Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
ZAVIER
I winced as Raven dabbed at the cut on my cheek, apology in her eyes as she tried to clean it. It had taken hours for the cops to get through everyone’s statements, and that was with BG half-assing it.
News reports were already circulating about how Stefano Ricci, head of the Italian mafia, had come to the States and kidnapped multiple people in an act of war towards the Psychos and Devils.
Speculation was everywhere, but the legal reports cleared all of us for self-defense, and Dante put on a big show about the sad loss of his father and not understanding why he went to such extremes to hurt people.
We were now all sitting around Rory’s kitchen being patched up since none of us had serious damage, other than Rory, who’d already been taken care of while we’d been with the cops.
She was sore, but she’d be okay once her body had some time to heal.
The devil didn’t want her anywhere near his throne yet, so I wasn’t surprised that she would recover.
Ander was standing in the corner with Dante and Antonio, discussing something with Hunter and Caden, and from the way Hunter seemed happy to shake their hands when they were done, told me they’d come to some kind of agreement.
Most likely over tech.
Cruz and Drake showed up at some point, and Cruz walked over to me and grabbed my chin with a tsk. “Aw, the bruises will only make you prettier, Lopez. Gives you a rugged vibe.”
“I’m so glad you think so,” I deadpanned, making Raven chuckle from beside me.
“I prefer it when he’s not bruised. I don’t worry about hurting him so much when I sit on his face.”
“If you sit down hard enough, you won’t hear his complaints anyway,” Cruz joked, giving me a wink.
I rolled my eyes, motioning to Ander. “Go play with Lavaro. His tech friend has been dying to meet you. Like, annoyingly telling us since we got here that he badly wanted to. Good news, the boner you have for him is reciprocated.”
“He’s here?” Cruz asked in a low voice, his eyes flicking around the room until they landed on Antonio, who was already watching us. “I’m nervous. What do I say?”
“How about something like, I’m Cruz. Where have you been all my life? Fancy a walk along the beach at sunset tonight? ” I scoffed, knowing they were going to hit it off easily from what I’d already gathered from my short knowledge of Antonio.
“Not funny. He’s a tech genius, dude,” Cruz said flatly as Drake snickered, and thankfully, Ander motioned for him to join them and I didn’t have to hear about it.
I was glad Cruz had a potential new friend to talk nerdy shit with, but it was getting old super fast.
I was tired, sore, and I just honestly wanted to go home to bed so I could curl up with Raven and sleep for a week.
It was eleven in the morning, and no one had slept for over twenty-four hours. It was surprising that no one had lost their temper yet.
“Glad you’re alive,” Drake grinned as he lightly ruffled my hair and wandered off to check in with Knox and Stone, the smell of smoke lingering as people moved around.
We were all filthy, the smoke from the burning building had seeped into our clothes and hair, and some of us still had dried blood on us from our injuries.
We were a mess, but at least we were alive.
“It’s over,” Raven murmured, more to herself than me as her gaze flicked to mine. “He thought you were Jeremy?”
“That prick just won’t stay dead. Even from the ground he’s starting problems for me,” I muttered, soaking in her touch as she cupped my cheek.
“It’s over,” she repeated. “You survived your father and the fucking mafia. Surely, no one else did dodgy deals with the Demons, and if they did, they’re nowhere near as big as what we are. We’ll keep fighting every day if we have to, but for now, it’s done. We can sleep in tomorrow, get back to our jobs, and start saving money to make a really good life for ourselves together.”
I swallowed, emotion clogging my throat. It felt like six months ago we were just kids winging it through life with the whole world against us, but now? We had careers lined up, Raven was going to college next year, and we were free of the shackles from our childhood.
“Hey,” Reid mumbled as he joined us, dropping into a seat beside me. “I really think you should go to the hospital, dude.”
“I’m fine. Besides, I prefer this nurse to any I’ll get in there,” I winked, and as much as Raven pulled a face, I could tell she liked it.
