This is exactly what I hoped to hear today. I bob my head, not giving too much away even though I’m excited. “I want Rocky and Shoulders with me. I need guys I can trust to have my back if I’m to do this.”
He trades a look with his number two before refocusing on me. “I’ll assign them full-time plus two of the rookies.”
Perfect. They can work surveillance for me easily while around campus all the time. “I need time too. Security is tight on campus. I’ll need to forge some connections and grease a few palms to ensure the transition goes smoothly.”
Tipping his bottle into his mouth, Marwan knocks back his beer as he eyeballs me. “Do what you need to do, but don’t take too long. I’m a patient man, but even I have my limits.”
“I will update you weekly and work to deliver the campus in the quickest possible timeframe.”
“I have no doubt you’ll deliver, Psycho.” He drills me with a look, leaving the “or else” part out of his sentence. “Stop by the supply storehouse next week and load up on weapons and artillery.”
“Will do.” I intend to get rid of the competition without resorting to murder because the last thing I need is to draw attention to myself as I’m getting closer to finding out what happened. But Marwan doesn’t need to know that. He won’t care as long as I claim the turf for them.
“I’ll line up the meet with Ruben, and someone will call you with the details.”
“I appreciate it.” I drain the rest of my beer in one go before rising.
“See you next week,” Marwan says, snapping his fingers at the girl behind the bar.
I tilt my head in respect to the three thugs before making a swift exit.
My guys are downstairs at the bar when I arrive. They quickly finish their beers and hurry out after me.
As soon as I’m outside, I let a huge grin loose on my face.
It finally feels like my goals are aligning. With this deal, Rocky and Shoulders can keep an even closer eye on Jase and Ash, I will get a face-to-face with the man who holds some of the answers I need, and I can implement the next phase of my plan to annihilate Chad Baldwin.
All in all, it’s been a good day’s work.
And now it’s time to celebrate while driving the knife in deeper. I slap my two friends on the back. “It’s time to party.”
ChapterTwenty-Three
Ashley
“Looking hot as fuck, princess,” Ares’s asshole friend says while leering at me. Somehow, my stepbrother found out about the party and showed up with a bunch of friends. Three of the guys are older, and I hadn’t met them before. They are some of his new work colleagues, and they seem like okay guys. Why the fuck they’re hanging around with Ares is beyond me.
The other two dickheads I unfortunately know. I swear they only wore their club patches to piss Chad off. Unless they actually think wearing gang cuts to a college party will score them pussy. I wouldn’t put it past the idiots to believe that. They went to Fenton High with Ares when Ares was pretending to be eighteen and a senior. I wonder if Bree’s contact can get to the bottom of that riddle? I add it to my mental checklist to ask my friend later. She’s currently in the living room fending off the advances of some prick wearing slacks and a dress shirt to a college party. Obnoxious jerk.
“Whenever you’re ready to ditch the jock, give me a call. I’d happily let you bounce all over my dick,” Rocky replies, reaching into the refrigerator to grab some beers.
A few people are congregated in the kitchen, talking where it’s a little less loud. Most everyone else is in the living room where one of the guys from the football team is playing DJ with our state-of-the-art sound system.
Chad, Creed, Nix, and a few others went downstairs a few minutes ago to play video games.
Some things never change.
The rest of the team is regaling the crowd with tales of their massive win against one of their rivals today. Chad got to play for a while, and my man did good. Jase was sidelined, but he doesn’t seem upset about it.
I flip Ares’s annoying friend the bird. “Dream on, Rocky Road.” His brows scrunch up at my familiar insult. That dude is too easy to wind up. His full name is Rocky Rose, but I have called him Rocky Road for months, and he’s not amused. “I don’t fuck meathead gangsters with small dicks and even smaller brains. You couldn’t pay me to bounce on that thing.” Narrowing my eyes, I pretend to squint as I stare at his crotch.
Predictably, he storms off, and I bark out a laugh. But my good humor doesn’t last long. I thought the party would be the best distraction, but I’m struggling to get out of my head. All night, any time I glance in Chad’s direction, I’m besieged with guilt. It doesn’t help that Ares keeps eye fucking me and making rude gestures with his fingers and his tongue. So, yeah, I’m kinda hiding out in the kitchen right now.
Grabbing a fresh beer from the fridge, I lean back against it as I slowly swallow the cold liquid.
“Temptress.”
I close my eyes and silently curse as Jase enters the kitchen. He’s here with Julia. She must have forgiven him for tying her to his bed and pissing all over her.
