Chapter 36

It’s Saturday,which means instead of hanging out here for an hour in the morning and a couple hours after school, we’ve been sitting here all day. Which wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t want to murder Wyatt every time he moves, speaks, or breathes.

I want Hailey to fire him and throw him out on his ass, but Damon says she can’t do that, so we’re fucking stuck with the guy. It’s making me twitchy.

When Hailey called me out for smothering her an hour ago, I was forced to swap places with Callie. Now I’m sitting on the couch with my brothers and Derek while she keeps Hailey company behind the counter, helping out and getting Hailey to teach her how to make different kinds of drinks when it’s not so busy.

“I could just?—”

“No,” Damon says.

“You don’t even know what I’m?—”

“No,” Levi says.

Huffing, I fall back in my seat and cross my arms over my chest. “I’d make it look like an accident.”

“All right,” Wren says. “Let’s hear it.”

Grinning, I point at the lights above us. “I’ll unscrew one of the light bulbs and get him to change it. And then I’ll kick the ladder out from under him and he’ll break his neck. Problem solved.”

Wren laughs. “That’s actually not a bad idea.”

“No,” Damon and Levi say together.

I sigh heavily. Keeping one eye on Wyatt’s every move, I watch Hailey do her thing, smiling to myself when she barks out a laugh at something Callie says. Callie grins, proud of herself for making her laugh like that despite the shitty situation she’s in.

“She likes her,” I say to Damon.

“Yeah,” Damon agrees. “She does.”

Wyatt looks at the girls as he carries a couple cups back to the kitchen. When he squeezes past them, he touches Hailey’s back for half a second, and when Hailey’s shoulders go rigid, I’m on my fucking feet and rounding the counter, ready to draw some blood.

“Jesus Christ,” Derek says, grabbing me by the scruff of my neck and dragging me away.

Hailey’s eyes widen as she watches him pull me out of the shop, the door swinging shut behind us. When I can no longer see her, I shove Derek’s ass, my nostrils flaring when he blocks the entrance with his body.

“What do you think you’re?—”

“We need to get her out of here, Kai.”

“What?”

“You could come with us. If it’s your idea…” He pauses, lowering his voice as if she might hear. “If you’re the one to force her, she might go for it.”

“What are you talking about? Kidnapping her?”

“It’s not safe for her here. I can’t just sit around and wait for my dad to hurt her anymore. I need to get her as far away from this city as possible.”

“She’s not leaving this city,” I say clearly. “She’s not leaving this shop. And she’s not leaving me.”

“She could have you. Somewhere else.”

I shake my head. “We’re not taking her anywhere, Derek. Get that out of your head right fucking now. She’s not running. She doesn’t want to run.”

“What are we supposed to do then?!”

“We protect her.”

“Forever? Do you really wanna live like this? Constantly looking over your shoulder, waiting for him to snatch her away from you?”

“If you run with her, your life looks pretty much the same way, man. You’ll never be free of him.”

Swallowing, he swipes a hand over his mouth, his eyes on the street behind me. “He killed Valerie right there. In broad daylight. If he—” He chokes on the words. “I can’t lose her too.”

“You won’t,” I promise him, dipping my head and squeezing his shoulders without thinking about what I’m doing. As soon as I make contact, I realize how long it’s been since I’ve done this, how long it’s been since we’ve talked without me wanting to throw my fist into his face.

“I’m taller than you now,” I blurt out.

“You’ve been taller than me since you were sixteen, you idiot.”

I fight a smile. “You think I’m still growing?”

“I fucking hope not,” he grumbles.

My smile slips free as I drop my hands from his shoulders. Just as I’m about to go back inside to my girl, Derek’s phone goes off in his pocket, and I pause to watch him check it.

Freya

30 minutes. Come alone.

Myeyes fly to his. “Where?”

“We have a spot.”

I take my hand off the door and turn to face him fully again. “I’m going with you.”

He hesitates, then nods, grabbing my sleeve when I turn to walk into the shop.

“What are you doing?” he asks.

“Getting Levi.”

“Why Levi?”

“He’s the only one of us besides Callie who carries a gun,” I say, widening my eyes because it should be obvious. “Damon won’t let Callie get in a car with you. She needs to stay with Hailey.”

His nose flares. “We don’t need three guys and a gun to control one little high school girl.”

“Do you even know Freya?” I frown at him. “She can’t be trusted. What if she’s not alone?”

“She will be.”

Narrowing my eyes, I bounce them between his. The others are watching us through the window with confused looks on their faces. When Damon stands from his seat and walks toward us, I know I only have about three seconds to make my choice.

“Damn it, Derek. I’m trusting you.”

