Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
RAVEN
I slipped out of bed early to shower, padding into the kitchen once I was clean to make coffee, finding Ander rummaging in a drawer. He glanced over at my approach, sliding some ibuprofen across the counter to me.
“What’s this for?” I asked slowly, watching him fill a glass of water. He offered it to me, no teasing in his tone.
“In case you’re sore,” he said with a shrug, turning away to make coffee for us both.
I wanted to argue, but he wasn’t exactly wrong. My body ached a little from being with Zavier.
I hesitated before reaching out to open the pills, popping a couple out and downing them with the water.
“Sorry for being loud,” I blurted out, his eyebrow quirking as he looked back at me.
“Don’t be. Scream the house down for all I care. Don’t be mad if I jerk off to it though.”
“I was going to thank you for not making it weird, but you ruined it,” I said dryly, accepting the coffee he brought over.
“I’m a needy man, sue me.”
“I highly doubt you struggle to find willing bed partners,” I scoffed, his shoulders a little tense.
“I’m not exactly looking,” he said vaguely before sipping his coffee. “No one’s really interested me lately.”
My skin tingled as he seemed to study me, and he looked like he was about to say something when arms circled me and pulled me back against a warm chest, stopping him.
“This is nice. I was expecting one of you to be dead since it was so quiet out here,” Zavier chuckled, pressing a kiss to my neck.
“I was getting there,” I promised, a huff of laughter coming from Ander.
“Sure you were,” he said, grabbing a coffee and offering it to Zavier. “Make sure you wash the sheets, asshole.”
“Why bother? I’m only going to ruin them again later,” Zavier smirked, nuzzling into my neck. “Right, Rae?”
“Wrong. It’s weird doing things when Ander can hear us,” I stated as I stepped out of his hold.
“C’mon, Bluebird. I thought we were besties now?” Ander joked, earning a dirty look from me.
“What the fuck made you think that? When this all blows over, I hope you fuck off again.”
“Get used to it. I’m not going anywhere,” he said with a shrug, turning to Zavier. “What are your plans today?”
Zavier sipped his coffee, pondering on his thoughts for a moment before replying. “I think I need to talk to Logan. I might see if he wants to meet up.”
“What for?”
“I’m not hiding the fact you’re back, and I want him to know what’s happening,” he said, glancing at me. “Did you want to come?”
“I’d rather hang out with Ander than see Logan.” Bitterness coated my tone, and he gave me an understanding nod.
“Okay, just wanted to make sure.”
My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to find Diesel’s name flashing on the screen. I quickly answered, knowing he’d only call if he had work for me.
“Hey. You need me?”
He chuckled, kindness in his voice. “Only if you’re not busy. Jensen took the kids to school on his way to work, so it’s only a few of the little ones left. Lukas has meetings all morning before helping Harley and Alex at the bar this afternoon, so since Poppy couldn’t come in today, I thought you might like to.”
“I can do that. Do I have time to eat? How long do you need me for?”
“I don’t need to leave for my meeting for an hour, so take your time. I’ll probably need you until dinner.”
Doing the math in my head, that was a lot of money.
“Done. I’ll be there as soon as I can,” I answered before saying goodbye and hanging up, Zavier’s lips twitching with a smile.
“You’re working today now?”
“Yep. Long day too, so the money will be good,” I beamed, Ander frowning.
“You have a job? It’s not safe right now.”
“Diesel saw how good Rae was with the foster kids and offered her to babysit. They pay her double what most places would too,” Zavier answered for me proudly. “I don’t think she’s unsafe there.”
“Congratulations,” Ander said with genuine interest. “Only an idiot would try to go after you at Rory’s house. I can drop you off.”
“Oh, no, thank you. I’ll—” I didn’t get to finish my sentence.
“You can’t go alone. I’ll drop you off and make sure you’re safely inside,” he said firmly, making me scowl.
“I’ll go with Zavier.”
“I’m meeting Logan down the road and he’s picking me up,” he warned, ruining my plans. There was no way I was getting in Logan’s car.
I gave Ander an annoyed look, but he just grinned. “Go on. Get ready and I’ll take you.”
“What happens when everyone sees your car pull up out front? They don’t like you.”
“They love me.”
