Chapter 21
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
RORY
Aweek passed in a blur. Reporters wanted statements, we got harassed even more, if that was possible, and Josie was on the warpath. She’d managed to get the photos removed, but articles kept popping up about me being a cheating piece of shit.
Thankfully, the gym at home was all set up for sparring, so Mule and Zeena came over a lot after school to train, which honestly kept me sane at this point, and when I could sneak away from all the attention, Diesel and Skeeter took me to the range a couple of times to continue getting more comfortable with my gun.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any more mentally draining, Josie’s lawyer showed up on Saturday morning when I was eating breakfast with Skeeter and the guys, a pep in his step.
“I have some good news for you, Aurora,” he smiled, rummaging in his briefcase for some paperwork.
“My dad’s dead?” I asked with a straight face, making him cringe.
“Please don’t joke about that to me.”
“Who’s joking?”
He sighed, handing the papers over to me. “I received these from Slash Russo’s attorney. You were named in his last will and testimony."
I almost choked on my food, staring at the papers in his outstretched hand like they were a snake.
“He left something for me?” I finally asked, hesitating before taking the paper.
“He left you his entire estate as his sole beneficiary, actually. We’re trying to find his Mustang, but—”
“I have it,” Skeeter murmured, flicking his eyes over the paperwork. “He left her everything?”
“Yes. You’ll need to organize handing the keys and the car—”
“I can do that. If he wanted her to have it, then it’s hers,” Skeeter answered, blowing out a breath. “The guys are going to lose their fucking minds.”
He wasn’t wrong. Slash had left me his home, car, and any assets within the property. He didn’t have a lot of money, but the house was paid off and he didn’t owe anything on the car.
“I’ve gone over everything, I just need you to sign a few things,” the lawyer smiled, pulling a pen out and starting to go over what needed signing, and I felt a little numb by the time he left.
“The Mustang’s at my place. We can go and get it, if you want? You’ve got the keys to the house, so we can head there too,” Skeeter offered quietly, knowing I was lost in my own thoughts.
Everything. Slash had left me everything.
The will had been updated around my birthday, and it made me wonder if he’d done it out of guilt, or if he’d known something we hadn’t.
“Aurora?” Skeeter asked, snapping me from my thoughts.
“Uh, yeah. We can do that,” I replied, still staring at the paperwork in front of me.
“Want us to stay here?” Caden asked, but I shook my head.
“No.”
I didn’t need to explain that I needed them with me or I couldn’t make myself step into that house. Knowing Slash wasn’t going to be there made my chest ache, and part of me considered not going at all.
Facing his death wasn’t something I could handle, but if he wanted me to have everything, then it was for a reason.
Anika had been at Tyler’s house and was seen with her new boyfriend, so at least a lot of the reporters had been chasing them around instead of us this week. A few still lingered, and I really wanted to lose them before going to Slash’s.
They’d turn it into some twisted lie, tarnishing what we’d had. Having a key to his home and driving his car would cause even more of a stir for sure, and there was already so much speculation circulating about me right now.
All of our cars were in the garage, giving us an extra second of privacy before having to deal with the flashing cameras. The guys went in Jensen’s Camaro, and I went with Skeeter in the McLaren.
“Hey, chill,” Skeeter ordered when we passed the gate and hit the road, his hand reaching out to cover mine. I was clenching the keys so tightly that I was surprised I wasn’t bleeding.
I relaxed a little, blowing out a breath. “Why did he leave it to me?”
“Because he loved you,” he said simply, a calmness in his tone that wasn’t usually there when he discussed Slash. “All that time, his feelings were genuine.”
“Don’t do that.”
“Do what?”
“Let the guilt in. How were you supposed to trust him when he’d fucked me over so many times before?
You were trying to protect me, Skeet. You didn’t know his intentions,” I promised, not wanting him to regret it.
“What if it had been a game to him? Then you’d regret not seeing through it.
There’s nothing you can do to change what’s happened, so don’t think about it. ”
“He really fucking loved you,” he mumbled in disbelief, letting out a light laugh. “That asshole gave me so much shit about falling for you, but the second he caught feelings he put you in his will and died? And he thought I was obsessive.”
The light conversation made me laugh too, the thought honestly ridiculous the more I thought about it.
