Chapter 29 The Truth
chapter Twenty-nine
The Truth
Nico
It took me four days to clear the rage out of my head. The only way to prevent myself from going back and finishing the job I started with Ezra was to bury my cock in my wife. I’ve fucked Tiffany in every position and in every hole for the last three days.
Every time I shut my eyes, I’d see that prick touching her or smiling in her fucking face at that table. Despite what it may have looked like, I wasn’t angry at Tiffany for going. She truly believed she was there to discuss a potential client.
I was pissed the fuck off at her because she didn’t tell me. I didn’t like the idea that she thought she had to hide something like that from me. Yeah, I disliked the guy, but I wouldn’t have told her not to go or stopped her from going. The fact that she thought either of those things bothered me.
“Hello Mr. Basille,” Todd, Mason’s assistant, says when I step off the elevator.
Todd knew I was coming up. Nobody gets onto Mason’s floor without first getting clearance.
“Hey. Is he busy?”
Todd shakes his head. “Only he and Grant are in there.”
It was time I had a conversation with my brother.
None of us have ever gone more than 24 hours without speaking to each other.
Even amid some of our biggest blowups, we have always gone out of our way to communicate.
The fact that I have gone nearly two weeks without talking to him is completely out of the norm.
Pulling open the maple doors to Mason’s office, I step inside. The sleek contemporary office with its unique angular dimensions was something to behold. The room was rectangular. On opposite sides of the room were floor to ceiling glass windows, bringing in tons of natural light.
The floor was done in black calacatta quartz marble. The ceiling was made up of black panels, and between the seams of the panels were gold lights that gave the room a calming effect. I’m sure if Tiffany were to see Mason’s office, she’d be in love.
Walking further into the room, I’m followed by Ghost and Roc. Mason is sitting behind his desk. He leans back in his chair when I entered, his blue gaze locked in on me.
“Sup, Nic,” Grant says, standing from his seat. He comes over and daps me up.
“Nothing much. How’ve you been?” I ask.
“Same as always.” Grant turns to face a silent Mason. “I’ll make that call for you.” He turns back to me and nods before walking out.
“We’ll wait out here,” Ghost says. I don’t reply. I wait until the door clicks closed behind me before making my way over to Mason’s desk.
“I’m sorry,” I say. I’ve never been one to beat around the bush.
He looks away before scratching his chin.
“Sit down, Nic.”
Unbuttoning my suit jacket, I take a seat across the desk from him.
“You said a lot of foul shit that day.”
“I know. I was pissed.”
“Truths are always told when one is drunk and when one is mad.”
Silence surrounds us. I had nothing to say to that.
“I wasn’t trying to cramp your style. If you want me to step back—”
“I don’t want you to step back, Mase.” I scrub a hand down my face. “I’m just trying not to royally fuck it up for all of us. Things are getting a little heavy.”
Mason shrugs. “Then that’s when we come in to carry some of the load. From the moment we agreed to run, we’ve been in this shit together. That will never change. Your mistakes are mine and vice versa. It’s been that way from the beginning.”
That moment while standing in our small, shared room was the biggest event of our lives.
We were just four tired and beat down kids ready for a change.
There was a high chance it would fall apart, but at that point we were willing to die trying.
We had no idea just how close we would all come.
My memories of that night come flooding back to the forefront.
The energy in the room was heavy tonight. We’d just come back from last meal, which meant we’d be heading to the showers before lights were out. This was the norm every day. The plan was simple.
Lucas had discovered that the locks on the doors could be jammed with chewing gum.
When he came from the shower last, as he always does, he was going to place the chewed bubblegum into the lock space between the doors.
After they did final checks and the halls were cleared, we would sneak out.
Anthony knew the patrol schedule. He knew the exact time when the floors would be clear.
Placing my shower caddy on my bed, I glance around the room.
Anthony looks to be deep in thought. I imagine he’s running the plan over in his head for the millionth time.
Lucas is standing quietly beside the bed, chewing the biggest wad of bubblegum he could fit in his mouth.
It took us a week to steal enough gum from the goody box.
When I look at Sergio, I notice how nervous he is.
In fact, he’s been acting anxious all day.
But he was just a baby. Only seven years old, I imagine he was scared.
If it went wrong, tonight could be the last night we were alive. I think he’s just now grasping this.
