Family Tied (Being A Wade Book 1)

by Annie Hughes

  “Call your guy,” he says, handing it back to me. “Arrange a meet. You know him, so you should be there. I’ll square it here.” He snorts. “Rayleigh is gonna fucking kill me.”

  I frown. I really didn’t turn up here to cause problems. Hell, I didn’t even know they were still together. I heard he had some badass girlfriend, but I never would have put badass and Rayleigh Stevens in the same sentence. I figured when he took the job at the top of the food chain, she’d have bolted, especially after everything. It would have been the smarter thing for her to do. She doesn’t belong in this world, she was too innocent, too pure. I know this life will ruin her, know it will change the person she is. By the looks of it, it already has. I tried explaining that to Dylan when they first met, but he was too far gone on her. He didn’t see that the best thing he could have done for her was to walk away, just like I did.

  “Do you want me to try and talk to her? Apologize?”

  It’s about all I can offer. I did plan on making things right with her, just maybe not straight away. She looked pretty pissed, and like she knows exactly what she’s doing with that gun. Again I find myself wondering what the hell has happened to the sweet girl from college. Dyl laughs, interrupting my thoughts, and clearly thinking my offer is the funniest thing he’s heard in forever.

  “She’d tear you apart, bro,” he says, when he eventually calms down. “Look, just set this up and leave everything else to me. This doesn’t mean you’re back in. I mean, you know I have to go through the old man, but it’s something.”

  I nod, understanding. It’s more than I expected to be fair. He gives me his cell number, telling me to call him with the details when it’s all set up, then I leave. I stroll along the streets for a while, letting the wind assault my face as I take it all in. The familiar streets and buildings bring me the kind of comfort you can only get when you’re truly home, truly free. I never realized how much I missed this corrupt little town until I had it taken away from me. After a while, I find a small diner and head inside. The place is new, but I still notice people turning their heads in my direction as I walk further in. I used to love this, used to love the recognition my face and name gave. Not anymore. They all know who I am, what I’ve done, and the shame of that is suffocating. I order coffee then sit on a table tucked into the back, away from prying eyes. I dig the cheap cell I bought on my way down here out my pocket and dial the number on the paper. It rings twice before the gruff voice filters through the speakers.

  “Hey Joey, its Rome, Roman Wade,” I say.

  “Rome! How’s it hanging, my man? You out now?”

  I laugh at the brightness of his voice. The guy is always smiling. Even when he’s threatening someone, he’ll have a big stupid grin on his face. It’s actually quite terrifying, like those freaky fucking clowns. The thought alone has me shuddering. I’m so fucking lucky the guy decided he liked me when we were locked up together.

  “Yeah man, just this morning.”

  I can practically hear his smile as I sip at the coffee that’s now in front of me. Oh fuck that tastes good. I really, really missed good coffee. The shit we got in Clandon, if we were lucky, tastes like horse shit. In fact, I’m willing to bet horse shit would be preferential.

  “Found yourself a pussy to sink into yet? I can tell you boy, it was the first fucking thing I did!” He laughs again. “And the second.”

  My thoughts flick to Rayleigh but I banish them quickly. The same way I had five years ago when I saw her arriving on Trinity Campus. I’d been waiting in the parking lot for a drop when my eyes caught her outside the Chester Building, staring at the road, her arms folding over her chest. She looked lost, and I was about to climb out my car and offer my services, when her relative had shown up. I watched them interact, mesmerized by her smile and the way her eyes twinkled with warmth. After that, I’d been determined to find out who she was, and when I did, I walked away. I used my connections, knew more about her than she probably knew herself, but I still left her alone. She wasn’t made for the Wade way of life, so I kept my distance, or at least tried to.

