by G N Wright
This town. This fucking town. A town I used to love is now nothing but a fucking shell of my broken heart and grief.
A town run by Elliot Donovan and his fucking lackeys. His own son included. A son that fucking raped my Ells. Fuck. You think they have already taken so much from you and just when you think you have nothing else to give, they come back for more. My chest tightens and I try to focus on anything, other than the numb feeling in the pit of my stomach. How can you feel so much love and contentment at the same time as your heart being ripped out and stomped on?
I pull Elle close again and enclose her in my arms tightly, like my embrace alone can shelter her from the horrors she has already endured. They will pay, I will make them fucking pay. I was already planning on killing them for what they did to my dad, but now? Now, I am going to fucking destroy them. Ruin them. Make them fucking bleed until my body is coated in their blood. And lucky for me, I know exactly who is going to help me.
I stand gripping Elle and taking her with me and she squeals slightly, and it makes me smile. How? How can she still smile and laugh and just live her life after what they did to her? Cassie. That's how. She took the worst thing that could ever happen to her and turned it into the best and she did that with the help of Asher fucking Donovan.
Fuck. Asher Donovan, the little prick I have always loved to hate, saved my girl. Saved her when I couldn’t and has been continuing to save her every day since. He stepped up and not only risked his life to allow her to escape but puts himself at risk everyday by being a father, to his sick fuck of a brother’s little girl. Fuck if I can’t feel anything but respect for him at this moment.
“Thank you for telling me, baby,” I finally manage to croak out.
She shrugs like it isn’t a big deal, when it is the biggest fucking deal in the world and then smiles “Figured it was the least I could do before Jace punched you again,” clearly, she is aiming for a joke but the memory of what I said to her hits me. Jace was right. Now, I know the truth. I do wish he would have done more.
I push my forehead against hers and scrunch my eyes closed tight, like that will help me erase what a prick I was, “I’m so fucking sorry, Ells. Fuck, how can you even forgive me after the things I have done and said?” I puzzled.
“Easy. You’re my River,” she says, reaching up and stroking a hand to my face. I open my eyes to lock my stare on hers, “Everyone who isn’t us is insignificant,” she adds, repeating what I said to her a few weeks ago. I smile and nod because I can’t say anything else.
I drop Elle to her feet and start to take a step back, but she stops me, “I have a plan,” she says simply. “I’m different, stronger, and I am going to make them pay.”
“Let me be strong for you,” I plead with her, but she is already shaking her head at me before I even finish my sentence.
“No. They took from me, Marcus, stole from me. Stole something I can never get back and trust me when I say, I am not the only one. I don’t need a knight in shining armor. You don’t get to ride in here on your white horse and slay all my evil dragons. I’m not the broken little girl they ruined. I’m their worst fucking nightmare and they will bleed at my feet, no one else’s.”
Fuck if I’m a sadist because her words make my blood run hot through my veins. My beautiful little King is a fierce fucking warrior. If she wants to make this town burn, then I want to be the one to hand her the match.
“Ells, I would lay down my life for you without blinking, if it meant giving you justice,” I reply honestly.
Her stare turns hard, “No more Riviera blood is going to be spilled on my watch.” I can feel the love she had for my father shining through. She misses him just as much as I do.
We both straighten and I sense she needs a moment to collect herself. I take a step back and nod towards the door, “I’m just gonna go chat with the guys,” I say, and she smiles and nods allowing me to turn around and walk out.
Chapter 20
LINCOLN
We left the room silently to give the two of them some time to talk. Keeping Marcus in the dark for so long has been hard. It’s caused cracks to show in our group for the first time ever and I didn’t like feeling so out of control. I guess we are a lot like real brothers in that sense, we have to fight sometime. I think about what he must be going through right now. How he must be hurting. For himself, for her. Hell, I’m hurting for her and I have only known her a couple of months, the pain he must be enduring is surely astronomical.
Jace and I are leaning on the wall opposite to the door we have just come out of. I can feel the tension rolling off him from here. I turn my head slightly to take him in. All I can see right now is pain and grief, for Elle, for Rachel. There is barely a trace of the usual flirty and easy going Jace I love. No, in his place is the dark Jace, the reckless Jace. The one who smokes too much and parties too hard. I wish there were something, anything I could do to help him, that won’t end in him numbing himself with the drag of a joint and a warm female body. But that's just him. A pure soul. A soul that is bleeding, bleak, and broken.
Then there is Donovan. He is pacing the short corridor in front of us. Back and forth, back, and forth. His face the perfected blank mask. His stare cold and predatory. He looks to the outside like he doesn’t have a care in the world and the only reason for his pace, is that he simply wanted to move. But I see it differently. The more time I spend with him the more I pick up on his little tells. I watched his eyes darken when Elle mentioned Greg, I saw his knee bounce ever so slightly when she talked of her escape and now, I see the slight tightening of his shoulders beneath his jacket. All giving me a glimpse of the emotions he feels whenever he thinks about that fateful night.
He is just as dark and broken as the rest of us. I know he is fighting more demons than either of us right now, but his pacing is putting me on edge.
“Can you not?” I snap at him before I can even think about it and I feel Jace chuckle beside me.
