Epilogue
EPILOGUE
RAVEN
Nine Months Later
M y brain hurt. The words on the page were blurring, and I jerked as someone nudged me.
“Babe, go home. You’ve been at that for hours,” Cynthia Windsor grinned, reaching out to take my textbook and closing it. “Besides, didn’t you have a painting class to teach at three?”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, glancing at my phone to see it was two thirty. “Shit, thanks.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she chuckled as I stood and grabbed my things, shoving them into my bag.
It was Monday of my third week since starting at Kingslake University. I’d crammed way too much information into my head between classes and studying, but so far, I wasn’t feeling too stupid.
Sounded like success to me.
Rory had been a bit of a tyrant about my tutoring ever since I’d chosen which college to attend, but I was grateful for her pushing.
I hurried out of the library and towards the parking lot, waving to a few of the girls by the administration building as I went.
I’d surprisingly made a lot of friends here in the past few weeks. None that I’d die for, but smoke break buddies were always good.
I slowed when I saw Ander’s Supra parked beside my Nissan Skyline GTR R33, him and Zavier leaning against the cars having a conversation. I loved my car, probably more than I should. It was a dark blue color that I’d stumbled across while buying spray paint a few months ago, and Ander had managed to match it.
We’d spent months bringing it to life, it really had been a piece of shit when Ander had proudly dragged me to the wrecking yard to show me. I was skeptical that it would even run, but Ander put a lot of time, love, and most likely money into the damn thing.
I’d actually enjoyed learning about cars from him and could tell it really was his passion. I hadn’t been much use in building it, but he’d tried to include me in it as much as possible.
He’d been working at the wrecking yard a lot lately, and I was pretty sure he was enjoying the slow pace of day-to-day things without worrying about his father. He still did some things here for Dante, but he’d made it obvious that he wasn’t going to be pulled in full-time.
After that day in the slaughterhouse, Dante and Ander had worked hard to track down the missing women and children as promised. They’d found Elio’s wife in some asshole’s basement twelve hours away. I hadn’t seen her, but Ander said it was bad.
Unfortunately, they’d found out Fabio’s sister had been killed by her buyer, but at least he had closure.
I assumed closure meant they’d gone after the guy so Fabio could get his revenge, but I sure as fuck wasn’t asking questions.
Dante was trying so hard to make me like him, but I just wasn’t there yet.
“Hey,” I said slowly as I approached, dropping my bag off my shoulder. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Just here to piss on you so everyone knows you’re not available,” Ander smirked, and I rolled my eyes as he took my hand to tug me closer, dropping a kiss on my lips.
“I’m the luckiest girl in the world,” I deadpanned, letting him manhandle me as he turned me around to pull my back flush with his front so that I was facing Zavier. “Weren’t you busy until dinner time?”
“Boss let me go. Noah got arrested and he had to go deal with it since half the crew are busy. Figured since I was there at six this morning before anyone else that I deserved to go home, so Ander swung by the Shed to grab me,” he shrugged, reaching out to take my bag. “How was your day?”
“Noah got arrested again? What for?”
“Evading the cops on his bike.”
Ander snorted, his voice flat. “Little fucker didn’t evade properly if they arrested him. Why did he stop? He should’ve kept riding and kept his face hidden.”
“Bike ran out of gas and he had the plate on it,” Zavier chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “He’ll learn the hard way soon. Slash said they’re close to crushing his bike into a little cube to put on his shelf as a reminder of what happens when you play with fire. So, your day?”
Rory hadn’t been happy when Noah had shown up at home with a motorcycle license, but he’d been spending a lot of time in Kensington with Ethan lately, so no one was really surprised.
The kid was going to die on that thing before his eighteenth birthday next month.
“Long,” I sighed. “I was cramming with the girls when I realized I was running late. As much as I love that you came to see me, can we go? I have a class to teach.”
“We’re coming too. Logan called and said some kid is obsessed with cars and would freak out at seeing mine. So I said I’d stop by with it,” Ander grinned, and I winced.
“You’re not taking him out in it, right? That’s a huge liability problem.”
“You’re all smart now you’re a college student,” he teased, kissing my shoulder. “But no, I can let him check it out and I’ll rev it a little.”
“I’m coming with you,” Zavier said as he pulled me away from Ander, giving me a quick kiss too. “And I’ve put dibs on having a shower with you tonight.”
“No fair,” Ander grumbled, but he opened his car door and slid behind the wheel.
Zavier climbed into my passenger seat, and Ander waited for me to pull out first so he could follow.
“How long until you get your car back?” I asked Zavier as I drove, making him grimace.
“Two weeks.”
“At least it wasn’t Logan’s this time, right?” I joked, making him grumble.
