Never Again: Lost Boys of Neverly Prep: Academy Romance

by L. E. Bross

  “Are you still thinking about it?” I’d like to know if I am minutes away from dying.

  He shakes his head. “At the moment? No.”

  I exhale a little but keep my fingers tight. He could still change his mind, but for the moment, I’m out of that cell and I’m not going to die.

  “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

  He surprises me by throwing back his head and laughing so loudly that it echoes around the empty warehouse.

  “See, that right there. You’ve changed. The Ever I used to know would never say thank you.”

  I bite my tongue. The Ever he knew never had anything to be thankful for.

  He brushes past me and the balcony trembles as he jumps down the steps. I wait for Doug to return and take me back to my cell, but he doesn’t come. Eventually I creep down the stairs. No one is around to stop me so I keep going until I get to a door marked EXIT.

  I don’t doubt for a second that Nate has someone watching me wander around outside, but the sun feels too good on my face to care. He knows I won’t run. Not while he could hurt the guys.

  He holds all of the power.

  The free time I get allows my brain to wander and with that, the regrets I’ve had pile up, one on top of the other. I climb up onto a retaining wall and sit, my legs dangling under me. I should never have gotten mad at X at the coffee shop. It wasn’t even about Sara, but I’m sure he thinks it was.

  Now he’ll never know the truth.

  I should have told the guys about my feelings rather than holding shit back. I demanded that they make me a part of their decisions, and while working to take Peter down, they did. Then, when they took the next step forward, I hung back because I was scared.

  I blamed them for my loneliness, when I was the one at fault.

  I waited for them to come to me when I very well could have gone to them. I’ve only been to X and Luc’s apartment once. I could have been there every day when class got out to check in with X.

  I could have driven to Panchard and made Baz take a break, made sure he was eating and sleeping. I know him and I know how hard he pushes himself.

  I stare out at the wasteland that is this neglected industrial park, filled with empty buildings and overgrown parking lots. This is what abandonment looks like. This is what happens when people stop caring.

  It’s not what my life looked like at all.

  I sigh and tip my head back, soaking in the blistering heat from the sun. The last time Ry and I were in bed together, he was so exhausted that he fell asleep as soon as he wrapped his arms around me. His heavy breathing against my neck should have reassured me that he was there with me, but instead, I stewed for hours because he barely said goodnight.

  How fucking selfish have I been all these weeks?

  I’ve barely even reached out to Belle because she’s living her new life, with parents who love her, and I didn’t want to remind her of all the bad that came before.

  I choke on a sob and press my fingers against my mouth.

  She might not need me anymore—not when she has everything she ever wanted—but I need her. My hands shake. If Nate follows through on his threat, I’ll never get the chance to talk to Belle again.

  I jump up and run back inside, shouting for Nate. Desperation claws at my skin. I need to find him, need one last favor before it’s too late.

  “Nate?”

  I look for the tracks in the dirt and follow them, even when they veer off down a hallway I don’t recognize. There’s noise coming from somewhere further down, so I sprint toward the sound.

  “Nate?” My voice echoes off the walls.

  A shadow moves and someone steps out in front of me. I barely manage to stop before I slam into the body blocking my path.

  “You shouldn’t be down here,” Doug snaps.

  I try to peer around him, but there are so few working lights that it’s hard to make out anything more than a few feet ahead.

  “I need to talk to Nate. Right now.”

  Doug takes a step closer and into the light. His pupils are blown and there is a fresh wildness in his eyes. I realize that the noises further down have stopped. Goosebumps pop up along my arms.

  I’m alone with a tweaked-out psycho.

  “Where’s Nate?”

  Instead of answering, he takes another step closer.

  “What the fuck is so special about you? Why did he bring you back? When you disappeared, he barely even blinked, you know. Had Jessa riding his dick when he found out you were gone.”

  “I really don’t care. Where is he?”

  Doug’s gaze bounces from me to the ceiling to the walls and back to me.

