by Smoke, Lucy
“Tell your boyfriends I’ll see them tonight,” he said over his shoulder before striding away. My hand reached up and touched the spot on my cheek where he had kissed me.
“What did he say?” Marv asked, startling me.
I jerked my hand away from my face guiltily, though he had to have seen the kiss. “He said to tell you and the guys that he’ll see you tonight.”
Marv didn’t reply, and instead directed me back across the dance floor to our original table. As I sat, I contemplated just what kind of history the guys might have with Grayson and why they might dislike him so much. As the string quartet struck up a new song, I figured I would find out soon enough.
Chapter 19
Electricity charged the air as Grayson stepped into the suite with his nonchalant mask pulled firmly back on with a smug smirk gracing his lips. Knix stood and crossed his arms as Marv and Bellamy both glared at him from the couch. I perched on the armchair next to Texas. It seemed out of all of the guys, Texas was less inclined to attack Grayson, though I knew none of them liked him. I had to wonder again if there wasn’t some sort of history between them.
Grayson shut the door behind himself and took up a similar stance to Knix’s except he kept his arms uncrossed. Awkward silence stretched between them all, and I rolled my eyes, standing up from my spot on the armchair. I moved towards Grayson and he raised an eyebrow at me as I grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, and dragged him further into the room. I pushed him into an empty seat against the back wall.
“Enough,” I snapped. I directed my narrowed glare at each of them. “We have a problem here, and acting like children is not going to solve it.”
Knix sighed, closing his eyes for a brief moment as he pinched the bridge of his nose before waving his hand at me to continue.
“We have a problem,” I said, looking back at Grayson before letting my eyes roam to the rest of them. “I don’t know why you have a problem with each other, but that’s not what we’re here for. We need to figure out a solution to getting Grayson’s brother out without drawing attention. Then we need to convince him to let Grayson take him to rehab.”
“Why should we protect his brother?” Bellamy demanded. “He’s a thief. He’s been stealing from people at these events for months now.”
Grayson stood, narrowing his gaze across the room, and I watched as Bellamy straightened his shoulders, standing to meet Grayson’s stare. I frowned, my brows furrowing as I debated how to keep them from attacking each other. When Knix stepped between them, relief coursed through me and I sighed.
“We need to keep this hidden because Sweratt asked us to,” Knix replied. “They don’t want it getting out that people coming to their events are being robbed. They’ve worked extra hard to keep it out of the rumor mill and we are not going to ruin that.”
Bellamy sat back down with a huff and Grayson turned away, cursing under his breath. He whirled back to face Knix. “What do you suggest then?”
“I want you to ask your brother to meet you at the docks at–”
“He won’t come,” Grayson interrupted. “I’ve been trying to get him to stop for weeks. If I try to convince him, he’ll just brush me off again.”
“You’ll just have to try harder then,” Marv said.
Grayson flicked an irritated glance Marv’s way but didn’t respond to the slight.
“I want to take him to a rehabilitation facility in North Carolina. I have someone waiting to take him. As soon as I can get him off this island and back in Charleston, he’ll meet us and we’ll drive straight to the facility.”
“You think that will help your brother?” Knix asked.
With a sigh, Grayson nodded. “If this doesn’t work, he might as well go to prison. I want to do whatever I can to make sure that doesn’t happen. If it fails then it fails, but no one can say I didn’t try as hard as I fucking could.”
The guys watched Grayson, all eyes analyzing, trying to determine his honesty. I could have told them he was serious. I could see it in his stance, in his hard, dangerous, blue eyes. Knix seemed to understand that as well. With a nod, Knix motioned for Texas, Bellamy, and Marv. They all stood.
“I want you to call your brother to the docks,” Knix said.
“I said he wouldn’t–”
“My men will go with you and make sure he comes. If you have to go directly to his room and drag him out, do it. Just make sure to keep a low profile.”
“You want us to drag him out of here?!” Grayson snapped. “He will fight. There is no way that’s going to be kept on the down low.”
