Unmask a dark high schoo.., p.22
Unmask: A Dark High School Romance, page 22
Beside me, Kreed’s entire body hardened, tension radiating off him. “Who’s Jesse?” he grumbled, close to my ear, deliberately brushing his lips against the curve of my skin.
“He works for my dad. Worked for him,” I corrected, the smile slipping from my lips as reality crashed back down. My throat constricted around the words, past tense still feeling foreign and wrong.
Jesse’s expression softened, his hands coming out of his pockets as he took a half step forward. “I never got to tell you how sorry I was for what happened to him and your mom.”
“Thanks, Jesse.” I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the afternoon sun. “My dad always thought of you as the son he never had.”
“He was a great guy.” Jesse cleared his throat, looking down at his oil-stained boots. “The shop’s not the same without him.”
“As touching as this reunion is,” Kreed interrupted, “we need to go.”
Jesse nodded, stepping aside as he opened the passenger door. Kreed gave Jesse a not-so-friendly glare as we climbed into the truck, a beat-up Ford that had seen better decades. The bench seat forced us close together with me sandwiched between the two guys like some twisted version of a first date gone wrong.
This should be fun.
The testosterone radiating off them was thick enough to choke me, making the already cramped cab feel suffocating.
Kreed’s thigh pressed against mine, solid muscle and barely contained energy. Leaning close, I whispered, “Are you jealous?”
His breath hitched slightly, and when he turned his head, our faces were inches apart. “Do I have a reason to be?”
The challenge in his silver eyes made my pulse quicken. Jesse was stable, cute, and funny, but he was a Viper. It would be trading one crew for the other. But most importantly, Jesse didn’t make my teenage hormones go batshit crazy like Kreed did. “Maybe.”
His mouth arched into a scowl I found too damn sexy. “Don’t toy with me, little raven.”
Jesse kept peering sideways at us during the ride to the shop, his eyes flicking between Kreed and me, and I couldn’t help wondering what was going through his head. The engine rumbled beneath us, and I found myself gripping the worn fabric of the seat as Jesse took corners a little too fast. I couldn’t help him figure out my relationship with the enemy. I still didn’t understand what the hell was between Kreed and me. We shouldn’t make sense on paper, and yet, when I was with him, it was the only thing that made sense in my life.
Kreed sat beside me, one knee bouncing in a restless rhythm against the floorboard. Not from nerves but from barely contained tension. This wasn’t fucking awkward at all.
“We heard about your friend,” Jesse said, his eyes on the road. The sympathy in his voice was genuine, which somehow made it worse. “You’ve had a rough go of it, bubbles.”
The temperature in the cab plummeted. Kreed’s knee stopped bouncing, and his entire body went predator still. “Call her that again, and this car will never make it to the shop.”
The words came out quiet, conversational even, but there was death in them. Jesse’s hands went rigid on the steering wheel, a low chuckle breezing through his lips. “Don’t give me a reason to pull this truck over and show you what Vipers are really made of.”
Fuck.
“Stop,” I hissed through my teeth, my elbow jabbing into Kreed’s ribs hard enough to make him grunt. I sent Jesse an are-you-kidding-me frown before pinning Kreed with a glare that promised retribution later. “Can we put the who’s a better bad guy away for ten minutes? I just want to get to the shop in one piece. I don’t know what’s crawled up both your asses, but save it for when I’m not sandwiched between you.”
Jesse’s shoulders relaxed slightly, and he actually chuckled. “I’m pretty sure I can figure it out, and as much as I’d like to fault him for it, I can’t. We’re all protective of you.”
Kreed made a growling sound in the back of his throat that definitely said Jesse was testing his patience and his restraint.
God, the last thing I need is a brawl in a moving car. I’d had enough of hospitals to last three lifetimes.
We somehow made it to the shop without anyone dying or spilling any blood on Jesse’s truck. I stepped out onto the cracked asphalt and took a healthy gulp of fresh air, letting the cold fill my lungs. It felt good, cleansing, and I needed it before I went inside. My sneakers crunched over scattered gravel and oil stains that had seeped into the pavement over decades.