Zavier had been rear-ended in his red 1969 Pontiac GTO a couple of months ago, and the other driver and their insurance company had made things difficult from the beginning. Thankfully, someone came forward with dash cam footage of the whole thing, backing Zavier’s claim.
If it hadn’t been some rich bitch from Crestford, it would’ve been handled well before now, but her parents had raised hell over it.
“I should’ve bought the fucking Silverado,” he sighed, glancing down at his phone to text. He’d wanted the truck more than the Pontiac, but the guys had convinced him to get it instead so they could all race at the track.
I’d told him he’d regret it, but I wasn’t about to remind him of that.
I told him more about my day as we headed through Pine Valley, having a quick cigarette before pulling into the parking lot at the Hawthorne Heights Community Center.
Logan poked his head out with a grin when he heard our cars, motioning for a kid to follow him.
The little boy only looked to be about seven as he stumbled after Logan, his eyes wide as he spotted the cars.
“He’s good with the kids,” Zavier chuckled as Logan greeted Ander, making me smile.
“Yeah, he is. They love him.”
Logan had been the best person for his role here. Kids stopped by regularly to hang out, usually because they thought Logan was cool as fuck. It had given him a huge purpose in life, and the guy was practically glowing these days.
It probably helped that his mother had been killed in a prison riot a few months earlier, the weight of the world seeming to be lifted from his shoulders the second he received the phone call.
She’d suffered too, which only made him feel ten times better about it.
With the boy distracted by Ander as they checked out the Supra, Logan wandered over and opened my door, holding out his hand to help me out.
“You’re almost late,” he teased, pulling me in for a hug and not being able to help himself as he gave my ass a quick squeeze.
“But I’m not,” I pointed out, standing on tiptoe to kiss him.
“Greg and Frank are here. Yes, I already called Rory and Jade to let them know. Little shits walked here at lunchtime without telling anyone they’d ditched school,” he huffed, lifting his chin in greeting to Zavier.
“Where’s Reid?” I asked as we started walking towards the front entrance, Ander waving Logan off to let him know he had the kid handled on his own.
“In his office. A family came by today in need of a safe place to stay, so he’s been on the phone with emergency accommodation places all day trying to find them somewhere. Domestic violence situation. The guy has three kids with an ex, but he has one with the current girlfriend. He wanted to leave, she wouldn’t let him take the kids, so he waited until she went to the shop for cigarettes then drove straight here.”
I winced, knowing how those cases usually went. “Won’t the cops return her kid? They always favor the mother.”
“Considering all the kids have bruises, it’s being investigated. The fact that she showed up here two hours ago and smashed his car to pieces in the parking lot, before trying to stab him with a screwdriver, has kind of proven his point that she’s abusive,” he answered dryly, holding the door open for us.
Zavier spotted some of the older teens playing darts and wandered over to join them while we made our way towards Reid’s office.
My baby looked so damn tired when we entered, exhaustion on his face. He’d been working overtime lately, and he’d also started seeing a therapist recently. The death of his mom played on his mind a lot, and he still held so much guilt.
He’d organized a proper burial for her, but all these months later, he still hadn’t felt at peace with the mess we called a childhood, so he’d randomly announced at dinner a month ago that he was starting therapy.
It was going to be a long road, but it was already helping him process his feelings.
“Take five,” I murmured, walking around his desk to give him a kiss.
“I will soon. I’m just waiting for a call from the cops about an incident that happened here.”
“Logan was filling me in. Is the guy okay?” My fingers ran through his hair, and he closed his eyes for a second.
“He will be. Found emergency housing for him and his kids once they’re done with the Ashburn cops. I bet BG will be happy to hand over Heights chaos in March when the new station opens.”
Between Rory and Diesel, they’d managed to bully the council and government into pitching in around here. The council was running programs here at the center, and the government had finally agreed to rebuild the Hawthorne Heights Police Department. It had been months of building and planning, but they were finally set to open in March, meaning Ashburn Valley’s department could take a breather from being stretched so thin.
They’d even pushed for funding to improve the local doctor’s clinic, as well as organize more drug and alcohol counseling here.
“Lukas stopped by today to help some of the kids with their homework,” Reid added, stifling a yawn. “A lot of them really like him. I don’t think Hawthorne Heights High has ever had a principal who gave a shit, so it’s been a lot better with him in charge.”
Lukas was supposed to start at the beginning of the next school year, but he was dragged in last November as an emergency temp when the current principal was found to have drugs on him. A search of his office also uncovered hidden camera footage that incriminated him for sleeping with some of the students.
He’d been arrested and replaced by Lukas within days, and students were already doing better with Lukas in charge.
“I need him to help me with my homework,” I joked, making him frown.
“Are you struggling?”
“No, I just need help with a few things,” I shrugged.
“Let me know if you get stuck.”
The door banged open and Gregory ran in, holding a piece of paper in his hand. “Raven! We had a pop quiz this morning and I aced it!”
