Vicious Rebel (82 Street Vandals #2) - Heather Long Page 0,50

folded into the seat next to me, and I was already accelerating as I hit the controller for the door. It was late in the day, the sun had already gone down, and traffic was thick as assholes working their banker’s hours went home to their suburban houses after they stopped off to bang their mistresses or fucked a hooker in an alleyway.

Story of my fucking life.

“Jas…”

“Don’t.” I shook my head. “Don’t Jas me.”

Liam sighed and tilted his head back. “Fine, Hawk. She’s safe at my place. I’m not connected with you guys as much, and it’s in Royals’ territory…”

I cut him a look as I took the next turn and headed for the loop to head to the far side of the city. “Not really selling this to me.”

“She’s with Rome.”

There it was. The one person we both trusted. The only link we had left. I still didn’t know why Rome had chosen to stay with us when Liam left, or why Liam had left him with us and didn’t take him. I sure as shit wasn’t gonna kick Rome out the door, but at the same time…

“Rome isn’t going to let anything happen to her.”

I pulled out a cigarette and got it lit before I cracked the window. “Why the hell do you keep coming around? If you want to be here, be here. You don’t. So stay with your new friends.” Bitterness swelled in me. I still had no idea why he’d decided to ditch us five minutes after Raptor ended up in jail. He hadn’t even waited for them to move him upstate before he walked away.

“Does it matter?” He sounded tired. As tired as I was. The last three years had been…

“Yes, it matters. You left your brother—”

“I never left my brother,” he cut in. “Don’t start with that shit. I’ll always have his back. I could have yours too if you’d stop being such a fucking dick about everything. I’ll have hers too. That was why I was there today, by the way, and you’re fucking welcome, since you and Vaughn were locked away with Freddie the desperate.”

“Leave him alone.”

“You coddle him,” Liam snapped. “He’s never going to stand on his own feet because he doesn’t have to. He knows no matter how far he falls, you’ll go and get him.”

“That’s what family does. You used to know that.”

I blew out a stream of smoke.

“Sometimes you have to fall,” Liam muttered. “You want an omelet, that means you break some eggs.”

“When I want your opinion, I’ll be sure to draw a dick on my face ahead of time, ’cause that’s how smashed I’d have to be.”

He ignored me after that, and I was fine with it. He wasn’t wrong about Freddie, but I had no idea what the hell else to do. If we sent him away to one of those lock-in rehabs, I didn’t know if he’d survive. Freddie needed us, and isolation freaked him out. He acted like everything was a party, but his triggers… Fuck, I wasn’t sure even I knew where they all were.

Liam snorted when I pulled up to his building. Yeah, I knew where the fancy fucker lived. He gave me the code to get us in and then directed me where to park. The bike was sitting there. That was a good sign.

The ride up in the elevator was silent. I ignored all the cushy signs and the security cameras. The place gave me hives. At the door to his place, he took the lead. The interior was dark, save for the fireplace flickering colorfully and the exterior lights visible through the windows.

It was the light of the hall slanting into the room that revealed Rome wrapped completely around Emersyn on the sofa. She was tucked up to his chest, her eyes closed and her body utterly relaxed. There was a shadow of a bruise on her cheek, but otherwise, she was perfect.

“Lucky bastard,” Liam muttered. Fuck it. I needed an outlet. I punched the asshole.

Black and Gray

Jasper

“Jasper.” Ms. Stephanie pulled over one of the chairs in the classroom and took a seat on it. Everyone else was outside playing. I’d had to stay inside for recess. “We talked about this.”

I nodded, not looking up from where I colored on the page. I was using the black and the gray crayons. I’d taken every single one of them. That was what had started the problems. But until Ms. Stephanie came in, I hadn’t been willing to take