Everything about this place brought an odd mixture of grief, homesickness, and nostalgia; the faded blue paint on the building’s exterior was peeling in familiar spots, and the neon sign still flickered erratically “Viper’s Auto Pro” in letters that had lost their brightness years ago. I could clearly picture a younger version of me as a kid running through those glass doors or into the open garage after school, pigtails bouncing, knowing my dad was inside waiting with change in his pocket for the vending machines.
The moment we stepped inside the faded auto body office, the air immediately shifted to a familiar cocktail of old oil, cheap coffee, and secrets that seemed to cling to every surface. Dust motes danced in the afternoon light streaming through grimy windows, and the linoleum floor creaked under our feet. I didn’t know if this was a complete waste of time or if it could be a trap. I also didn’t know if Kenny had time for us to chase shadows, but I had to try.
“He’s in the office,” Jesse informed us.
My father’s office.
A pang hit me in the chest at the thought of seeing someone besides my father behind his desk. Kreed trailed behind as I moved to the narrow hallway, leading to the garage, a bathroom, and the room my father had used as his workspace to run his shops.
My throat thickened, and as I curled my fingers into my palms, nails pressing crescents into my skin, I did my best to suppress the memories threatening to drown me. The phantom scent of my dad’s aftershave seemed to linger in the air.
“You good, little raven?” Kreed asked when I stopped just outside the office door, my hand frozen on the brass knob that had lost most of its shine.
I didn’t think I’d ever be whole again, the cracks in my heart still bleeding, but I tipped my chin and nodded anyway.
Kreed planted himself just outside the office door, his broad shoulder pressed against the frame, one hand braced against the wood. The position gave him a clear view of both the hallway and inside the office. “Leave it open,” he said.
I rolled my eyes, but it was all for show because I was grateful he insisted. The door creaked on its hinges as it swung wide.
Rusty sat behind the desk, flipping through paperwork with weathered hands, his salt-and-pepper hair catching the light from the single overhead bulb. He looked older than the last time I’d seen him, deeper lines etched around his eyes, but his shoulders still carried the same solid strength I’d known since childhood. He was deep in a stack of bills, his reading glasses perched on the end of his nose.
When he sensed my arrival, his gaze flashed up from the papers, and his entire face transformed as his coal-dark eyes landed on me. The harsh lines of concentration melted away, replaced by something softer. “You came,” he said, standing slowly, his chair groaning in protest. “Wasn’t sure you would.”
I forced a small smile, my lips feeling stiff and unnatural. “You said it was important.”
“It is,” he replied, and the grin he gave me was warm, the kind I’d grown up with until it sputtered and died the moment his eyes shifted to land on Kreed’s imposing figure behind me. The temperature in the room dropped several degrees. “Didn’t realize you’d be bringing a Raven.”
Kreed grinned, hovering in the doorway, his silver eyes cataloging every detail of the room. “Miss me that much, huh?”
“Care to give me a minute with my girl?” Rusty’s voice carried a note of challenge, his jaw setting in a way that reminded me uncomfortably of my father when he’d made up his mind about something.
Kreed’s response was immediate and harsh. “She’s not yours. Not anymore, and I’m not leaving her side.”
Rusty didn’t reply immediately, but strain zipped across the room like static electricity before a thunderstorm. He folded his arms across his chest, the motion making his work shirt strain across his shoulders, then settled himself on the corner of the desk with deliberate casualness. “Yeah, I figured.” His smile was all teeth and no warmth. “Guys like you probably can’t let her breathe without getting twitchy. Real protective or just real possessive, Kreed?”
“For fuck’s sake,” I muttered, stepping between them before Kreed could deliver whatever threatening response was brewing in that menacing expression of his. “Enough. Both of you. I’m not here for a pissing contest.”
Rusty arched a graying brow, but his expression softened slightly as he focused on me again. “I heard about your missing friend. Kenny, right? It’s why I wanted to see you.”
