Chapter 65
CHAPTER 65
Silas
“Wow, you fixed up this place real quick,” Ivy says, looking around the Skull and Serpent Society house, which is looking brand new after a quick fixer-upper and a lick of paint.
I casually saunter up the stairs. “You think no one will notice a bomb went off?”
She snorts while walking beside me. “The new wood on the walls makes it pretty obvious.”
“Well, shit,” Heath mutters as he follows us. “Guess Dean Rivera will be pissed.”
“He’ll be fine. He’s trashed this house on multiple occasions himself,” I reply.
“How do you know?” Heath asks.
I frown. “Because he told me. Duh.”
“So why did you want me to come?” Ivy asks.
Max waits for us at the top of the stairs. “You ready?”
She looks awfully confused. “For what?”
“It’ll all be clear the moment you see,” Max says, and he hooks his arm around hers. “C’mon.” He impatiently drags her to the guest room.
“You sure this was a good idea? What if she doesn’t like it?” Heath grumbles.
“She will,” I say, following them through the hallway.
Max puts his hands in front of her eyes. “Wait until I say you can look.”
“Okay … This is awkward,” Ivy says. “What kind of secret is this?”
He opens the door and the curtains and turns on the lights. “Open your eyes.”
She looks around and marvels at the newly painted walls, the decor, and all the new furniture inside the guest room.
“What … what is this?”
“Your new room. On the weekends anyway,” I say, smirking.
“You redid it all for me?” she says, tears in her eyes.
Heath opens the closet door and shows her the rows and rows of new clothes and shoes, and he holds up one of the size cards. “That’s you, right?”
She touches the fabrics and nods like she’s dreaming.
“And that’s not all,” Max says, opening the next door. It leads into our second guest room, which has been filled with all the toys a small girl like Cora could ever wish for. “She’ll never be bored.”
“I … I don’t know what to say,” she says.
“You don’t have to say anything,” Heath states.
“We just want you two to be happy,” Max declares.
“While you’re our guest,” I add, raising a brow. “Which will happen every weekend.”
“Oh?” She grins. “You’ve made plans?”
“You made the deal, not me,” I say, folding my arms. “And I thought I was being more than generous by allowing you the week off to catch your breath after we fuck you senseless.”
“Though, I can’t promise I won’t visit your home every weekday too,” Heath says, clearing his throat.
“Same,” Max says, giggling as he comes to stand beside us. “I can’t wait for her to see it.”
She frowns. “See what?”
I throw her a key, and she catches it just before it hits her in the chest.
“Rosewood Street, 320. Downtown Crescent Vale City. A three-bedroom, two-story house with two bathrooms, a garage, and your own fenced yard. It’s yours.”
For a moment, she merely stares at me in disbelief.
“You didn’t have a house anymore, right?” Heath says. “Now you do.”
Suddenly, she runs up to us and wraps her arms around all three of us, squishing us together so tightly I can’t even breathe.
“Thank you,” she murmurs, and for the first time since I heard those words, I actually feel my heart squeeze like it’s grateful or something. Weird fucking feeling I’m not used to yet.
“Anything for you,” Max says.
“Don’t be such a fucking simp. I’m doing this for me,” I retort, pulling away.
She snorts. “Of course, you are.”
I grab her throat and pull her close. “You need to be available to me, so I made it happen.”
The excitement in her eyes tells me enough.
“Whew, it’s getting hot in here already,” Max says.
Suddenly, a loud bang downstairs makes us all look up.
“What was that?” Max mutters.
Heath pushes past us and barges out the door to check, so we follow him out.
“SILAS!”
“Oh God, run,” Max mutters as we approach the stairs while Heath starts to bite his nails.
“Who is that?” Ivy asks as we look at the woman with the long black hair barging into the house. Lana Rivera.
Max squeaks. “Oh God, my mother.”
“Silas, what the fuck did you do to my son now?” She steps closer until she’s right in my fucking face. “You’ve been dragging him into your murder sprees?”
“That’s my fault,” Ivy says.
When Max’s mom fixates on Ivy, I block her with my body. “It was my idea to go there in the first place. I take full responsibility.”
“I went along with it on my own accord,” Max says, quaking in his shoes. “I couldn’t let her die.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to involve any of them in my mess,” Ivy says.
“But we just wouldn’t leave her alone,” I say, smirking.
The door cracks open again, and now my mom and dad also barge in, breathing wildly.
