I scratch my jaw, turning to my youngest brother. “Ford?”
“Dad’s name is Reeves. Virgil Reeves.” He collapses onto the edge of Hawke’s bed. “Lost a bet last week, then doubled down for tonight’s event when he showed me he had the cash on him. Lost it all. Five grand.”
My nod is slow.
“Didn’t think she’d come up here and search our stuff,” he adds. “She’s a bold little thing, isn’t she?”
“Bold. Pain in the ass,” Hawke chimes in. “Semantics.”
A grin splits Ford’s face as hears his own words repeated back to him. “Exactly. At least your room’s clean.” He looks around the tidied space. “Doris get to you, too?”
Doris is our cleaning lady. And childhood nanny. And cook when she feels like it.
Hawke nods. “She was on a rampage this weekend. Took half my closet to Goodwill.” Eyeing me warily, Hawke pushes, “You think she’ll be back?”
“Doris?” Ford questions.
“The girl,” Hawke clarifies.
Violet. Right.
I lift a shoulder but stay quiet, unsure what to say, let alone what I want the answer to be. I’ve never seen her before. Not in Harden Heights. Not in The Drift. Not that it’s too surprising. It’s a small town, but it isn’t that small. There are plenty of people. Plenty of buyers, gamblers, participants, students, druggies. Half the time, our parties are nothing but a sea of faceless people, willingly handing us their money in exchange for entertainment. Even so, I feel like I would’ve at least recognized her. Where the hell did she come from? Maybe Roman knows. Speaking of which.
“Where’s Roman?” I ask.
“Putting out another fire.” Hawke glances at my groin. “You good?”
“Not the ball fondling I would’ve chosen, but…”
Another grunt of amusement echoes from Ford before he sobers. “You know, I almost feel bad for her.”
“Almost?” Hawke challenges. Despite how well he hides it from everyone outside of this room, he’s always been the softest of the bunch. The one with Mom’s heart, unlike me and Ford. Yeah, we got our empathy from Titas Harden. Talk about getting the short end of the stick, but it has its perks.
Ford rolls his eyes. “You know what I mean. Unless…” His words hang in the air as both he and Hawke pin me with their stares.
I know what they’re wondering. What they’re asking even if they won’t voice it aloud. If I wasn’t a prick, I’d consider it, but here we are.
“No,” I announce, solidifying my callousness with a look of indifference.
Hawke pulls back. “No?”
“All it takes is one exception,” I explain. “People will think we’ve gone soft, and everything we’ve built crumbles.”
“We’ve turned away a lot worse,” Ford adds as if justifying our lack of humanity. “Pregnancy, dead grandpa, losing their car.” He lifts a shoulder. “So, her dad stole from her. Life’s a bitch, but she can always make more money. Use it as a life lesson and all that shit.”
Hawke scoffs.
“What?” Ford asks.
“Okay,Dad,” Hawke points out.
“You know what I mean?—”
“Life’s a bitch, but you can always make more money?” Hawke shakes his head, looking disgusted. “And people think you’re the nice one.”
Ford pushes himself to his feet. “I can be nice?—”
“Yeah, if they’re willing to put out,” Hawke argues. He stands his ground while Ford gets up in his face.