I sank into the empty chair across from the desk, the same chair I’d sat in as a kid while Dad finished up paperwork, swinging my legs and waiting for him to take me for ice cream. The vinyl was cracked now, stuffing peeking through. “I need help. I need answers. I need to know if anyone’s heard anything—anything at all,” I pleaded. I was praying Rusty was the man I hoped he was and not a traitor, that the warmth in his eyes was real and not a mask. Surely, he would be willing to offer his services. But if Kreed was right…
The thought trailed off into darkness I wasn’t ready to face.
Kreed wanted me to pretend I didn’t suspect a thing, that I had no knowledge of a traitor among the Vipers. Asking Rusty for help was what I would have done, what the old me would have done without question. I would have run here at the first signs of trouble, seeking assurance from someone who was like family. So here I was, asking the man who’d bounced me on his knee as a child to help me find my best friend.
Rusty’s gruff demeanor softened slightly as he leaned back in his chair, the harsh lines around his eyes smoothing out, and for a moment, I caught a glimpse of the man who used to sneak me candy when Dad wasn’t looking. “I’m sorry, kiddo. I wish there was something I could do, but I don’t know anything about those missing girls.”
I nodded as the little amount of hope I’d been clinging to deflated like a punctured balloon. My chest felt hollow, scraped clean of optimism. Kreed wouldn’t approve if I told Rusty about the ransom, about me being the prize they wanted, but I was tempted to spill my guts just to see his reaction. Would his face change? Would he get uncomfortable, shifting in his seat? Would he have no reaction at all, the kind of blank stare that came from already knowing the truth?
Rusty rubbed a weathered hand over his face, his callused fingers rasping against his beard. “I don’t know what I can do. I haven’t heard anything specific, but I’ll ask around. See if any of the guys know something.” He dropped his hand, meeting my eyes with what looked like genuine concern. “The streets don’t stay quiet for long when bad shit’s going down.”
“Will you let me know if you hear anything? It doesn’t matter when. I’m not sleeping much as it is.”
His eyes held mine, and an emotion I couldn’t quite name gleamed in them. “You know I’d never lie to you, and I won’t fill you up with false promises, but I’ll do what I can.”
The words should have been comforting, but they sat wrong in my stomach, twisting like spoiled food. I nodded anyway, swallowing the bitter mix of hope and hopelessness sagging in my chest. Behind me, Kreed’s hand settled lightly on the back of my chair, not possessive, not forceful, just there. “I appreciate it,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper.
Rusty’s gaze flicked to Kreed again, and this time, I caught the flash of darkness brewing behind his eyes, but he kept it leashed this time. His jaw worked silently before he spoke again. “You shouldn’t be alone. Especially with him.” The word dripped with venom, and Kreed’s fingers twitched against the chair. “After everything we went through to get you out of that house, I still can’t believe he’s staying with you.” Rusty leaned forward, his elbows braced on the desk, hands clasped like he was praying or planning. “Come to the nest. You’ll have round-the-clock protection. No one will get through those doors without my knowledge.”
The temperature in the small office seemed to drop several degrees, but I kept my gaze on Rusty, stirrings of wariness fluttering in my chest. Something about his words felt off. “How do you know that Kreed has been staying at the house?”
Rusty blinked, just once, but it was enough. His mask slipped for a fraction of a second before sliding back into place. “What kind of friend would I be if I didn’t keep an eye on his daughter?”
“So you’re spying on me?”
“I wouldn’t call it spying, kiddo.” His voice took on that patronizing tone I’d heard him use with Jesse and younger crew members, the one that meant he was about to lecture me like a child. He stood slowly, moving around the desk until he was leaning against its edge. “I know you’ve had a sheltered life because your father didn’t want you to grow up as we did, but it’s time to take the rose-colored glasses off. You’re the daughter of a powerful crew don. He might not be with us anymore, but there are people out there who would use you to hurt us. You’re still important to the Vipers.”
Like you? I silently questioned, so confused.
“You’re living with our biggest enemy.” Rusty’s voice hardened, losing any pretense of fatherly concern. “I know you think he might care about you, but I don’t trust him. He’s already hurt you once. He’ll do so again.”
