Chapter 11 #2
“Your mom and your money can’t erase who she is, Holloway.
You’re helping her find her mom, right? If she’s accepted you to help her pay for that, then leave it be.
She might just be ignoring Max and not want to take it further than that,” I said dryly, hoping something bad happened to Max so she didn’t have to make a choice about it.
“Skeet hasn’t taken money from me and just keeps saying he’s working on finding Marla.
I have no idea what he’s doing, but I’d really hoped going to Rosevale was going to give them some kind of answer, not more questions,” he huffed, staring at Rory’s sleeping face. “What if they find her and she leaves?”
There was always going to be a possibility of that happening.
Rory’s mom meant everything to her, and if Marla didn’t live close by, I’d put all my money on her leaving to live with her.
It was selfish of me to want to ask her to stay, I knew what it felt like to wait for a parent to come back for me, so I knew if I’d had a good parent, I’d want to go after them too.
“I’d go with her,” Tyler said without hesitation, not looking up from his phone. “No offense, but apart from you guys, there’s nothing holding me here.”
“I’d go too. Bet Luke wouldn’t let her leave without him either,” I added, and Caden looked torn.
Unlike us, he was happy with his life and everything in it.
“I’m hoping they can find Marla and bring her here,” he said after a second, burying his head in the sand as usual. “There’s plenty of room, and I bet she’d get along with Mom.”
“What if she’s remarried and has a family? She was pregnant, remember? So she has at least one other kid. They’d be what, eight or nine?” I reminded him, but he waved it off.
“So? What kid wouldn’t want to live here? We have a pool and everything.”
Tyler snorted, pointing at Rory. “She doesn’t even want to be here in your fancy house. She’s only here for you and your mom.”
“That’s different. She’s got it out for rich people and their stuff. Maybe Marla married a decent guy and has a nice little house somewhere. Rory’s bitter because of Max, but Marla was different.”
“Rory’s right, you’re insufferable,” I sighed.
“What did I say?”
“Dude, you aren’t God. No one’s worshipping you and your bank account.”
“I don’t mean it like that, asshole. They’d be happy here,” he said bluntly, and Tyler chuckled.
“You’re forgetting one thing. You’re acting like they're miserable wherever they are. Marla’s probably made a good life for herself and whatever other kids she has. Her house might even be bigger than yours for all you know.”
“Then she should’ve come back for Rory a long damn time ago,” he argued, his voice calming as he added, “Why does no one fight for her?”
“She can’t just take someone else’s kid, dude,” Tyler pointed out.
“Mom was willing to. If Marla had money—”
“Why didn’t Josie go after your dad? She had more money than him. She could’ve easily gotten him charged and that divorce pushed through.”
He frowned, his posture relaxing a little. “She won’t admit it, but she was still scared of him. Not to mention, dragging it through court would’ve been months, if not years, of reliving it.”
“Exactly.”
“But Marla left Rory with Max, it’s different. If Mom—”
“Your mom’s a saint, but she still sent you to your dad’s when she thought you’d hurt Rory.
I’ll never understand that,” I said, hating to talk badly about Josie, but it had bothered me that she made him go there when she knew what kind of man Tristan was.
“He used to hurt you, Caden. Marla has her reasons, I’m sure of it.
You don’t know what she’s been through, so you can’t judge how she reacted. ”
He clenched his jaw but didn’t argue, his eyes on the TV.
“If her baby is also Max’s, then she’d be trying to hide them from him,” Tyler said as he thought out loud. “Max might have lost everything, but he still had dodgy connections, right? What if he cut a deal using Rory to try and kidnap his other kid?”
“It's possible,” I answered thoughtfully, hating it but knowing it was something that prick would likely do.
“I think we all start pulling cash out slowly over the next month or two and pay someone to take him out,” Tyler said with a grunt, finally putting his phone away.
“Do you know many hitmen?” I deadpanned.
“No, but Slash could find me a guy. Hell, I could probably convince him to do it himself if I waved a chunk of cash at him.”
“Don’t you dare bring that asshole into it.”
“He’s trying to help.”
“He’s playing you like a fucking fiddle, Ty,” I bit out, an amused smile tugging at his mouth.
“I’m the only one with my eyes open and sees the truth.”
I had no idea what that meant, and I put it down to him tripping balls on something again and was talking out of his ass.
“We’re not hiring an assassin,” Caden said firmly.
“Why not? She’s not like Luke. He’d flip out if we got Karen killed, but Rory would probably find it sweet if we got someone to deliver the corpse of her dead daddy on a silver platter,” Tyler hummed, standing to stretch. “I’m going to head home. Call me if you need me.”
“You’re not staying?” Caden asked with a frown.
“Nah. I’m having beers with Slash. He said he should be done with Psychos business soon, so I’ll head home to wait for him.”
“No dragging him into shit. Clear?” Caden said sharply, and Tyler just rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, yeah. I won’t.”
He walked over to Rory and hesitated before leaning down to kiss the top of her head, then he left the room with a wave over his shoulder.
“He’s spiraling again,” Caden said quietly, his eyes still on the empty doorway that Tyler had just left through.
“He seemed okay today,” I stated, trying to think about my interactions with him throughout the day.
“He’s drinking before school. His diet consists of powder and coffee when he’s not drinking, and he’s burning shit down as stress relief,” he said bluntly, shaking his head a little.
“We’ll keep an eye on him.”
“How? He’s not with us half the time, and we’re kind of busy with stopping Luke from jumping off a cliff every other day, and trying to make sure Rory’s safe.”
“You keep tabs on Ty, I’ll make sure Luke is okay, and we both keep an eye on Rory. Rope Skeet into that too,” I suggested, holding my knuckles out for Caden to lean over and bump with his.