I’d been a little mad when I’d seen Ander walk into that room with Raven in tow, wishing she’d stayed at home where it was safe, but I’d also been so happy to see her.
“No more surprise parent visits, right? Unless Raven’s mom comes back next,” I said with a straight face, knowing it was a possibility.
“Doubtful. She’s hopefully dead in a ditch somewhere. At least now we only have to wait for Logan’s mom to keel over. The rest of us are finally free of it,” Raven said way too sweetly, cringing when she glanced at Reid. “Shit, sorry.”
“If we don’t laugh about it, we’ll cry. Right?” he asked dryly, but I snorted.
“I laugh because it’s funny. I know you were a little attached to your mom, but?—”
“Brainwashed,” he corrected with a wince. “It might take a while, but I know over time it will bring me some kind of peace. Not yet, but I’m getting there.”
“You’re allowed to miss her, Reid,” Raven murmured, dropping a kiss on his head. “Even if she treated you badly.”
He pulled her onto his lap but shuffled the chair closer to me so she could keep cleaning the damage, and we all looked up when Rory approached with a small smile.
“Should you be walking around?” Raven asked, making her scoff.
“I was shot, that’s just a typical Tuesday morning for me. I forgot to give you your mail yesterday when it arrived.”
“My mail?” Raven echoed, her eyes going wide when Rory handed her a small pile of envelopes. My eyes landed on the college logos in the corners, and Raven panicked. “These are letters from the colleges you applied for on my behalf?”
“Yep. I sent them off to a lot so you had options. You know, in case some rejected you,” she shrugged, and I had to bite my tongue. No one was going to say no to Rory, I’d bet money on her probably bribing them with donations to ignore Raven’s lack of fancy education.
“You tried to get me into Harvard?” she croaked as she flipped through the envelopes.
“Options,” she repeated. “Take them home with you and open them later if you’d like to wait. You go through all the ones that accepted you, and tell me which one I’m sending money to. No arguments. I’m investing in you for the future, Raven. You want to be a good role model to kids? Then you work your ass off and prove that I made the right choice in sending you to college, okay? Whatever school you choose, I’m happy with. You need to start studying too. Now you’re not being targeted by the mafia, I’d like to see you making an effort to get ahead for next year and agree to weekly tutoring, understand?”
I wanted Raven to open them all right now so we could see all the congratulation letters, but she’d prefer to do it in private later.
As I expected, she nodded and placed them on the table close by and returned her attention to my face, her hands a little shaky now. Reid stared at the letters silently, and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
A few of those colleges were far away, but Raven wouldn’t leave, even if the opportunity was better. She’d always wanted to stay close to home, but even if for some reason she did want to leave, I’d support her one hundred percent.
Everyone seemed in good spirits now the threat was gone, and the room was filled with chatter as people drank coffee and prepared to get on with their day without a good night's sleep. I’d thankfully been given the day off, same with Reid and Logan, so we intended on heading home and curling up in bed for the rest of the day once we were done here.
With Dante shaking hands on fuck knows what deals he was making with the Psychos and Devils, I knew business arrangements had been made going forward. I’d probably find out at the next Psychos meeting, but right now, I couldn’t find the strength to be curious.
Blake approached, looking a little uncomfortable.
“I need to head home to my sister, but maybe next time I’m in town we could meet up for lunch or something? Maybe with Riley?” she asked Raven nervously, the relief not hidden on her face when Raven smiled.
“I’d like that. Give me your phone, I’ll add my number for you. We can text.”
Reid eyed them like they’d grown two heads, but I was glad the two girls were making an effort to be friends. I understood the issue with her dating Ander in the past, but Blake was a nice chick, and the guys were all friends with her.
If her and Raven could form a friendship too, that would make future get-togethers a lot easier.
The girls got chatting, and Logan carefully draped his arms over my shoulders, smacking a kiss on my cheek. “My poor baby. We should get you home and kiss it all better.”
