by Erin Trejo
“Oh, my God,” I gasp when it hits me. Knox grabs the back of my neck, dragging my face to his. He leans in closely so that no one else can listen to what he’s about to say to me.
“You can’t react. Not a fucking tear, not a sob. Do you understand me?”
“He can’t fight them all, Knox. He’ll be killed.”
“He made his choice.”
“Why was this his choice? What the hell could he be gaining from this?” I nearly squeal when he pulls me closer. His eyes stay locked with mine and his silent answer is all I needed. My insides drop, bile rising in my throat as he stares at me.
“Me. He’s doing this because of me.” Knox releases his hold on me before the man I recognize as their father steps into the ring.
“As you all very well know there was a job that my son was set out to do. Unfortunately, he took an interest in his job. When one of us disobeys orders, we have to be punished. That’s the way the system here has always worked. These days are no different and just because he is my son doesn’t give him a free pass. Now, there are still things of interest in this investigation but sad to say my boys will no longer be a part of it. From now on, all things go directly through me. This is what his decision was and I respect it. Now, sit back and take note. If anyone decides to disobey direct orders, you will find yourself inside this ring.” The man walks out of the ring as Steele bounces on the balls of his feet. I can’t watch this.
“What does that mean? This is how you deal with things?”
“When we disobey and don’t follow his orders, this is the consequence,” Callan says.
“Is that why I’ve seen him with bruises before?” I look over at him when he doesn’t answer and watch as he swallows hard. Oh, my God. What kind of father is he to do this to his kids? No wonder they like to fight.
“Shut up and watch,” Knox snarls.
“I can’t watch this! What the hell is wrong with you, Knox?” I shove at his shoulder, but he doesn’t move. Instead, he reaches for me, pulling me into his lap and pinning my arms down. I squirm, about to scream but he growls in my ear.
“They’ll kill him if you leave.”
“They’ll kill him anyway! Look at them!” I hiss.
“I mean it, Whisper. You aren’t going anywhere.” The finality in his tone should be enough to make me sit still but I can’t. What if they kill him in that ring? What if he is doing this and dies anyway?
“Knox, please,” I sob softly as he pulls me closer to him. He keeps me tightly in his embrace as the fight starts.
Each man takes a turn in the ring with Steele. The first few were fine, he held his own but now? Now they are getting worse. His eye is nearly swollen shut, blood drips down his face. My nails dig into Knox’s arm as he keeps me close to him. My chest rises and falls as I watch the scene unfold in front of me.
“You can do this,” I whisper as if he can hear me. I had it all planned out. I was going to make him pay for what he’d done to me. I was going to fuck with his head like he does mine but now all of that has shifted. I don’t want to hurt him. I want to hold him. I want to kiss his soft lips and listen to the sound of his heart beat under my ear when I lay on his chest. I want him to hold me, tell me that everything is okay and that we will figure things out. I don’t want to see him go down like this.
The crowd screams louder as my heart bangs a rhythm against my ribs. What have I gotten myself into with these men? It seems like hours go by when in fact, it has only been minutes. Steele hits the ground and I rise to my feet. I fight Knox off me and rush down the aisle and into the ring, dropping to my knees next to him. Wiping his hair away from his face, I nearly scream.
“Steele? Jesus, wake up, Steele.”
“I’m not dead, Whisper. Stop fucking babying me.” God, I’ve never been so happy to hear a smartass comment as I am right now. “You need to leave.”
“What? No. I’m not going anywhere,” I tell him as I wipe the blood from his lip. He lazily reaches up and grabs my wrist, holding it in his hand.
“You don’t have a choice. Get up and walk out of here like you don’t give a shit about me.”
“Steele,” I start to protest when his good eye opens and locks with mine.