  “You think you’re better than us now, don’t you? Heard you were shacked up in some fancy mansion, wearing fancy clothes, getting fancy dick.”

  “What?”

  He lurches forward and his hand snaps out. I feel a tug at my neck then see my necklace dangling from his fingers.

  “Fancy jewelry.”

  He turns it over his fingers and then pulls out his knife, jamming the blade against the small diamond in the center. The blade slips and he nicks his palm, but he doesn’t give up. When the locket finally pops free, it falls open. He squints at the picture and rubs his nose.

  “This is the kid they hauled out of Nate’s place, isn’t it? Your sister, right? Cute kid.”

  The way he leers when he says her name makes my blood boil.

  “Give it back,” I grit out. “That’s mine.”

  “Nah. Think I’ll keep it. Rumor floatin’ around is that yours is a short term stay. You won’t need this where you’re going.”

  He stuffs the locket into his pocket and I lunge at him with a growl. He doesn’t get to touch it and there’s no way in hell I’m letting him keep it. He stumbles back when I plow into him, using surprise to my advantage.

  A heavy grunt comes from his lips when his back hits the wall.

  “Bitch,” he grits out, then grabs the back of my shirt, and with inhuman strength, rips me off him. His fist sinks into my gut and pain ricochets through me, stealing my breath.

  When he lets go, I sink down to the floor, holding my throbbing stomach, trying to suck air into my frozen lungs. I’d forgotten what true pain felt like. It sinks into every atom in my body.

  “Thanks for the trinket.”

  He spits and it lands near my face. I hear him walk away, leaving me gasping for air on the cold, dirty floor.

  Pain and panic swirl inside me like a storm. I struggle to stand, but can’t get my feet under me. My voice is barely a whisper when I shout for him to come back. He has no idea what he just did.

  Maybe Belle won’t notice.

  Maybe my guys won’t come.

  Chapter Eight

  Ry

  “Get some fucking sleep and stop breathing down my neck,” Baz growls.

  If he thinks I’m going to sleep, he’s insane. As soon as he gets a hit on anything, I am on it.

  My phone vibrates in my pocket and I pull it out, scowling down at the name flashing on my screen.

  We need to hear from you ASAP. Very important.

  I don’t have time to deal with fucking sponsorship shit. Nothing is more important than finding Ever.

  “You gonna reply to one of the hundred messages they’ve left?” X asks from behind me.

  “Stop reading over my shoulder.” I tuck my phone back into my pocket. “And no, I can’t deal with that right now. I was so focused on getting that damned deal, I made Ever feel second-rate. That shit won’t happen again.”

  Baz pushes away from his desk and spins around in his chair. The circles under his eyes are even darker now. He looks like shit.

  “Got spiders crawling everywhere. If there’s a speck of intel anywhere on the web, they’ll find it. It’s a waiting game now.”

  “Fucking hate waiting,” I mutter.

  “Go grab something to eat in the break room and get some sleep. Both of you. I’ll monitor this and if it so much as twitc
hes, I’ll let you know. There are three of us and we’ll be totally useless if none of us can lift our legs to move when I find her.”

  “Tell you what, you go get some sleep. I think you’ve been up for three days or some stupid shit like that. I’m not going to be able to close my eyes, so I’ll let you know if your spidey senses start tingling.”

  Baz pushes to his feet and sways. X jumps up and flings an arm around him.

  “I’ll make sure he gets tucked in tight.” I catch X’s tired stare and nod. “I’ll bring you back something to eat too.”

  I sink down into Baz’s chair and spin around, taking in the familiar walls of the office. Baz had Peter’s shit cleared out and made the space his own, but I can still feel that bastard’s presence.

  He brought us here all the time, making promises he knew he’d never keep. I’ve never hated anyone more than I hate him. If I was in Baz’s shoes, I’d let this entire company crumble to dust. Peter doesn’t deserve any kind of legacy, and this place is where it all started. Even though he’s no longer a part of it, I can still feel him here.