The door swings open, but we’re already running toward Derek’s car, ignoring Damon’s furious shout before my phone begins to ring. I don’t answer it.

I jump into the passenger seat of the Aston Martin and turn to look out the back window, seeing Hailey standing beside Damon, him holding her back with his phone pressed to his ear as they watch us drive away from them.

Fuck.

“You know Damon never would have gone for it,” Derek mutters as he speeds up and weaves around the other cars on the road. “You wanna go back or do you wanna get Freya?”

“Shut up and concentrate on not crashing this car. You need to lose the guard on your ass.”

“What do you think I’m doing?”

Trusting him not to kill us both, I look down at the text on my phone.

Hailey

You promised.

It feels like someone kicks me in the stomach.

Kai

I’m coming right back, baby. And I’m bringing you a present.

Derek and Freya’sspot just so happens to be the small pier on the beach not far from Kingston Palace. The pier we can see from the penthouse. The pier where Damon and Callie got married. The pier where my mom would sit for hours, drink beers, read her books, and watch the sunset.

“This is your spot?” I ask, sneering at it from the passenger seat of Derek’s car.

He nods.

Fucking unbelievable.

“How long were you meeting up with her here, right under Wren’s nose?”

“I don’t know, Kai,” he mutters. “A while.”

“You’re an asshole.” I shake my head at him. “This is our spot. It’s our mom’s spot, Derek. Not yours.”

His jaw ticks before he swallows, and I don’t miss the look of raw misery in his eyes. “I spent time with her here too, you know? I lost her, too?—”

“I will break your fucking arm.”

His mouth snaps shut, and he wisely keeps it that way, his fingers tapping his thigh—something I know he does when he’s on edge.

“You know what the worst part is?” I ask after a few moments of heavy silence. “She’d still love you, even after everything you’ve done.”

He looks at me then, his dark brows dipped over eyes.

“She’s here,” I say, nodding my head at the little blonde bitch walking along the beach.

Derek gets out of the car and walks across the parking lot, then down to the sand to meet her. I stay in the car and watch them talk for a minute, squinting at the fresh looking bruise on the side of Freya’s face. She looks like she’s been crying, her shoulders tucked up to her ears with her hands tucked into the pocket of her pink hoodie.

When she takes Derek’s hand as if she’s planning on taking him somewhere, I open the car door and climb out. As I walk down to the beach, Freya looks around at me and jumps, her eyes widening as her face drains of all color. I try not to laugh when she inches closer to Derek. She’s out of her mind if she thinks he can protect her from me.

“Freya.”

With her face frozen in shock and fear, her eyes scan my face. “Wren?” she asks hopefully.

Smirking, I slowly shake my head, enjoying the way she looks as if she’s about to piss herself.

“What are you playing at this time, little girl?”

She says nothing, her nails digging into Derek’s forearm as her entire body trembles.

“Did Maverick do that to you?” I ask, studying the mark on her face. “Is that why you’re here? You think he can save you from him?” I tilt my head at Derek.

Again, she gives me nothing.

“Or maybe,” I say, snatching her by the scruff of her neck and spinning her around, her back to my chest as I lock my arms over hers. “Maverick wants his son back, and you came here to fetch him.”

When she opens her mouth to scream, I slam my palm down over it and drag her back toward the parking lot, her heels digging into the sand as she twists her body around in my arms.

“What the hell are you doing?” Derek hisses, scanning the beach to ensure no one’s around to witness me kidnap her. “We were supposed to lure her to the car, remember?”

“I broke a promise to my girl today,” I tell him. “I don’t have time for this shit.”

“Freya, are you alone?” Derek asks, his eyes shifting left and right as we walk back to the car.

She nods frantically.

“Promise me.”

She mumbles something behind my hand, and I pull it away to let her speak.

“Derek, please?—”

“Promise me.”

“I promise!” She cries, frantically shaking her head as he opens the trunk. “Oh, God. Derek?—”

I toss her inside on her back, grabbing her ankle with a warning look when she tries to kick me.

“Tell me something I don’t already know, and I’ll consider letting you ride in the back seat.”

“He…he watches her,” she breathes out. “Your coffee girl. There’s a hidden camera set up in the shop, somewhere across from the counter. He watches her on it. He’s watching her right now.”

Furious, my nostrils flare as I shove her legs down and slam the trunk closed.

“You said you’d let me sit in the back!”

“I said I’d consider it,” I pull my phone from my pocket to bring up Callie’s number.

“Derek!” Freya wails.

He frowns at the trunk. “She’s afraid of the dark.”

“I know.” I smirk, and he smirks back.

“Hang in there, sweetheart.” He taps the trunk before we round the car and climb in.

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