“They will kill you, Whisper.” His words slam into my chest as I fall back onto my ass. He watches me, shoving himself up on his elbows when Callan and Knox both drop next to us. Steele looks away from me and straight at Callan. They don’t even have to speak. They just look at each other and know what the other wants. Callan nods and stands, coming around to lift me off the floor. I don’t say a word as I let him lead me out of the ring and down the aisle. I look at faces, all the faces of the assholes that sat back and watched what they did to him. I make a mental note of every single one of them.
“What are you doing?” Callan asks when I stop to eye his dad up and down.
“Making a mental note of all the motherfuckers I’m going to kill.”
20
Steele
“Did you check on her?” I ask, holding my ribs as I reach for my bottle of water.
“Yeah. She’s fine, Steele. She’s pissed though,” Callan tells me. I wish she didn’t have to see that.
“She has heart; I’ll give her that much.” Callan shifts so that he’s facing me.
“No, man. I don’t think you understand. She looked at every single person in that room that night and said she was making a note of who she had to kill later.” That sparks my interests. I glance over at my brother and shake my head.
“I don’t think you really know what that girl is capable of, Steele.” This time it’s Knox that chimes in.
“She does. She knows who she is,” I inform them. They both jerk their heads to look my way. I didn’t want them in the middle of this shit with our dad. I didn’t want them to take the fall for a decision I made.
“You didn’t think to tell us? What the hell is with you, Steele?”
“I didn’t want you in the middle of it. Either of you. I choose to keep her around, not you,” I remind them both, pointing my bottle in their direction.
“If she knows then she knows about Nathan and Debra too,” Callan adds.
“Yeah. I can’t guarantee that won’t end well for them,” I chuckle.
“Are you listening to yourself? She isn’t like us, Steele. She wasn’t raised the way we were.”
“Don’t you think I know that? She might not have been raised here but she sure as hell is more like us than any of you realize. She’s unstable, Knox! She’s just as tormented and ruined as we are!” It’s not a lie. We’re all a little fucked in the head and Whisper isn’t far behind. Just because she hasn’t had to endure the abuse that we have doesn’t mean she didn’t endure her own kind of hell out there in the world. In fact, I know she did. I only heard a few stories from her, and I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
“Damn it. What are we going to do?” Callan asks.
“That’s the thing. I don’t know. Our plan was always to turn Dad and McLean against each other. Let them kill each other over this shit while we sit back and watch. Maybe we need to let that happen,” I suggest.
“What about her?”
“What about her?” I snap in Callan’s direction.
“She’s a threat, Steele. To all of us. You know as well as I do that if she wants it all, she just needs to look a little further. All it will take for her to ruin us is one phone call. Did you ever think about that while you were drilling your cock in her?” That’s enough of that shit. I leap off the couch, pain shooting through my body as I lunge at him. My fist collides with his cheek, his head snapping to the side. Knox is pulling me back in seconds, shoving us apart.
“We don’t fight! We don’t do this! Is she going to be a problem between us, Steele?”
“Only if he makes it one,” I snarl nodding at my little brother.
“We all care about her, Steele. I get that but what happens when she wants more? Huh? You think any of us bastards giving a
fuck about her will make a difference?” He has a point and I get it. Trust is something you earn and sadly she hasn’t earned that from us. Whatever this is I feel for her doesn’t matter when it comes to my brothers and that’s the part I need to remember. We were one before her and we’ll be one after her.
“You’re right. We keep her close. We move on with our plans, but we make sure that McLean is out of the way first. Any proof of Whisper Jane Macron dies with him. Understood?” I look between my brothers as they both nod, the air calming around us. Callan is the first to walk away when Knox blows out a breath and drops into the chair across from me, resting his head in his hands.
“This is a mess,” he says softly.
“Not really. I think we can keep her in check long enough to get what we want. If McLean and all the proof is gone, she has no say in anything.” Knox looks up at me, his eyes holding questions.
“Are you going to be able to pull the fucking rug out from under her like that, Steele?”
