Reckless at Westbrook High (The Kingston Brothers #2)

by Bethany Winters

  “What the fuck are y–”

  “Listen to me, Callie,” I whisper, taking her face in my hands to pull her eyes up to mine. “Anything you need, you call me and I’ll be there. I don’t care what it is, you call me, and I’ll be there. Got it?”

  She frowns and I take that as a yes, backing away from her to leave her here because his voice is getting closer and there’s not a chance in hell I’m about to let him find her again.

  “Keep that thing loaded.”

  She blinks at me and I turn around to walk for the limo parked just outside the gates, forcing my features even when Killian stops and spins to face me.

  “Where is she?”

  “Not here.”

  He snarls and wraps his hand around my throat, pulling the back door open to shove me inside. My ass hits the floor and I groan, looking up to find Frank leaning back on the bench seat with a red face and a bloody rag pressed to his side. He looks like shit considering I shot him a little over an hour ago, but it seems the nasty little grin on his face never left.

  “Don’t look so down, kid,” he croaks out, purposely digging his heel into my ribs. “You’ll see her again.”

  I wince and scoot away from him, rolling onto my side to pull the mask from my face. “What the fuck does that mean?”

  “It means Jason O’Conner just sold me his daughter,” my father answers, smirking like the evil piece of shit he is when he catches the look on my face. “She’s yours now.”

  Five hours later, my phone buzzes on Zane’s nightstand and I walk over to grab it, tossing my towel into the laundry basket on the floor while I read the message displayed on the screen.

  Callie: I need something.

  Levi: What is it?

  Callie: You’re not gonna like it.

  Levi: Try me.

  Those three little dots dance on the screen for what feels like forever and I hold my breath, anxiously waiting for whatever she’s about to say.

  Callie: I wanna kill them all.

  Callie: Not now. In three years.

  Callie: I want them to suffer like we do. Only worse. I want blood and pain and screaming and torture.

  Callie: All that fun stuff.

  I laugh lightly and sit down on the edge of the bed, leaning my elbows on my knees while I type out a reply.

  Levi: When’s your birthday?

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Levi

  Present..

  Wren hasn’t said a word.

  This whole time I’ve been talking, he’s been staring at me with this painfully blank expression on his face, completely unmoving like I’ve frozen him into shock, and I won’t deny his silence is making me even more nervous than I already am.

  Fuck, I wish I knew what he was thinking.

  Kai’s mumbling shit no one can understand considering they’re still gagged and Damon’s practically shaking with rage. I wouldn’t be surprised if his wrists are ripped to shreds with the way he’s pulling on those handcuffs behind his back.

  “Tell her what happened next.”

  Callie flinches at the sound of his voice and I lock my jaw, barely resisting the temptation to put a bullet through my father’s skull right here and now.

  Not yet.

  “A few weeks later, your friend Dean told us about this girl he had running bags for him on the streets of Vegas,” I explain, ignoring the way she glares at the word us. “Said she was a cocky little badass with an attitude problem but other than that, she was good at what she did and knew how to keep her mouth shut. We agreed to meet her, and then..”

  “And then you showed up,” Killian finishes for me, grinning at the memory.

  He couldn’t believe his fucking luck when she walked through that door for the first time all those years ago. The object of his new found obsession had come back to him, and he didn’t even have to lure her in to get it done. She was here and he fucking loved it, having her run his coke for him when she had no idea he was the one who raped her that night.. he got off on it.

  Her glare deepens and I drop my eyes to my lap, unable to witness the clear betrayal there.

  “You’ve been here this whole time?”

  I nod, biting down on the inside of my cheek so hard it hurts.

  Every job, every pickup, I was right here, watching her from the shadows, protecting her from him the only way I knew how. I let her believe Louis was her friend and I fucking hate myself for it, but I don’t regret it. If I’d have come clean and told her who the boss man really was, she’d have lost her shit and probably gotten herself killed in the process.