“Like a hole in the head. You’re fucking delusional. They blame you for Zavier and I getting attacked, and they think you’re a snake.”
“I guess I should go and defend my reputation then,” he said seriously, downing his own coffee and making me groan.
“You’ll make it worse!”
“Can’t get any worse, can it?”
He wasn’t exactly wrong.
Once Zavier showered, he left to meet up with Logan, leaving me with Ander. At least I wasn't going to be here for long, I’d be working all day and wouldn’t need to deal with him.
I followed him out to the car when we got ready to leave, rolling my eyes as he opened the passenger door for me, but I slid in and let him close it behind me without complaint.
Once he was behind the wheel, he drove towards Ashburn Valley, giving me a glance. “Do you need some money for lunch?”
“You’re not dropping me off at school. I’m a grown adult who can sort out her own lunch.”
“Trust me, I can see you’re all woman, Raven,” he said in a low voice, my eyes flicking to his. A tingle shot through me at what I saw in them, but he turned his attention back to the road, breaking whatever spell I’d been under.
How could such an asshole be so damn attractive?
His hair was as black as Zavier’s, but he kept both sides short while the rest was long enough to run your fingers through. Those steel-gray eyes could befriend the Devil but get into the gates of Heaven at the same time.
Kind of made me want to know what they’d look like peering up at me from between my thighs.
I mentally shook that thought from my mind and watched the scenery pass by, checking my phone to find a message from Reid.
Reid: Just wanted to say I miss you and I hope you’re okay.
My stupid heart squeezed painfully, and part of me wanted to reply. I didn’t though, putting it back in my pocket and leaving him on read.
“I thought I was going to die when Blake left me,” Ander suddenly said, not looking at me. “I’d planned our whole future. I wanted to make sure Kate got into a good high school, and find us a nice house where we could all be happy. Blake and I could’ve possibly found a new car club or something, and Kate could’ve made friends and not have to worry about getting kidnapped or shot at on her way to school.”
“If it was so picture perfect, why did she leave?” I was a little blunt, but he didn’t seem to notice.
“It took me a while to figure it out. Blake would get lonely and come back for some fun, but it was obvious after the fourth time that she couldn’t love me and keep Kate safe. She could be herself around me, I didn’t care that I was helping her with her sister, and I’d protect both of them with my life. The problem was, Blake likes adrenaline and danger, which was what put us together in the first place. I respected her choice to stop chasing that high and focus on settling down for her sister’s sake, but then that itch would start and she’d want the danger again.”
I frowned, turning in my seat to watch him. “It’s not your fault that she can’t make up her mind. She either wants you, or she doesn’t.”
“She does, and that’s why she left. I tempt her away from the life she’s trying so hard to fight for. She doesn’t want cop raids, gunfire, and a target on their heads.”
“She knew what she was in for with you from the start.”
“Yeah, and she loved it. Then, she became her sister’s guardian. She can’t put herself first anymore, which means the joy of an illegal adrenaline rush with possible death isn’t a thrill she can risk having now. Not when she has a kid relying on her.”
“What happens if she comes back?”
He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “I’d like to tell you I’d send her packing, I know she’ll only leave again, but I honestly don’t know if I can. Not a lot of people get me, but she did. It’s hard to let go of that sometimes, even when you know it’s the right thing to do.”
“You know, if you lost some of your arrogance and the whole mafia thing, I think maybe you could make someone very happy,” I offered, his mouth curving into a small smile.
“That means a lot coming from the queen of the Anti-Ander Club.”
“I only hate you because every time one of the people I love were hurt, it was tied to you. You were there when Reid died in that ambulance. You saw what your actions?—”
“I’m more than happy for you to put blame on me if it helps you, but I didn’t force Reid into that car. I never did. It’s my fault that I didn’t deal with problem drivers, sure, but Reid is an adult who chose to race,” he said sharply, his knuckles turning white on the steering wheel. “I was there when he died, yes. I blame myself regularly for that, so I understand your frustration. Hating me won’t change anything though, and Reid will always be a friend to me. So will Logan, as well as Zav.”
“If it wasn’t for you?—”
“Tell me I’m the reason he crashed,” he bit out, the seat belt biting into my shoulder as he pulled over and slammed on the brakes, turning his angry eyes on me. “Go on. Tell me.”
