by Erin Trejo
“Exactly. See how much fun this could be?” She nudges me with her elbow making me smile along with her. The coach yells something and the three of them turn back to what they were doing.
Yeah, I think Shane and I are going to get along just fine.
8
Steele
“Where the hell is he?” Callan whines for the fourth time in ten minutes. The boy has no self-control when it comes to these jobs. He’s impatient and it annoys me.
“Would you shut up? Just sit back and enjoy the night air,” I hiss in his direction. I adjust my leather gloves when I hear talking. Raising my hand, I silence the two of my brothers. Knox moves closer as we watch the men in front of us talking and shaking hands.
“He’s got company,” Knox whispers.
“How many?” Callan asks shifting closer.
“Just the one. We got him,” Knox adds. I nod my head and motion for them to move. Coming out of the bushes I stand tall as we walk toward them. Rasper turns around and spots us, his eyes widening.
“Steele, what are you doing here?” he asks as if he doesn’t already know.
“Oh, come on, Rasper. You want to play that game?” I ask cocking my head to the side. I never did like this fucker. His eyes move from me to my brothers before quickly glancing to his little friend. With one quick nod of my head, Callan moves to grab the man.
“He has nothing to do with this!” Rasper roars. I smirk and shake my head.
“You’re in Rolling Springs. That makes him our business, doesn’t it?” Knox asks stepping up next to me. The guy Callan has doesn’t fight him which is funny. If I saw the three of us at night, I for damn sure would fight.
“Let him go, Steele. Whatever you want, I’ll do it. Just let him go.”
“It doesn’t work that way, Rasper.” I pull my fist back, slamming it into his stomach. He doubles over gasping for air as Callan releases the man that he’s had a hold on. Fists fly, mainly from us until they both lie on the ground bleeding.
“He dead?” I ask Knox. He leans down, pressing his fingers to Rasper’s neck before shaking his head. With a sigh, I reach down, grab the front of his shirt and raise his head, throwing another punch. This time I hear bones crushing. Once I’m satisfied that they are both handled, we turn to leave when I see it.
“Someone’s watching,” I say keeping my voice low. All of us know better than to turn and look.
“Where?” Callan asks.
“Our three o’clock.” I laugh out loud and start walking back toward the SUV when Knox curses under his breath.
“What?”
“It’s her.”
“Her who?” I nearly growl.
“Whisper.” He says her name softly. The thought of her seeing what we did makes my cock hard. I shift like I’m going to turn and talk to my brothers, but my eyes lock with hers instead. The silent showdown between us is hot. I can feel each little buzz of energy that wafts off the two of us.
“We can’t kill her,” Callan says.
“No. We need her,” I say keeping my eyes glued to hers. Strangely I don’t see the fear in her that I would see in most people that witnessed something like that. All I see is intrigue and curiosity. Her head slowly tilts to the side as if she’s trying to figure me out. She won’t. When I raise my hand and bring it to my throat, drawing a line, she gets it. Her mouth snaps closed, and she turns quickly disappearing into the night as I watch.
“That was… nice.” Knox chuckles.
“It was something. Let’s get out of here before the sheriff shows up. I don’t feel like dealing with him tonight.” I pull my gloves off as we climb in the car.
“You don’t think she’d say anything do you?” Callan asks.
“I don’t know, Cal. She isn’t one of us.” The thought crossed my mind a few times but each time I blew it off. She isn’t stupid by any means. She has to know now what she’s up against and I don’t think she’s going to be that dumb as to try and cross us anymore.
“She won’t say anything. She isn’t stupid,” Knox states what I was already thinking. I pull my phone out and dial our dad, listening to it ring.
“Is it done?” No, hi or anything, straight to business.
“It’s done. Had someone with him. Took care of him too.”
“Who was it?”
“I didn’t stick around to ask names,” I growl into the line.
“That’s great, Steele! Go around killing unknown people! That’s exactly what we need!” I close my eyes and take a deep breath trying to control the anger that simmers inside of me.
