“She’ll be okay. She’s just upset that it has to be this way. I’m sure it makes it worse that he won’t let her go and get her best friend back.” Cason drops his hand on my shoulder. “But she’ll come around, bro. Fallon might be her best friend but you’re her other half.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” I stare at the door Jade just walked through. “Come on. Let’s go,” I say as I go to leave my room. Cason catches my arm, stopping me in my tracks.
“Wait, before we go. I have news on Jordan,” Cason says.
“Yeah? What’s up?” I ask. Cason’s sweating, which means this can’t be good.
“I’m sorry I doubted you, man. I thought you might have tried to, you know, leave us. But I was wrong,” Cason murmurs.
I can’t blame him for thinking that. Hell, I had a moment where I doubted it myself. It takes a minute for his comment to sink. “Wait, what are you saying to me?” I ask.
“It wasn’t you. I went to see Crank about the damage to the car, and Narni was there. She told me that she saw a hose on the side of the track. It was on. The end of the track had flooded, and it was a mud pit. There was no way you could’ve stopped,” Cason tells me. “I went to the track and found the hose. She was right.”
“Jordan was trying to make everyone think . . . I shouldn’t have ever doubted you,” he says.
“Nah, man. Don’t you do that shit. Don’t feel bad—you didn’t know. And honestly, for a hot second I wasn’t so sure either. I was in such a shit place that night,” I tell him as I put a hand to his shoulder.
Cason meets my eyes and I try to show him the love I have for him in a single glance. I can only hope it’s enough.
He coughs and shakes his head. “Either way, we’ve got to deal with that prick for good. No more games.”
“And we will. But first we need to get my girl back. Then we’ll worry about my empire,” I say as I point over my shoulder.
“Yeah man, let’s go bring her home,” he says. And we walk out the door to do just that.
There’s just something about car rides. It’s the pivotal point in all dreams or nightmares. When a baby is born, there is a car ride leading up to the happiest day of most parents’ lives. When a loved one dies, there is a car ride to say your final goodbyes. It sets the stage. And the setting today is expected. It’s quiet, humbled, and just plain sad. If there were crickets, you’d hear them. But it’s not the silence that cuts through me, it’s knowing there is no turning back. It’s knowing the consequences that await us. The stage is collapsing with each mile, and I can’t stop it. But I can do one thing—I can save her before it collapses.
We pull into the bay door to one of the many warehouses Vic owns. His sleek black town car is already parked in the middle of the concrete floor, and as we pull in farther, I can see Vic and Jax waiting next to their car.
I’m ready to get out before the car comes to a full stop. The adrenaline has started pumping and I’m ready. I need her back, now. I reach up for the handle to get out.
“Sit still, son. We play this their way until she is in our hands.” My father’s hand clenches around my forearm.
“Fuck them and their games,” I growl out. “I’m here for her and only her.”
“Do you want her back or not? I didn’t make this deal just so you could ruin it,” my father says.
“You mean you don’t want them to ruin your chance at having your only son take over your precious throne,” I spit at him. I’m over the games. Let’s call a spade a spade. This deal is the only way he’s getting me, and he knows it.
“You will let me handle this, and I’ll do all of the talking. Do you understand?” My father snarls at me when he says, “Consider this your first lesson—learn how to shut up.”
“You wanted me to take your throne? This is me taking it,” I say as I jump out of the car.
Fuck pleasantries. I’m getting straight to the point “Where is she?”
“Such a pleasure to see you Jesse. As always,” Vic says with a smirk.
“Cut the shit. Where is she?” I growl out.
Vic looks over my shoulder as a black SUV enters the warehouse bay door. “Ah, right on time. Where is the deed?”
My father holds a folder up for everyone to see. I didn’t even realize he had joined me. He sure didn’t make his presence known. I guess I got my point across.
“It’s all here. Now, like my son asked—where is the girl?”
Vic nods to a man dressed in all black. It’s one of his many security guards, I’m sure. The man says something into an earpiece.
Another man dressed in similar black apparel appears out of the now-parked SUV and reaches for the back door. Marcus jumps down from the open door of the SUV and stalks over to the man.
“What the fuck? Where are we?” Marcus pushes the man back, “Did you forget who you work for?”
“Marcus. Stop it, son,” Vic says. “I ordered it.”
“Stop? You—" Marcus stops talking the moment his eyes land on me, “What the fuck is he doing here?”
“He’s here for the girl,” Vic says calmly, like his nephew
