1. Riven
RIVEN
T he locker room reeks of sweat and blood and old tape. We’re at an away game, and even though I loathe every fucking minute I’ve been away from Lakynn, at least Castlebook doesn’t smell like literal garbage.
I keep my head down as I lace my skates, ignoring the chatter around me. The sound of laughter grates on me. I have been waiting and waiting and waiting some more for news on when they’re sending Lakynn to be with me. That was the deal. The alternative was that they were going to marry Lakynn off to someone in a merger that would benefit them. I never thought they adopted us for sincere reasons, but when I realized that selling Lakynn off to the fucking highest bidder was an option, I knew that I had to do whatever it took to keep her safe. I’m about ready to blow everything up if my father and uncle don’t make good on their side of things. Six months is too long when I didn’t go a fucking night since the day I met her without checking on her.
The sloppy, aimless noise that doesn’t belong anywhere near me is making it worse. I’m on edge, and none of these fuckers even realize what they could be dealing with if they piss me off. These guys joke like they have nothing to lose. Like none of this matters. I’m a killer, the coldest kind, too. I don’t give a fuck about any of my hits. I don’t care why or how. I only care about one fucking thing, and that’s my adopted sister. I completed every task my father had for me, and now I’m a student at Castlebrook, which was the cover we agreed on when I left The Falls. The gossip mill is out of control, so saying I wanted to leave to play hockey seemed like the most believable thing. Except to Lakynn. I know she had to be so confused and worried. The last few months have been painful, and it’s felt like my fucking chest is cracked open and my heart ripped out. I know I’m going to have a lot of making up to do when Lakynn and I are reunited, but this was the only way that we could be together. I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to her.
My team’s captain, Hayden Lockwood, throws his stick into his locker with a clatter. He’s the resident crashout, from what I’ve been able to tell. The reason for this little outburst? His best friend and biggest aggravator, Callum Grey, just made a joke about his girl. I glare at them as Callum tries to jump over the benches in between the lockers and Hayden threatens to kill him in various ways. I don’t have to do anything though, because Tristan Vale swings his stick out and trips both of them in one go. He’s the mean ass goalie who everyone is afraid of, but he runs with these two idiots for whatever reason. I don’t need to be friends with these guys, that’s not why I’m here, but I’m smart enough to pay attention to who runs this place. And ironically, it’s these dipshits. I know of Callum, but have never met him. His cousin is the best bull rider The Falls has ever seen, and I’ve done a few side jobs for him. He’s got his hands in everything that goes on in that town and he’s not above getting his hands dirty, either. Callum left town when he was young, so we never crossed paths. There were rumors going around that he killed his own father, but in a town like that, you never know what’s made up and what’s absolutely true. They might think their little temper tantrums are intimidating, but I could take all three of them out right now if I wanted to.
I wouldn’t feel a shred of any emotion if I executed every single person in this building. My entire existence is wired around one girl. I was shaped into something monstrous just for the chance to keep her. I’m only entertaining this hockey bullshit because it gives me a free pass to knock the shit out of people, get my aggression out while I wait for the call.
I close my locker slowly, the metal creaking under my palm. My reflection in the steel is sharp and cold. This isn’t who I wanted to be, but I became him anyway.
For her.
My phone vibrates once. The screen lights up with a name I don’t expect. Speak of the fucking devil.
Caiden Grey.
I hesitate only a second before yanking open the back door and stepping outside into the freezing alley behind the arena. The cold wind hits me in the face, but to be fucking fair I need that right now. I need something to snap me into focus.
I swipe to answer. “Yeah.”
There’s a pause on the line. Then a voice, slow and cutting. “Kill anybody lately?”
“What do you want? And don’t bullshit me, I’m not in the fucking mood, Grey,” I snap. He knows I have, and he knows I’m good at what I do.
“Just passing along some information as a favor that you can repay when the time is right,” Caiden says. “Word around The Falls is that your girl’s getting married and soon.”