“I’d feel better if you choked on my dick.”
“We’ve talked about this. That monster intimidates me,” he shuddered, losing his teasing tone. “For real though, we should head home. You need some rest.”
“You going to snuggle me?”
“Absolutely. Anything for you, Lopez,” Logan chuckled, moving back so I could stand.
We all stood to leave, but the front door closing drew our attention, and we found Ryder standing in the doorway with his bags as he studied us suspiciously.
“Ry! You were supposed to wait for us to pick you up later,” Rory scolded, walking towards him and giving him a hug.
“I wanted to surprise you,” he answered with amusement, his eyes taking us all in before he smirked, our appearances and the smell of smoke hard to ignore. “So, what did I miss?”
“Nothing,” Beckett chuckled, making her way across the room to hug her twin as she held him tightly. “Nothing at all, Ry. It’s good to have you home.”
Raven
I was exhausted, but my brain was running a mile a minute. Between talking to Ryder so he could apologize for his actions prior to going into rehab, knowing the mafia wasn’t chasing us anymore, and the fact that I had multiple college letters in my hand as we left Rory’s, my emotions were all over the place.
I was excited, relieved, and fucking scared.
“Can we open these at home?” I asked as we got to Reid’s Challenger, Ander slowing his steps as he reached his Supra close by so he could listen.
“That’s the plan,” Reid answered, but I shook my head.
“No, I mean home.”
Logan opened the passenger door and climbed in, poking his head out a second later. “I think that’s a good idea. That way, Josh can hear what fancy colleges accepted you.”
That was exactly why I wanted to head over to the Heights to open them, and I loved that they understood me. This was something I never thought I’d be doing, and it felt wrong to find out without being at the house.
My chest ached at knowing we wouldn’t have anymore firsts in that house. We could never stand in that kitchen again with our morning coffee, or have movie nights in the living room on the old, lumpy couch.
This would be the last thing we could do there, and then we’d have to walk away.
No other place had felt like home, but we’d find it one day. We’d get the happy ending we’d always thought we could only ever dream of, we just had to work a little harder to make it happen.
“We can do that,” Reid said warmly before climbing behind the wheel, my eyes sliding to Zavier. I was going to let him have the front seat so it was easier for him to get in and out, his body was getting pretty sore now he was bruising, but he gave me a quick kiss.
“I’ll ride with Lavaro. Don’t open those letters without us, we’ll follow.”
“I won’t,” I promised, nerves filling me.
What if all the letters said no? I couldn’t blame them, my education wasn’t the best, and some of these colleges were insanely hard to get into. I knew Harvard and Kingslake were going to be a no, but I was hopeful for Ashburn Valley. Even Newhaven’s university was pretty good, and it was close too.
We hit the road, and I bounced my legs a little in anticipation as I lit a cigarette and blew the smoke out the window, trying to calm my anxiety.
“What did Ryder say to you?” Reid asked curiously after driving in silence for a minute, and I’d been waiting for it. He hadn’t been too happy to let Ryder talk to me alone outside, but he was also doing really well at letting me make my own choices.
Logically, he knew I was fine at Rory’s, so when Ryder asked for privacy, Reid bit his tongue and didn’t make a fuss.
Ryder looked good. He’d been working out again and looking after himself, a sense of clarity in his eyes that I hadn’t really seen before. He’d always been nice, but there’d been some kind of arrogance and asshole side to him that had always been front and center.
Now, he was calm, almost looking a little unsure of himself as he’d led me outside to the back patio so we could talk, where he’d apologized multiple times for being a pushy asshole to me.
He hadn’t been told about me dating the guys, so he’d been relieved to know I’d waited instead of just sleeping with a stranger, telling me how happy he was for us.