“We’re family, Knox. My family always comes above all else. Dad has fucked us over. He’s made our lives a living hell and now it’s our time to take over. It’s our time to make the moves that we all know need to be made. Keeping things in Rolling Springs is holding this family back. Think about what we could be doing out there in the world? Overseas? It has to be this way, Knox.”
“She means something to you, Steele. I can see it,” he adds. I nod my head because I won’t lie and say she doesn’t. Even though I want to snap her neck for who she truly is, how can I blame her for being born? It’s simple. I can’t.
“You’re right, she does. Just like she’s grown on you and Callan but when it comes down to it, who would you choose?” His eyes flicker with fire before he nods his head.
“It’s always been us three.”
“And it still is.” I don’t know if I have the heart to completely ruin Whisper but if it comes down to her or my brothers, I won’t be choosing her.
“You still hitting the masquerade ball?” I raise an eyebrow.
“It’s two days away. You’re damn right we’re going.” Knox laughs as I take another long pull from my water and fall back onto the soft pillows of the couch. Blowing out a breath, he stands and starts to walk away when he stops and turns back to look at me.
“For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t blame you for keeping her, Steele.” I don’t respond because frankly, I don’t know what to say to that.
21
Whisper
I can’t feel my toes, or my hands for that matter. Nathan and Debra weren’t here when I came home a few days ago, so I did what any pissed off eighteen-year-old would do. I stole all the liquor and got drunk. Pity party of one. I’ve drank until everything blurs and now I sit here… numb. I hated what happened to Steele, I hated it even more when Callan drove me back here and not to their house. Something in my chest pinched and it hurt like hell. Since I’ve been here, I’ve searched more. I know what I’m looking for and I have the number on speed dial now ready to use at my discretion. I almost dialed it yesterday. My real mom. The real woman that gave birth to me only to dump me off because I didn’t have the right father. She should win an award, that bitch. Mother of the fucking year. I giggle at my own joke when the door opens.
“I’m afraid, Nathan,” I hear Debra say. I roll my eyes.
“You should be!” I call out. The two of them close the door and come into the living room where I sit with their bottle of whiskey. Bringing it to my lips, I swallow another long pull.
“Is it not bad enough you’re off fucking the Alder boys and now you’re underage drinking.” I smirk when Nathan speaks. Idiot. Lifting the gun that rests in my right hand, I wave at him and motion to the couch across from me.
“What the hell?” Debra nearly squeals.
“Sit the fuck down, Debra. Don’t make me tell you twice,” I say in the prissiest tone I can muster. God, I almost sounded just like her. Her and Nathan both move to sit and watch me. I take another drink. I don’t want to be too drunk though, it is Halloween and all and I have a dance to get to.
“What’s going on, Whisper? Did something happen?” Nathan asks as if he was a caring parent. I snort a laugh, whiskey shooting from my nose. With the same hand that holds the bottle, I bring it up and wipe it on the back of my hand.
“That was funny all things considered.”
“What are you tal—”
“No! That’s enough talking out of you two. It’s my turn to ask the questions and it’s your turn to give the answers.” The smirk on Nathan’s face makes me think that he thinks I’m joking. Maybe I should blow his balls off. Or cut his beating hands right from his no-good body.
“Do you know who I am?” I ask first, knowing they have to know by now. The whole goddamn town does.
“Whisper.”
“Good one, Nathan! I think we’re all aware of that fact. I mean do you know who I really am?” I hiss the words. They share a look that tells me they do.
“When did you find out?” Debra asks. Perfect Debra. Always so goddamn put together in her fancy blouses and pencil skirts. She makes me sick to even look at.
“Not long ago actually. It wasn’t hard after I went searching and found my half-sister.” Both of them raise their eyebrows. How cute, neither of them knew about her. “It was a shock to learn that she was a year younger than me, but she, too, was dumped off to fend for herself. Ironic isn’t it?” I look between them and take another drink. “Funny thing about that is, she isn’t nearly as vindictive as I am. She lives here amongst all this trash and lies. She works in the very school she wasn’t allowed to attend because of her bloodline.” I laugh.
