“You’re the one who said I could have the morning off since we had to get supplies today.Which, by the way, is bullshit.Halloween isn’t for another two months.And you could have warned me.Although I do appreciate you bringing us to a shop that had barely any people inside.”
“You do realise Freya warned you about drinking?She even showed video evidence of what happens when you drink with the Carters.”
I roll my eyes as I lean against the car next to her.“That was holiday Freya.Holiday Freya always gets messy drunk.”
It isn’t even the first time I’ve drank with them.I just didn’t realise that they do different stages.The night we drank after the explosion, where I got slightly drunk, was their casual drinking.They have fun drunk, which Freya explained is when the karaoke is brought out or they end up turning a car park into a dance floor at two in the morning.Last night had been, let’s get messy and drink so we forget about it tomorrow.I’ve never drunk that much in my entire life, and there was a time I woke up asleep on the roof of our school gym.
“Really?Because I’m sure she reminded you about someone’s prom and stealing a limo.”
“Paisley, don’t make me hate you,” I grumble.She makes too much sense.Freya did try to warn me, but it’s Freya.She once told me a brownie had peanuts in knowing I didn’t like them, just so she could eat the batch to herself.
“I’ll stop,” she promises, and hands me two paracetamol.“Take these.I don’t want my future sister-in-law to hate me.”
“Not married,” I tell her, then swallow the tablets dry before taking a swig of water from the bottle I just bought.Hearing her call me her future sister-in-law has butterflies fluttering in my stomach.I love Reid and his family.I don’t think I’ve ever been in a relationship where I’ve connected with his family to the point I feel like they are an extension of my own.In fact, I don’t believe I’ve been in one where I’ve said more than a greeting or a farewell.“And I’m lying.I don’t hate you.”
She chuckles.“I know you don’t,” she replies so surely.“As for the Halloween treats, you have no idea how fast the bulk buy treats go.Or the decorations.If I had waited until tomorrow to get them, they would have been gone.”
“I’m surprised Landon and that let us leave,” I mention.“They told us not to go anywhere alone.”
“It’s not like we’re alone, alone.We have each other, we’re in a busy part of town, and we took your car, not mine.I think that’s the only reason they let us go without them.”
“We should head back before it gets dark and places start to close,” I worry.I don’t want to give Reid another thing to be concerned about.I see it every time I leave for work.Each time I go to sleep at home.He doesn’t want to leave me.He’s scared I’ll be next.He’s scared another family member will be hurt.
“Yeah, we should go,” Paisley breathes out.
I pause with my hand on the door handle, my gaze moving across the street when I see two out of place men.Paisley glances at me over the roof of the car, arching her eyebrow.“Everything okay?”
I swallow the nerves stuck in my throat.It has to be a coincidence that he is here.That he isn’t alone.This village is small, and is mostly filled with shops.The few houses that still remain aren’t too far away from the end of Market Street.The rest are farms or back roads.It’s a secluded place, yet businesses bloom here, and so does the pub.Which is why seeing the man across the street is such a surprise.This is the last place I’d expect to run into him.
“Isn’t that Sebastian Black?”I question, nodding to where he is across the road.
Her head jerks to the side.“Yes,” she whispers, like he’s going to hear us over the noise and traffic.
“Where is he going?”I question when I see him scanning his surroundings before entering a building.“What even is that place?”
“It looks closed down,” Paisley murmurs, walking around the car to drop her ice cream cone into the bin.“We should follow.”
My eyes widen as I glance at her.“Are you serious?No!Their family is dangerous.Following them is the last thing we should be doing.”
“They’re clearly hiding something in there.Why else would Sebastian Black be walking into a closed down building?”
“He could be buying it,” I guess, but even as the words leave my mouth, I know it’s not true.He’s not with an estate agent.I know because I’m pretty sure that the man walking behind him is the same security guard that was with him when he did his press conference.Unless he likes to take his estate agents everywhere with him.
“Yeah, I think we should go take a look,” she states, but I think it’s more to herself as she then begins to cross the busy street.
“Paisley,” I call out, looking left and then right before chasing after her.“Maybe we should call one of your brothers.Or maybe a Carter?”
She stops on the pavement for a second.“I’m not going to confront him.I’m just going to take a look,” she assures me before continuing along the path.
My fear as we reach the shop is that she will just walk through the front door.The windows have been whitewashed, hiding what is behind the frosted glass.The door is mostly glass, but is also whitewashed.If they’re on the other side, they have more chance of seeing us than we do of them.I go to warn Paisley of that, but she surprises me when she ducks to the side, squeezing through the gap someone has made in the metal mesh gate.
I follow, my bag catching slightly on metal mesh.I freeze and quickly unhook it before I slowly creep along the alleyway, my fingertips brushing along the brick wall.
This is a bad idea.A real bad idea.
We come to the end of the alleyway, which is where the buildings on either side of us cut off.We turn right, stepping through a broken gate that hangs by its hinge.The overgrown garden is covered in dismantled furniture and broken cupboards.Litter and other items are also stuck in the grass, like it has frozen there.
Paisley’s eyes widen when she hears the booming voice from upstairs, one I recognise.We both look up to the second-story window, but like the front of the shop, the windows have been whitewashed.