“Just an apology and how happy he is that I’m with you guys,” I replied, looking over at him. “Tempest gets out of rehab in four days, so he’s going to focus on settling in at home and spending some time alone before that happens. He’s making sure they don’t become codependent again. He did ask if I could find some time to hang out with Tempest, but I don’t think we’d hit it off.”
“You and Temp?” Logan scoffed, shaking his head a little. “Absolutely not. You’d kill her.”
“I don’t know,” Reid said slowly, looking thoughtful. “Riley said she’s changed a lot. She’s almost quiet now and has loads of anxiety. Maybe the girls would get along these days?”
“I have Beckett, I’m good,” I grumbled, leaning back in my seat. “I did say I could maybe stop by and see her if she was at Rory’s one day soon though.”
“Aw, you’re learning to play well with others,” Logan grinned, laughing when I reached back to swat at him. “You’ll have to make new friends at college or you’ll be the weird kid who sits alone at lunch.”
“Logan,” Reid warned, the thought giving me hives. I’d be completely alone, it wasn’t like I’d have Logan to hang out with between classes. He’d be too busy working to stop by too, which meant I’d have to navigate it all on my own.
“I was joking, Rae. It’s college, not high school. It’s fine to sit alone,” Logan grimaced.
“I know. It’s going to be weird without you there,” I said as I blew out a breath. “What if it’s too hard and I fall behind?”
“Then you get a permanent tutor to help you. We can afford it,” Reid promised, resting his hand on my thigh. “Rory’s right too, you need one now to prepare, or you’ll freak out that first week. Don’t feel bad when it’s hard because it will get hard. You went to a shitty school with a terrible education system. I don’t know anyone from the Heights that went to college, so you need to push hard and prove yourself. Not just to others, but to yourself. You want to be a teacher, right? That’s not an easy thing to do for people like us. You can do it though, and we’re right here when you need us. We can help you study when we’re at home too.”
“Not me though, remember? I’m dumb as shit,” Logan chuckled, all of us going quiet as we approached our old street.
Curtains moved in houses as we drove past, people knowing the sound of Reid’s car. We hadn’t been here since that night of the fire, and a pit formed in my stomach when it came into view.
My whole childhood was in that house that was now nothing but rubble. The pain in my chest only growing when we parked in front of it and stared at it in silence. Ander parked behind us but didn’t climb out, waiting for me to make the first move.
“Grab the letters, c’mon,” Reid encouraged, giving me a small smile as he opened his door, and it took me a second to grasp the handle to open mine. Logan followed, and soon all five of us were sitting on the front lawn in a circle, smoking and staring at the remains of the place we’d always called home.
Where we’d cried, laughed, found love, and became a family.
Looking at it now, I realized how guilty I’d been feeling about leaving it behind, not wanting to go through life without my brother. So many opportunities had come our way since it had burned to the ground, and a sense of peace washed through me at realizing it was okay to let him go.
I grasped the letters in my hand and took a deep breath, knowing I couldn’t put it off forever. My future was in one of these envelopes, the type of future that Josh had always told us we would have one day.
I just thought he’d be here with us to be part of it too.
“What do you think Josh would’ve done for work?” I asked as I toyed with one of the envelopes, procrastinating. “If we had money, would he have gone to college too?”
“He would’ve joined a crew. Probably the Devils. He’d like Hunter as a boss,” Reid said without hesitation, eyeing me. “He would’ve forced you to go to college, though. You never wanted that kind of life in a gang. He just wanted you out of the Heights and thriving.”
“Kind of thought he’d be here to see it.”
“He thought he would be too,” he said with a soft smile, leaning back on one hand as he held his cigarette in the other. “Go on, let's hear what fancy college you’re going to.”
My fingers shook slightly as I opened the one for Ashburn Valley University, pulling it out and scanning it. The big congratulations was like a punch to the chest, and I sucked in a sharp breath. “I got into Ashburn.” My eyes flew up to Reid’s in shock, my throat going tight. “I’m actually going to college.”
“Fuck yeah, you are,” Reid grinned, holding his hand out to take the letter. “Keep opening them.”