My mouth opened with the intention of telling him, but I closed it again. It wasn’t his fault that Reid chose to race, I just wanted it to be.
Ander raked a hand through his hair, blowing out a breath. “Almost losing Reid and Riley in those races were what made me shut them down. I’ve never really had friends I could trust, Raven. I found my family in a bunch of adrenaline junkies who wanted to race cars. If I could’ve switched with you that day when you got run down, I would have. You might hate me, but I don’t hate you. I’ll do anything to keep you safe, even if that means dying.”
I stared at him, not knowing what to say, and he made things easier by putting the car in gear and starting to drive, not speaking again.
Once we arrived, I climbed out and shut the door, not expecting him to follow.
“You know you’re not staying, right?” I said dryly, and he rolled his eyes.
“I know. Just walking you to the door.”
“What a gentleman.”
“Hardly.”
A car pulled in, and I cursed when I turned to see it was Beckett’s, her door swinging open and a gun already in her hand.
“Who the fuck do you think you are?” she demanded as she walked towards us, Ander instantly putting himself between us.
“Morning, Beckett,” he said cheerfully, his entire attitude changing when she aimed the gun at his forehead. “Get that out of my face.”
“You vanished without a trace just before the goddamn mafia strolled into town. You think we didn’t notice that?”
“I was always coming back.”
“Bullshit.”
I stepped around Ander, swatting his hand away when he tried to grab me and put me behind him again.
“Fuck off, Lavaro. Beckett’s not going to shoot me. You’re the one she’s mad at.”
“She’s acting crazy and waving a gun around.”
“Nothing new there,” I huffed, glancing at Beckett. “He was coming back. Did you know your sister was hiding his car?”
Her eyes narrowed as she lowered the gun, her attention on me. “Riley was involved?”
“She didn’t know anything, apparently, but she was holding it in some warehouse in Pine Valley until he came back for it. She knew when he left,” I shrugged, only making her angrier as she moved closer so she could put the gun right in Ander’s face again.
“You got my sister involved in your bullshit?”
I wasn’t too worried, figuring Beckett would just throw her weight around for dominance, but then Ander pulled a gun out of nowhere and aimed it at her, the standoff escalating.
“I said, get that out of my face,” he said coldly, making me wince.
“Uh, guys? Can you not shoot each other?” I asked slowly, but neither made a move to back down.
“What the fuck is going on out here?” Diesel barked as he started jogging down the front steps, his eyes sliding to me. “You okay, Raven?”
“I’m fine. Ander’s just dropping me off, he’s not staying,” I answered, hesitating before reaching out to carefully grab Ander’s arm. “Put it away.”
“If you think?—”
“Ander. Now,” I warned, a little surprised when he actually listened and lowered the gun, sliding it into the back of his pants and taking a step back. “Thank you.”
Beckett smirked, not lowering hers. “What a good boy.”
“Don’t antagonize him,” I sighed, tugging on Ander’s arm again. “Can you just go? I’m here to work, and I don’t need you fucking that up for me.”
“Let me know when you’re done. I’ll come back when you’re ready,” he said without taking his eyes off Beckett.
“You need to stay away from her. You’ve done enough,” Beckett spat, a chuckle leaving him.
“That’ll be a little hard. Raven moved in with me.”
“Temporarily,” I said quickly, needing him to leave.
“Hold up,” Diesel ordered, crossing his arms. “Raven’s staying with you?”
“Of course she is. I dropped her home, and one of her dad’s friends was trying to break into her bedroom to fucking assault her. She’s not staying there,” Ander said sharply. “I’ll make them disappear, and then she can have her house back.”
Diesel assessed me silently for a second before sighing. “Raven, you head inside with Beck. I’m going to talk to Lavaro.”
“He’ll tell you anything about the mafia stuff without you threatening him,” I answered, not sure why I gave a shit, but I didn’t want Ander getting riddled with bullets.
“I’ll question him about that later. Right now, I want to know what the fuck his intentions are with you. So yes, I do have to threaten him,” he grumbled, confusion washing over me.
I frowned, unsure what to say, but Ander gave me a wink. “Go on. I’ll be fine. Have a good day, Bluebird.”
Diesel gave me a nod of encouragement, and I headed towards the house with Beckett, glancing back to see Ander still watching me as Diesel talked to him.
