My anger pushed me forward from the gap in the fence, heading toward the spark of red that occasionally flashed far off in the darkness. I remained close to the fence line, amongst the fancy-ass trees and decorative hedges that the college had planted torich upthe front facade. I could duck in behind them if absolutely needed, especially if I was now chasing some rando psycho who wanted a smoke.
Rather than the psycho I shared a house with who I’d never seen smoke.
When I got closer, voices filtered through to me, and I crept even slower. There was more than one person out here, and I was fairly sure I recognized the deep rumble of Connor’s derisiveness, since it was burned into my brain after the last time he insulted me.
“…think you fucking are, motherfucker?”
That voice wasn’t familiar, with a deep accent that I couldn’t place. Somewhere Eastern European if I had to guess, but as I’d never traveled outside of America, it was a weak guess at best.
“My father is going to wipe you all from existence,” Connor said, so casual despite the seriousness of his statement. He could have been talking about the damn weather or who won the Super Bowl last year.
The other voice grew a touch louder as he lobbed back a bunch of words, and this time they weren’t in English, but it was clear they were just as uncomplimentary as the previousmotherfuckerhe’d used.
From my angle, I couldn’t see them, and as stupid as it was to get any closer when I was able to hear from this position, I still pushed through the bushes. Leaves and sticks scratched at my skin, lodged in my hair, and dug into my back, but I’d come too far to turn back now.
I just had to hope the ranting guy kept the rustling of my approach from being noticed.
Connor cut him off after another long outburst in whatever language. “Look, I could have just walked out here and shot you all in the head.”
There he was, that absolute charmer of a guy I called roommate.
“But I was nice enough to give you one fucking chance. Stop dealing on our territory. Stop attacking my father’s guys on the streets. And stop coming any-fucking-where near Meadowridge. This ismyterritory, and I’m done letting your little gang in on our turf.”
The other guy scoffed, and I shuffled around so I could finally see where the two of them were standing. The moon shifted from behind the clouds right at that moment too, and it shone down on a wiry guy with dark olive skin and a shaved head. He was covered in tattoos, right up the sides of his face and over his entire skull. The cigarette hung from the side of his mouth as he paced and glared.
In the semi-darkness, his eyes looked squinty and dark as he kept shooting death glares across the trunk of his black car. Toward Connor I could only assume, not that I could see him from where I was crouched in the bushes.
“Your confidence is going to be your downfall, Sullivan. Your family might have controlled this town and half the EastCoast for the past ten generations, but eventually, every empire crumbles.”
Who the hell were the Sullivans?
Did that mean Ethan was part of this as well? Was that why he’d said he was involved with a criminal organization the other night?
I’d been too dick drunk to really delve into that statement during the storm, and then it had slipped my mind until this moment, but it was clear that there was more to these brothers than I’d initially thought.
Connor’s scoff made his feelings more than apparent. “This empire was built on blood and sacrifice, and it will continue to flourish long after you’re gone. Which will be in the next two minutes if you don’t get the fuck out of here.”
The tatted guy chuckled darkly. “You made a mistake coming out here tonight. We don’t want to start a war…yet. But a little warning wouldn’t go astray.”
There was a scuffle, and I could only see the guy yank out his gun, but he was too slow, Connor’s muzzle already pressed squarely to the side of his head. “If you move, even to breathe, I’m going to blow your brains out.”
I’ve killed more people than you fucking know.
Apparently, that hadn’t been an exaggeration to scare me.
I’d been sleeping under the same roof as a legit murderer who hated me, with just an old lock to keep me from being killed in my bed. Still, he’d never actually done anything to harm me or anyone else in the house, so maybe we were actuallysaferwith Connor under the same roof.
The way I reacted to violence and danger was different now. I enjoyed being around the people who were dangerous in general and not to me, because in situations like this, they knew how to take care of themselves. My therapist had names and titles for everything, but I called it survival.
I was well-versed in what it took to survive these days.
Shifting in the bushes, I could finally see Connor, his face darkened by shadows to match his full black outfit. A glint of silver caught my attention next, and before I could run through the repercussions of what I was about to do, I shouted out a warning.
“Connor, behind you!”
He spun just in time to miss the silenced shot that had been aimed right at his torso, shoving the tatted guy into the path of whomever else was out there.
He dove behind the car to give himself cover and, without missing a beat, added a silencer to the end of his gun. I was half-frozen in the bushes still but saw him glare at me while he returned fire in the general direction the other guys had gone.