“Why? I got into the one I wanted that’s close,” I said with a nervous laugh, not wanting to see the rejection ones. There was no way places like Harvard, Yale, or Princeton wanted me, and I was okay with that.
I just didn’t want to see it.
The sound of tearing paper made me look over to find Ander opening a letter, panic filling me. “What are you doing?”
“Finding out which better place you’re going to. Ashburn will get you your degree, but you’re more hirable if you go elsewhere. The school you attend will open doors for you,” he explained, making me snort.
“I don’t think Hawthorne Heights High is that fussy with their teachers. They’d be happy with anyone with a degree.”
“Shoot for the stars, Bluebird,” he grunted, skimming the page before offering it to me. “See? You’re going to Yale.”
“What?” I asked, snatching the letter and reading it.
Sure enough, I saw the words congratulations at the top of the letter, and I wanted to throw up a little.
“Yale?” I croaked out, and Logan whooped loudly and fist pumped the air.
“My girl’s going to fucking Yale!”
“No, I’m not,” I huffed, almost dropping the paper as my hands shook, and I didn’t miss the look on Reid’s face. He was forcing his smile, so damn proud, but terrified at the same time. “Reid, I’m not going.”
“Why not? It’s a great opportunity, baby,” he encouraged, a strain in his voice.
“I don’t want to go that far. I want to live here. If I can’t drive to it, I’m not going,” I said, giving Ander a dirty look when he snatched another one. “Dammit, Ander!”
“Congratulations on being accepted into Harvard. Doesn’t Beckett’s baby sister and cousin go there? At least you’ll have someone there.”
“I’m not going to fucking Harvard either. Are you listening to me?” I snapped, ignoring Logan’s whooping.
I was pretty sure he had zero idea how far away they were or he wouldn’t be celebrating.
“You got into Princeton,” Zavier offered, drawing my attention to the letter in his hand that I hadn’t known he’d opened.
“Zav—”
“Fairview too,” Reid mumbled, and I threw my hands up in the air in defeat.
“By all means, open my mail, guys.”
Logan reached out and snagged one, opening it with a grin. “And Kingslake! Do you know the connections you can form there? It’s huge. Some of the biggest names around here send their kids there.”
This was way too overwhelming, anxiety kicking in. How could I go to any of those places? Kids had applied for those when they were still in diapers and only got in because of their family name.
I didn’t fit in with those people, I never would.
“Josh would be so damn proud of you, Raven,” Reid said, snapping me out of my internal panic. I looked over to find him watching me, some of the tension gone from his face. “I mean, Raven Pierce got accepted into the top three universities? And has so many other options that she can literally choose whichever one she wants? He would’ve gone door knocking to tell everyone in the fucking neighborhood.”
He would’ve too.
“I only got in because they were too scared to say no,” I replied dryly.
“Who cares? You got in, that’s all that matters.”
“How do I choose?” I asked quietly, staring at the opened letters. There were ten universities total, all of them wanting me.
“You wanted something close, right?” Zavier asked, grabbing all the letters and flipping through them, holding onto most of them while handing me a few. “These are all within driving distance. Less to choose from, and they’re definitely not the best, but Logan is right. Kingslake is a fantastic school and a lot of big names came from there. The Reyes family from Crestford all went there, the Blackwater family, and?—”
“How do you even know all that?” I cut in, and he shrugged.
“I’m nosey, but half of those families did business with my dad and Penn’s dad over the years. They’re all a bunch of corrupt rich assholes, mostly old money. Penn’s family name is one of the biggest in Kingslake, so things got shaken up when her father died and she didn’t make a home there. Maybe ask Rory about the professors and president for the local universities so you know if there’s any to avoid.”
There was no need. Rory wouldn’t have applied for a school she wouldn’t have sent me to.
“This is it, isn’t it?” I asked, turning my attention to the remains of our house. “Our life in the Heights is over. We actually got out. Everything’s going to change now.”