“Closed door means you need to knock, dude,” Reid scowled, used to both kids barging in. They spent a lot of their spare time here just hanging out with some of their friends from school, even if the other kids were from Ashburn.
It was actually a pretty cool place to hang out. The academy kids would never, but the public kids from Ashburn Valley’s middle school and high school regularly wandered in after school and mingled with the Heights kids.
“How long have you been here? Isn’t school only just finishing for the day now?” I asked, making a show of checking the time on my phone. “How did you get here so fast?”
His face fell slightly, and he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. “We came here at lunchtime.”
“You left school early? Rory let you do that?” I asked with fake surprise, making him wince.
“She doesn’t know.”
“She does, I called her,” Logan grunted, eyeing Frank next as he entered. “I called Jade too. You can’t pull that neglected kid card no more. You both have parents now who actually chose you, so how about you respect them a little more?”
“I’m so grounded,” Frank grumbled, glancing at me. “I did good on my quiz too.”
“Of course you did, you’ve been studying hard,” I smiled, taking Gregory’s piece of paper to look at it. “Damn, dude. You got a B plus?”
“So did Frank!” Gregory beamed. “I talked to Nancy earlier. She got an A in Math. We’re all going out for dinner next week to celebrate. They’re letting Frank come too.”
“That’s awesome. I’m glad she’s doing so well,” I replied, and I honestly was.
It had been a rough few months when the Butler kids had all moved to Kingslake, leaving Gregory in Ashburn Valley with Rory. The transition was a lot, but things had smoothed out nicely now.
Gregory was just a typical twelve-year-old boy, having fun with his friends instead of raising his siblings and scouring town for money to feed them all, and he was actually enjoying school and learning things.
The police had finally tracked down Florence, Gregory’s sister, but it had been too late. Her boyfriend was arrested for beating her to death and statutory rape, among other things.
No young boy should feel grateful to have his sister die, but Gregory knew she would never change. She was now at peace, and he knew what happened to her.
That was all he could ask for.
Frank and Lara had been fostered by Jade, Harley, and Alex for a few months before officially being adopted by them. Jade was loving being their mom, and Frank said she was so great with Lara.
Those kids got spoiled, if you asked me.
“Can we sit in on your class?” Gregory asked, giving me the best attempt at puppy eyes he possibly could. “We’ll be good.”
“Only if you help clean up when I’m done,” I grinned, both of them agreeing quickly.
I’d started giving painting lessons just for fun, and they were growing in popularity. It was free, and I hoped it gave local kids something to do with their time.
Some had even been hired for art work for local places, like the new cafe on the main road. They’d wanted a huge mural done on the side wall outside near their small parking lot, and they wanted it to be local kids who worked on it.
They’d paid quite well, and the kids regularly pointed it out to people proudly.
“You’re officially late,” Reid chuckled, grabbing the front of my shirt and tugging me down for a kiss. “Go have fun.”
“Shit,” I muttered, realizing it was now ten past three. “I’ll see you when I’m done.”
“I’ll come and check on how it’s going soon,” he agreed, shooing us all out of the office.
With Zavier and Logan hanging out with most of the kids, and Ander still talking cars with the little boy, I got to work on setting up my painting station where a few other people were waiting.
Some were only young teens, while others were older adults just looking for a new hobby.
“Sorry I’m late,” I rambled as I got ready, grabbing the box of spray paint off the counter, along with my mask. “I want to do some free creativity today. Most of you have been here for a while, so I want you to create something for me. Surprise me.”
This particular room had fantastic ventilation and a system that sucked the fumes out, but I still covered our asses with the masks to save anyone breathing the chemicals in.
Everyone put their own masks on and set to work quickly, some needing more help than others, but I took the time to paint something for myself. I missed the hiss of the spray, so I wasn’t surprised when I accidentally zoned out and worked in peace for a while, losing track of time.
I couldn’t exactly go and get myself arrested for graffiti or trespassing, not now I had my sights set on being a teacher, so I’d forced myself to create mostly here, or if I was offered mural types of jobs.
My eyes caught on Rory as I glanced around the room to check on people, finding her leaning against the wall with her arms crossed and a small smile on her face. I went to walk over but she shook her head, halting me.
Whatever she wanted to talk about, apparently it could wait.
“Raven? I ruined it!” one of the preteen girls huffed, drawing my attention, and I walked over to look at her painting. It wasn’t wrecked, she’d just let the paint drip.
“You can’t ruin art,” I said brightly, pointing to the drips. “The cat is done, so just add more drips.”
“I’ll wreck it more!”
“No, you won’t. Do different colors around the outside of her so it pops more. Let it drip.”
She frowned at me, but she did as I told her and her eyes lit up when she saw I was right, and I gave her a wink before moving on to the next easel to see if her friend needed help.