“Sergi, breathe,” I say jokingly.
His big hazel eyes lock on me, and at that moment, I see something. Something that says his nervousness isn’t because he’s anxious.
Anthony must see it too, because he immediately puts his towel down on my bed and approaches Sergio.
“What’s wrong?”
Sergio looks at both of us, his fingers twirling.
“She’s going to help us. She said she would.”
My heart pounds in my chest.
“Sergie, tell me you didn’t?” Lucas asks, coming over to us.
“She’s my friend, and she loves me. She won’t tell.”
Anthony’s head falls. It was over. There was nothing we could do. Sergio was too young, he still hadn’t learned the lesson that we had. He didn’t know that you couldn’t trust anyone in this place. Even though he’d been here since he was four.
Before we could say anything else, the door to our room opens. Anthony stands up straight, stepping in front of Sergio. Entering the room is Carolyn Marks, the nurse. She was a petite woman with dark blonde hair and pretty blue eyes.
She smiles at us.
Sergio pushes past Anthony.
“I told you. She’s here to help.” He tries to take a step toward her, but Anthony grabs him and pushes him behind him.
Just then, the door opens again, and in walks Paul Howard, Morrison—the head of guards, along with three other guards, and the last to enter the room is the headmaster.
A man that scares the piss out of me. From his quiet and brooding demeanor to his jet-black hair and gray-blue eyes.
The sound of our room door closing behind him nearly causes me to jump out of my skin.
“Wait, what’s going on?”
Poor Sergio was now getting a crash course in reality. He was seeing firsthand why this place was such a hell.
“It’s okay, Sergio,” Ms. Carolyn says in a soft, motherly tone. “We’re here to help.”
The moment the words are out of her mouth, I know things are bad. Sergio knows it too, because I see the crushing look of betrayal on his face.
“You lied to me,” he sobs. “You’re not my friend.”
“Enough of the nonsense,” Headmaster barks. “You know the rules. Any discussion, plans, or attempts at running away result in a week in the white house.”
My heart beats rapidly, and my breathing grows ragged. One minute in the white house was pure hell, a week is damn near unheard of.
“It wasn’t them.” Anthony steps forward, his hands in tight fists down at his side. “It was all me. I came up with the plan and was forcing them to do it. None of them wanted to go along with it.”
That was definitely not the truth, but I was too scared to speak. Too scared to stand beside him and take the blame with him.
Headmaster’s dark eyes narrow. Slowly, he walks up to Anthony. He stops right in front of him, glaring down into his face. Only silence fills the room.
“For your dishonesty, you’ve just earned them two weeks in the white house. Take the boy.”
“No,” Anthony shouts.
One of the burly guards rushes forward to grab a screaming Sergio.
Lucas steps in his path and throws a punch, landing on the guard’s jaw.
Another guard makes an attempt at Sergio, but Anthony shoves him away.
However, the third guard quickly knocks Anthony down and grabs Sergio.
I grab hold of Serg’s arms trying to pull him out of the guard’s arms. His small blunt nails dig into my hands as he screams and grips me tight.
I lose track of the others as I fight to keep them from taking Serg.
The guard that Lucas punches backhands me hard across the face, causing me to let Sergio go and fall to the floor. I listen in horror as he screams and pleads with us to save him. He’s taken out of the room with Ms. Carolyn right behind him.
“You boys will learn that there is no escaping. The only way out of William Bone’s is through reformation,” Headmaster says.
We all fight as best as we can, but one by one they drag us out of the room, heading to what we assumed would be our final destination.
The memory fades, and I’m once again back in Mason’s office. From the first day I was tossed into that small room with him and Kaz, he’s been protecting me.
“We’re not those little kids anymore,” Mason sighs. “Maybe I don’t need to hold on to the reins so tightly.”
Shaking my head, I look him in the face as I reply. “Nah, I think you do. I think we need you to hold on for as long as you can.”
Tiffany was right that day in my office. I needed my brothers. And even though Mason was always going to overstep boundaries and meddle in our shit, I needed that too.
He dips his chin at me. It never took much for us to make amends. We’d argue, sometimes fight, but a simple sorry was all it took to put it behind us.
“Yo, yo.” Mason’s office door opens and Salv and Kaz walk in. “Have you two kissed and made up yet?”