“Is that a bad thing?” Logan asked, and I smiled slightly as I shook my head.
“I guess not. It was just yesterday we had no electricity because we couldn’t afford the bill. How am I going to college?”
“And buying a house,” Ander said as he stretched out. “As of today, we’re going to start saving to buy some place nice. It’s nice of Rory to let us crash at the little house she’s renting us, but it’s tiny. We can live anywhere we want. I know you won’t let me just buy one, so I’ll do you a deal. I chuck in towards a deposit, then we all work our asses off to pay it off.”
“Deal,” Reid replied without hesitation, but Ander put a hand up.
“I’m not done. Raven lets me buy her a car this week. I don’t want to see a cent.”
That made me uncomfortable, and I winced. “Can’t I save for one?”
“No. You’re going to be needing transport with everyone else working. You have babysitting at Rory’s sometimes, friends you like to spend time with, and you’ll be starting tutoring, then college. You need your own car, Bluebird.”
“I don’t want an expensive one. You know that.”
“And I respect your request. It needs to be safe though,” he hummed, seeming deep in thought. “How about I pull something out of my wrecking yard and we build it together? The guys mentioned you might be okay with that.”
“That depends. What does it cost to build a car?” I asked suspiciously, making him grin.
“Don’t you worry about that.”
I did worry because I knew the insanely expensive Supra of his came from the wrecking yard too.
“Surprise me,” I finally said, trying to force the discomfort down. “We all pitch in for a house, and you find me a bucket of shit with wheels that we can fix.”
“Deal,” he replied brightly, and I didn’t trust him in the slightest. He was going to pull something like a fucking corvette out of the damn scrap yard.
“What will you do when Raven’s at college, Lavaro?” Reid teased. “She won’t be around to occupy you, and neither will we.”
“Me? Oh, I have plenty of things to do. I could relax or work at the wrecking yard, go back to school myself, or set up some new businesses. The possibilities are endless,” he smirked, getting to his feet and grabbing the loose papers. “What I want to know is which school do I have to get Cruz to hack the security for so I can spy on Raven?”
He was joking, I hoped.
“Kingslake,” I murmured, thinking about it for a second before nodding, trying not to let my nerves show. “I’m going to go to Kingslake University.”
I squealed as Logan stood and grabbed me, twirling me in a circle. “My girl’s going to college!”
“They heard you the first time,” Reid deadpanned as he got to his feet too, but he was smiling.
“Let’s get home and celebrate by having something to eat and going to bed, I’m dead on my feet,” Zavier said with a yawn as Logan put me down.
“Bluebird’s coming with me,” Ander exclaimed, jiggling his keys and tossing them to me. “Let’s race Reid, baby. Really embarrass him.”
I knew Reid would beat me in a heartbeat, but I laughed, snatching my letters and making a break for it to the car.
They piled into Reid’s car while Ander and I jumped into his, the car rumbling under me as I started the engine. I stalled it three times trying to turn it around, but once we were facing Ashburn Valley I put my foot down a little, snorting when Ander stuck his head out the window and flipped the guys off as they followed.
I glanced back in the rearview, warmth spreading through me as I watched the house disappear. The further out of the Heights we got, the more I welcomed the feeling in my chest.
Josh wasn’t stuck here like I’d always felt, the house had been a curse that I’d refused to let go of, which had only held me back.
He was with us every minute of the day, and he’d be there on my first day of college.
Reid closed the distance and encouraged me to go a little faster, Ander cheering me on as if we were going super fast, but we were barely going over the speed limit.
I didn’t feel like getting my life together then crashing the damn car. It would be just my fucking luck.
We would never live in the Heights again, I knew that as we drove into Ashburn Valley and headed towards our temporary home, but everyone knew that saying.
You could take the girl out of the Heights, but you could never take the Heights out of the girl.
I hoped the world was ready for that.