. Catch up on some sleep,” he announces, his eyes sliding my way briefly.
A deep crease takes over Maddoc’s forehead, and his stare shifts to me. When his eyes narrow, I turn to G.
“They have a place on third where people are allowed. Come over around seven. The boys are playing ball, I’m getting drunk.” I shrug.
Gio grins, looking to the guy beside him, Rowan as they called him, who glares at me. Gio catches it and drops his smirk at the dirt. He goes to step forward, like he’s about to hug me but Maddoc is suddenly at my back, making him laugh.
“Later, Raven.”
Maddoc’s chest leaves my back and I turn around.
Victoria shakes her head, her eyes wide. “Wow.” She gapes at me. “I know I already said that, but really though, that’s all I got. Just ... wow.”
Then the horn blares and she squeals, slipping off the hood.
Captain and Royce stand outside their doors laughing and she fake laughs back, flipping them off.
“Assholes.”
“Yeah...you have to ride with those assholes,” I tell her, and she glares at me.
“Seriously? After all that?”
“I need to ride with Maddoc alone.”
She crosses her arms. “Ride with or ride in general?”
I waggle my brows, and she rolls her eyes, but a grin is on her lips. “Fine. Whatever.”
“If they take you home, come to the party pad later. You can bring Vienna or whoever if you want.”
“Why, so you can beat her ass, away from anyone who will care to stop you, for touching lips with your man?”
I pause, thinking about it. “Actually, yeah, sounds like a good plan, now that you mention it.”
Victoria laughs, shaking her head. “I told you, Maybell is acting weird. I won’t be able to get out.”
“I’ll handle it.”
“Oh, you’ve got it like that now?” she teases.
“I just might,” I admit and move past her, toward the very pissy, very sexy, and angry big man waiting at my door.
“Raven, huh?” He licks his lips. “Thought nobody got to call you that?”
“You guys don’t call me Rae.”
“We’re not everyone else.”
I step in front of him and he grips my hips, depositing me in my seat.
“You’re right, you’re not,” I confirm.
“Has he ever touched my body?”
“Your body?” I raise a brow and he frowns.
“Yeah, my body. Has he ever touched it?”
I shake my head.
“Don’t lie.”
“I’m not. Just wait, you’ll understand.”
“Understand what?”
“I said wait.”
He glares, but it goes away when I slide my hands down his pants.
“Now, take me home, wear me out, and then wake me up to party.”
He leans forward, sliding his lips across mine before nipping on my bottom one. “I can do that,” he whispers.
“Wow,” Vienna whispers, looking around the court from where we sit.
Victoria nods. “Now I get why Rae hangs with them.” Her eyes scanning the group just the same. “Basketball shorts.”
“Hmm...” I muse. “God’s gift to women.”
We all start laughing.
“The fuck?” comes from Maddoc.
My eyes jerk from his junk to his eyes and his tighten.
I grin, and he stalks toward me, raising a brow. “It’s true. I’ve been watching the way you bounce around for months now.”
A slow smirk pulls at his lips and he leans over me. “Yeah, and how do I bounce?”
“Long and to the left, Big Man,” I whisper with a smile, making him chuckle.
His green eyes darken, demanding I meet his lips, so I push up and give him what he wants.
Gio steps up beside us in the next second and whips his shirt off his body.
Man, he’s grown up and filled out the lanky boy body I remember.
Tattoos and weighted muscles cover his soft brown chest. With dark hair and dark eyes, he’s definitely got that ‘keep away’ look going for him. The kind that makes you want to do the opposite.
Maddoc grips my head and brings my eyes back to his with a frown.
I wink and his jaw clenches.
Trouble at Brayshaw High Page 18
