Kreed’s palm shot out, connecting with the back of Mason’s head in a crack. “Say shit like that again, and I’ll rip your tongue out through your throat.”
Mason’s head dropped back against the couch as he chuckled up at Kreed. “Promise?”
“How the hell am I even related to you?” Kreed muttered.
“I won fair and square,” I said, starting to gather the scattered cards. “Which means you can’t go back on your word. A bet’s a bet.”
“What exactly did the three of you idiots bet against her winning?” Kreed demanded, his attention shifting to his brothers.
“That she could leave the house and go see her friends,” Maddox grumbled.
Kreed’s brows furrowed.
I pushed to my feet, facing the guy whose frowns made my heart flutter. “I need to see Kenny and Carson. They need to know I’m alive. They’re probably losing their minds with worry.” So many things swirled in my head, things I wanted to do, needed to say, had to figure out, but seeing my friends was nonnegotiable. This was one thing that had to happen today, consequences be damned.
“There are risks involved with that, little raven. Rusty knows who your friends are. He could be watching them.”
“I know,” I acknowledged, meeting his concern with stubborn determination. “But it doesn’t change the fact that I need to see them.”
“We’ll go with you,” Raine started, already beginning to push himself to his feet with the clear intention of forming a protective escort.
“Uh-uh. That was not the deal,” I argued, holding up one hand as if I had any hope of making him do anything. “I’m not bringing all four of you to intimidate my friends. Kenny will have a complete meltdown, and Carson...” I trailed off, my stomach twisting uncomfortably. “Carson will shut down completely.”
“You’re not going alone,” Maddox said flatly. “That’s not even remotely on the table.”
“I never said I wanted to go alone,” I replied and glanced at Kreed with a silent question in my eyes.Will you come with me? Just you?
“There are a few things I need to discuss with Carson anyway,” Kreed said slowly.
My gaze narrowed. “I don’t like where this is going. Whatthingsdo you need to discuss with him? What do you know?” The question tumbled out before I could stop it, and I immediately recognized my mistake. My poor choice of phrasing might have been completely wrong, but I wasn’t thinking clearly. How could I when I had four Corvos in my personal space, all of them now staring at me with varying expressions of curiosity and suspicion? I’d jumped straight to the conclusion that Kreed might have discovered what Carson had done, and in doing so, I’d essentially confirmed there was something to discover.
Kreed’s head angled to the side. “What aren’t you telling us, little raven?”
“Nothing,” I said too quickly. “Absolutely nothing. Can we just go? Please?”
I needed to speak to Carson before Kreed found out the full truth. As much as I wanted Carson’s involvement to be a horrible misunderstanding, he’d made his reasons for betraying me painfully clear before I stepped out of his car. He was one of my oldest friends, someone Ihadtrusted implicitly. That trust had been broken, and despite being extremely pissed, I didn’t want to lose him from my life, but I also didn’t know if I could forgive what he’d done.
I wouldn’t know which way I would lean until we talked face-to-face.
15
KAYLOR
Kreed pulled his SUV up to Kenny’s house. I had no idea if she was home, and since I didn’t have my phone, I hadn’t called or texted. This was a reunion best done in person. I needed to see her with my own eyes, needed to know she was okay.
Coming back to this block always did strange things to the rhythm of my heart. The house next door, my old house, used to smell like fresh-baked cookies and lemon furniture oil. I could still conjure each room with perfect detail. I could hear my mom laughing at something my dad had said while she kneaded dough on the counter in front of the kitchen window. We’d painted the fence together that summer I turned thirteen.
I’d grown up here in all phases of my life, and by my side had been Kenny and Carson.
Kenny and I had shared dog-eared fashion books on my porch swing, the chains squeaking with each lazy push of our feet. Carson and I argued over who deserved the bigger slice of cake at barbecues where the adults got too drunk and the kids ran wild until the fireflies came out. The three of us had hidden from summer thunderstormsunder the same patchwork quilt her grandmother had made, telling ghost stories while rain drummed the roof and lightning split the sky.
Those memories felt like another life entirely, stitched into the peeling paint and the worn porch steps of the house that wasn’t mine anymore and never would be again.
“You sure you’re ready for this?” Kreed asked, breaking my trance. The engine idled while cold air pressed against the glass.
I blinked, pulling myself out of the reverie. “You don’t have to worry about me,” I assured, doing my best to convince us both it was true.
He turned in his seat, the corners of his mouth gone completely serious. The afternoon light caught the stud in the side of his nose. “I think we both know that’s not true. I’ve done nothing but stress since you walked into my life. But I’m not blaming you. None of this is on you. It’s not your fault.”