I roll my eyes at Salv. “I thought I told you to give me at least twenty minutes alone before coming in.”
Salv takes the seat beside me while Kaz leans against the window to our right.
“What the fuck were you going to do, braid each other’s hair? Just say sorry.” He shrugs.
“So what’s this plan you got?” Kaz asks, redirecting Salv’s and my conversation.
I never got to explain the shootout or the pickup meeting I had with my runners because of the fight I had with Mason. I quickly run down the sequence of events and explained that Rome had come through with that meeting for the guns.
“You have a date and location?” Mason sits forward in his seat. “I’ll have Grant and my crew survey the area. Just in case they are watching for you.”
I dip my chin. “Cool, I already had Maseo pull up an aerial view. It’s an abandoned gas station off Highway 66. Not much out that way but trees and dead ends.”
“You got backup?” Kaz asks.
“My regular crew plus Rome and Axel.”
“Kaz and I will tag along for the exchange.” Salv grins. “We haven’t seen any action in a while, and it looks like you’re having all the fun.”
I shake my head at him. Only Salv would want to go where the bullets are flying.
“Speaking of, I want to talk to you about something that’s been bothering me,” Mason says, getting my attention.
A chime sound resounds around the room.
“My bad. I’m waiting for a message.” Salv pulls his phone out.
“Let’s catch up after this.” Mason grabs my attention back. “We can talk in private—”
“What the fuck?” Salv shouts, catching us off guard.
His hazel eyes stare down in horror at his phone before looking up at me. Anger is slowly replaced with something else. Something that looks a lot like pity.
“What is it?” Mason asks.
As soon as the question is out of his mouth, Mason and Kaz’s phones chime. They both pull theirs out and check their phones.
My phone chimes next. I quickly retrieve mine out of my pocket. The text message from the unknown number is followed by a picture that hasn’t loaded yet. I read the text.
Unknown Number: I wonder what they will think of you now that they know your nasty truth. Oh, by the way, I sent this to your pretty wife too.
My heart races to the point that I think it may beat out of my chest. I go to the picture attached to the message. It’s an image of a journal entry. The moment I see the handwriting, I know exactly where it’s from. In plain view, Howard talks about the first time he touched me.
Bile rises up my throat. I make it to the trashcan in Mason’s office just in time to empty my stomach.
Around me, I hear voices. They all sound as if they are talking from a distance. The most prominent one is Mason.
“I want this number traced, and that picture erased…I don’t care how difficult it is. Get the shit done,” Mason snarls into his phone.
“Nic, look at me.” Salv is standing over me. He goes to touch me, and I pull away from him.
They know. They all know. They can see my shame and disgust. My skin feels like it’s crawling, like it’s covered in millions of tiny maggots.
“It’s okay, Nicholas. You’re my favorite.” The memory of Howard’s voice repeats in my head.
My breathing comes out in short bursts.
“Give him space.” Mason walks up to me. His gaze raked over me cautiously.
My gaze runs from Mason’s, taking in the room. I notice Ghost is standing near the door. He looks worried. He must see it; he can see the shit and filth covering me. I look down at my arms.
“You were too weak.” The Horseman had said in that last email he’d sent. Too weak to fight him off.
“I wasn’t. I wasn’t weak.” My voice sounds gravelly, as if I’m choking the words out.
“We know that.” Mason tries approaching me, but I back away from him.
He’s lying. I can see it on his face. He has no idea how hard I fought. None of them do.
My phone rings in my pocket. It’s my actual phone, not the Saint one that received the text. It’s the phone only my close friends and family have access to.
Pulling it out, my chest nearly caves when I see the number flashing across it.
Oh, by the way, I sent this to your pretty wife too.
She knows. My world, my heart, knows my truth. She will never look at me again. She knows I’m tarnished.
“I have to get out of here.” I push past Mason.
“Nic, where are you going?” Salv shouts.
My phone rings again, I toss the device against the wall, causing it to shatter.
“Boss, what’s going on?” Ghost tries to step in front of me. I shove him out the way, causing him to stumble into the wall.
“Nic, wait.” This time it’s Kaz that calls out to me.
I rush out of Mason’s office. My mind is racing. I can barely make out anything other than the signs to get out of there. Without stopping or turning around, I keep moving even when I walk out of the building. I need space. They know. They all know. And now they will want nothing to do with me.