Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
SINCLAIR
"My place is closer," Phoenix declared.
"Mine is closerer," Coast said. He draped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against his body. He felt like rock covered in warm skin, softened by several beers and a few shots of tequila. Not enough to make him sloppy drunk. Even he couldn't get away with that during the season.
"Is not," Phoenix argued. "Mine is." He frowned. "Maybe it's about the same." He was also clearly buzzed, but not to the point of falling over.
"We should let them go to… Wherever," Javey said. He took my hand, encouraging me to step away from Coast. "We can go to your place or mine."
"We can't go to mine." Coast cocked his head, clearly, finally, remembering what happened. a loud whisper he added, "People died there. It's okay, though, they were bad people. "
"Bro, you can't go saying shit like that, people might hear." Phoenix punched him on the arm, narrowly missing punching me as well.
"Ouch, the fuck, dude?" Coast rubbed his arm. "If people hear me, I guess I gotta kill them too." He peered at my face and grinned. "Not you, though, you're pretty." He kissed my mouth.
"It's good to know you have some limits," I said, dryly. I kissed him back quickly, but then said, "Let's get a ride to Phoenix's house."
Phoenix laughed. "Coast has limits? That's hilarious. Next thing you'll be saying he has boundaries too."
"Fuck off." Coast shook his head at him.
"You fuck off," Phoenix retorted. "I don't have to do what you say. I don't gotta do what anyone says."
"We should call them a ride share, " Javey said. "They can find their own way from here."
"Nah, we might get lost," Coast said jokingly.
"With any luck," Javey muttered.
I patted his hand and pulled out my phone to order a car to take us all to Phoenix's apartment.
If we were going to make this work, we might as well start right now.
Besides, the two of them had enough to drink, I wouldn't leave them to fend for themselves.
It might be just the opportunity the Fiorellis were looking for.
Their reflexes would be slower right now, especially if they were drunk enough to pass out.
Javey sighed, but we all knew what was at stake here.
If anything happened to either of them, he'd regret letting them go off alone.
No matter what he might say, he wasn't a bad person, and didn't hate either of them.
Once he realised they weren't a threat to him, and our growing relationship, he'd chill out.
I hoped.
The car pulled up to the curb a couple of minutes later. I opened the door and stuck my head in.
"Rooney?" The driver asked. "Hop on in."
I nodded to the guys to get in, and slipped into the front passenger seat.
Phoenix and Coast tumbled into the back, followed by a very unimpressed looking Javey.
I did my seatbelt and looked back over my shoulder. The three big guys were pressed together tight in the small backseat.
If that didn't help their team bonding, nothing would.
"Get your hand off my dick," Coast growled to Phoenix.
"That's your hand," Phoenix told him.
Coast raised his hand and stared at it. "Oh yeah. It fucking is too." He squinted. "Fingers are weird." He wiggled them. "Just look at them. They're like octopuses, or some shit."
"Your fingers are weird, ‘cause they're attached to you," Phoenix told him. "My fingers are normal." He held up his hand to demonstrate.
I caught Javey's eye and smiled while he rolled his. A faint smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. He was almost as amused by their drunken antics as I was. This might be just what we all needed.
I turned back around. How far were we from Phoenix's place?
I frowned. "Is this a shortcut I don't know about?"
"Yeah," the driver said with a grunt. "Much quicker."
I turned to get a good look at him. I didn't recognise him, but I didn't know everyone who lived in Dusk Bay. I did, however, know all the roads.
"This is not the way to where we want to go," I said.
He didn't respond.
I looked back over my shoulder.
Javey's lips were pressed together tight, his gaze intent on the back of the driver's seat. He clearly heard what the driver said. He elbowed Phoenix in the ribs.
"What the hell?" Phoenix turned to stare at him.
"Sober the fuck up," Javey told him. He gestured out the window.
Phoenix stared. "This is not the way home." He looked and sounded very, very sober.
"‘Course it is," Coast said. It was his turn to peer out the window. "Where the hell are we?"
He leaned forward, grabbed the driver's seatbelt on either side of him and yanked it up to his throat.
"You might want to reconsider your life choices right now." He, too, sounded sober now.
The driver took one hand off the steering wheel and tried to tug the seatbelt away from his neck. The car swerved, narrowly missing an oncoming truck.
"Pull over to the side of the road and let us out," Coast ordered.