The air behind me shifted, and Kreed’s presence dominated the office. “You don’t know shit about me, old man.”
Rusty’s lips carved into a humorless smile. “Your reputation speaks for itself.” He tilted his head, studying Kreed. “Does she know about the things you’ve done? About your past? Or have you only let her see the good side of you?”
Kreed’s laugh was hollow and empty. “You’re assuming I have a good side.”
The chair legs scraped against the worn linoleum as I stood abruptly and put myself between the two of them. “It’s probably best I leave. And I don’t need your guys stalking me. I have enough eyes on me as it is. I wouldn’t want one of them to get hurt.”
Had that just come out of my mouth? I hadn’t meant for it to sound like a threat, but when the words echoed back at me, it was precisely how they’d landed. My pulse quickened as I realized what I’d just done, issued a warning to a man who’d known me since I was in diapers.
Who the hell am I?
It was obvious that Kreed and the Ravens were rubbing off on me, their corruptness seeping into my bones like ink in water. I couldn’t decide if I liked who I was becoming. The old Kaylor would have never spoken to Rusty that way, but this version of me, the one standing in my dead father’s office, staring down a man who might have betrayed everything we’d built, she was different. Harder. They were changing me, and I wasn’t sure if I was grateful or terrified.
“Watch yourself,” Rusty said as I moved toward the door.
I paused at the threshold, my hand gripping the door frame. Without turning around, I shook my head. “I have all the protection I need.”
I didn’t glance at Jesse, who was still in the lobby as we passed by, despite feeling his eyes burning into my back. I hadn’t thought about how the hell we would get home, but Kreed had taken care of it. Of course, he had. He seemed to anticipate my needs before I even knew I had them.
The familiar black town car idled in front of the shop, its engine purring softly. Evan stood as still as a statue beside the driver’s door, his broad shoulders filling out his dark suit, sunglasses concealing his eyes despite the late-afternoon light.
The second the shop door shut behind us with a heavy thud, Kreed took my hand and ushered me toward the car with an urgency that made my skin prickle, as if he was preparing for someone to come chasing after us or strike me down from behind. His head turned constantly, his eyes scanning the street, the alleyways, and the windows of surrounding buildings.
“I really fucking hate that guy,” Kreed grumbled, staring at the shop through the window as Evan pulled the car away.
“I think the feeling is mutual between the two of you.”
“I don’t trust him,” he growled, his silver eyes narrowing. “I know you have your doubts, but I’m not wrong about him. My instincts are telling me he’s the traitor.”
The certainty in his voice made my chest clench. I shifted in the seat, turning my body toward him so I could read his expression. “And he might be, but it doesn’t mean he’s running a trafficking ring. You don’t have to like him. What matters is getting Kenny home. The more people helping, the bigger our reach. Someone had to have seen something. Heard something.”
Kreed’s expression darkened. “If he is behind it, you need to know that I won’t turn a blind eye. I will destroy him.”
“If he is involved, you won’t be destroying him alone. I’ll be by your side.” The vow came out steadier than I felt.
“Such violence. Dare I say it looks good on you, little raven.” His gaze swept over me, lingering with fire burning in his eyes.
Heat crept up my neck. “Don’t tell me you get hard at the prospect of me in black leather and brass knuckles.” I tried to keep my tone light, but there was an edge to it.
“Brass knuckles, huh?” He leaned nearer. “Yeah, I could get behind that.”
I shook my head but couldn’t ignore the flutter in my chest. “There’s something wrong with you.”
“Yeah,” he said, his hand reaching out to trace a finger along my jaw, the touch featherlight but burning. “You crashed into my life.”
The truth in his words hit harder than I expected. Giving in to the pull I’d been fighting, I rested my head on his shoulder, feeling the solid warmth of him, the way his breathing hitched slightly at the contact. “Touché.”
When we pulled up in front of Carson’s house, Evan cut the engine, but neither of us moved. The silence stretched between us, heavy with unspoken words. I stared at the familiar front door, the closed blinds, and the darkened porch light that Carson usually kept on. The house looked hollow, abandoned, like grief had already moved in and made itself at home.
