“You need to make this right, Talon. You started this war and you need to fix it.”
“What could Zed possibly want from us?” Tommy asks the question we’re all wondering.
“Who the fuck knows. The point is, we have to either get Zed on our side and tell us where Josh is, or we have to eliminate Anderson before he gets to us.”
Talon scratches at the back of his neck and levels his eyes to mine. “You mean kill him?”
“We do whatever we have to do.”
Turning his head over his shoulder, he looks out at Marni. “No. Not a chance. We’ll find a way to get in Anderson’s good graces and we’ll tame Zed at the same time. This isn’t over; therefore, we still have a chance.”
“Alright. Guess it doesn’t hurt to try. Give Zed a call.” I push past him and walk back out the door to get my delightful stepsister. “I’ve got other shit to deal with right now.” She’s another fucking problem. If she thinks she’s going to play a larger role in my life, she has another thing coming.
With my eyes laser-focused on hers, I strut toward her and grab her by the arm. “We’re leaving.”
“I just got here.” She jerks away. “Marni and I were just talking about throwing a party this weekend. What do you think?”
“What do I think?” I laugh. “I think you're delusional. Now let’s go.”
“What’s your problem, Lars? She just wants to hang out with us. She’s new here and doesn’t have many friends.”
Yeah, for good reason. She doesn’t know how to be a friend. She’s a manipulative little snake. But, I don’t say it. Instead, I play nice. “Fine. You all hang out here. I have someone to go meet.” That snaps Madison’s attention away from Marni really quick. Madison is all up in my business, and if she thinks for a minute that I could be meeting up with a girl, she would lose her damn mind. In her head, I belong to her.
“Where are you going?” Her eyes sadden and I can see her heart rate accelerate through the thin fabric of her baby pink T-shirt.
“Oh, just meeting up with an old friend. You stay here. Enjoy yourself and I’ll see you tomorrow.” It’s a semi-lie. Willa has been blowing up my phone because, apparently, there is something she needs to talk about. Not that I have any idea why Willa would need or want anything from me. We’re not even friends. Hell, we’re not even enemies. She just sort of exists in this world. I turn around to walk away. “Later, Marni.” Tommy and Talon are still inside. Hopefully hashing out a plan. And of course, the smacking of flip flops comes trudging up behind me.
“Wait. I’ll come with you,” Madison says as she hurries to my side.
“I thought you might.” I glare at her and I hope she knows that she’s not going anywhere with me. No. I’m putting this bitch in her place right fucking now.
Sticking close to my side, she attempts to grab my hand when we are out of sight of the others. I spit, “What are you doing?” Then jerk my hand away. When she chuckles, I stop walking. “Madison, this isn’t funny. You can’t just show up places like this. It’s suspicious.”
Her fingers slither around my neck and she pouts. “How is it suspicious? I’m the new girl who needs to make some friends. No one has a clue that you’ve been fucking your sister behind closed doors.”
When she tries to kiss me, I tilt my head to the side then unlock her fingers behind my neck, one by one, dropping her hands to her side. “About that. It needs to stop.”
“Come on. You know you like it just as much as I do?”
I begin walking to my car again, and she’s right back at my side. “I have to go. Take your car and go home. I’ll be there in an hour. We need to have a serious talk.”
“Where are you going?”
“Don’t worry about it,” I tell her as I pull my phone out of my pocket and get ready to text Willa back. I wasn’t planning on meeting up with her, but I needed an out. I can’t let Madison hang out here. If she tells everyone that she watched us stuff Josh’s body into the trunk of a car, she’ll use it against them, too. She’s like the female version of Zed. Possibly worse.
Before I can even get in the car, Madison snatches my phone from my hand and begins thumbing through it. It was opened to my conversation with Willa and panic ensues. Just as I go to grab it from her, she takes off running like a fucking child with a cookie. “Madison!” I shout, “Give me back my damn phone.”
“Who is this?” she asks with her eyes glued to my phone. “Who the hell is Willa?” How does she know who it is? I didn’t save her number. She begins reading off the message. “What the hell do you want, Willa?” Lifting her head, she looks at me. “What does this girl want with you?”
Walking toward her with my hands at my side, I approach slowly. Then like a tiger, I pounce—grabbing my phone from her death grip.
“Wait a minute. Willa. Isn’t that the girl in the video? The virgin?”
“If you go straight home, I’ll come see you later.” I lie. If she thinks there’s a chance I’ll come see her, she’ll go home.
Heading for my car, I don’t hesitate or look back at