Once I went over everyone’s work and finished my class for the day, I started cleaning up, not surprised when Gregory and Frank vanished, little shits.
“You’re very good at explaining things to people,” Rory mused as she approached, making me snort.
“Not really. I honestly don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You’re giving people a safe place to create. That’s a pretty cool thing. The girls were talking about you helping them when they left. You’re giving them a lot of confidence, Raven,” she smiled, eyeing me as I kept cleaning.
“I assume you’re here to tell me something? You have that look on your face.”
“What look?”
“The one where something bad has happened but you’re happy about it in a weird, psychotic way,” I grunted, turning to face her. “What happened?”
“Skeet was visiting one of the Psychos at Fairview Prison this morning,” she started, making me nervous. “Your problem was in the same cell block as one of our guys.”
“He’s not getting out early, is he?” I asked, slight panic growing inside me.
“You know, it was the damndest thing. Apparently, the guy had so much guilt on his conscience that he just couldn’t take it anymore. He was found dead in his cell this morning,” she said almost sweetly, shrugging slightly. “It must have finally pushed him over the edge.”
“Did you have him killed?” I whisper-yelled, but she waved a dismissive hand at me.
“What? Don’t be ridiculous. You really think I’d do such a thing? No, that man was troubled. It was one hundred percent suicide,” she said way too sarcastically before turning. “I just wanted to bring you the terrible news. I guess we can’t get revenge on him after all.”
“I was really looking forward to it too,” I deadpanned, making her chuckle.
“I know. Have a good night, Raven. Make sure you get a good sleep and study hard. Diesel’s stopping by your house tomorrow night. He has some painting supplies to donate to you.”
“Thank you!” I called out, and she gave me a wink before striding towards where some kids were still playing darts, her voice sharp.
“Gregory Butler, I need a word with you.”
I smirked, knowing she wasn’t that mad at him. She just had to act like it so he didn’t walk all over her.
It was five by the time I’d cleaned up and the guys were finished for the day, shooing the rest of the kids out so we could lock up for the night.
Ander and Zavier had gone home already to make a start on dinner, and Logan drove his car home while Reid came with me.
“You know what would really make my day?” he mumbled, his eyes closed as I drove.
“What?”
“If you pulled over and crawled onto my lap,” he replied, cracking one eye open to peer at me, the ghost of a smile on his lips. “Unless you want me to bend you over the hood again.”
Despite having our own house, we regularly fucked in or on the cars. It was almost like a kink of ours at this point.
We were still living in Rory’s small house, but we’d just bought our own house down the road from Beckett’s that we were picking the keys up for next week. It was a modern home with a massive garage that fit all of our cars, and we all had a bedroom each for space and to store our own things.
It had multiple bathrooms and two living spaces, one upstairs and one downstairs.
The old owner was a mechanic, so the garage was done up with a pit and everything, much to Ander’s delight.
We’d all agreed to turn the upstairs living room into one massive bedroom, while keeping each of the other rooms for our own space, and the kitchen was so fucking nice.
Zavier was going to be in heaven cooking in it.
“I think you can wait until we get home, Mr. Barron,” I teased, groaning when he leaned over and nibbled my ear, his hand sliding down my front.
“You’re mistaken,” he murmured, my breath hitching as he popped the button on my jeans and slid a hand inside, and I almost crashed the damn car when his fingers teased my clit. “I need you coming on my hand right now.”
“Fuck, okay,” I growled, pulling over so I didn’t kill us, yanking the emergency brake on. “Why can’t you?—”
My words were cut off as he kissed me, forcing a finger inside me as I shifted my hips forward slightly.
“I want you to squirt for me, baby. Soak your jeans so the guys know what we were doing,” he murmured, biting my jaw lightly as I squirmed.
“Reid—”
“Do as you’re told. I want you gushing for me.”
I slid a hand into his hair to pull him in for a kiss again, my body not fighting it as he brought me closer to climax, and I definitely soaked my damn jeans.
When he pulled back to lick his fingers clean, I glared at him while catching my breath. “We’re not done. Why don’t you look ready to rip your pants off?”
“We’ll finish this at home. Have some control, Raven,” he taunted, and he was lucky I didn’t kick him out of the damn car.
“You’re so dead, asshole.”
“Don’t threaten me. You know we’ll only gang up on you,” he smirked, leaning over to kiss my scowl. “How about if you hurry up and get home, I’ll eat your pussy and fuck you on the kitchen table before dinner?”
“Or you convince the guys we don’t need dinner, and gangbang me in the bedroom instead,” I said sweetly, making him laugh.
“If that’s what you want, I don’t think they’ll say no.”
I was pretty sure I drove home in record time, and I already had my shirt off by the time Reid closed the front door.
Reid was right too. No one said no to a gangbang in the bedroom.
The End.