  My mind drifts back to the Halloween party of freshman year. She showed up at the frat house with her ballsy, Scottish roommate, dressed as some sort of Alice in Wonderland rendition. She’d been nervous as hell, glancing around her constantly. College Rayleigh was painfully shy, hid away from any form of confrontation, and crowds were definitely not her thing. I watched her all night, and then when one of the guys got a little too handsy with her, I stepped in and took care of it for her. After that, I walked her home. Her friend ditched her for some guy, and Rayleigh was too wasted to make it alone. We laughed and talked on the way, and when we’d reached her dorm, I held her hair whilst she got sick before tucking her into bed. She murmured a thank you as she fell asleep, and it was the sweetest sound I’ve ever heard. The next day I walked over there, wanting to know how she was. I found her in the student centre. She looked right at me, through me, and then walked away. She didn’t remember, didn’t recognize me, and it cut me deep to the core. But, it was for the best. She didn’t belong in the fucked up world I live in, still fucking doesn’t. I never expected the next time I’d see her would be with Dyl. I force past memories out my head and tune back into my conversation.

  Not yet,” I sigh. “I’m trying to fix things with my boy.”

  I shared a cell with Joey in Clandon for a while. We talked about all the fucked up things we’ve done to end up in there. I told him about Dyl, and Rayleigh, and every other asshole move I’ve ever made. He knows what fixing things means to me, and he has even given me some solid advice which I hope works.

  “How did that go? Did you give him my number? I’m serious about the business.”

  I smile. “Better than I thought, although remember that girl I told you about? Rayleigh?”

  “Yeah? Your boy’s girl? What about her? Did you go see her? I told you fixing things with Dylan would work better for you. You can’t fix it all in one day, bro,” he laughs.

  I laugh. “That was my plan...” A snort escapes me. “It turns out she’s still with him. She held a fucking gun to my head before I could breathe a single fucking word.” My gaze drifts up to the ceiling. “I swear I didn’t fucking expect that.”

  Joey’s laughter echoes loudly down the cell and I have to pull it away from my ear slightly so he doesn’t deafen me. “Holy fuck man, that’s hilarious. I guess she has a reason or two to be pissed at you though, huh?” Way to state the obvious, man.

  “Yeah yeah I get it. Anyway, Dyl managed to talk her down before my brains were splattered all over the floor, and then we talked. Dyl and me, not Rayleigh. She stormed out, probably to plan which way she was gonna kill me and where she was gonna bury the remains.” I laugh now, but it’s humorless. “That’s actually why I’m calling. Dyl wants to arrange a meet with you. I’ll be there as well. I’m not exactly back in the game, but it’s a start, right?”

  “You bet it is brother, and if it doesn’t work out, you know you’re welcome in my family. Did you get that package I sent to you?”

  I assure him I did as I remember the small brown parcel that had been waiting for me when I left jail this morning. I knew it was from him straight off when I saw the scratchy scribble on the side. Joey’s writing is one of a kind, a mixture of upper and lower case letters that make little sense. Inside I found envelope full of cash, his details, and the keys to a small apartment here in Parkington. I didn’t know what to do with it at first.

  “Yeah I got it. You didn’t have to, but thanks man,” I say, not entirely comfortable with the tender moment we were about to enter in to. “I appreciate it.”

  “Don’t sweat it. It’s nothing special but it’ll get you started. Stay there as long as you like, just let me know when you’re done.” He clears his throat. “So, how about Friday for this meet with your boy? I can come to you.”

  We agree a time and I give him the address before signing off the call. I take a deep breath before d
ialing Dyl’s number. Man up, dickhead. He picks up on the first ring.

  “Yeah?”

  “It’s Rome.”

  He snorts. “Yeah Einstein, I figured that much. You speak to your man?”

  Straight to business then, I guess. “Yeah just got off to him, Friday at 8. He’ll come to the bar.”

  I raise my hand to the waitress and signal her to bring me more coffee, my eyes glancing over her figure. She isn’t anything special, but she’ll do.

  “That works.” He’s quiet for a second before he speaks again, his voice low. “I spoke to Pops, he wants to see you.”

  I scoff. “Yeah, I bet he does.” Like fuck I was taking on Charles Wade today. He might be sick, but the guy had power, serious power. I’d rather face a fucking firing squad than one of his death glares.

  Dylan laughs down the phone. “I don’t think he wants to kill you, if it’s any consolation. He’d only have me do it anyway, and I’d have to get in line after Ray. He wants you to come by the bar tonight, around 9. You know the deal, Rome, this shit has to happen. Your dad will be there too.”