He halts and looks at me, “Can I not what?” he asks.
“Quit fucking pacing,” I respond, and Jace laughs out loud next to me.
“Yeah, chill out, Donovan. They are probably gonna end up fucking in there, nothing to worry about,” Jace unhelpfully adds.
His head snaps his way, “What have I told you about that fucking mouth, Conrad?” he seethes at him but Jace just laughs again.
“I don’t remember, maybe we can ask Elle what she thinks of it?” he preens, wiggling his eyebrows at Donovan.
“Don’t make me fucking hit you,” he snaps in response, taking a step towards him and I lean up off the wall taking a step forward too. He allows his gaze to shift to me, then back to Jace before settling back down again like he can tell that I am the bigger threat. It’s ridiculous really that he would think that same as the way people think Marcus is a bigger threat than me or Jace. He’s not. I’m not. We are all lethal in our own right and to dismiss one of us is a deadly mistake.
“What, Blackwell? You think you can take me?” he says with that signature sinister smile.
I smile back at him pushing out my chest and broadening my shoulders, “I know I can.”
He takes another step, “Now listen here, you fucking piece of --” he starts but Jace cuts him off.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake, will you give it a rest? We are all on the same fucking side here, Team Elle! So just play nice and suck each other's dicks or something to relieve all this tension,” he says casually, as he gestures around us with his arms.
I freeze slightly but I see Asher catch it and just when I think he will do what every typical Alpha male would do in this situation and hype the macho shit of, ‘Fuck off I’m not gay,’ he smirks. His eyes take me in from head to toe and darken into a stormy blue before he looks to Jace and says, “In his fucking dreams.”
Oh, if only the little psycho knew the stuff he got up to in my dreams. I lick my lips willing him to play this game with me, “No, in yours, dark prince,” I fire back.
H
e brings his blue gaze back to mine but before he can say anything, the door swings open and we all freeze. Marcus appears alone and he lets the door close behind him before leaning back against it with a sigh. He stands there in silence for a minute before collecting his thoughts and when he stands to his full height again his stare locks on Donovan’s. Fuck this won’t be good.
He stalks towards him and just when I feel Jace tense beside me like he is ready to intervene with me if need be, Marcus does the last thing I ever expected.
He grips Asher by the neck and pulls him towards him, “We are gonna kill every last one of them for her,” he says simply. Arousal surges into my body, thinking about how it would feel if I were to grab him like that instead of Marcus. I shut it down quickly.
Asher clamps his hand onto his shoulder, “For her,” he responds.
I look at Jace as he looks at me and we both speak at the same time, “For her.”
Asher and Marcus look at us and we all nod before Marcus backs away and slumps back against the wall and slides down until his ass plants on the floor. He looks broken.
I take a step forward, “I know this hurts, brother” I say to him softly and he flinches.
“Hurts?” he says, with his voice laced so pure with anguish as he looks up at all of us. “Fuck. I wish it did hurt. I wish I could feel some pain. All the fucking pain she no doubt felt. I wish it would slice through my body and leave me to bleed out until I could do nothing but fucking feel.” He pounds his fist against his chest, “I feel empty. Weak. Useless. Because somehow a simple dare between friends turned into the worst night of her fucking life. Changed the course of fucking everything and all I did was let it happen,” his voice is so strained with the emotion he is trying to contain. I can’t think what to say to make him feel better, but Donovan beats me to it.
“This wasn’t your fault, Marcus,” he soothes, “You were a kid, she was a kid,” his voice strains a little now too. “You should have been free to play a simple game without this happening. The darkness my father and brother create would make any man sick.”
Marcus’ glare focuses on that statement and I can tell Elle hasn’t even told him the half of what is going on yet. Before he can speak though she emerges, and we all swing our gaze to her. This girl. Four men at her mercy all willing to lay down their life for her without thought. She doesn’t realize how amazing she really is.
She takes us all in, offering us a small, soft smile before she finally turns to Marcus. She crouches down beside him and presses her head against the side of him like just his presence can heal her. I’m sure it will. He pulls back and the look they give each other makes me feel like they are the only two people in the world for each other.
She stands and holds out her hand to him, “Come on, Riv,” she says, as he puts his hand in hers. “Time to make them pay,” she adds as she drags him to his full height before swinging her gaze to the rest of us, “together.”
“Together,” we all respond.
Chapter 21
ELLE
Can you be calm in the midst of chaos?
Whenever I used to think about anyone else finding out about Cassie, it would make my heart race, my throat tighten, and my palms sweat. But here I stand, surrounded by four guys who know my whole truth, and instead of worry all I feel is calm. Like a weight has finally been lifted off my shoulders.
I have no idea what is going to happen next or if we will survive the plans I have in mind, but I do know one thing. We will do it together. Marcus, Asher, and I were always like the three amigos, well to me anyway. One for all and all for one. They may have hated each other, probably still do, but one thing was always more important than that, me. Now, not only do I have both my best friends back by my side but somehow my army of two has grown to four.
Four beautiful, broken, and completely deadly boys who for some reason have chosen to have my back. Do I deserve them? Not a chance in hell. Will I do everything in my power to have their backs? Without question.
