Chapter 4
M yles
I wanted to stay the night, but we’d already decided that sleeping in each other’s rooms was not a good idea.
It still shocked the shit out of me that Ren was a virgin.
Were all the guys blind where she came from?
Because I knew I would’ve been pushing my chips in for her the moment I laid eyes on her.
She sighed as I held her, and it took way too much willpower not to press for more. I wanted her so damn bad, but I also didn’t want to fuck this relationship up, so my hand was getting quite a workout these days. I moved the wild strands of hair away from her face, and her lip curved up.
“You’re so comfortable,” she mumbled, and I kissed her forehead. As if reading my mind, she turned her head and looked at me. “I wish I was ready, but I’m not,” she said. I cupped her cheek and kissed her to keep her from saying any more.
“It’s fine, I promise,” I said against her lips.
My phone chose that moment to ring, and I groaned. I knew it was Nash before I looked, and sure enough, it was.
“Hey, man,” I said.
“Hey. You think you can drag yourself away from Ren, or are you too whipped already?”
I rolled my eyes.
“What do you want?” I didn’t bother to acknowledge the dig. That was what he wanted me to do.
“I need you to meet me and bring Blake.”
“Okay, why?”
“Can’t say over the phone, but we have something to do tonight. It’s waited long enough.”
I could feel Ren’s eyes on my face. “Fine. Where?”
“I’m waiting in the parking lot.” I laid my arm over my eyes. Fuck. Whatever this was, it was going to end up with me not getting any sleep. I could see it coming. What a great way to start a new semester. Am I really worried about sleep and school? Jesus, Ren really was rubbing off on me.
“Okay,” I said but realized he’d already hung up. Jerk .
“Was that Nash?”
“Yeah, I gotta go,” I said, but Ren wrapped her arm around my waist as she cuddled in tighter to my side.
“I better get to bed anyway.” She kissed my chest, and my heart thumped harder like it always did for her. “I’ll miss you, though.”
I smiled. “I’ll miss ya more.”
Prying myself slowly out of her warm and comfortable hold, I stood and wanted to dick-punch Nash for making me leave. Fuck she was beautiful. Her white hair looked silver tonight, fanned out on her pillow, and her matching eyes smiled up at me.
Growling, I stepped away from the bed before I did something dumb.
“Yer so fucking sexy.” She blushed but didn’t look away as she smiled.
It had taken me complimenting her at least fifty times a day to get her to stop looking away.
I stared as I pulled on my jacket. Even though we were once again going to be under the same roof for a few months, the other end of the building might as well have been miles away.
“Is whatever Nash wants you for illegal,” Ren asked, her voice soft.
“Probably.”
“And you’re okay with that,” she asked.
I shrugged. “It’s the world we live in, Snowflake.
Ya better get used to it. At some point, yer gonna end up doing something ya never thought you would.
” She chewed her bottom lip. I hated to be the one always having to tell her all this terrible shit that put worry in her eyes, but burying your head in the sand only ended one way—you dead sooner.
She slipped from the bed, and I groaned, my cock complaining about leaving as I stared at her in the little blue boxers and tank top.
She was trying to give me a permanent hard-on.
She hugged me tight, and I wrapped her up in my arms, not wanting to leave.
Maybe I was whipped, Nash kept saying it, but if I was, then so be it.
I would hand Snowflake the whip any day.
“Please be careful. I worry that you’re going to end up hurt,” she whispered, and my heart seized and then began to beat all over again.
No one had ever told me to be safe. My father didn’t care as long as I proved to be useful to him.
My brother hated me and would kill me if given a chance.
Those words were not even in Nash’s vocabulary unless said in anger.
She was the only one who cared about my safety.
I kissed the top of her head, and my throat choked up.
“Always.” I forced myself to step away just as the door opened. Vicky waltzed in, made a disgusted snort as she walked past us, and slammed the door to the bathroom.
“Ya gonna be good?”