“Stop thinking with your pussy. It’s going to get you killed,” Beckett grumbled as she opened the door and let me inside, closing it behind us.
“I’m not.”
“You are. It’s written all over your face,” she said dryly as Marco walked in.
“You’re late, Beck.”
“Sorry, I was trying to take the trash out, but D wouldn’t let me,” she said with a straight face.
“Late is still late,” he muttered, giving me a small smile. “Morning. Thanks for being able to help out today. Jensen was supposed to watch them, but he got called into a meeting.”
“Don’t you guys work for yourselves?” I asked slowly.
“Mostly. Jensen just got accepted for a new job that he’s been wanting though, and he has some things to do over the next few months before he can officially start.”
“Doing what?”
“Dad’s the new headmaster of Crestford Academy. He starts in the new school year,” Beckett said proudly, surprising me.
“They let someone from a criminal organization run an academy?”
“Jensen has a clean record and isn’t part of the crews,” Marco shrugged. “It probably helped their decision when we offered to donate a boatload of cash if he was accepted too. It’s not like his education is lacking. He had top grades in school, and his family name holds a lot of weight too. Crestford were more than happy to have him.”
“Is this some kind of power play? Are you guys taking over?” I joked, but Marco just chuckled.
“Something like that. We know for a fact that Crestford isn’t exactly run by the book, and we wanted to make it safer for the kids. Jensen has been wanting to do something other than work bars and stay at home with kids. He’s been doing it forever, so now it’s his turn to do something for himself. Lukas is intending on doing the same thing.”
“What about the kids you guys take in?”
“Right now, we have you and Poppy to help. If we need to hire other people, we can. We kind of owe it to them. They sacrificed a lot of their time to stay home and raise our kids so we could keep running the crews.”
I loved how accepting they all were of each other’s wants and needs.
“Well, I’m really happy for them. Tell Lukas the Heights needs decent role models. I never had a good teacher or principal when I was there. It’s not a fancy school with good pay, but it would make a difference,” I smiled. He nodded, a thoughtful look on his face.
“I’ll let him know. He’s not in it for the money, we don’t need that. The kids are in the living room. You’ve only got to juggle two of them today. The others are in after-school care until we can pick them up near dinner time.”
“Okay.”
“Don’t let fucking Lavaro in,” Beckett said bluntly before walking off, and Marco frowned.
“Ander’s back?”
I winced, nodding. “He’s outside talking to Diesel. He dropped me off.”
“Just what we needed,” he said under his breath as he walked off, speaking again over his shoulder. “There’s a list on the counter of anything you should need. Call if you need help.”
“I will,” I answered, turning to walk in the other direction of the living room.
I was pretty sure the two toddlers were new, and I had no idea where the baby was. Maybe they’d found her a permanent home?
I sat on the floor with them, forgetting about all my problems the second the little cuties started babbling away to me with big smiles on their faces.
Best job ever.
Logan
I wasn’t sure how it would go when Zavier asked me to pick him up so we could talk, but so far, we’d just hung out like nothing had changed. It was a relief since I’d been expecting a fight or something.
“She won’t reply to my messages,” I sighed, making Zavier wince from the passenger seat. We’d parked down at the docks in Ashburn Valley, hoping the chance of a mafia attack would be slim here. The Reapers practically owned the docks, and the Psychos and Devils ran the rest of Ashburn. Three crews in one town meant we’d be pretty safe from attackers, unless they were suicidal.
“She’s okay.”
“How do you know? Is she talking to you?” I asked, a little hurt when he nodded.
“Yeah. A lot’s happened,” he said vaguely, worry washing through me.
“Like what?”
“Don’t fucking hit me or go looking for her,” he warned, only making my worry worse.
“Spit it out then before I do punch you.”
“I just want to say she really is okay, so calm down. Raven went to a party with Cami on Saturday night. Michael played her and lured her into a bedroom so him and Devon could rape her.”
My blood ran cold, knowing he said she was okay, but it was a little hard to focus on that when he’d just dropped that bomb on me.
“Did they fucking touch her?”
“Raven went into that room wanting to hook up with Michael, so there was some touching, but it was consensual. Once Devon showed up, she obviously freaked. They stripped her naked and shredded her clothes.”
