Ride or Die: A Dark High School Bully Romance (Rejects Paradise Book 4)

by Sheridan Anne

  I drop back down to the pillow, and my traitorous thoughts instantly begin to take over, making the time tick by without either of us really noticing.

  Both Colton and I remain lost inside our own minds until I finally pull myself up and lean back against the headboard, much like Colton had been when I walked in here late last night. “What?” I questioned, my voice low and whispered. “You’re being far too quiet.”

  “I, uhh …” he says, glancing back over his shoulder before spreading out on the bed and propping himself up on his elbow to meet my eyes. “I don’t exactly know how this is going to affect you now that you’re in charge, but I made a deal with Russo. If he didn’t let you go, I was going to look into his business deals and get every bit of dirt on him to destroy him. I want you to know that I still have every intention of following through with that.”

  I nod, realizing that taking down Russo could possibly be hurting me, but I can’t find it within myself to tell him no. “Do what you have to do,” I tell him, watching the way his eyes scan over my face, making sure he takes note of every tiny little emotion that flashes on my face.

  “Are you sure?” he questions. “Because once I start, I won’t be stopping. I could uncover things about your father in all of this. I really don’t know what I’m going to find. I just know that the things I’ve already seen are enough to chill even you to the fucking bone.”

  “Just do it,” I tell him, knowing damn well that he’s going to find something, and when he does, no one is going to like it. “Just be careful, I don’t want you getting hurt in all of this.”

  Colton scoffs, a grin stretching across his face. “Please,” he laughs. “I can handle myself. If anyone needs to be careful, it’s you.”

  I can’t help but laugh. “In case you’ve forgotten, this bitch can be as dumb as she wants when she has a whole army of Wolves at her back.”

  Colton rolls his eyes while shaking his head. “Way too fucking soon, babe.”

  I can’t help but laugh as I scoot across the bed and put myself right in front of him, biting my lip as a wave of nerves settle over me. “Look, while we’re talking,” I say, making his brows drop, knowing damn well that whenever I start a sentence like that, it’s never good. “I wanted to talk to you about the whole bun in the oven thing. We really haven’t had a chance to talk about it.”

  “You’ve got that right,” he says with a soft scoff. “To be honest, I really haven't known what to say about it because I don’t know where your head is at. I have no idea if you even want to keep it.”

  “I, umm … I honestly still have no idea. It’s such a big decision.”

  He reaches out across the bed and takes my hand. “I know, which is why I don’t want you to rush it. I don’t want you to feel pressure to make a decision in haste and end up regretting it later.”

  I nod. “Well, I’ve already worked out that I can’t get rid of it. That’s just … it’s not an option for me, but I don’t know where to go from there. Jaren, the guy who works behind the bar in the Den kinda mentioned something about adoption … and … well, I haven’t really had a chance to think about it yet, but it’s something I want to look into more.”

  “And if it is mine?” he questions.

  “Then that’s your decision too,” I tell him. “All I know is that if I’m going to be around the Wolves as more of a permanent thing, I can’t have a baby with me. I … I don’t even know how I feel about it yet, but I just know that having a kid … there’d be a target on it’s back, and I can’t do that to an innocent baby.”

  Colton’s brows pinch as he focuses on me. “What are you saying, Jade?”

  “I guess… I don’t really know, but if it’s yours and we keep it, I think I should give you full parental rights so that it can’t be linked back to me. A baby won’t be safe with me.”

  “What?” he grunts, staring at me blankly. “That’s fucking insane. You’re not giving up your rights to your child. If we have this baby together, we’re doing it right. No one is going to put a target on it’s back because I will make it impossible to do so. No one will ever get near this baby, we’re going to love it, and we’re going to give it the life it deserves. Just as I’m going to do for you.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “You’re going to college, Ocean. Even if you’re the leader of the Wolves. If there’s a baby around, we’ll get a nanny, and you’ll still get the chance to do everything you wanted. I’ll make sure of it. I’m not going to let you put your life on hold because of all of this, and there’s no reason that you should have to.”

  I cringe, meeting his eyes and loving how much he cares. “I just … I don’t know. I don’t think college is going to be possible anymore.”

  “It will,” he tells me. “Even if you have to put it off for a year or two or do it through distance learning. You’re not giving up on yourself and giving everything over to the Wolves. They don’t deserve one hundred percent of you. Only you do.”

  “And what about you?”

  “Well, I get a hundred percent of you no matter where you are.”

  “You’re an idiot,” I laugh. “But speaking of my future …”

  His eyes narrow, watching me cautiously, knowing that with me, this could go either way. “What about it?” he questions, warily.

  I glance out his bedroom window, watching the clouds in the morning sky. “I, um … I kinda had a thought, you know, assuming the whole college thing does happen.”