  I couldn’t let that happen.

  I’ll never let that happen.

  “And the night the boys came with me?”

  I scrub a hand over my mouth and she scoffs, leaning back in her seat to face Killian for the first time since I told her the truth. He smirks at her but she ignores it, doing her best to force her features even because she’s not about to give him the satisfaction of getting to her.

  “What are we doing here?”

  “I thought you’d never ask,” he teases, pulling out a black flash drive to hold it up between them. “I wanted to wait until your birthday to give you this but it seems my petulant nephew has other ideas. Zane wants this by tomorrow night, correct?”

  She stares at him and he sighs, plugging it into the laptop on the table beside him. He turns the screen so she can see and clicks the play button, leaning back in his seat to watch her watch it.

  “Which one are you again?” Zane asks, looking at Wren over his shoulder while he crouches down beside Donovan to continue ripping his teeth out.

  “Wren,” he mutters, lifting his arm to wipe the thin layer of sweat from his forehead. “How much more until we’re done?”

  “Only another two feet or so.”

  “Only,” he says dryly, tossing his shovel to the ground beside the grave we’re digging. “Fuck this.”

  “What’s wrong?”

  “This shit’s fuckin’ hard, that’s what’s wrong.”

  “Well, if you’d stop killing people we wouldn’t have this problem now, would we?” Zane jokes, grinning to himself when Wren turns to glare at him.

  “You think we’d get away with killing him, too?” he asks me, tilting his head to light another joint.

  I laugh lightly at that, stealing it from his mouth to take a hit. “Wanna try it?”

  He smirks and I bite my lip, shamelessly moving my eyes over his abs while he pulls his shirt over his head and gets back to digging.

  The video cuts off and Killian leans over to take the flash drive from the computer, sliding it over the table to pass it to Callie. “You’re welcome.”

  Her jaw ticks but she takes it, shoving it into the front pocket of her jeans. “What’s the catch?”

  “Marry my son.”

  “Are you outta your fuckin’ mind?!” she snaps, struggling to rein in her temper. “No.”

  “I’m afraid no isn’t an option here, sweetheart,” he tells her, passing a couple sheets of paper to the guard standing beside him. “You’ll divorce Damon tonight, come home with me and Levi and marry him on your eighteenth birthday nine days from today. Once that’s out of the way, you’ll stop taking the pill immediately and give me a grandchild by next summer.”

  “The fuck I will.”

  He laughs at that, standing to walk over to the boys in the corner. The guard crouches down behind Damon to place a pen in his hand and Killian lifts his gun to Wren’s temple, looking at Damon.

  “Sign it.”

  Fuck.

  Callie jumps to her feet and I do the only thing I can think of to save Wren, locking my arms around her waist to pull her back to my chest.

  “Damon, don’t!” she shouts, desperately clawing at my wrists to get to them. “Get the fuck off m–”

  I slap a hand over her mouth and drag her over to the concrete pillar behind me, shoving her back against it to wrap my hand around her throat. She continues to fight me
like their lives depend on it so I use my free hand to pin her wrists above her head, leaning over her to get in her face.

  “Enough.”

  “Fuck you,” she fires back, baiting me just like I knew she would.

  “You listen to me, you mouthy little bitch,” I bite out, loud enough to get Killian’s attention. “If Damon doesn’t do what he says, they’re all dead. You really wanna risk that over a meaningless piece of paper?”

  “Are you fucking stupid?” she hisses, still fighting me despite the fact it’s useless. “Levi, he’s gonna k–”

  I squeeze her throat to shut her up and force her eyes up to mine, silently pleading with her to hear what I’m saying.

  I know, Callie.

  I fucking know there’s no way Killian kidnapped them and brought them here just for a conversation and a quick divorce.

  He’s gonna kill them.

  Really fucking soon.

  As soon as he’s got Damon’s signature on that piece of paper, they become loose ends, and we both know how he feels about those.