“He was totally pussy whipped,” I added, his amused eyes sliding to mine for a second.
“I told him you had good pussy, and he didn’t believe me.”
“He fell right into my trap,” I joked, resting my hand on his thigh. “He was a really good guy under that mask he wore.”
“He really was. I’m glad he let you see it,” he murmured, both of us lapsing into silence for the rest of the drive.
No matter what, it always hit me like a ton of bricks whenever I saw the Mustang. Logically, I knew that Slash wasn’t about to climb out of it, or that he wasn’t waiting in Skeeter’s kitchen with a beer in hand.
It still stung though.
Jensen parked on the road, and I waited outside while Skeeter grabbed the Mustang keys, giving me time to just stare at it. It needed a wash, and as much as I’d driven it before, I was nervous now.
What if something happened to it?
“Here,” Skeeter murmured when he joined me again, holding the keys out to me.
“What if I wreck it?” I blurted out, not taking them.
“If you’re worried about that, should I take my Corvette back?” he teased, taking my hand and dropping the keys into them. “Go on. Warm her up and take her for a run.”
I nodded and moved towards the driver’s side and unlocked it before climbing behind the wheel to start it. It roared to life, the familiar sound mixed with the lingering scent of Slash making emotions hit me like a goddamn train.
I didn’t dare roll the windows down, not wanting to lose the last little piece I had of him.
Skeeter motioned for me to back out of the driveway, and I took a shaky breath before putting it in reverse and easing it out, parking it on the side of the road to wait for Skeeter to join me.
He got into the McLaren, apparently not coming with me, and I took the lead as we drove to Slash’s house.
I kept the radio off, enjoying listening to the sound of the engine on the short drive, and when we arrived at the house, I parked in the driveway, leaving enough room behind me for the guys.
“I should have washed it,” Skeeter muttered to himself as he appeared beside me, and I shook my head.
“I’ll do it later.”
“So, are you going to move in and live in squalor again? Or are you enjoying your mansion life now?” he teased, but there was a seriousness in his eyes as he awaited my answer.
“I honestly don’t know if I can live here. Not yet, anyway,” I mumbled, pulling the keys out to unlock the house and stepping inside.
It smelled strongly of Slash. There was a dirty coffee cup on the coffee table, a blanket on the couch from Diesel sleeping on it, dishes still stacked on the counter, and I wasn’t sure why, but seeing his dirty socks on the floor was what almost did me in.
He’d left the house for the last time with Diesel that morning, not realizing he’d never return to wash them.
Caden and the guys sat in the living room while I grabbed the coffee cup and headed into the kitchen to clean up, sensing Skeeter watching me, but he stayed silent.
I wiped the counter when I was done, picking up a dirty shirt, along with the socks, and tossing them in the laundry basket. The bed was unmade, and I couldn’t help myself as I curled up in it and buried my face in the pillow.
The guys left me alone for a while, their quiet murmuring in the other room a sense of comfort, knowing they were still there despite giving me space. It must have been hard for Skeeter to be here too, I doubted he’d stepped foot in here until today either.
“Hey,” Skeeter said as he poked his head into the room after what felt like forever. “You want to see the security room?”
I sat up with a frown. “What security room?”
“Slash was a tech nerd, babe. He’s got a bunch of computer stuff. C’mon, I’ll show you. I might not be able to do anything with it though, I’m not well-versed in tech like he was.”
I stood, following him into the living room to the closet door. He opened it, stepping inside slightly where there was apparently another door inside it along the wall.
He unlocked it with a code, opening it wide for us to step inside, and I couldn’t believe the amount of monitors that were in there.
“Was he a fucking spy?” Tyler sputtered, walking along the desk to investigate.
“No, he just hacked a lot of stuff. Diesel’s better at this shit than me, so he can probably help you log into it all later and show you how to access things,” Skeeter explained as I looked around.
He hadn’t been kidding, there were six monitors attached to a high-tech looking computer, a filing cabinet along the wall, and even a damn mini fridge in the corner.
“Why did he need all of this?” Lukas asked with confusion, making Skeeter chuckle.
“We never go after someone without monitoring them first. Slash would spend hours in here studying people’s patterns and keeping an eye on things.”
I lowered myself into the chair and turned the computer on, not surprised when it asked for a password.