“I’ll be fine. Vicky is mostly bark, and her right hook sucks,” she whispered, and I laughed.
“Shite, I gotta go. I’ll text ya later,” I said, walking out. Blake was coming through the doors from the guy’s wing as I reached the elevator.
“What is this about,” he asked as he rolled out his shoulders. He looked as thrilled as I felt.
“Don’t fuckin’ know, but it better be good.”
“Didn’t want to leave Ren’s bed,” Blake asked, and if I didn’t know better, his tone screamed that he was jealous. Blake had dated more girls than me, and that was saying a lot.
“Are we good?”
“Yeah, man,” he said and held out his knuckles, but his eyes were guarded.
“What the fuck is wrong with you,” I asked, not returning the gesture. Blake scowled and put the hood up on his sweatshirt.
“I’m fucking tired of being dragged out by Nash to do whatever the fuck he wants, and now you’re asking me stupid questions,” he grumbled, stepping into the elevator. “We should’ve just taken the stairs. This is the slowest elevator on the planet.”
I kept glancing at him, but he never looked over. I’d give him a day or two to spill it, but if he kept this weirdness up, I was going to beat the answer out of him.
The weather had taken a drastic turn in the last couple of hours.
The snow had eased, but the temperature had plummeted.
I shivered as the wind hit me. I should’ve stayed in bed with Ren.
My annoyance increased with each step I took closer to Nash’s truck.
I could see Liam in the front seat and Theo in the back.
Right away, I knew that this was a big deal.
“Where are we heading,” I asked as Blake and I hopped in the back with Theo. I shook the snow off like a dog and smirked as Blake glared at me.
“The warehouse,” Nash said, but didn’t offer any more information. Laying my head back, I closed my eyes and let the guys’ voices and the music playing become background noise.
It had to have been an hour, but it felt like a blink when we arrived. I woke up as my head banged off the window. “Fuck,” I grumbled and rubbed at my temple, but no one seemed to notice as they argued over something to do with Nash’s father.
As usual, Liam jumped out and opened the roll-up garage so we could pull in and park. I slammed the door when I got out of the truck, and the sound echoed. I looked around, expecting a delivery, but there were no crates.
“What are we doing here,” Theo asked.
“Come with me,” Nash said, and we all looked at one another before following him. Whatever was going on, we were all in the dark. He flicked on the light for the utility room.
“Well damn,” Liam said.
My mouth fell open as I stared at my brother hanging from chains in the ceiling.
“What the fuck?” Stepping up to Nash, I took in the cuts and bruises all over my brother’s body. His tattoos were covered by dried blood. “Nash…what the hell is goin’ on?”
The chains rattled as Devin’s head lifted, and his eyes found mine. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t my brother. Hello, prick,” he said. “If Dad finds out what you’ve done, you’re dead.” He wasn’t wrong about that.
“Nash,” I growled and looked at him as he circled Devin. I’d never seen my brother nervous, but he flinched and sucked in a shuddering breath when Nash gripped his chin.
Ignoring Devin, I gripped Nash’s shoulder and pointed up to my brother. “Are ya tryin’ to get me killed? What the fuck is the point of this?”
“Nash has more of his father in him than I gave him credit for,” Devin said and then groaned as Nash’s fist connected with his ribs.
Fuck my life. I had no love lost for my brother, and I really didn’t care if he died, but my father was going to wonder what the hell happened, and I was going to be suspect number one.
“Did I give you permission to speak,” Nash asked Devin. “Then shut the fuck up, or I get the taser again.” Devin’s eyes grew wide, and he nodded. I’d never seen my brother submit to anyone like this. Not even my father or Lawrence could get him to be quiet.
“I took Devin here because he has been plotting to kill me and take my place at my father’s side. What he fails to realize is that my father is only using him because he makes a perfect soldier on his chess board, but he will never be a king.”