“I tried to stop her,” my mom says between breaths.
“She wouldn’t fucking listen to me,” my dad grits. “As usual.”
“I needed to hear this with my own ears,” Max’s mom says.
She glares at Ivy, looking her up and down like she’s inspecting her worth and the weight she carries in the world.
“She’s the girl I told you about,” my dad says. “The one they rescued.”
Lana’s eyes widen and narrow within a fraction of a second. “So … this is her? This is the girl you three killed for?”
“Her name is Ivy,” Max says.
“She needed our help, so we gave it to her,” I say.
“It’s not what you think,” Max mutters.
“It is, and I’m not fucking hiding it anymore,” I say. “We’re in love with her.”
Lana’s jaw slowly drops. “ We ?”
“Oh God …” Max hides his face in his hands.
“Don’t be a pussy, Max,” Heath says, slapping him on the shoulder.
“Shut up,” Max’s mom says, her black hair swaying over her shoulder.
“Wait … You actually fell in love?” my mom asks like she’s in shock.
I grind my teeth. “Is that so hard to believe?”
Lana tilts her head at Ivy. “Let me see you.”
Ivy steps out from behind me despite me trying to hold her back from both moms’ wrath.
“I apologize for all the damage he’s done on my behalf,” she says. “But I owe him my life.”
“Really?” Mom throws her purple hair back, a smirk slowly appearing on her face. “I never imagined my son would actually kill for a reason other than self-gratification.”
“Wait, what?” My dad’s brows furrow. “You’re actually okay with this?”
“If it’s for the right reasons …” Mom says.
“She had a child. Well, not hers, technically, but she was taking care of her. Her name’s Cora, by the way. Her half sister. She’s really sweet. Poor girl was thrown between father and her mother, who died because of him, by the way.” Max just keeps going until Heath finally steps on his foot, and he whimpers in pain.
“Max, that’s enough, thank you.” Lana sighs.
“Wow. I’m so sorry, Ivy. That sounds horrible,” Mom says.
“It was,” Heath says. “Silas had good reason to go on a murder spree. You’ll just have to forgive him.”
“Do I now?” Mom raises a brow. “But all those murders still don’t account for the missing money in Silas’s bank account…”
She homes in on me, and I feel like I just got caught red-handed.
Fuck.
I didn’t know Mom and Dad actually kept an eye on it.
Ivy rummages in her pocket. “Actually, I’ve been meaning to give this back.”
“What?!” I grit, but she still hands it over to me.
“I don’t want this. I have enough,” she says, smiling. “I have enough when I have you guys.”
I was almost ready to throw her over the railing and spank her ass right in front of everyone, but that smile … God, that fucking smile makes my heart throb so goddamn hard I can’t say no.
Still, I push her hand back. “I want you to buy every goddamn food you could ever dream of, every damn day, for the rest of your life with this money. So keep it.”
She smiles. “I don’t need all that. Please, take it back. I don’t want to be the reason y’all start a family feud,” she says, pressing the transfer paper into my chest. “You’ve given me everything I’ll ever need.”
“Aw …” Max’s eyes tear up.
But it’s the way she said “please” that makes me yield.
I grunt and snatch the paper, tucking it into my pocket. “Fine. But I will be buying you and Cora breakfast, lunch, and dinner every day of the fucking week.”
“I’ll hold you to that.” She winks.
She thinks this is funny, but I’ll punish her for this later.
“I’m impressed.” Mom snorts. “It’s not every day someone actually manages to bring Silas to his knees.”
My eyes begin to twitch, and my mom just laughs, patting me on the shoulder. “You’ll be fine. Your father got used to it too.”
“Used to what? Having feelings?” Heath snorts.
“Wait, so you’re just gonna forgive him?” my dad growls at her. “He gave all his money away, they killed a dozen or more in the streets, destroyed a fucking mansion, murdered twenty more, and damaged the Skull and Serpent Society house, Pen.”
“And? My men took care of the bodies, erased their tracks, she just gave the money back, and the house has been fixed, hasn’t it?” Mom shrugs. “I’d say they did a well enough job, considering they had the best intentions.”
“ Best intentions ?!” my dad shouts.
Heath laughs, but quickly shuts his mouth when my dad throws him a look with those laser eyes of his.
Man, I understand now how people can instantly tell they’re my parents.
“C’mon, Felix … don’t pretend you don’t remember what it was like for us.” Mom winks. “You know damn well you were the same. Give these boys a break. They did well.”