Texas smirked and reached to the side of the couch, lifting a small suitcase that I hadn’t noticed before. It was barely the size of my forearm and obviously not meant for carrying clothes. Texas tapped his free hand against the side of the suitcase and winked at me before turning to Grayson.
“Don’t worry about if he gets difficult. I got this.”
“I don’t want you to drug him,” Grayson replied.
Texas widened his eyes and placed his hand – the one not holding the suitcase – over his chest in mock outrage. “I would never do such a thing as to drug a guest of this facility, sir,” he huffed.
I didn’t realize that I snorted until Grayson whirled on me and I raised a hand to my face, covering my smiling mouth. He narrowed his gaze before huffing at me and turning back to Texas.
“I mean it,” he said sternly. “I don’t know what kind of shit you have in that.” Grayson paused to gesture to the suitcase absently before continuing. “Whatever it is, it can’t be good.”
“It’s a last resort,” Texas replied with an eye roll. “Don’t worry. I doubt we’ll need it. In case it has missed your notice, Bell and Marv don’t exactly like you. They’ll be more than happy to just knock your brother out.”
It didn’t escape my notice that Grayson didn’t argue against that tactic. Knix glanced back at me. “Harlow, you’ll come with me.”
“Where are you going with her?” Grayson demanded.
Knix’s glare was so potent even I almost took a step back. I had to hand it to Grayson, though, he didn’t budge. If I were the one under Knix’s death glare, I would have crawled beneath a piece of furniture. “You don’t need to know that.”
“The hell I don’t!” Grayson took a step forward, interrupting my sight of Knix. Even though Grayson was a substantial guy for someone our age, he was nowhere near Knix’s size or height. Hell, I thought, no one was.
“I would back off if I were you,” Knix warned.
Bellamy and Marv moved closer and I half expected Grayson to explode and punch someone. Having had enough, I reached forward and grabbed a fistful of Grayson’s shirt and yanked him back.
“Enough, guys,” I said. I looked at Grayson. “It’s fine. Knix would never hurt me. I’ll be fine.”
Grayson continued to glare at Knix, not even bothering to look at the rest of the guys. The tension between them was slow to dissolve, but when it finally did I released a pent-up breath that I didn’t realize I had been holding.
“Alright, then,” I said. “We’re agreed?”
Bellamy and Marv continued to glare at Grayson. Texas looked like he was trying to contain his laughter, even though I knew he didn’t care for Grayson either. Grayson and Knix were the only two sensible ones. Both looked away from each other and pretended that they hadn’t been about to commit murder.
“Let’s go then,” Marv snapped.
I could tell that Grayson would have rather flung himself from the roof of the resort into the gardens below than go with them, but as Texas opened the suite’s door with a flourish, and a wink in my direction, they all marched towards it.
“See ya on the other side, Princess,” Texas said, closing the door behind him as I shook my head.
“They’re gonna be the death of me,” Knix groaned, taking two long strides to the couch and sagging into it. The springs creaked and screamed under his weight. I approached and sank into the cushion beside him. Kni
x dropped his head back, thumping it against the wall, watching me.
"Why didn't you want me to go with them?" I asked.
"Because I wanted to talk to you about the other day," he said. "I've been trying to find a way to talk to you about it, but after what happened with your mom...and then we needed to get on this job. I trust that in sending all three of them with Caruso that he will come back unscathed." He paused for a moment, frowning. "Well, mostly unscathed."
"Why do you dislike him so much?" I finally asked. It had been bothering me.
Knix grimaced, sitting up to rub the back of his neck. "It's complicated. Grayson and Marv know each other a bit. Their families are in the same social circles. I don't particularly have an issue with him, but I don't think he's a good influence on you. Bellamy and Marv are fairly close and Bell will back Marv no matter what."
Well, I guessed that explained Bellamy's extreme reaction to Grayson. He must have recognized him at the school when they met. "Oh." I thought about what he said before, about having me stay behind. "You wanted to talk about the other day?"