  The fact that his name is on the sign outside is enough to make me want to burn it to the ground. It’s something tangible that reminds everyone of who started the business that Baz is trying so hard to save. If this is really what Baz wants, I’ll support him because he’s my brother; I just hope he knows X and I are also behind him if he wants to liquidate everything and start over. I know Wendi would be open to it, too. She hates that Baz is killing himself trying to right all of Peter’s wrongs.

  Once we find Ever, we could start over away from this place if he wanted to.

  I swivel to the bank of computer screens covering his desk. Lines of code stream across each. They don’t mean anything to me; he codes at a level I could never begin to understand.

  Does he really need Panchard Enterprise behind him? He’s fucking brilliant. He could start his own company and surpass Peter right out the gate. Baz was the one writing all the best programs anyway.

  The more I think about it, the more sense it makes.

  We should have done it from the beginning.

  X is getting his degree to expand the company overseas, but he could do that by partnering with Baz. Hell, even I planned to come to work at Panchard when racing got old. And whatever Ever decides is her future, we’ll make a place for her too, because she’s not only our family now; she’s the glue that holds all our broken parts together.

  Maybe that’s the key to keeping everyone grounded.

  We start a new business. Together.

  I write ‘We start our own company and screw Peter’ on a sticky note and put it where Baz is sure to see it, then pull out my phone.

  Thank you for the opportunity, but I’m going to pass on the sponsorship.

  I don’t have an ounce of regret when I send the message. All I wanted to do is race. I can do that on any dirt track, anywhere in the world. I don’t need fame and fortune, not at the expense of my girl’s happiness. I should have figured that out sooner.

  My phone vibrates.

  You’re passing up a once-in-a-lifetime chance.

  I’ve got to do what’s best for me.

  Sorry to hear that. You were going places.

  Still going, just not on that path anymore.

  Because there’s another once-in-a-lifetime chance that I want even more.

  And I’ll be damned if that one slips through my fingers.

  X comes back in and sinks down into a chair after shoving a pile of clothes aside. I look around more earnestly, and now I see signs that Baz has all but moved into this office. I knew he was working too much but I didn’t realize how much until I saw the fucking toothbrush next to an old hard drive.

  “I think he was asleep before his head hit the pillow.”

  X scrubs his hand over his face and yawns so hard I hear his jaw pop. None of us have gotten much sleep tonight. Yesterday? Fuck, I don’t even know what time it is. Everything stopped the second Ever went missing.

  He drops a bag of chips in front of me and sits back.

  “I’m pretty damned smart, but I couldn't do what he’s doing. He’s a fucking genius. Like CIA level. Do you think the Feds have tried to recruit him?”

  It’s entirely possible.

  “He’s never said anything about it.” My gaze lands on a framed picture next to his main computer, one of the few things of Peter’s that Baz kept in his office. It’s a photo of the three of us, getting ready to jump into the deep end of the pool when we were around twelve or thirteen.

  “Do you think Baz is doing all this because he thinks it’s what we want?” X asks.

  I lean back and cross my boots, stretching my arms over my head.

  “I thought it was what he wanted. His dream has always been to run Panchard. Hell, even with that douche bag in charge, Baz was the brains behind the tech. Everyone knew it.”

  “Exactly.” I plant my feet and lean forward, leaning my elbows on my knees and dropping my head forward. Fuck I’m tired. I shake it off and look over at X. “Baz is the important piece, not the fucking Panchard name.” I suck in a ragged breath and exhale. “I pulled out of the deal. I’m not going to race professionally.”

  “Are you serious?” X sits up and pushes to the edge of the chair. “That’s your dream, man.”

  “I want to race, but I realized tonight that it doesn’t matter where because the most important thing in my life, in all our lives, is Ever. I had an idea… what do you think about starting our own company?”

  “Doing what?”

  X must be tired because it’s as obvious as the nose on my face.

