Twelve Years Old
Jax
The slap stings my face and I bite the inside of my lip to keep the tears at bay, more tears mean more slaps. My uncle, Vasilei’s dad and my father’s brother, stands over me, but I don’t dare make eye contact.
“Branislav. Do you hear me?”
I lift my eyes enough to look at the button on his shirt and nod my head.
“Don’t be so hard on the boy, Draco, he just lost his whole family,” Dimitri’s father and my father’s other brother, says from the rickety table in the corner of the small, dirty room. His throwing knives are laid on the table in front of him and he is throwing them at a spot on the wall. He hits it dead-on every time.
In my peripheral, I see Vasilei sitting on the floor with his knees pulled to his chest. He found out his mom and sister died when they tookus. Dimitri is sitting on one of the stained cots with his little sister tucked under his arm, his mother and little brother is also dead. Just a few weeks ago, we were all playing in the back garden of our family home, our moms laughing while our sisters played hide and seek, and Vasilei, Dimitri, and I pretended that the rocks we were betting on a hand of cards was real money.
My uncle’s hands are warm on my shoulders as he shakes me a little. I look up at him. “I don’t do this out of meanness, Brana,” He uses the affectionate nickname my mother used, and I have to push the lump in my throat down. “I do it because this is only the beginning. There will be many more things to cry about before we are safe again.” His eyes soften. “Do you understand, nec´ak?” [nephew]
His eyes are the same as my father’s and I bite my cheek again to stop the grief from taking over. I don’t even know what happened, one minute we were having a normal day, the next there was death and destruction all around me.
“What now, papa?” Vasilei asks, his voice muffled with his forehead resting on his knees.
Dimitri’s dad answers him. “We will go to America, it’s the only place we are safe. Our cousin has an outfit there in New York, and he says we can be a part of that.”
America.
My mother never had anything good to say about America, but I always heard my aunt tease her because she was just jealous. My other aunt would dream about the freedom they have there. When she would start talking about our lives here, my other aunt would shush her.
“We have to create fake identities.” Vasilei’s father says, his eyes trained on me. “I will make you my son on our paperwork to make travel easier.”
Nodding again, I push the memory of the men taking turns raping my mother from my head. I can’t think of the past anymore. Squeezing my eyes closed, I shut the door on the memory of my poor little sister lying on the damp stone floor. If I don’t turn everything off, I might lose my mind.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
JAX
AVOIDING THEgravel of the circle drive in front of the house, I try to stay on the grass and the pavers to avoid the crunch under my feet. If there’s anything I’ve learned about the Harlow’s, it’s that they have the hearing of fucking dogs. Even after I get out of the house, all it takes is a creaking floorboard or gravel under my feet to have Mason or Gray looking out the windows.
Lainey Rai’s dog, Wilson, met me at the top of the stairs, his head tilted to the side like he was asking me where we are going. Gray trained him to take care of his daughter, so when I scratched his head and whispered in his ear to go find Lainey Rai, he trotted off to her room.
I moved my bike to the side of the driveway under one of the trees to block the view from the house after dinner tonight. With my black fatigues and leathers for riding, I should be able to get out of here quickly and easily.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Mason’s voice in theshadows on the other side of the driveway only startles me for a second, but I continue to put my gloves on.
“I should have known you would follow me.” I don’t look up at him, but bend over and check that my pant legs are inside my boots. “When did you hear me?”
“Why? So you can avoid that spot on the stairs next time?” He crosses his arms over his chest and tucks his fingers under his arms.
“So it was the stairs, good to know.” I’m still avoiding his gaze.
“Well? Where are you going?”
“It’s a need to know, brother.” I don’t want him to know where I’m going. I sure as fuck don’t want him to try to talk me out of it.
“It looks like you’re suited up for a sneak attack. Why are you fucking going by yourself?” Irritation is in his voice.
I don’t really want to get into this with him right now, but ever since we found out about the DA yesterday, I’ve been wondering why he and his son are still alive. But it looks like he’s not going to let it go. I finally look at him, his profile faint in the sliver of moon left in the sky. “Why didn’t you kill them?”
He cups his chin and starts scratching the scruff on his jaw as he looks toward the house and then back at me. “I had a feeling they’re what this is about.” He takes a deep breath.
“Well?”