"When I kissed you," he clarified.
I froze, my heart thumping. Would he say that it had been a mistake? Would he apologize? I didn't understand why, but the thought of Knix apologizing for kissing me left a sour taste in my mouth and a burning in my stomach. Bellamy hadn't talked to me about our kiss. And Marv? What about Marv? I wasn’t quite sure what to think about either of them. Did Knix know? Did he not like me anymore? I had to urge myself to calm down. I reminded myself that just because they had kissed me, and I had kissed them back didn't mean that they liked me in that way. Maybe it had just been a spur of the moment thing. It was completely understandable if Knix regretted it; even if I didn't want him to.
"I'm sure I surprised you with it," he said. I watched as his fingers scratched the underside of his chin, moving over his whiskers. Knix looked across the room, eyes focusing somewhere on the wall before he turned to face me. "I surprised myself, but I don't regret it, and I hope that you don't regret it either."
I shook my head. "I-I-" I had no clue what to say.
"I want to kiss you again," he said. "But I'm also aware that this could be a very dangerous thing if you were to agree to remain with us after the job."
"After the job?"
"I know you still aren't a hundred percent sure, even though I feel like you're leaning our way." His blue eyes pierced me through as he shifted to face me fully. "I want you to understand that even if..." I had never seen him look so unsure. Serious, yes. Amused, yes. But unsure? It was a new look for him, one that endeared him to me even more. "Even if there is nothing between us," he continued, "I want you to know that you're welcome in this group. If you decide to join Iris, you will be one of our own. You're eighteen and I'm twenty-three. We're adults. This–" he paused, gesturing to himself and then to me, "can come second if you need it to. We're a group, a team, and a family. If you let us, we'll be yours too."
I didn't know what to say. I knew I needed to tell him about Bellamy, but it really wasn't the right time. We needed to be with the guys. I needed to make sure they didn't kill Grayson. We needed to figure out what was going to happen with Grayson's brother, and then I really needed to figure out what I was going to do about my mom's medical options. There was really only so much I could do at once, and though I knew we needed to have a deeper conversation about the kiss, I knew that it would have to wait.
"I think you're right," I said, rising to my feet. "I am leaning towards this group. I'm not sure I understand Iris, but if it's important in helping people like Jonathan and Bethany and even Grayson's brother, then I think it's something that will help me too."
Knix stood as well, towering over me like he always did, the deep, blue pools of his irises swimming with pride and something else. It couldn't have been love, we still barely knew each other, but he definitely liked me, and I liked him too. Knix may have been quieter than the rest, but he was still the one that they all turned to, that I turned to. Despite his size or maybe, because of it, I felt protected. He was a good teacher, and a good kisser, and even though I would have loved to fall onto the couch and let him kiss me again and again, it needed to wait.
I held out my hand. "Let's go help the guys."
He smiled as he took it. "I don't think you're leaning towards us anymore," he said as I pulled him towards the door. "I think you're already with us."
I looked over my shoulder, confused, and as my hand reached the knob the door swung inward, sending me tumbling back into Knix's arms. Texas stood there, panting. His shirt was ripped on the side and there was a line of blood on his knuckles. A bruise was forming on the side of his face. Knix took the lead, pulling me back.
"What happened?" he demanded.
Texas' eyes were wild and there was still residual shock on his face, despite the fact that he must have run straight from wherever he had been with the others back here. They hadn't been gone that long, had they? My eyes trailed to the clock on the counter, it had only been about thirty minutes.
I turned back to Texas, worried about the blood and bruising. He looked at me and reached for me first, pulling me away from Knix. I frowned in confusion, but let him pull me into the hall. Knix followed.
