“Torture,” I clarify, taking the lit joint she offers me. “You’re asking me to let you torture my ex-girlfriend into giving up whoever she’s working with?”
“She’s your fiancé,” she corrects me, leaning her elbows on her knees to watch the sunrise. “And yeah, why not?”
“You really have to ask?”
“Enlighten me, ganja man.”
“You’ll go to jail, dipshit.”
“I’m a bad bitch. I could handle it.”
“Damon couldn’t.”
She shuts her mouth then, quiet a while before she speaks again. “Does he know yet?”
I ignore the kick in my heart and lean forward to mirror her position, not even bothering to ask what she means or who she’s talking about. “No.”
“He’s gonna find out, Wren.”
I shake my head at that, refusing to believe it. Freya agreed not to tell anyone else about the wedding until after we graduate, and I’m sure as shit not about to go shout it from the rooftops.
“She won’t tell him.”
“You sure about that?” she asks, stealing the joint from my mouth to take a hit. “She’s an idiot but she’s not blind. None of us are.”
“What’s your point, Callie?”
“He’s in your head and I think she knows it,” she throws it out there, shrugging when she catches the tick in my jaw. “You asked.”
“Lie to me next time.”
“Not my style,” she jokes, tossing my roach in the dirt. “You’re gonna be late for school if you don’t leave soon. Go get ready and I’ll go make the coffee.”
“Yes, Mom,” I tease, laughing lightly when she clips the back of my head.
She leaves and I move for the bathroom to do as I’m told, banishing any and all thoughts of Levi from my mind while I take a shower.
It doesn’t work, but at least I fucking try.
Fifteen minutes later, I’m dressed in my usual dark jeans and a black t-shirt, dragging my tired ass downstairs to join my family for breakfast. Callie slides me a black coffee across the counter and I wink at her, dropping down in my seat next to Kai.
“You’re not sleeping,” Damon says, staring at me from across the island with his brows dipped in concern.
I shrug, avoiding his eyes while I add a couple more sugars to my cup. “So?”
He opens his mouth but snaps it shut just as quick, looking at Callie when her twenty dollar burner phone rings in the ass pocket of her ripped jeans.
“Is that Dean again?”
“Probably,” she nods, sliding it out to answer it with a mouthful of bacon. “Sup, boss?”
Damon glares and she rolls her eyes, dropping it down on the island to put it on speakerphone.
“..you keep doin’ this to me, girl?”
“Doin’ what?”
“You know what,” Dean throws back, damn near begging her to run his fucking drugs for him. “I need you.”
“You don’t need me,” she argues. “I’m not your only contact with a license and a pair of balls.”
“That’s debatable,” he mutters, sighing when she laughs at him.
“Why can’t Harley do it?”
“Because he doesn’t want Harley. He wants you and only you. Said he’ll pay you double if you can make it happen tonight.”
“Double?” she echoes, raising her brows. “Are you for real?”
“Yep.”
“How much is the run?”
“Twenty five.”
“Fuck,” she whispers to herself, looking at Damon to check his reaction. “That’s five grand.”
“I don’t give a fuck how much it is,” he bites out, coming up behind her to pull her head back by her hair. “No means no, punk.”
She starts to argue but he tightens his grip in warning, smirking to himself when she pouts and lifts the phone to her mouth. “Sorry, boss. I’m out.”
“Yeah, I thought you’d say that,” he sighs. “Fuck you, Kingston.”
Damon takes the phone to hang up on him and tosses it down on the side, twisting her in her seat to lift her up onto the island. She narrows her eyes and he laughs lightly, moving in to stand between her open thighs.
“Who’s he?”
“What?”
“Dean said he wants you and only you,” he explains, sliding his hands over her thighs to grab her ass. “Who’s he, Callie?”
“Louis,” she rasps, tipping her head back for him while he leans over to kiss her neck. “He’s the big scary boss man behind the scenes.”
“He wants what’s mine.”