Dad’s jaw tenses, and he rolls his eyes. “Women … Fine,” he grumbles, and he walks over to me to give me an awkward, over-the-top, manly hug. “I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks,” I say. “But please don’t ever hug me again. It’s fucking weird.”
Max laughs, and first, everyone looks at him like he’s lost his mind, but then Heath, his mom, and my mom all begin to laugh, along with myself. And finally Ivy does too.
“Oh, cheer up, grump,” Max’s mom says, punching my dad in the shoulder.
“Your mom’s not that bad, honestly,” Ivy whispers into my ear.
“You should see her wrangle my extra dads,” I reply.
“Wrangle who?” Uncle Dylan says as he walks in. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that, care to repeat before I light your room on fire?”
“Oh, fuck no,” Heath says, awkwardly turning away. “I’m going.”
“Stay,” I bark, dragging him back by his shirt.
“What? I just arrived. The party’s only getting started when I’m here,” Dylan says, flicking his lighter up and down. “What’d I miss? Who are we punishing? I’ll bring the heat.”
“Dylan…” my dad groans, rubbing his forehead. “This doesn’t involve your kids. Stay out of it.”
“It will involve them at some point. Guarantee it,” he says. “They have a knack for getting themselves in big trouble. Especially when it comes to their unhinged half brother.”
“Unhinged?” I parrot.
“Only mildly,” Max mutters under his breath, so I throw him daggers with my eyes.
“I’m sure you’ll be there to protect them all when the time comes,” Alistair says as he throws his arm around Dylan’s shoulder. “Right?”
“What are you guys even doing here?” I ask.
“Checking up on my nephew. Is that a crime?” Alistair asks. “Be glad we stayed outside until after Pen and Felix berated you all.” He winks.
“They insisted on coming too,” Mom explains.
“It was needed, after what I heard,” Dylan says.
“Don’t act like you didn’t break down the entire Skull and Serpent Society with your dad,” my mom tells him.
“Says the woman who lit Spine Ridge U on fire,” Dylan retorts.
Ivy’s eyes widen. “What? She set the building on fire for real?”
Now everyone begins to laugh, except Ivy, who doesn’t have a clue what kind of family she’s gotten herself into. But she’ll learn soon enough. I’ll make sure of that.
Alistair clears his throat. “So … now that we’re all together, who’s up for a family dinner next weekend? Of course, Heath, Max, Elliot, and all the other kids are also invited.”
“Wait a minute, you mean Kai, Nathan, Uncle Felix, and Dylan will be in the same room?” Max asks.
“You got a problem with that?” Lana asks him.
“No, no, not at all.” Max laughs and puts his hands up like he’s calling out a truce. “I just thought it was weird.”
“Why?” Ivy asks curiously.
“Oh, Dylan and Kai, as well as Felix and Nathan have a very violent history,” Max whispers into her ear.
“Nothing to concern yourself with,” I add.
“The past is the past,” Alistair says. “So are y’all coming or what? Atlas, Orion, and Apollo will also be there, Heath.”
“What about Ivy? Is she welcome too?” Max asks.
“Of course, the more the merrier,” Dylan says.
“You’re awfully casual about inviting someone you don’t know,” Alistair says.
“Pfft. Of course, it’s not my house.” Dylan shrugs.
“Where is it, then?” Max asks.
“Torres Casino restaurant. We’ve got the whole floor.”
“Holy shit, Kai and Ares’s casino?” Max mutters.
“I don’t know if I like this idea,” Heath says, folding his arms.
“You should come,” Ivy says, wrapping her arm around his. “I’d like to meet your families.”
“Aw … who can resist that cuteness?” Max rubs his lips together.
Heath rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine, we’ll go.”
Ivy smiles. “I’m glad you changed your mind.”
“You won’t say that after someone pulls out a knife just for being offended,” I say.
“No. No, no.” Alistair raises a finger. “No weapons. No knives, no guns, no machetes, and no baseball bats. Nothing. That’s the rule at the family dinner table.”
I grin. “Who said anything about needing a weapon to inflict pain?”
Mom makes a face. “Felix, remind me to make sure Kai and Ares bought those plastic forks.”
“Your families sure are a violent bunch,” Ivy whispers.
I whisper back, “You don’t even know the half of it.” I grin like the psycho I am. “Welcome to the asylum.”