  “Cybersecurity. Same as now, only it will be our names, our business. Get away from Peter and his fucking toxic reputation. Panchard is falling on its face and no one trusts the company anymore. We need a clean break. A fresh start. Baz behind the programming, you the business side, and me…” I shrug. “I’ll figure it the fuck out. But more importantly, a place for Ever too. The four of us. Together. It’s what we always said we wanted to do, we just thought it’d be here.”

  Air whooshes out of X’s lungs. He looks around the office, past me to where floor-to-ceiling windows line one entire wall, out at the dark world outside.

  “We could do it how we want, yeah?”

  “Fuck yeah. As big or as small as we want. We can run it out of the condo to start, if that’s what we all want to do. The important thing is that we get to do it our way and answer to no one. A giant fuck you to the man who tried to ruin our futures. We’ll be a million times more successful than he could ever dream.”

  A slow grin spreads over X’s face.

  “When you put it that way…”

  The tension in my shoulders eases. This plan makes a hell of a lot of sense.

  “We can stay in the condo until you graduate, then we could go anywhere in the world.”

  “I’m in, man. One hundred and fifty percent. Let’s do it.”

  “We still need one more vote. If Baz wants to save Panchard Enterprise, we’ll stand behind him.”

  “Baz wants to burn this fucking place to the ground,” a haggard voice says and I spin the chair around.

  Baz leans against the doorjamb, his hair sticking up everywhere and glasses askew.

  “I’m in.” He moves into the room and sinks into the chair next to me, fingers already on the keyboard. “Let’s find our girl and get the fuck out.”

  I glance at the clock and see that it’s a little after five in the morning.

  I make a silent promise that today, we’ll find Ever.

  Baz is focused on the lines of code streaming across the screen when his pocket starts to sing It’s Raining Men. Belle set that up on Ever’s phone as a joke and she never got around to changing it.

  “Why is Belle calling Ever so early?”

  “Fuck, do we answer it?” X asks, suddenly at my side. “She doesn’t need to know Ever’s missing, right?”

  “Not a word.”

/>   We all agree then Baz answers and puts the call on speaker.

  “Hey Tink, what’s up?”

  “Is Ever okay?” Her panicked voice comes over the line and makes my skin go cold. “The locket she gave me. It starting beeping. She said it was for emergencies—in case something bad happened and she needed to find me.”

  Belle’s voice wobbles and I catch Baz’s eyes as they widen. Holy fuck. The locket Ever gave Belle, the ones that Baz made for them—they have locator chips.

  “Everything’s going to be okay,” Baz says calmly. “I’m going to hang up now, but I’ll call you back in a few minutes, okay?”

  “What’s wrong?” Her sob comes across the line, way too clearly.

  “Nothing we can’t fix, Tinkerbelle,” X says. “You trust us, right?”

  “Yes,” she whispers.

  “Nothing’s going to happen to Ever, I promise. We gotta go, okay?”

  “Yes,” she whispers even softer. “Please don’t let anything happen to her.”

  “Not on my life, sweetheart. We got this.”

  As soon as she disconnects, Baz grabs her phone and pulls up the app he installed. Hell, he created the damned thing.

  “Think she pushed it?” X asks.

  Baz lifts his gaze and meets mine.

  “Not a chance in hell. She’d never put Belle in danger like that.”

  Baz jumps to his feet and starts toward the door.

  “I got it. Let’s go.”

  None of us says a word as we run to my car, but it hangs between us like a nuclear mushroom cloud. If Ever didn’t push the button, who the fuck did?

  Chapter Nine

  Ever

  By the time I’m able to catch my breath and stand, Doug is long gone.

  I stagger down the hall holding my ribs, looking for Nate. I need the necklace back. I need to call Belle and tell her it was clumsy fingers before she does something drastic, like tell the guys I’m in trouble.

  They can’t come looking for me.

  I haven't seen many of Nate’s guys at the warehouse, but those who are here will have guns. I slowly make my way back into the main room and finally see Nate striding toward me.