* * *
We arrived at a room much more subdued than the suite. It was a simple hotel-esque style with two queen beds and a small sitting area to the side of the bathroom. As Texas led Knix and I inside, with me sandwiched between them, I heard Grayson cursing. I took in the mess; a lamp laid on its side in the corner, the cover off and the bulb busted. One of the beds was pristine and unslept in while the other was nearly destroyed, with the sheets stripped away. I was certain there should have been more pillows, and the one that remained was ripped open.
"What happened?" Knix demanded. “Where are the others?”
“They–”
Just as Texas opened his mouth to answer, there was a loud thump and a cursing moan in the bathroom. We looked at each other for a moment before Knix stepped forward, reaching for the door knob. It opened and inside we found Grayson on the tiled floor between Bellamy and Marv.
"Damn it, hold still," Marv snapped, wiping at a cut on the top of his head.
"I'm fucking fine." Grayson waved Marv away and gripped the edge of the tub to pull himself up.
Marv cast an irritated look at Grayson before pushing past us to into the room. I glanced from Knix's confused expression to Texas' lightly bruised face. He was still breathing harder than normal, I noted.
"The brother was um..." Texas began as Grayson and Marv glared at each other. “Well, when we got here, he–”
"I was trying to help you, idiot," Marv snapped, interrupting.
"Stop," I said, huffing at him. Marv closed his mouth, but continued to glare silently. I approached Grayson, grabbed his hand, and snatched the cloth away from Marv.
Marv, Knix, and Texas watched as I tugged Grayson over to the unshredded bed, shoved him down to sit and began dabbing at the cut along his hairline. "You can't wipe at it," I said. "It just makes it sting more." I was no doctor, but I knew enough from old injuries during my mom's episodes to know that much.
“Where’s Bell?” Knix asked.
“Josh took off,” Grayson answered. “When we got here, we caught him…” He nodded his head towards the bedside table and I let my eyes roam that way. A wide rubber band sat next to a metal spoon and a dirty syringe.
"Meth?" I asked, shocked. When Grayson had suggested drugs, I never pictured anything so...hard.
"Heroin," Grayson corrected. "He just...he was..." Grayson took a deep breath, reaching up to still my hand. I pulled away as he took the cloth from me. "He was about to get high when we got here. He saw..." Grayson glanced at Marv and Texas out of the corner of his eye. "Them," he continued. "And he lost it."
"Punched Texas in the face," Marv said. "When he tried to run the first time, we tackled him."
"Is that how you got your cut?" I asked,
turning back to Grayson.
He dabbed at his wound, but it was all but done bleeding. "Yeah."
"He managed to throw us off and bolted," Marv finished.
"Bell?" Knix asked again.
"Took off after him," Texas supplied. "I came to get you. There's no telling what security will do if they find out what's been going on. The upper management knows but no one else. It'll take for freaking ever to get this sorted if the cops get called and we get detained for questioning."
I crossed my arms and stared at Knix. "What do we do?"
He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. I noticed he was doing that more and more. Did he have a headache? Or was that just something he did when he was frustrated?
"Marv," he said. "Go find Bell. If he's caught up to the older Caruso, phone me. If not, get him to the docks. That's likely where he'll go next."
"You think he's going to leave?" I asked.
"He knows he's caught now," Texas answered. "And by more than just his brother. He knows it's serious. He's going to want to get as far from here as possible. That means getting back to the mainland."
"You think that will be easy for him?" I couldn't picture it: an obviously distraught man trying to leave in the middle of the day.
"My brother is very good at hiding his issues." Grayson stood and dropped the cloth to the bed. "Your boyfriends are right. He'll head for the docks, if he isn't already there."
I ignored the boyfriends comment. "You think they'll let him leave then?"
Grayson shrugged. "Yeah, I do."
“What about your aunt?” I asked. “The woman who was with him.”
“She’s probably at a bar downstairs. She likely won’t even notice the drug shit. She’s not the brightest and she’s mostly doped up on her own drug of choice.” He looked at me with a tired expression. “Alcohol.” Grayson sucked in a heavy breath and released it. “He’s probably already on his way off the island.”