“Fuck you,” Devin growled and then yelled as Nash’s fist connected again.
“Jesus fuck,” I said and ran my hands through my hair.
The other guys were standing back and letting this unfold.
I wouldn’t have minded some of Liam’s calculating mind ‘cause right now, the odds of me not ending up at the other end of my Da’s gun were pretty shite.
“Jesus fuck man, how long have ya had him?”
“Just before Christmas. I learned a couple of interesting things, like how Devin here has been following us around and knows where our hideout is. I caught him on one of the trail cameras sneaking onto the property. I also found out that he fucked up by killing two of the Mikhailov’s top distributors in the area, and your father was keeping it hidden.
By protecting Devin, he put a target on all our backs.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but messing with the Russian mafia is a hassle we don’t need.
” Devin glared at Nash. “But I think that was part of the plan. He would somehow pin the whole thing on me. Rory dug this up along with a few other tips. Good find he is,” Nash said to Liam.
“I asked Kaylani Mikhailov to confirm the information, and she said that, yes, her brother Nathaniel was coming to town to deal with the matter.”
“That was what the note meant,” I said and Nash nodded.
Devin screamed as Nash used him like his own personal punching bag. Each crack of his fists was loud, and I looked away. I usually didn’t care about torture, and I would pull the trigger on Devin if needed, but watching my blood suffer was still tough.
“So what are ya plannin’,” I asked. Breathing hard, Nash stepped away from Devin, his eyes murderous as he looked at all of us.
“I brokered a deal. Devin here is going to be going home with Nathaniel when he arrives.”
“And what are we getting out of this other than not being shot by Nathaniel only to be shot by Owen when he finds out,” Liam asked.
“Owen won’t find out that it was us that handed Devin over, I made sure that was part of the deal.
We will take over the distribution channel for the Mikhailovs and get a twenty-five percent cut on anything made.
” Nash smiled as he looked up at Devin. “So thank you for all your hard work establishing a reciprocally beneficial relationship for me. So kind.”
Devin spat blood at Nash’s feet, but I grabbed his arm before he could hit him again.
“Can I speak to ya privately?” Nash looked at Devin and then me before nodding.
We stepped out the door, and I closed it behind us.
“I get ya needin’ to do this. I also don’t care if he dies.
You know he has tortured me for years, but my father will have questions.
If he finds out that I had anythin’ to do with this, I’m dead.
” I pointed at the door. “Not only that, but Devin has taken all my father’s attention over the last few years.
Now, all his time will be focused on me when he is in town.
You know what that means, what he’ll want me to do, what he’ll then do to Filip if I’m not around to protect him.
Fuck, man…I get it, but fuck, this is not good for me.
Money is only going to go so far, and I can’t outrun a bullet. ”
“Fuck, you’re dramatic. First, I already thought of that and made sure that Owen never gets to speak to Devin.
. I tortured Devin to get more information, not just because he’s a dick, and it was fun.
I have info you can use to hold your father at bay.
I don’t make a move without looking at all the counter moves, and you dead…
.” He gripped my shoulder. “I wasn’t going to allow. Yes?”
I nodded. “Ya know I trust ya, but why are ya only bringin’ us here now? You’ve had him for weeks.”
“Because if I needed to, I would’ve killed him, and I didn’t want anyone else brought in.
” The thought of going home and not having my brother there was a relief.
Even with the locks on my door, I never slept well.
The things he’d done…I shook my head. “Besides, he was going to get bold again, and you know that Lip was never going to be safe with him alive.”
That was true.
Taking Nash by surprise, I grabbed him and pulled him into a hard hug. “Thanks, man. Just next time, rope me in.”
The door opened, and I pulled away from Nash to see a very confused Liam as he stared between us. His lip turned up, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
Nash pointed at him before he could open his mouth. “Say it, and you’re the next one strung up, and I’ll start by cutting your dick off.”
“Mmhmm,” Liam snickered. “So what’s next?”