Bane Cash owned it, but several of us lived there.Although not as many as it had been when I moved in.
They were all getting fucking matched up with pussy and getting their own places.I hated it.I wanted things to go back to the way they had been.Although I did like Bane’s kid, and his wife, Halo, had made him tolerable.Oz was better with Winslet too.So, maybe those two should keep their women, but the others had fucked shit up.Than and Ransom had been just fine before their females.I liked them better single.
Gathe had said I could move in with him and his brother, Locke, seeing as they were still single and the good parties now took place at their house.Before we’d found out Mom was sick, I’d been planning on making the move.But now I was staying over at my parents’ house more often, and moving seemed unimportant.It had fallen on my scale of priorities.
Kash picked up the bottle of water he’d brought with him and handed it to me.“Drink.”
I took it and laughed again.“I’m not scared of Oz,” I said before taking a long pull from the bottle.
“I know.But the less pissed he is, the less annoying it will be.”
Good point.
“Bane’s okay with this then?This chick staying at the house?”I’d have thought Bane wouldn’t want her there because of Halo and Hawkins.
“It’s the safest place other than Linc and Luther’s.There is plenty of room, and with him, Ransom, me, and—most of the time—you there, no one is getting in the gates.Oz is on the property too.None of Telos Kris’s men are that fucking stupid.”
I knew this.I just didn’t get why we were doing it.Mom wouldn’t care about some girl her nephew was attached to.I doubted Oz had even talked to her about it.But Dad would know.He had agreed with Oz if we were going through with it.
“Mom doesn’t need this.Her sister’s shit isn’t hers to worry about.”I was sobering up from anger alone.
“Mom isn’t going to be told about it,” Kash said.“You’re right.She doesn’t need to worry about anyone but herself.We are taking care of it for her.She’d want us to, and you know it.”
Maybe.Probably.Okay, yeah, she fucking would.She loved her sorry-ass sister even though the woman didn’t deserve Mom’s love.
“I’m moving to the Bowens’,” I said, deciding now was the time.
“No, you’re not.It’s part of Linc’s requirements.All three of us stay in the house.The family will protect her, but she’s our responsibility.Not theirs.”
Fuck.I should have moved out months ago.
Kash pulled up to the security gate and tapped in the code.I straightened in my seat as we continued the drive up to the house.
“I’m scared too.I’m angry.I want to be furious with the world.But that isn’t going to help Mom get better.She wants us happy,” Kash told me.
“And we are all doing our damnedest to act like it for her sake.When she’s not around, I can’t keep it up.”
Kash pulled into the parking spot that had become his in the garage.“Don’t take your rage out on Calvin’s friend.She lost both her parents suddenly and violently.”
I reached for the door handle and shoved it open.I was aware of her situation.I just didn’t care.She wasn’t mine to worry about.She was a stranger whose father hadn’t done his job and protected his family.Slamming the door behind me, I stalked toward the house, wanting to get away from my little brother’s lecture.
While I wanted to just go to my room, I knew Oz would be expecting me in the great room.His truck was parked out front, along with one of the family’s black Escalades.Which meant that the girl and Calvin had been picked up from the airport and were already here.Might as well get this shit over with.
I stopped in the game room and went over to the liquor cabinet to grab a bottle of whiskey.
“Don’t,” Kash said behind me.
“Didn’t ask permission,” I replied, snatching one of the better bottles from Carver’s distillery.
“Are you trying to cause shit with Bane and Oz?”He sounded annoyed.
Shrugging, I opened the bottle and took a swig before responding.“You numb the pain with Cressida.I numb mine with this,” I replied, holding it up, then continued to the great room.
He muttered a curse behind me, but I kept going, staggering to the left a little, then smirking.Maybe I was still drunk.I could hear their voices before I entered the room.Oz’s gaze swung to me the moment I walked in and then to the bottle in my hand.Although my eyesight wasn’t completely steady, it was clear that he was annoyed.
I chuckled under my breath and made my way toward an open spot on the sofa.
“Forge,” Oz said, and I plopped down, then glanced up at him.