“What are you talking about?” Nathan snaps.
“Shut up, Nathan!”
“I will kill you,” he growls as he begins to stand. I wave the gun around, a reminder that I’m in charge now. He sits back next to his horrid wife.
“I don’t think you will. You were using me to get back into the good graces of the Alder’s, weren’t you?” Debra’s face pales as she looks at me before quickly averting her eyes.
“Maybe. So what? Do you realize how much you’re worth to Dennis Alder?” Ugh, just hearing his name makes my stomach roll. That bastard.
“Not enough, apparently. Didn’t you hear that Steele took his punishment… for me?” The smirk that crosses my face must piss him off. His hands clench in front of him as I laugh.
“You’re lying!”
“Am I?” I cock my head to the side as I raise the gun and aim. “I have no use for you two any longer. You used me, beat me and now it’s time I repay the favor. You won’t get what you want out of me. You won’t be handing me over on a silver platter to dear old Daddy Alder because you won’t be alive to see tomorrow.” Pulling the trigger, I move the gun to Debra and do the same. I never thought about taking a life. It never really crossed my mind, but after all the pain that I’ve had to endure in my life, I think it was well deserved. Too bad the idiots didn’t pay attention that it was their own gun and there won’t be any fingerprints. I also love the fact that we are far enough away from neighbors that no one would have heard those two shots. The thing that makes me laugh about these two is how gullible they were. They thought they had a plan all along.
Dropping the gun on to the table, I stand up and walk over to Nathan. Reaching down, I run my gloved finger through the blood that seeps from his face and bring it to mine. I streak it across my face when I hear a horn outside. Looks like my ride is here.
I grab the mask that I bought for tonight and tie it around my face before looking down at my outfit. Shane told me that everyone dresses sexy as hell for the bash and so I did. In short leather shorts, a corset that I can barely breathe in and knee-high boots, I fit the bill the tonight. I grab the oversized sweatshirt that I stole from Steele and slip it on over my clothes before heading out the door, grabbing my backpack as I go. Strutting down the stairs and sidewalk, I climb in Shane’s car.
“
You are not wearing that shirt all night,” she says pointing at me. I smile.
“Nope. I have to make an impression. You look hot,” I tell her eyeing her up and down. She has on a pair of cut-off shorts that hug her frame and a crop top that looks to be two sizes too small but she rocks it.
“I plan on talking to Callan tonight,” she says softly.
“No. None of that sad sounding shit. You are going to talk to him. Have some confidence, Shane.” She nods her head, glares at me and narrows her eyes.
“Nice fake blood!” she adds before putting the car in drive and pulling out. I want to laugh but I don’t. Instead, I shrug and watch out the window as she drives. It doesn’t take us long to pull up in the Intensity parking lot. There are cars for miles and when we step out, I nearly curse the line. I start walking toward the back of the line when I see Callan. His eyes meet mine before shifting to Shane and back. He jerks his head so that we follow him. Glancing at Shane, she just shrugs. I’m sure they are all pissed at me for not showing up while Steele was recovering but I needed some time to adjust and get my head right. Besides, Callan is the one that drove me home. Not like I can go back there now.
We walk in behind Callan as he nods at the security guard. Shane wraps her arm around mine as we strut into the room. I see Leddy right away and toss her a small wave. Her eyes light up as she waves back. We’ve talked a few times since the first time I was here. She’s actually really nice and asked me about going to school for dance. We talked for hours one night about it.
“You should have come by,” Callan hollers above the music.
“I wasn’t sure I was invited. I did get dropped off and all,” I smart ass him. He nods his head when he looks past me. Something flickers in his eyes. It’s the danger that lingers around Steele. I can feel him. Large hands clamp onto my hips, pulling me back into a hard body.