I’m silent because nothing I say will be helpful to me right now and only give him the leverage he’s looking for. He wants me under his thumb because he knows I have a skill set that is hard to come by. He’s not doing this as a favor to me, but rather because I’ll owe him because he warned me. “She’s got an appointment with Belinda to get her dress fitted. Sounds pretty serious.”
My stomach locks up and my chest feels like it has a gaping wound where my heart should be.
“When,” I say tightly. It comes out more like a demand than a question.
“They’re trying to keep it hush, hush,” he replies. “It’s being handled quick and quiet. I just know the fucker is in finance out in the city. No mafia connections that I could find.” I feel the blood draining out of my face as the realization hits me. I was sent to Castlebrook as a distraction while they sold her off behind my back. When I don’t respond, Caiden adds fuel to the already blazing inside of me. “He’s thirty-five. Clean record. Connected to your old man’s investors.”
I grind my teeth until my jaw aches.
“I’m gonna kill him,” I say without thinking. I don’t even know who I’m talking about. My father? The fucker she’s going to marry? Both of their days are numbered.
Caiden doesn’t balk at my admission. This is what he wanted by telling me, after all. “You won’t make it past the front porch of your daddy’s farmhouse if you don’t calm the fuck down. I’m only giving you this heads-up because I hate your father and because there might come a time when I need a favor. Don’t make me regret it by fucking this up.”
“I’ll gut him,” I mutter. “If he’s touched her—” I will lose my fucking mind if anyone touched her. This is my fault. I trusted them. I left her there with them.
“He hasn’t. I’ve got eyes and ears everywhere, and I’m telling you if you come bulldozing into town, she’s fucked. Literally and figuratively.” Caiden makes a humming sound as if he’s trying to decide how much he should or wants to tell me. “Your brother, Lucas, is a real problem. He’s acting like he owns her, essentially making sure she can’t bail on any of this shit.”
My breath clouds the air. My vision pulses. Lucas is a dead man, too. I don’t care if Caiden is exaggerating or downright wrong. If it’s possible this happened, he’s dead.
“I did everything they asked me to,” I whisper. “Every fucking thing.”
“You think that matters to men like your father?” Caiden barks out a cold laugh. “They used you and now they’re going to use her. They tried to do this a few months ago when you first left, but she fought it so hard the guy backed out. She’s a wild little thing when she doesn’t want to do something, ain’t she?” He chuckles, but all I can see is her skin hot, blushed and splotchy from anger and crying.
She fought them. I went along with everything they said in hopes of having her to myself. I fell for it, and yet she fought them to the point the first guy didn’t want her anymore.
The silence stretches. Rage coils in my gut. “I’m leaving now. I need to get my hands on a vehicle and…”
I’m cut off when Caiden sighs. “Look, I’ll make sure no one puts their hands on her until you get here. The rehearsal dinner is tomorrow night at The Mill and the fucker’s whole family is going to be there. You can’t take them all out, plus your family without risk. Get your anger out. Then come home. Make a plan. Call me if you need a way out of town when you’re finished whatever you gotta do when you get here.”
The line goes dead.
I lower the phone slowly, every nerve in my body vibrating.
The finance fucker hasn’t touched what’s mine yet.
But that doesn’t mean he won’t.
My hands clench into fists as I stare out at the frozen parking lot. Lakynn’s voice is in my head. Her skin under my hands. Her smile, the one no one else ever earned. She was always just for me. I don’t know what they told her, but if they lied to me, they most certainly lied to her, too.
Caiden is right. I need to bide my time, and now that I know she’s safe under his watchful eye, I’m going to plan everything out.
My father has no idea what I’ll do to stop this from happening, and to be honest, I haven’t figured out exactly how this is going to go.
I step back into the locker room, my skates biting into the rubber mats. I grab my helmet and pull it down over my face.
I’m going to take some of the rage running through me out on anyone who gets in my way, because I do my best thinking when my knuckles are bloody.
And then I’m going home.
I’m going to get my girl.