“Deal.”
Tyler
The familiar pit in my stomach formed the second I walked into my empty house. I’d hoped to have spent the night with Rory, but I knew with Lukas’ problems that she’d end up crashing with him and Jensen.
I tossed my keys in the bowl on the kitchen counter, opening the fridge to grab a beer but deciding against it and turning to the cupboard for a bottle of whiskey instead.
I took a swig as I carried it outside, making myself comfortable by the pool while I waited for Slash to get here. It would be dark soon, and my stomach growled to remind me I’d skipped breakfast and lunch today.
I took out a cigarette and lit it, knowing it would take away some of the hunger. I was pretty sure if I ate, I’d throw up.
I’d drunk half the bottle before Slash showed up, dropping down into a chair beside mine as he took the bottle and stole a mouthful.
“Long day at the academy? Too many people kissed your feet?” he joked as he handed it back, and I flipped him off before taking it.
“Asshole. Fucked my girl lately?”
“I wish. Skeet was pretty tight-lipped about their trip to Rosevale. She okay?”
“Not really. The mom’s ex-boyfriend lives there and told her that Rory’s not Marla’s kid.
Messed her up a little, I think,” I shrugged, staring at the water as it rippled in the breeze.
“I wish it had been Max instead. She deserves some good news, and finding out he wasn’t her father would’ve felt like the jackpot. ”
He let out a low whistle, leaning back. “Her mom’s not her bio mom?”
“Nope. Skeet’s going to try and find out more. The cops claimed they did a welfare check on Marla when she left Rosevale, since the guy she was dating was worried about her when she vanished. That was bullshit. Apparently, she came back here to Max and was fine. Rory said she never came home.”
“Wasn’t she pregnant by the guy?”
“Thought so. Max tracked her down and assaulted her. Knocked her up,” I sighed, handing him the bottle.
“I want to kill that piece of shit,” he grumbled.
“Me too. I offered to hire someone but the guys shut it down fast.”
“I’ll do it.”
“That’s what I said. They don’t want you involved,” I snorted, taking the bottle back once he’d downed more. “You should just tell them, you know?”
“Give them another reason to hate me? Sure, why not?” he scoffed, shaking his head slightly.
“I could back you up. Rory would too.”
“Rory would kill the pair of us if we said something before she was ready, and Skeet would kill me for the audacity of touching her in the first place.”
“It’s not like they’re officially dating.”
“They’ve got some kind of twisted soulmate bullshit carved from the pits of hell. Trust me, nothing I say will make him okay with it,” he said dryly, glancing over at me. “I still don’t get why you’re okay with it.”
“I put blind trust in you. It's either a good bet, or a bad one. I’m really hoping it’s not a mistake, man.”
“It’s not,” he said quietly, and I studied him as he got lost in his thoughts.
“Jesus, you’re really into her, aren’t you? All that fighting was just sexual tension.”
“No, she really did piss me off. Still does,” he grumbled, lighting a cigarette and smirking at me. “But I kind of like it now. Keeps me on my toes.”
“And your cock hard, I bet,” I grinned, making him laugh.
“That too.”
“Did you bring my—”
“Yeah. You need to slow down, you’re going to OD, idiot,” he muttered as he fished the small baggie from his pocket and tossed it onto my lap.
“I’m fine, dude.”
He glared at me for calling him dude, but he didn’t say anything about it. “There’s probably more drugs inside you right now than my entire warehouse.”
“I’m not even high right now.”
“What did you do with the shit I gave you yesterday?”
“Shoved it up my nose yesterday, obviously,” I chuckled, holding the baggie tightly in my hand. “Thanks.”
“We’re blackmail buddies and all, but I won’t keep selling to you if you keep going at this rate, Ty. I mean it. It’s about balance, and you’re not sober long enough to find that balance.”
“I’ll tell people all your secrets if you stop.”
“How about I put you in the ground? Your mouth can’t talk if you’re dead,” he bit out, laughter escaping me. I couldn’t stop it, the loud noise filling the yard as I tried to get control of myself.
Slash stared at me like I’d finally lost it. Maybe I had.
“Sorry, you’re funny sometimes,” I managed to get out, and he snatched my bottle to take an angry drink from it.
“I’m being serious. Who’d even notice you’re missing? You could sit in this house for days and no one would notice,” he snapped, wincing the second it left his mouth.
It stung, but he wasn’t exactly wrong.
Then again, Rory would notice, and so would Caden. Unless they were together, then they’d probably forget about me for a few days.
“Don’t let Rory see me then. I don’t want that,” I finally stated, getting to my feet.
He did the same, hesitating before patting my shoulder. “Look, I’m being an ass. Sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it. You coming in to drink, or leaving me to my lonely self?” I asked, shrugging his hand off.
“Thought we were having a slumber party? I brought my pretty pajamas for you,” he deadpanned, lightening the mood slightly.
“Fine, but don’t be a bed hog,” I warned, leading him inside to the kitchen to find some glasses and more to drink, keeping hold of the coke in case he took it back.
I took some bills from my wallet and handed them to him, pushing a glass in front of him next.
“We’re a bit of an odd pair,” he said randomly after a minute of silence, amusement on his face. “A rich boy and a street rat. It’s like a bad joke waiting to happen.”
“No different than the rich boys who fell in love with the Heights girl,” I said dryly, downing my drink and reaching for the bottle to refill it.
“To street rats and rich pricks,” he grinned, lifting his glass in a toast.
I clinked mine against his with a snort.
“Rory’s giving you a sense of humor, I see.”
“Something like that,” he replied lightly, but I knew I was right.