“But he can’t have it,” she assures him, moaning when he sinks his teeth into the spot.
“Good girl,” he praises, lifting his head to look at me and Kai. “Tell the pixie we’ll be in the car.”
We laugh quietly and he lifts her off the counter, wrapping her legs around his waist to carry her over to the elevator. He catches my eyes just before they go inside, and I don’t have to be a mind reader to know what he’s thinking but not saying – he’ll let me off the hook today, but tomorrow’s a different story.
Of course he didn’t forget about me.
The elevator doors close and I look at Kai, pulling my brows in when I catch him staring after them with a far away look in his eyes, and it’s only now I realize I haven’t heard him speak yet.
“What’s wrong with you?”
He doesn’t answer so I look down at the phone in his hand, hiding a grin when I spot the local coffee shop’s Instagram page right there on the screen.
He’s looking for her again.
“You’re coming with me,” I tell him, tapping his cheek. “Let’s go.”
“What? Why?”
“Because I need your help,” I shrug, grinning at him over my shoulder. “We’ll stop and get a coffee on the way.”
He grins back and jumps up like his ass is on fire, worryingly excited for his daily meeting with his newest play thing.
“You’re obsessed, man.”
“Says the dumbass who can’t take his eyes off the blond guy with the dick,” he throws back, laughing at me when I shove his ass.
“Carry on and I’ll fuck you up.”
“Try it, bitch,” he jokes, jumping back out of reach when I move to grab him. “Where’re we goin’, anyway?”
“Not sure,” I frown, thinking. “Walmart?”
He laughs at me again and I roll my eyes, sliding my phone from my pocket to shoot a quick text to Freya.
Wren: Be outside in ten minutes or walk.
“You realize we have people we can pay to do this kinda shit for us, yeah?” he asks, following me over to the elevator.
“Yeah, but I don’t want Dad finding out about it.”
“Right,” he draws out, side eyeing me while he pushes the button for the ground floor. “You ever gonna tell me what the fuck you did to get yourself here?”
“Probably not.”
He nods, expecting that, but I don’t miss the clear flash of hurt in his eyes before he masks it.
“Kai..”
“Forget it,” he mutters, playing it off with a grin that looks real, but I know better.
Fuck, this is killing me.
“You think my girl’ll give me her number if I show her what she’s missin’?” he wiggles his brows, lifting his shirt to show me his abs.
I laugh and shake my head at him, ignoring the guilt eating away at me while I follow him out through the lobby. “Probably not.”
Chapter Thirteen
Wren
Fuck, he’s trying to kill me.
I swear to god he wants me to go off on him, right here in the middle of study hall for all to see.
Just as I think it, he smirks and lifts his eyes from his notebook, staring at me from beneath his lashes while he chews on that motherfucking straw he loves so much. I almost reach over the desk to snatch it from him, but then I remember where we are and who’s watching me, so I move my eyes elsewhere and try to concentrate on my En
glish essay, forcing myself to relax despite the raging fire blazing through me.
The fuck is he doing to me?
He’s supposed to be my fucking friend, not the guy who taunts me and fucks with my already fucked up head until I’m balancing on the edge of insanity.
He was never like this before.
He pushed his luck with me a couple times after that night at Ryan’s birthday party, but he was never like this until Callie came into my life. He’s jealous of her and my relationship with her, and even though I know I shouldn’t use my sister in law to piss him off, I can’t deny the fact it pleases me to watch him watch us like he’s ten seconds away from losing his shit.
Not nice is it, motherfucker?
He raises a cocky ass brow like he heard me, and it’s only now I realize I’m staring at him again, just like I always do because I can’t fucking help myself.
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I chew my lip, pretending I don’t feel the clear mixture of dread and excitement coursing through me. I take it out and hide it under the table to read the message, but it’s not Levi like I thought it was, it’s my drug dealer.
Tommy: Westbrook dorms. Room D17.
“Tommy found Derek.”