“What should we have done? Let him walk?” My jaw clenches, my teeth grinding painfully together. Before he even answers me, the line goes dead. I already know what that means. I lower the phone and close my eyes.
“He hung up?” Knox asks.
“Yeah.”
“Fuck,” Callan curses.
“You two stay out of this,” I warn them both. They are both about to say something when I jerk my gaze around to them. “I mean it. You stay out it! I’ll take it!”
“We have a game coming up, Steele,” Knox reminds me. No shit. How could I ever forget that?
“And?”
“And you need to be in perfect condition. You aren’t taking this shit alone,” Callan responds. I reach over and grab him around the throat, pulling his face closer to mine.
“I said, I’m taking it. All of it! Don’t push me on this,” I growl. Callan watches me intently for a long second before he finally nods his head. I release the hold I have on him and take a deep breath before starting the car. I reach for the radio and turn it up, listening to Slipknot as I let the rest of the world fade away.
Before we even pull into the driveway, I see the dark SUVs.
“He was fast about it this time,” Knox says from the backseat. I nod my head, listening to the music as I stare out the front window at my fate. Inhaling through my nose, I shut the car off and climb out. Knox and Callan aren’t far behind me.
We walk as one toward the house when they all step out the front door. Their eyes are as black as night, which is something I’m used to. These are the men that your parents warn you about. The monsters that lurk in the dark. We might be bad, but these guys are far worse. They are my dad’s top men and when they show up, you know shit’s bad. The main one, Matt, eyes me up and down. He knows I’m a fighter. He knows what I’m capable of, so when it’s only me taking the punishment, he enjoys it far more. Not that my brothers can’t fight, they can but they have smaller builds than me.
“Well look what we have here,” Matt says with a sick grin on his face. “The three bastards.”
“It’s only me,” I announce, catching his attention. He turns his head, his eyes meeting mine. A slow sick smirk crosses his face.
“That sounds fun.” I nod my head once, getting myself into the headspace I need to be in for this.
“Callan, Knox. Go inside,” I say keeping my eyes on Matt. He smirks as the two of them walk past us and into the house.
“Meet you in the basement,” Matt says turning on his heel. His guys all follow him as I take another deep breath and prepare myself for what’s about to come.
9
Whisper
“How are you liking Alder?” Debra asks all happily. It makes me want to vomit. This fake front she puts up for the world to see—I can see right through it.
“It’s school,” I say, picking at my eggs. I don’t know why she decided today would be the day for a family breakfast but here we are.
“Are you making friends?” Nathan asks.
“With those stuck-up rich kids? I don’t think so.”
“Excuse me?” Debra squeals. “We brought you here, took you in and that’s how you thank us? By talking that way?”
“What can I say, Debra? You shouldn’t have done it. I didn’t ask to be here. You should have left me there to rot.” In seconds, she’s out of her chair, her hand slamming across my cheek. Crazy bitch. I shove out
of my seat, ready to challenge her but think better of it. Our eyes lock and a silent warning is issued.
“That’s enough! Now, Whisper, you apologize, or I can arrange for a nice comfortable bed in our local jail!” Nathan’s voice thunders through the room. I swallow my pride, if only for a second and say sorry. Not that I really mean it because if she ever lays her hand on my again, I’m going to lose it. Debra smiles like she’s won the big prize at the fair which makes me want to slap her more.
“Can I go? I don’t want to be late.” Nathan nods his head as I move from the table and grab my bag.
“You don’t need to push her. We will get what she knows soon, Debra!” I hear Nathan say. What is he talking about? I don’t know anything aside from this place is hell. Ignoring their talk, I head out the door and down the long driveway. I walk to school every day. Nathan offered me a car to drive but Debra said I didn’t earn it. Imagine that, after a month of being here and doing as I’m told, and I didn’t earn the right to drive to school.