  I let out a long breath. “I’ll be there.” My fingers tear at the napkin on the table in front of me. “Dyl, how do I fix things with your girl? I’m relatively certain she isn’t going to be up for a friendly chat, but I also know it has to happen.”

  “No, probably not, and you probably won’t fix things. Don’t expect her to just be okay with you. I’ve known you since I was a kid and I’m not okay with you.” He lets out a long breath. “She didn’t know you before, remember that. Just give her time, I’ll talk to her.” Silence falls over us again for a beat or two before he breaks it. “You got somewhere to stay?”

  “Yeah, apartment on Fifth.”

  “Okay, good. I’ll see you later.”

  He cuts off the call before I can respond, and I lower my head on the table. It’s going to be a long ass day. Dealing with Uncle Charles is going to be difficult, then my dad, and I have to somehow pray they are willing to help me out and not shove a boot up my ass. I hear the waitress at the side of me and lift my head in her direction. She places the coffee down and flutters her eyelashes. Her hip juts out as she chews seductively on the end of a pen. Her blonde hair is pulled tightly into some weird shape on the top of her head, and I can’t help but wonder how her eyes aren’t watering. I mean, it looks damn painful.

  “Can I get you anything else, big guy?”

  I smirk. Maybe I could just forget all this bullshit for a little while and lose myself in her for a bit. I mean, it has been a while. Can anyone really judge me for that?

  “Well, there is something, baby.”

  She flashes me a smile before telling me she gets off in twenty minutes. Thirty minutes later she’s bending over the dumpster out back whilst I pound inside her.

  Family business can wait for a while.

  Rayleigh Stevens

  The rage rushes through me as I connect my fist with the bag again. No matter how hard or how many times I hit it, the red haze just won’t clear. I haven’t been this mad in a long time. Hell, I’ve never been this mad. Roman Wade. UGH. I hoped, prayed, that I’d never have to look at his stupid ‘I do what I want, when I want’ face again. How dare him. I mean, how fucking dare he stand there and ask to be heard, at the ass-crack of dawn no less. He doesn’t deserve the time of day. He should still be behind bars after what he did to me, to both of us. My mind tries to recall the memories but I push them down, not wanting to get lost in them. I’m not that girl anymore, I’m not weak. I slam in to the bag again, desperate to feel some form of satisfaction. It’s not just Rome who’s pissed me off, Dylan has too. Why he didn’t just let me shoot him there and then, I’ll never know. But I read his eyes as he conveyed his not so subtle message. He wanted to hear him out, listen to whatever bullshit was going to spout from his mouth. That’s always Dylan’s problem. He always has to listen to what people have to say, holds too much faith in their words. But the words from people like Roman Wade are useless. He can’t be trusted.

  “That’s it, Ray. Let it all out, babe.”

  I force a tight smile at Leigh, my best friend, then rush my fist into the bag again. Leigh was already here when I arrived, and having seen my face, she abandoned her own work out to come hear me complain. The girl deserves a damn medal.

  “I just don’t understand why he’d even fucking listen to him. I mean, come on.” Again I hit the bag. “It’s fucking Roman.”

  “Yeah, he’s a dickhead, we all know this,” she says, her clipped Scottish accent prominent despite living in the States for over ten years. “But, we also know Dylan. And he’s a pussy.”

  I snort a laugh. She has a point. Dylan is too damn soft for his own good. My hands grip either side of the bag and I let my forehead rest on the cool plastic. It’s useless. I’m not getting rid of this anger anytime soon, and I’m only going to tear my damn hands apart in the process.

  “You know, he left me naked and ready for him, just to go downstairs and deal with it,” I inform her.

  “Fuck off,” she exclaims, louder than I appreciate. “Seriously?”

  I nod, knowing how annoyed she’ll be for me. I told Leigh almost everything, missing out the less legal issues of the family. That isn’t out of loyalty to them though, it’s out of love for her. She doesn’t need to be dragged into that. I think she knows most of it, having gone to college with us, and living in this town for the past ten years. Leigh was my roommate at school, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.

  “Well, shit. You need to put your foot down with him, Ray. He can’t keep doing this to you.”

  I sigh, and rear back ready to pound another bout of rage into the lifeless victim.