I take in each of their expressions and all of their gazes are locked on me.
Asher is holding onto his usual impassive mask that he thinks is impenetrable and it is to most, but not to me. I have seen him on his best days, his worst days, and everything in between. He hates reliving that night just as much as I do, maybe even more. I hope he understands why we had to. Things had to change. There are too many secrets in this town and not enough truths, I didn’t want to keep being a part of that. He has more self-control than anyone I know, yet even I can see that psychotic pulse pumping through his body as he imagines all the ways to gut his own father and brother. All to avenge me. No one’s best friend is better than mine.
Jace has his own dark look. He too is trying to mask it with his sexy little crooked smile that makes most girls fall to their knees. If only those vapid bitches could see the real prize is his heart and not his cock. A heart that is tainted and broken beyond repair but still willing to bleed for those he loves. A heart that even after all the cracks it has endured, still somehow manages to have enough space for me and my daughter. Jace Conrad. A playboy, a man whore, a party starter, and somehow the sweetest soul I have ever met.
Lincoln doesn’t have to hide his emotions but that is mostly because they are always the same ones. Overthinking, calculating, and concerning. It is rare to be blessed with one of his smiles and that just makes them even more heartfelt. He is the type to think before he acts, assess before he attacks, and befriend before he trusts. Yet, for some reason that trust, he so rarely doles out, was given to me blindly and without question. He went against his own morals, his own brothers, all to keep a secret, and protect two girls he didn’t even know. Something I will never be able to repay.
Then there is Marcus. My beautiful River. I wish the emotions on his face were hidden and masked as well as the others. Then I wouldn’t have to see the heartache there. Ever since I came back here and locked eyes with him, I could see he was different, hardened. I knew that was partly because of me but mostly because of Michael. The look in his eyes now though, that is all for me. He looks devastated, destroyed, damaged. All because of a secret I thought I would take to the grave. But that's the thing with secrets they always come out in the end. It’s better he heard it from me.
Should I have told him earlier? Maybe. But that doesn’t matter now, we are here either way. I spoke my truths and he kissed me. Kissed me like he wished his lips could erase any pain I have ever felt. Who knows maybe they could? But the look in his eye now doesn’t make me feel like I have him. Am I his? Yes. I always have been. But is he mine? I thought yes, but that was before. Before that night, before everything that has happened over the last few months, before all the lies. This is the after and I don’t know how we live in the after.
All four of them eye me like I have all the answers. I wish I did. I wish I could just go over to the Donovan mansion right now, with these boys by my side, and put a bullet in the skull of every single one of them. That would be justice. Watching the life drain from their eyes would satisfy me. But would it be enough? Will it ever be enough?
My revenge has been delayed and derailed so many times since I returned that I figure one more day won’t hurt.
“Come on,” I say with a chirpier tone than I feel, and they all frown at me in confusion.
“Revenge on a Sunday, princess?” Jace asks, his tone still too far from his playful self.
“Not today, pretty boy. Today, we have some fun. Family style,” I say in return.
This weekend feels like it has lasted a lifetime already, and after the dark and serious morning we have all had, I decide the best thing for all of us is a little R and R.
I lead them all back into the main part of the house and with perfect timing, Helen returns with Cassie. I ask if she wants a pool party. She screams so loud I think the whole of Hallows might have heard her, before she dragged me away to her room, so she could get dressed.
We return to the pool in matching swimsuits
. She is wearing a lilac one piece that has tassels across the chest that match with my bikini in the same color. The tassels on mine come across my breasts and around my back with a couple on the side of my bottoms. We look cute as fuck, if I do say so myself. Perfect for an afternoon of family fun.
I find Asher is the only one waiting for us and when I take in his still fully dressed form and the frown on his face, I know he isn’t staying.
“Daddy, no swim?” Cassie asks him and I see the pain in his eyes at having to be away from her.
He picks her up and cuddles her close, breathing her in before speaking to her, “Not today, angel. I have some work to do,” he locks eyes with me on the word work and I feel rage at the thought of whatever shit Elliot has him doing.
“Okay, Daddy. Love you,” she says, and he smiles.
“Always?” he asks and then it’s my turn to smile.
“Always,” she responds happily before she runs to climb into the small kiddie pool, we have next to the main one.
We watch her go and then I turn back to him, “Sure you can’t stay?”
He takes a deep breath before looking at me, “Elliot is getting suspicious, keeps asking where I am going. I don’t want to draw any attention to myself.”
I am nodding before he has even finished because this is what it comes down to. Protecting our little girl, no matter what the cost. We both know that won’t be complete until both his father and brother are buried six feet fucking under.
I give him a hug, “Watch your back and call me if you need to,” I say to him.
“You too, baby girl,” he says, dropping a kiss on my cheek before he turns and leaves.
I hate to see him go, even more than I usually do. But I’m not stupid, I know the front he must keep up, the risks he takes every time he comes to see us.
The rest of the guys are nowhere to be seen, but I know they would have told me if they were leaving, so I don’t wait around before I grab Cass and get into the main pool. We play and splash around for a while in the shallow end before we start practicing her swimming.