  Callie’s brows dip like she gets it and I smirk like I hate her, ignoring the boys’ death stares on my back while I run my thumb over the edge of her jaw.

  “You’re mine now, little Kingston,” I tease, slowly sliding one of her hands down to the button on my jeans. “And this? This is all fuckin’ yours.”

  Killian laughs quietly and she looks up at me from beneath her lashes, watching me closely while I dip my head to speak over her lips.

  “Now.”

  As soon as the word leaves my mouth, she rips her gun out from my waistband and we take off running, headed straight for the guard who gagged the boys in the gas station earlier tonight. His eyes widen in shock and Callie shoots him in the leg, knocking him down on his knees to hold the gun to his temple.

  “Get the key.”

  I shake my head at her audacity but do as I’m told, leaning over to search his pockets for the key for the cuffs. I find it and steal his gun while I’m at it, taking the boys’ car keys as well as the fob for one of the blacked out SUVs parked outside. I snatch Callie’s hand and we run along the edge of the building to get to the other end, but then a gunshot rings out from somewhere behind me and I panic, wrapping my arm around her waist to pull her back behind the stairs. I hide her face in my chest and look around, pulling my head back just as quick when I hear another shot.

  Fuck.

  “Don’t shoot them, you idiots!” Killian roars, making me jump. “I need them alive.”

  Callie releases a breath and I shove all the keys in her hands, rushing her over to the boys so she can get them the fuck out. She starts on Damon and I toss my gun down on Wren’s lap, quickly pulling the gag from his mouth to take his face in my hands.

  “I love you, baby.”

  He glares and I kiss him, turning around to face the guard moving for Callie like he’s about to fucking grab her. I wrap my hand around the fucker’s throat and shove his ass back, punching him in the jaw before I do the same with his friend. A third guy comes up beside me and I punch him too, freezing where I stand when I come face to face with Killian. He looks mad as hell, and if this little stunt of mine doesn’t get me killed, I don’t know what will. He snatches my shirt to pull my chest to his and I look over my shoulder, taking half a second to check the boys and Callie are gone, but then Wren appears out of nowhere and wraps his hand around the back of my neck, yanking me away from Killian to take me with him. I frown at that, stumbling to keep up with him while he walks me through the door and out towards the SUV they’re about to steal.

  “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Lev,” he grits out, digging his nails into my neck while he leans over me to speak in my ear. “Do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up.”

  I frown some more and he tosses me through the back door to sit in the middle, jumping in next to me while Kai does the same on my other side. Callie climbs through the driver’s side to jump over onto the passenger seat and Damon jumps in behind her, quickly hitting the gas to speed off towards the highway. A deafening silence follows for what feels like forever and I risk a glance at Callie, only just realizing how pale she looks. Her eyes are glazed over and she’s shaking from head to toe, almost like she’s crashing from an adrenaline rush and it’s only just hitting her.

  “Callie..”

  “Shut up, Damon.”

  “Baby–”

  She dry heaves and he curses, yanking on the wheel to pull over onto the side of the road. He jumps out to round the front of the car and she opens the door, barely managing to lean all the way over before she starts to puke. My brows dip and I pull my head back, swallowing when it hits me.

  “Fuck, is she–”

  “She’s not pregnant, asshole,” Kai mutters, reaching for the handle to pull the back door open. “She gets sick when she’s disgusted with herself.”

  He and Wren climb out to go help Damon calm her down and I drop my head in my hands, giving them a few minutes alone before I decide to get out and face the music. Callie sees me first and glances off to the side, chewing her lip ring with something that looks an awful lot like guilt. The stupid girl’s done nothing to feel guilty about and she knows it, but I don’t dare call her out on it. Damon slides his hands around her waist to pull her back to his chest and the twins move to stand either side of her, leaving her dead in the center of their human triangle while I remain on the outside. They say nothing and I look at Wren, immediately wishing I hadn’t when I catch the look on his face.