  “Go on …”

  “Well, the other day when you were telling me about Luca DeCarlo and how he’d stolen all those kids and sold them to despicable people all around the world. It got me thinking.” I glance down at him to find his eyes on mine, wondering where the hell I’m going with this. “I think once I know what I’m doing and obviously am qualified to do the job, I’d like to start a foundation or … I don’t really know what to call it, but something that locates and saves the kids that the rest of the world has written off or forgotten about. Maybe there could be facilities in each state that take in these kids who have nowhere else to go so they don’t end up snatched off the street by dickheads like DeCarlo and hurt. I don’t know, I used to see these poor homeless kids and foster kids who’d run away in the streets of Breakers Flats. It was horrible, and I want to do something about it.”

  Colton grabs me around the waist and rolls us so that he’s hovering about me. “Have I ever told you how much I fucking love you?” he murmurs, dropping his lips to mine and kissing me deeply. “You’re the most selfless and incredible woman I've ever met, you know that, right?”

  I grin against his lips. “Incredible? Yes, but selfless … that’s not a word I’d use to describe myself.”

  “I would,” he tells me, rolling us again so that I straddle his waist and look down at him. He reaches up and brushes my hair off my face. “You’re everything, Ocean.” I can’t help but stare as I look down at him, feeling his warmth spread right through me. “Are you serious about starting a foundation?”

  I nod. “I’ve been thinking about it since you first told me about Luca. It’s been on my mind ever since, and every day that need to do something just gets worse. I have to do it. I just don’t know how to make it happen.”

  “Then I’ll get it set up for you. We can start it right now and get the best technology and detectives in the world fighting for this cause. You could have a rescue team, an office team. Everything. You can overlook everything as it builds from the ground up, and once you finish college and have the degrees you need, you take over and flourish.”

  I shake my head. “I can’t ask that from you. That’s too much. What if I fail, and it’s all a big waste of money?”

  “If you have the right people on your team and the best technology there is on offer, then you won’t fail. Not having this shit at your back is only going to hold you back.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, Jade. Besides, having the Carrington name at
tached to a project like this is only going to improve my brand. We both win here.”

  I narrow my eyes. “So, does that make you a business partner, a sponsor, or my boss?”

  “It makes me a boyfriend who wants to see his girl fly.”

  I roll my eyes but can’t help the wide, beaming smile that tears across my face. “That was cheesy,'' I tell him, holding back a laugh. “So, we’re really doing this? We’re saving the world one kid at a time?”

  “Hell yeah, we are,” he says, grabbing hold of me and pulling me down until my lips are on his.

  My phone rings on Colton’s bedside table, but we ignore it, way too caught up in our moment until it rings a second time and then a third. I groan and roll over Colton until my hand curls around the phone, only to find Christian’s name flashing on the screen.

  Is this what my life is going to be like from now on? Interruption after interruption.

  I bring the phone to my ear with an annoyed groan. “What?” I say, deciding a cheery good morning isn’t called for right now.

  “Where are you? I’ve been calling you over and over again.”

  “Bed,” I snap, not needing to explain myself to him. “What’s going on? You didn’t burn the place down while I was gone, did you?”

  Christian ignores my jab and gets straight into the reason for his call. “We got him,” he declares.

  My eyes widen. “Really?” I rush out. “Already?”

  “Yep. Now get your ass down here and tell us what you want done.”

  Christian ends the call without another word and as I turn to look back at Colton, I find him watching me with a curious stare. “What’s going on?” he murmurs, taking in the calculating expression tearing across my face.

  “Come on,” I tell him, pulling myself out of bed and dragging him up behind me. “You’re not working today. I need you to come with me.”

  “What? Why?” he asks, letting me pull him up.

  I glance back over my shoulder and meet his eyes. “You have a threat to come through on and I’m about to make it happen.”

  Chapter 27

  “Why are we here?” Colton asks as I tell him to pull up outside the Wolf Den. He glances around nervously, even more so when I reach into his center console and pull out his gun.

  “Just trust me,” I tell him, handing it over and watching as he expertly takes it and checks just how many bullets are in it. “I have a feeling you’re going to be pissed if I was to do this instead of giving you the pleasure.”

  His brows crease, looking back at me with so much more than just confusion on his face. “What the fuck are you talking about?” he grumbles, opening his door before sliding out.

  I follow suit, climbing out of the Veneno, meeting him around the front, and slipping my hand into his. “They’re not going to like that I brought you here.”

  “You think?” he scoffs. “Maybe you’ve forgotten that it was only two days ago that I stood with the Widows and blasted bullets towards their heads. I highly doubt that they’ve had enough time to forgive and forget.”

  I raise a brow, shaking my head. “And I highly doubt that they even realized it was you.”

  “Right,” he grumbles, making a hint of guilt sink heavily into my gut. Christian sure as hell knew it was Colton but luckily for me, he’s kept quiet on it, though I don’t know how he’s going to feel about me having Colton walk right into his home.

  We get to the door, and being the gentleman that he is, he opens it for me. I step through before him, instantly getting the eyes of every Wolf in the Den. They think nothing of it until Colton follows me through the door, and suddenly a hundred men are getting to their feet.

  I roll my eyes, holding up a hand and putting a stop to their bullshit before it can get any further. “He’s with me,” I tell them, slowly glancing around the room and trying to catch each of their eyes and doing my best to look like the kind of bitch they only see in their worst nightmares. “A shot against him is a direct shot against me. Anyone who has an issue with that will have me to deal with. Is that clear?”

