Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
Nolan
Iknew something was off the second I saw her. The way she strutted across the parking lot, the smirk on her lips like she’d won some twisted game. Marie wasn’t some random one-night mistake. She was calculated. Dangerous. And I was about to find out exactly why.
I keep my distance as she weaves through the back streets, my fists clenching at my sides.
Every instinct tells me this isn’t just about Xavier.
This is bigger. Marie doesn’t go home. She doesn’t go anywhere someone like her should after destroying Izzy.
Instead, she walks straight into a seedy bar on Main Street.
The kind of place where fights break out as often as drinks are poured.
Where the smell of sweat, whiskey, and bad decisions clings to the walls.
I pull my hoodie up and slip inside, staying in the shadows. Marie moves as if she belongs here, striding past the bar and vanishing into the back room. I follow.
The door creaks open just enough for me to see inside. Marie stops at a table where a man sits, his thick fingers wrapped around a half-empty glass.
Bobby Calabrese. The owner of this dive and a dozen others just like it. The kind of man who doesn’t ask for money, he takes it, one way or another. A loan shark.
Marie sits across from him, leaning in close. My stomach twists. This isn’t a woman who “just happens” to be here. She’s reporting back. Marie smirks. "It's done. She ran. Just like you said she would."
Bobby grunts as he sips his drink. "Good. Now we focus on the next part."
"You really think he’ll cave?" Marie asks
Bobby chuckles. "If he doesn’t, his old man pays the price. One way or another."
Marie rolls her eyes. "That bastard’s already drowning in debt. This is a waste of time."
"It’s not about the money, sweetheart. It’s about control. Do you want a man broken? You take everything from him. His girl, his family, his pride. By the time I’m done, Nolan will be begging to pay his father’s debt."
My blood runs cold. This isn’t about Xavier. It’s about me. My father. His debt. Marie was never after Xavier. She was a distraction, a perfectly played move on a twisted chessboard.
I clench my fists, forcing my breathing to steady. They used her to destroy Izzy and Xavier, just to get to me. And now they think I’m going to roll over and take it? They have no idea who they’re messing with.
I shouldn’t have come here. I shouldn’t have heard what I heard, because now I have two options. Tell Xavier what I know and rip open a wound that’s already bleeding, or keep my mouth shut and handle this myself.
I chose the second option. Xavier is already drowning, and if I tell him that Marie hadn’t been some random mistake, that she was a setup, part of something bigger, he’d do something reckless. Something that would get him killed. I can’t let that happen.
Two weeks later, Xavier finally emerges from his hiding spot in his garage. He’s slumped against the hood of his truck, a half-empty bottle of whiskey in his hand. Even though he’s underage, he’s already beating himself up, so I don’t say a damn word about what I know or what he’s doing.
Instead, I shove my hands into my pockets, keeping my fists clenched. “You look like shit,” I mutter.
Xavier lets out a dry laugh and takes another swig from the bottle. “Yeah, well… can’t exactly blame me.”
I exhale slowly, trying to keep my frustration in check. “You eating?”
He shrugs. “Does it matter?”
My jaw tightens. Every instinct screams at me to tell him, to fix this right now. But I keep my mouth shut.
“She’s not worth this,” I say, my voice low.
Xavier let out another bitter laugh, shaking his head. “Tell that to Izzy.”
My stomach knots. That’s the problem, isn’t it? Izzy is gone. And Xavier thinks it’s his fault.
I can fix this right now. I can rip the bottle from his hand and tell him the truth, that he’d been set up, that Marie had played him like a fucking pawn, that Bobby Calabrese was pulling the strings.
But I don’t because he’d go after Marie.
He’d go after Bobby Calabrese. He’d get himself killed before I have a chance to fix this.
Xavier drags a hand through his hair, his breathing uneven. “She looked at me like I was nothing.” His hands curl into fists. “Like I was a fucking joke.”
I hate this. Hate seeing him wrecked over a lie, but this isn’t my secret to tell. Not yet. I take a step closer, lowering my voice. “Then, prove her wrong.”
Xavier frowns. “What?”
“You want to sit here and drink yourself stupid, or do you want to get off your ass and fight?”
His jaw clenches. “Fight for what? She’s already gone.”
I hold his gaze, my voice like steel. “Then go get her back.”
For a second, Xavier stares at me. Not hope. Not yet. But anger and determination. And that’s what I need. I let him sit with my words. Let him think. Then I walk away, shoving my hoodie up as I disappear into the night.
If Bobby Calabrese thinks he can use my father’s debt to come after me, he is about to learn a very painful lesson. If he thinks he can use Marie to wreck Xavier and Izzy, he is about to learn a very painful lesson. You don’t play games with people I care about and walk away unscathed.
So I stayed quiet, but I’m not standing still.
I have a plan. When the time comes, Bobby Calabrese will regret ever knowing my name.