  Anger, confusion, betrayal.. hate.

  Fuck, he breaks me.

  My heart aches in my chest with the need to make him forgive me and I open my mouth to try, but then he cocks his head and steps closer to me, pulling his fist back to hit me square in the nose.

  And then I’m out cold.

  Again.

  “Fuck, Wren, will you just listen to me?” I plead, struggling against his grip on my arm while he drags me down the hall. “Wren.”

  He continues to ignore me and tosses me through the door of the room Freya sleeps in, walking me over to the nightstand to take out a bottle of aspirin. He shoves the pills at my chest and steals my phone from the pocket of my jeans, moving to leave without a single word or a second fucking glance.

  “Wren, please just–”

  He slams the door behind him and I jump, helplessly running my hands through my hair when I hear the sound of the lock a second later.

  “Fuck.”

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Wren

  It feels different this time.

  Hurts more.

  This lying motherfucker didn’t just break my heart, he fucking stole it. Dug his fingers into my chest and ripped it right out of its cage, leaving nothing but a black hole and an ache so real it hurts to breathe.

  I promised myself I’d never allow this to happen to me again, stupidly thought I could get by just fine without feelings of any kind because it’s not worth the fucking pain, but then he came along and ruined everything.

  He ruined me.

  Just like I knew he would.

  My eyes burn with a mixture of emotions I can’t seem to control and I lean my elbows on my knees, mindlessly running my thumb over the ink on my wrist while I wait for him to wake up.

  I didn’t get any sleep last night, but it seems he didn’t have that problem.

  Fuck, I hate him.

  My jaw ticks at the thought and I wait another few minutes, but then fear gets the better of me and I stand from my seat in the corner, moving to sit down on the edge of the bed beside him. He’s still fully clothed, lying on top of the blanket wearing jeans and a white t-shirt covered in blood, and I can’t help the way my chest tightens with guilt when I get a look at the black eye I gave him on the side of the road last night. I run my hand over his neck and press two fingers to the vein there, only releasing the breath I was holding when I feel the steady pulse of his heart beating.

  At least
he still has one.

  Just as I think it, a rough groan leaves his throat and he covers my hand with his, cracking his eyes open to check his surroundings. He gets one look at me and blinks, and I don’t miss the way his face falls when he catches the look on mine.

  “Wren–”

  “What was I to you?”

  He frowns at that, leaning up on his elbows to bounce his eyes between mine. “What?”

  “Were you just..” I swallow, hating the pathetic crack in my voice when I ask him. “Were you just using me to get to Callie?”

  “Fuck, baby, no,” he chokes out, sitting up to take my face in his hands. “How can you even ask me that? Don’t you know how much you mean to me?”

  “Then why did you–” My voice cracks again and I shut my mouth, dropping my eyes to the sheet before he sees something I don’t want him to.

  “Why did I what?”

  Why did you break me?

  A single tear slips over my cheek and he wipes it away with his thumb, gently lifting my chin to pull my eyes back to his. “Baby, listen to me,” he pleads, dropping his forehead down on mine. “I would never hurt you. Not like that. Fuck, man, I love y–”

  “No,” I growl, wrapping my hand around his throat to pin his ass back to the bed. “You don’t get to do this to me.”

  “Do what?”

  “Fuck with my head,” I snap, smacking the sheet beside his face. “Say shit like that when I’m so mad I could fucking kill you.”

  His features tighten like he’s in as much pain as I am and he curls his fingers beneath my shirt, wrapping his legs around my waist to pull me down on him.

  “I’m sorry,” he whispers, damn near choking on his own lies. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

  “You will be,” I taunt, dipping my head to speak in his ear. “Because as soon as we get done getting this tape to Zane, your ass is done here.”

  He tenses against me and I release him with a shove, moving to leave before I do something I shouldn’t.