  Grumbles sound all around the Den, and I hear grunts and curses under breaths saying that this isn’t how we do things around here. I’m the boss around here now. Bringing an outsider into the mix might be against their rules, but fuck it, I make my own goddamn rules.

  Colton follows me through the Den as I lead him toward the bar to where Christian is sitting with Jaren having a murmured conversation. “Took your fucking time,” Christian says, standing and looking straight at Colton, who clearly doesn’t appreciate his stare.

  I discreetly slide myself between the two men and raise my chin to meet Christian’s hard stare. “Cut the bullshit. Can we just get this over and done with? I’m missing school.”

  Christian rolls his eyes as though the prospect of going to school is so beneath him that it’s almost comical. Either way, he doesn’t back down and raises his eyes back to Colton. “You have a lot of balls walking in here after you shot at my brothers.”

  Colton scoffs. “And you fuckers had a lot of balls going in there and shooting at them.”

  Christian looks down at me. “Your boyfriend isn’t loyal.”

  “My boyfriend is a lot of things, but disloyal isn’t one of them. He was there trying to save my best friends, my brothers. He knew what it would do to me if they were to get hurt.”

  Christian holds his ground a little longer and then finally relents, backing down and letting out a slow breath. He glances around the room and raises his voice so every fucker in the Den can hear him. “You heard the girl,” he tells them. “Let’s get down to the basement and get this shit over with.”

  Christian looks back at me and tilts his heads, inviting us to follow him, and as we do, the rest of the Wolves fall behind.

  “I don’t like this,” Colton murmurs beside me. “What the fuck is in the basement?”

  I shake my head, knowing one thing that we’ll find down here, but as for what else lives down there … that’s a mystery to me. “I don’t know. I didn’t even know this place had a basement,” I tell him. I guess I’d assumed that they had a factory or warehouse like Colton does when it comes to this stuff.

  Christian glances back at us, a smirk playing on his lips. “Trust me, this place has more horrors than you could ever imagine.”

  A cold shiver runs down my back, and I find my hand slipping back into Colton’s. As we creep through the hallway and down a flight of flimsy stairs, my blood begins to run cold. It’s creepy as all hell down here.

  There’s a chill in the air, which only seems to make it worse, and as we reach a large metal door with a heavy lock and chain on it, I find myself glancing up at Colton. He doesn’t seem to be affected by this and I’m reminded of the fact that his soul is just as covered in darkness as mine is, perhaps even more.

  The soft rumble of footsteps behind us quiets down as we wait for Christian to undo the lock, and just before he pulls the heavy door open, he glances back at me. “Are you sure about this? Once you walk in there, you won't be able to go back. The things you’ll see … they’re not for the faint-hearted.”

  I grin up at him, feigning confidence. “And pussy out with all these men at my back? Yeah fucking right.”

  Christian nods and glances back at Colton. “Suit yourself.”

  With that, the door is pulled open, and a gust of cold air comes rushing out, smacking me in the face. “The fuck?” I grunt as Christian walks in. I follow him through with Colton at my back and realize that it’s some kind of a freezer in here.

  “This is messed up,” Colton mutters under his breath, staying close by my side.

  I follow Christian, and as we walk deeper into the large basement, he walks over to the side of the room and turns on the clinical lighting above.

  I suck in a breath.

  There are three men scattered throughout the room, one I was expecting, and the other two a complete mystery. They dangle from the roof, their tippy-toes barely meetin
g the ground as the massive meat hooks hold them up by their wrists.

  It really is like a horror movie in here.

  I keep my attention on the man in the very center of the room.

  Vincent DeCarlo.

  Within seconds, understanding begins to dawn on Colton, even more so as Vincent glances up to find Colton and instantly starts thrashing in his binds, desperate to get free. After all, I was there the day that Colton made him a very specific promise, one that I’m sure lingers in the front of his mind every second of every day.

  I don’t need to look up at Colton to know that he knows exactly why I brought him here. While he probably had his own brilliant plan set in place, he doesn’t seem too displeased with mine. Though, to be fair, I thought it’d take the Wolves a little more than one night to find the bastard. I have to give them credit for that.

  I make my way across the room with the Wolves at my back and Colton still right by my side, not willing to risk letting me out of his sight for one second.

  The Wolves begin to crowd around Vincent and as they do, I turn to face them, waiting until every last one of them are here and ready.

  Russo moves through the Wolves until he has a front-row seat, still looking like absolute shit as he leans against a cane, his eyes quickly scanning over Colton. “Why have you brought us all here?” he demands, cutting to the chase and looking as though he could tear Colton apart where he stands.

  I stare him down, making a point that I don’t like being rushed. I mean, if it also rubs dirt into the wound that I currently have his men at my disposal, even better. He made his bed, and now it’s time for me to fuck all over it.

  I tear my gaze away from Russo’s, letting him know that I’ll be doing things my way and not allowing him to try and run my show. “You’ve all been waiting for me to make some kind of move, well here it is,” I tell them. “I’m assuming that many of you have heard of the DeCarlo family.”