Ignoring the pesky feelings in the back of my head, I walk down the sidewalk a little lost in my own world. Maybe I would be better off in jail. Maybe that’s where I belong. This city is warped and not in a good way. The Alder brothers are warped. Everything around here is shady. It’s almost like living in the twilight zone.
“Ahh, you shouldn’t be walking all alone.” I close my eyes, take a deep breath and ignore Callan’s voice. I hear the vehicle pulling up but like most of the time, I ignore that too.
“He’s right. It’s not safe,” Knox responds. I can tell them apart by just their voices now. That was an easy one. After all the tormenting they’ve done to me over the last month, how could I not? From sicking their little girl tribes on me while I’m in the bathroom to outright harassing me in the hallways. Just last week, Steele made it look like we were about to have sex in the cafeteria in front of everyone only to shove me off him causing me to slam into someone else. They think they can break me, but they can’t. I won’t let them.
“We live in the Mayberry equivalent, I think I’m fine,” I call out over my shoulder not bothering to look back. That’s when I feel him. Steele is behind me; I know he is but I don’t look back. I just keep walking. I never brought up what I saw that night, not that I needed to. They remind me daily that if I say anything, I will end up like those men. I just brush them off and keep doing what I do every day of my life.
When a hand clamps down on my hip, I wince and stop walking.
“Why’d you stop?” Steele whispers in my ear. The hairs on the back of my neck stand on end but that shiver that races through me? Yeah, he noticed that much.
“What do you want, Steele?”
“That’s a loaded question, Whisper.” His lips move slowly over my neck and I nearly gasp. This asshole knows what he’s doing to me.
“You winced when he grabbed you. Why?” Knox is in my face now. I close my eyes and let out a breath before opening them and locking with his big blue ones.
“Umm, it hurt?”
“Since when?” Steele asks over my shoulder.
“I don’t know, since your hands are huge, and you gripped me like I was falling from the sky?” I snap. In seconds, he has me spun around, his hands coming to the top of my jeans. I start to move but one nod of his head and Knox has me pinned against him.
“What the hell?” Callan asks as he climbs out of the car coming toward us. Steele pulls my jeans down one side over my hip before he gasps.
“What happened?” Callan asks looking up at me with sincerity in his eyes. Yeah, what a lie that is.
“I fell.”
“No, you didn’t. You’re one of the most coordinated people I’ve ever seen,” Knox growls behind me.
“I was trying new moves. It happens.” I shrug against his hold.
“Don’t lie to us, Whisper.” The growl that rumbles through Steele’s chest has my pussy clenching. I hate that he affects me the way he does. I hate that all of them affect me in some sort of way.
“Maybe it happened when you pushed me into the table last week,” I say raising an eyebrow at Steele. His face, usually a mask of darkness and anger quickly morphs into something else. Something I’ve never seen before. Is that regret? For pushing me? No, not coming from these three it isn’t.
“Is that true? Did it happen when he pushed you?” Callan asks getting right in my face.
“No, asshole! It didn’t, so calm down and let me go. I’m going to be late.” Knox releases his hold on me, and I shrug my bag back up my shoulder. I start to move past them when I’m grabbed from behind and lifted off my feet.
“Put me down! What is wrong with you?” I roar as Steele carries me to the car. Tossing me in like I’m a rag doll, he climbs in behind me. The other two get in up front as Steele stares into my eyes. Then he moves. His hands are all over me, tugging at my clothes, half ripping them off my body. I try to fight him back, fight him off me but it does no good.
“Stop! What are you doing?” I scream as he continues. I look to Knox for help but he’s watching it all take place.
“Where else?” Steele growls.
“Where else what?” I ask as he pulls my shirt up.
“The bruises, Whisper! Where else do you have bruises!” he roars in my face. I try to shove my shirt down the best I can when his fingers press into the bruise near my rib.
“Ouch!” I hiss as I try to scoot away. This time he lets me.
“She has more,” Steele says looking to Knox.
“Who did that to you?” Knox asks looking back at me.