  “Yeah, right,” I grunt, then begin to rain my fists on the bag.

  Sweat drowns me, tickling my back, and soaking my clothes. I vaguely hear Leigh exhale, before leaving me to my self-punishment. I know she’s getting pissed off with the way I deal with my issues here, and not with the root of the problem, but I can’t help it. Dylan is under enough pressure as it is. It just isn’t the right time to hash out our differences.

  “Rayleigh? You might wanna ease up there, kid, before you do some damage.”

  I turn to where Kade is watching me from the side of the gym. I figured Dyl would send someone to babysit me, he always does. I’m not sure if it’s for my protection, or his peace of mind anymore. The fact is, I spend more time with Kade than I do with him, and he’s meant to be my boyfriend, my forever. We’ve been through so much together, just barely making it out the other end. I chose him, when Charles got sick. I knew what it meant for us. I knew it meant living this life. The life we were so desperately trying to get away from. I knew it would be hard, but the deeper we get in, the further the people we once were seem. I’m not the same girl, and Dylan definitely isn’t the same guy.

  We barely spend time together anymore, him too busy with the business, and me too busy trying to avoid it. I know we have an expiration date, and that sober thought breaks my heart into too many pieces to count. But it’s fast approaching, I can feel it, and I have no idea how to stop it or fix it. All I know, is that I can’t continue being this person for much longer. Something has to give, and I fear the return of Roman is about to bring me to my final breaking point. I pull the straps off my knuckles and inspect the rawness of them briefly. They hurt, but I barely feel it. I barely feel anything anymore.

  “I’m done,” I say to Kade, before walking off to the showers.

  I return twenty minutes later, fresh, and ready to handle the latest hurdle for Dyl and me to try and jump over. It seems we’re forever trying to battle something, never smooth sailing long enough for us to catch our damn breath. I head out the gym with Kade and climb into his car. I walked here earlier from the bar, and he’d been waiting for me outside knowing this was exactly where I was heading. I like Kade, for the most part. He’d been at college with us, and was a really good friend to Dylan when shit firs
t hit the fan. He’s a big guy, a solid wall of muscle, intimidating to all those that don’t know him. But I know him, and he has a heart of gold, even if he is letting Dylan become someone neither of us know.

  “Feel better now?” He asks, as we pull out the car lot.

  I scoff. “I’ll feel better when he’s gone.”

  Kade’s silence sends alarm bells off in my head so I turn to face him. The sympathetic expression on his face does nothing to ease the sirens going off. What do you know, asshole? Kade is awful at keeping secrets. He’s spilled his guts on Christmas presents, birthday gifts, and surprise parties in the past. It’s an ongoing joke now, so much so, that no one ever tells him anything anymore.

  “Spit it out,” I growl.

  “Absolutely fucking not. You can have this conversation with your boyfriend. I’m staying way out of it. I learnt my lesson on stepping into Rayleigh-Dylan drama a long fucking time ago.”

  He doesn’t say another word, and we spend the rest of the drive in silence. When he pulls up outside the bar, I barely wait for him to stop before climbing out the car and heading inside. Silence falls on the room as I walk through, but I don’t acknowledge it, and instead walk straight up to our apartment. I find Dylan in the lounge, sitting quietly on the sofa. He looks up as I walk in, and I know that he’s been waiting for me. I make a mental note to kick Kade’s ass for warning him.

  “I already know that I’m not going to like it, so you might as well spit it out.”

  He pushes a hand through the messy brown hair that’s falling all over his face. He looks tired, frustrated even, and a part of me loses my annoyance at him. I shouldn’t be mad at him over this, I mean, it’s not exactly his fault. He didn’t ask Rome to show up, it just happened. Sure, I’m pissed he didn’t turf his ass out the door but that isn’t Dyl’s nature. It crushed him when he found out it was Rome that had been putting me through hell. They were close, crazy close, and Dylan all but grieved for him. I should have known he’d never turn him away. Not even after everything. It just isn’t him. They have a bond that no one can understand, and whether I liked it or not, Rome will always be in the back of his mind. Besides, he’s a Wade. I can’t compete with that, I never could.