Callie tenses beside me and Damon tosses his pen on his book, already packing up his shit. “Where?”
“He’s at the dorms.”
My brothers and Callie stand to leave and I do the same, pulling my brows in when I catch the look on Levi’s face while he moves to follow us.
What..?
“What do y’all want with Derek?”
Levi glares at that, turning to look at Freya over his shoulder. “The fuck do you care?”
She glares right back at him and he smirks, winking at her while he falls in line beside me. The five of us leave the library to walk down the hall towards the exit and I do my best to keep my eyes forward, but I can’t help but note the tick in Levi’s jaw or the way his hands flex at his sides. That look I saw in his eyes just now, that’s the exact same look he had the day I told him Callie was drugged and kidnapped off the street. Derek tried to hurt her and he’s mad about it, which makes no fucking sense considering all he does is stare at her like he wants to choke her out, but I can’t deny what’s right in front of me.
He cares about her.
Callie side eyes him like she’s having the same thoughts as me but he ignores it, veering off to the side to walk into the science lab without knocking.
“Ry,” he calls, tipping his chin. “Let’s go.”
Ryan hops up from his seat without question and leans over to kiss Rachel’s temple, quickly moving to follow us out to the parking lot. “You found him?”
Damon locks his jaw and wraps his arm around Callie’s neck, looking between us while he walks her to the passenger side of his Lamborghini. “I want him gone.”
We nod as one and jump into our own cars beside his, waiting for him to take the lead before we fall in line behind him. We speed off through the school gates and I open the center console to grab the joint I was saving for the ride home, enjoying the way my heart races in my chest at the thought of what we’re about to do.
This is what I need.
Adrenaline.
Violence.
To stop thinking with my traitorous cock and let off some fuckin’ steam.
Five minutes later, I pull up in the parking lot beside Damon and jump out, taking my lit joint with me while we walk towards the main entrance of the four story building that houses the students of Westbrook University. Kai shoves the door open and I follow him inside with the others following closely behind us, grinning when Levi looks at me with a brow raised.
“You can’t smoke in here.”
“Watch me.”
He smirks and I smirk back, moving to grab the junior prick who was brave enough to stick a needle in Callie’s neck last weekend. He glares and opens his mouth like he’s about to do something about it, but then he gets a look at me and my company and freezes where he stands, fucking terrified.
“Fuck.”
“Fuck is right, little boy,” I tease, turning to look at Callie over my shoulder. “Nose or jaw?”
“Both.”
I laugh and he pales, wincing when I shove his ass back against the wall to my right.
“Where’s your friend?”
“I don’t know,” he lies, swallowing when I raise a brow.
“You sure?”
He hesitates, looking from me to Callie and back again. “Look, man, I already told you I didn’t kno–”
I pull my fist back and punch him in the jaw, giving him exactly three seconds to recover before I wrap my hand around his throat to pull him into me. “Look her way one more fuckin’ time and I’ll knock every single one of your teeth out. Got it?”
His eyes flutter closed but he manages a shaky nod, still swaying on his feet.
“Where’s your friend?” I ask again, slower this time.
“Fourth floor. Room seventeen.”
“Huh,” I muse, releasing him with a shove to take a hit of my joint. “Funny that.”
He relaxes some like he thinks it’s over, but it seems his memory isn’t all that good. I wait a second for his eyes to hit mine, then I punch him directly between the eyes, harder this time. He’s out cold before his ass hits the floor and I grin, pleased with myself.
“I’m good at that.”
Callie and the boys stare at me like I’ve grown two heads but I ignore it, tilting my head for them to follow me to the stairs at the end of the hall. I smoke my joint while we walk up, refusing to look when I feel his eyes on my back because if I look, I’ll see it.
He likes it when I get mad.
We get to the fourth floor and Kai looks at me. “You want the other one, too?”