“I fell. I told you that.” Steele reaches over once more, slower this time. His fingers move softly over my skin until they linger on the bruise. He looks up into my eyes and my heart leaps into my throat. That stare. The pools of ocean blue that swirl in them, it’s consuming. I open my mouth about to say more but quickly close it again. He doesn’t like that. His fingers press into the bruise causing me to whimper.
“I’ll find out, Whisper. I find out everything,” he says leaning in closer to me.
“There’s nothing to find out. I told you what happened.”
“Lies. You told me a bunch of lies.”
“Were they?” I ask tilting my head to the side to look at him. Why does he have to be so powerful? Why does his scent, his cologne make me dizzy? What is it with these three that call to me like a drug that I want to get my hands on? Luckily, I don’t have to think too long. The car comes to a stop and I’m out the door before Steele has the chance to move. Rushing inside, I glance over my shoulder and take a breath.
“That was interesting,” Shane says as she steps up next to me.
“It was weird.”
“You rode to school with them?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.
“Not exactly. More like I was kidnapped.” Rolling my eyes, she laughs as we walk down the hallway. I’m still a little unsure of what was happening in the car as we step into our English class. Luke greets us quickly, coming up to me.
“Hey. You have a good weekend?”
“Yeah. It was… fine. You?” He nods his head and smiles as we make our way to our seats. We all sit, and I pull out my notebook and pen when the door slams loudly. We all jump and look just in time to see Steele strolling through the room.
“What’s he doing in here? This isn’t his class,” Luke mumbles under his breath. That’s when Steele turns his head and looks directly at me. A shiver runs through my body as I look away first. Whatever it is he’s doing, I want no part of it. I can feel his intensity when he sits behind me. I keep looking forward. I refuse to turn around and look at him. I won’t do it. I won’t give him the satisfaction of knowing that he’s affecting me.
The TA starts talking, telling us that the professor is out for the day and that he’s taking over the class. I try to focus, pay attention to the notes he’s giving us when I feel Steele’s hand on my shoulder. I nearly jump out of my skin at the contact.
“Why so jumpy?” he whispe
rs in my ear. I cut my eyes to the left to see if Luke is paying attention, but he isn’t or at least he’s acting like he isn’t.
“Why are you in here?”
“Who put those bruises on you?”
“We’ve already discussed this,” I remind him.
“Was it Luke? Did your new little boyfriend hurt you?” I spin around in my seat listening to Shane giggle under her breath as I come face to face with Steele. He’s leaning in so closely that our lips nearly touch. The mint on his breath assaults my nose as I look into his eyes.
“I don’t have a boyfriend, nor do I want one. I told you, I fell.”
“Don’t make this harder on yourself or him, Whisper. I will find out,” he nearly growls. He leans in, his lips touching mine. God, why do they have to feel so good? Why does his touch send fire through my veins? Then his words hit me. Don’t make this harder on him? He won’t touch Luke. I won’t let him. With that anger now eating away at me, I bite down into Steele’s lip. He lets out a growl that has the whole class turning to see what’s happening. He pulls back, reaches up and wipes the blood on his hand as he smiles. No, that isn’t a smile. That’s a dark promise of what’s going to happen. I just stirred the sleeping bear in him.
“You okay?” Luke leans in as I stay still, watching Steele.
“I’m fine.”
“But are you really?” Steele asks loud enough that half the room hears him. “Or do you like it when I reject you in front of everyone?” Girls giggle and the guys howl. My eyes narrow as I try to figure out what his game is.
“Mr. Alder! I’m in the middle of a class,” the TA says loudly.
“Oh, do forgive me, Mr. Tyler. I wasn’t aware that you were teaching today. Please, do go forth and teach us.” He mocks the man. The class laughs once more. “Or would you prefer to demonstrate instead?”
“What are you talking about, Steele?” Mr. Tyler asks. I can see the sweat trickle down his temples from here. He shouldn’t push Steele like that. What the hell is he thinking?