“You need to talk faster before I kill someone,” I snapped, reaching for the keys to start the engine, but he put a hand out to stop me.
“Lavaro showed up and killed them both. He got her out of there.”
“She was naked and vulnerable alone with Lavaro ?” I practically shouted, swatting his hand away. “Where the fuck is she, dude? We have to?—”
“Right now, she’s working at Rory’s house. Lavaro took her home after the party and saw what she was dealing with there, so he?—”
“What’s happening at the house?”
“Rae’s dad’s back.”
“She can’t stay there alone,” I said in a panic, snarling at him when he pulled the keys from the ignition to stop me from driving off.
“Would you let me talk before you run off?” he hissed. “She’s not staying at the house. Her dad’s got a bunch of buddies crashing there, and Ander wouldn’t let her stay. She’s living at Ander’s.”
“She’s no fucking safer with him!”
“Yes, she is. I’m staying there now too. Ander left to try and keep us safe, not realizing Stefano knew about us. Apparently, Stefano thinks I know things that I don’t.”
“He’s been back for how long? A day or two? He managed to brainwash you that fucking fast? Your bromance is based on bullshit, Lopez. He’s playing you, and he’s going to hurt Raven. Give me my fucking keys,” I ordered, but he didn’t move.
“He’s not going to hurt Raven. We had a long conversation about it last night. He’s trying to keep her safe. You don’t have to trust him, but trust me.”
I eyed him, trying to relax a little. “Promise me she’s okay.”
“She’s okay,” he repeated calmly. “I wouldn’t lie to you about that.”
“She’s talking to you then? Can you convince her to talk to me? I?—”
“I tried to get her to come today before she got called to help at Rory’s. She’s still too raw, Logan. She was mad at me because she was blaming me for being run down. It wasn’t my fault, and now she knows that. You, on the other hand, really hurt her. I’m trying to get her to talk to you, but I can’t push her too hard or she’ll push me away too. I can’t risk that right now.”
He flicked his gaze away from me, my eyes narrowing. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Nothing.”
“Lopez, I swear to God?—”
“I’m not trying to be a dick, but it’s none of your business,” he scowled, realization kicking in.
“You’re fucking her.”
“Don’t make it sound like a fucking fling with some skank,” he snapped, confirming my suspicions.
“You seriously?—”
“Yes. I fucking love her, Logan. You know that. I’m not going to discuss it with you.”
I wanted to ask him to give me a play-by-play so I knew he’d made it good for her, but I knew without a doubt that he did. Zavier had been head over heels in love with her since they met, and I knew he would’ve worshiped her.
“Was she healed enough after—” I couldn’t say it. It was like the more time that passed, the more devastated I became. Maybe the shock had been numbing my emotions until the last few days, but knowing I’d knocked her up and we’d lost it?
“Hey,” Zavier murmured, snapping me out of my thoughts as he leaned closer and grabbed the back of my head, forcing me to look at him. “I never would’ve touched her unless she was okay. I was careful.”
I nodded, trying to form words. “Part of me hoped that the hospital got it wrong.”
“I know.” He dropped his hand to mine and gave it a squeeze, not letting go. “You want to talk about it?”
“I don’t know, man.”
“Well, if you ever do, call me,” he said seriously, letting me go so he could check his phone.
I checked mine too, finding a message from Jett.
Jett: Yo, Beck just called. Lavaro’s back. Apparently, Riley was hiding his car or something. Beck’s losing her shit.
“Riley had Ander’s car?” I asked out loud, making Zavier glance up.
“Yeah. She had no idea about anything else though. Just that he’d be back for it.”
“Why would she do that?”
“Because he’s one of her best friends. That’s what friends do,” he shrugged.
“I thought he was your best friend, but you didn’t know shit.”
“Kick me while I’m down, why don’t you,” he muttered, guilt hitting me.
“Sorry, I’m an asshole.”
“You are. Look, I’ll work on getting Raven to at least text you back, okay? I love you, bro, but she’s my first priority.”
“Can you tell her I love her?”
“I can try, but she’s not likely to appreciate it.”
“Maybe that I miss her instead then?”
He smiled, nodding. “I will. You want to go and see if we can convince Harley to give us a free beer or two?”
“Thought you’d never ask.”