"Bad idea," Phoenix said. He leaned forward and spoke to the driver. "Pull over, and you can get out."
"Yeah, that is a better idea," Coast said.
"I have them once in a while," Phoenix said. "Nothing is getting past me tonight."
"I’d offer you a fist bump, but my hands are kinda busy right now." Coast pulled the seatbelt tighter.
"That's okay, I'll take a mental fist bump," Phoenix said.
"We need to get this car stopped," Javey said urgently.
I looked out the front windscreen and realised he was right. The road we were on led to the top of the cliff. Veering off would suck. If the driver knew he was going to die, he might be content to take him with us.
Hard pass.
I grabbed hold of the bottom of the steering wheel with one hand, and, with the other, put the car into neutral. The engine screeched in protest, but gradually began to lose power.
The driver, apparently desperate, tried to wrench the steering wheel back as we approached the top of the cliff.
His eyes protruded from his face, which was getting redder and redder. His laboured breaths were coming out in gasps.
"He's a stubborn fucking asshole," Coast ground out. "Die, already, motherfucker. I'll settle for you passing out. I'm not that fucking fussy."
I had both hands on the steering wheel now, pulling as hard as I could towards the side of the road that didn't end with a sheer drop down to the ocean. Not to mention a bunch of rocks that wouldn't make a soft landing.
I caught movement beside me. Javey threw himself over the centre console and helped me to wrench the steering wheel hard to the left.
Phoenix uttered a muffled, "Fuck."
The car finally slowed to a little over a walk.
Javey grabbed the handbrake and tugged it up. We came to a stop slanted across the road, the driver finally slumped in his seat. Dead or alive, it didn't matter too much to me right now. We weren't lying dead at the bottom of a cliff, in a tangle of metal.
I shoved open the car door and slid out, sucking mouthfuls of fresh air to combat the nausea swirling through my belly. I didn't usually get carsick, but there was something about potentially dying that didn't agree with my stomach.
It was Phoenix who came to put his arms around me, while Javey and Coast pulled the driver out of the front of the car and laid him down beside the road.
"Is he—" I peered over tentatively.
"Dead?" Coast asked. "No." He looked up at me and gave me a dark smile. "Not yet."
His expression and tone sent shivers all the way through me.
To Javey he asked, "How do you feel about a little extra team bonding?" He gestured down to the driver.
"I'm game," Javey said. He grabbed the driver by his upper arms, while Coast took hold of his ankles. Together, they picked him up, carried him over to the rear of the car and tossed him into the boot.
"I have to admit, I would have loved to throw him off the cliff." Coast closed the back of the car with a thud. "But knowing Aidan, he'll want to have him questioned." He looked regretful.
"Your restraint is admirable," I said without sarcasm. Killing the driver was no more than he deserved. Honestly, he'd probably wish he was dead once Ice Miller got a hold of him. I almost felt sorry for him.
Almost.
"Isn't it though?" Coast grinned, all of his bravado back in full force. "That cliff is incredibly tempting. "He clapped Javey on the back. "Thanks for the lift, buddy."
"Yeah." Javey eyed the cliff like he wasn't sure if they shouldn't throw the driver over after all. That was a step up from wanting to throw Coast and Phoenix over it. It seemed nothing brought people together more than attempted murder.
Was it a man thing, or was it about our mobster lifestyle?
Maybe both.
"Let's get out of here," I said. "I'll drive." I hadn't had much to drink, not compared to the guys. The last thing we needed was to survive an attack only to die from driving drunk. That would be horrifically ironic. I didn't need that kind of irony in my life.
"I'm sitting in the front," Javey said quickly. He moved over to slide into the passenger seat before either of the guys could argue. Judging by the weary looks on their faces, neither of them could be bothered.
Without another word, Coast and Phoenix slipped into the backseat and closed the doors behind them.
"Where are we taking this asshole," I asked.
"Let me find out." Coast had his phone to his ear.
I couldn't make out the words, but the male voice on the other end sounded angry, and very much like Aidan. Presumably he didn't like receiving phone calls at nearly two o'clock in the morning. At least he couldn't complain about being left out of the loop.
Although it was Aidan, he'd complain if he wanted to.
Coast eventually got off the call and gave me an address. "He's going to meet us there."
"Goodie," I said under my breath. "I can't wait."
I very carefully turned the car around and headed back into the city.