I nod and he shakes his head at me, stopping at room seventeen to try the door. It’s locked, as expected, so he steps back and lifts his foot to kick it open. We walk inside and Derek’s buddy jumps up from his seat on the single bed in the corner, immediately going for the fire escape to make a run for it. I laugh at him and grab the back of his neck to pull him back in, tossing him down on his ass in the corner.
“Stay.”
He does as he’s told and I glance over my shoulder to look for Derek, frowning when I realize he’s not here.
“Where the fuck is he?” Damon snaps, looking down at the guy on the floor.
“He just left,” he rushes out, scooting back on his ass to get away from us. “He came by to grab some stuff he left last time he was here but then he got a call from some chick and bailed like his ass was on fire.”
“Where’s he staying?”
“I don’t know.”
I glare and crouch down in front of him, grabbing his jaw to force his eyes up to mine. “If you know where he is, I suggest you spit it out right fuckin’ now.”
“I don’t,” he stresses. “I swear to god I don’t know.”
“Fuck,” Damon growls, spinning to smash his fist into the closet door. “Fucking Freya.”
I wince at that, knowing this is my fault for saying shit in front of her, but I honestly didn’t think she’d be stupid enough to call her old fuck buddy to warn him we were coming for him the first chance she got. I risk a glance at Levi to check his reaction, but he’s not looking at us. He’s looking at Ryan, frowning a bit.
“What is that?”
“It was on the nightstand,” Ryan tells him, side eyeing Damon while he passes Callie a little white envelope. “It’s got your name on it.”
Her brows dip and she looks down at it, cautiously turning it over in her hand. I step closer to take a look and the boys do the same, all five of us surrounding her on all sides while she rips it open. She pulls out a black flash drive along with a note written in Derek’s hand writing, working her jaw while she reads it.
Don’t say I never gave you anything.
“This motherfucker,” Callie whispers to herself, closing her fist around the wo
rds on the paper.
I frown and Damon glares, turning to open the laptop sitting on the desk in the corner. He turns it on and waits for it to power up, taking the flash drive from Callie to insert it.
“Damon..” she warns, taking his face in her hands to pull his eyes down to hers. “I really don’t think you’re gonna like th–”
“..the fuck are you gonna do with that, you spineless little cunt?”
Callie’s muscles lock at the sound of her father’s voice and she pales, slowly turning around to face the video playing on the screen. It’s a shitty angle, almost like Derek held the camera between the small crack in the front door while he took it, but there’s no mistaking where he is or what he’s watching.
“Now, now, Jason,” Katherine teases, stepping closer to lift her gun to his chest. “Let’s just skip the dramatics and fast forward to the part where you give me what I want, shall we? Where is my daughter?”
“Your daughter?” he laughs, reaching into the pocket of his sweats to take out a cigarette. “I don’t care who you think you are or how much money you throw at me, you’re not getting her, Kat. She’s my baby girl.”
“Not anymore.”
He raises a dark brow at that, lifting his lighter to burn the tip, and I don’t miss the way Levi inches closer to Callie like it’s his natural instinct to protect her. Kai takes her hand but she doesn’t take her eyes off the screen. She doesn’t even blink, almost like she’s afraid they’ll disappear if she looks away for even a second.
“You’re not here to pay me,” Jason guesses, blowing his smoke in Katherine’s face. “You’re gonna kill me with that thing, aren’t you?”
She nods, smirking when his nostrils flare.
“What do you want with her?”
“Do you really care?” she challenges, waving a hand around the tiny apartment Callie grew up in. “You’re not exactly winning father of the year any time soon.”
“You know nothing about what I’ve done for that ungrateful little bitch,” he snaps, losing his temper. “I raised her, I gave up everything for her, all while you were off living the goddamn high life and fucking your way to the top.”
“That sounds an awful lot like jealousy,” she teases, laughing lightly when he tosses his roach on the floor and steps closer, leaning over her to get in her face.
Reckless at Westbrook High (The Kingston Brothers #2) Page 9
