“He told me something about my dad.” I was testing him, seeing if he knew what I was talking about.
His eyes went flat, flatter than Harper’s mouth had been moments ago.
He knew.
“Is that why you’re here?”
He swore. “No. No way, Bren. I’m here because I know Harper. His dad was friendly with my uncle.”
My head lowered.
He read my motion right. “Yeah. That uncle.”
Race’s dad, the dad who ran the drug business in Roussou before Drake turned on him and ensured all of them went to prison, or just county, in Alex’s case.
I nodded to his drink. “Sober?”
He looked down, his eyebrows pinched together. Then he laughed. “This is pure soda, but drinking wasn’t my issue, and to answer your next question, I’m clean.” His gaze jumped to Harper before swinging to me. “Got clean in county. Planning on staying that way. And now that we’ve covered all the bases, you want to tell me what you’re really doing here?”
Alex had never been an ally.
My stomach was starting to churn, but that mattress. I kept going back to that mattress.
I asked him, “You know why that was brought out?”
He turned and paused before swinging back. His gaze met mine and I saw the look there. He wasn’t happy. His lips thinned. “No, Bren. I’m really here just for a get-together. Harper invited me, said it’d be a good time, but that was it.” He gestured to the mattress with his drink. “None of that, not like what you’re thinking.”
“What shit is she thinking?” came from Aspen.
But Alex didn’t answer.
I didn’t answer.
Harper didn’t either.
Jade swore behind me. “Those invites were only just for us, weren’t they?”
Veronica swore. “And there ain’t no barn, is there?”
Harper’s smile was almost evil. “No, ladies. There’s no barn, but yes, you were the only special ladies on the invite list.”
Jade grimaced. “I want to barf.”
“Me too.” That was Angeline, and she sounded just as pissed as the others.
Good.
Good!
They were fighters. Warmth spread through me. They weren’t going to wilt or cry or whimper. They might not get a lot of hits in. They’d for sure take hits, but they would fight. The guys were not expecting that.
I looked right at Alex. “You against me?”
And for the first time I had ever known Alex Ryerson, he smiled at me. It wasn’t sleazy or swarmy. It wasn’t dirty. There was no hidden agenda. Nothing. No pride. No ego. It was a pure and authentic smile, and it was almost blinding right before he tossed his drink. “Bren, you and your crew have saved my life twice. That means something to me.” He dipped his head down. “I’m with you.”
Good, because Alex could fight, too.
Relief flooded me, almost so much that I got lightheaded for a second.
“What are you doing?” Harper barked at Alex.
A laugh was his response. “Have you seriously never seen Bren fight?”
Harper flinched, his gaze cutting to me.
Alex saw the look, frowning at me.
I shrugged. “I beat him up once.”
Harper’s chin jutted up and he puffed up. “I didn’t have my bros then. It wasn’t a fair fight.”
“You didn’t even fight back, dude. And I was the only one swinging.”
He cringed, but then caught himself and covered. “Whatever.”
I was running an inventory of my weapons, but I really only had one. My knife. The one with the wolf carved in the handle.
Harper was glaring at Alex. “Are you serious right now? You’re going to throw down for this bitch?”
Alex’s eyes got all glittery and dark. That was the old Alex, but he was darker now. Before he’d been angry, and the ego had been his biggest weakness. I wasn’t seeing the ego anymore.
It was nice to see people could change. I mean, besides myself, though I wasn’t really feeling a lot of change right now.
I’d accepted our situation, so the alarm had diminished into acceptance.
Now I was starting to get thirsty. I was beginning to salivate. And it wasn’t for something to drink.
Alex saw the look and his grin spread. “Missed seeing that girl. Nice to know she ain’t totally gone.” I shot him a look. “Who said she was gone?”
“Everyone.” He snorted.
I didn’t know if I should be insulted or complimented by that?
Harper shook his head. “This is stupid. You’ve messed all of this up, Monroe. You being here is forcing my hand. I wanted to do this smooth—” Meaning he wanted to drug the girls. “I wanted everyone to have a good time—” Meaning he wanted the boys to have a good time. “And we’d all be good afterwards.”
Meaning that he was going to dose the girls with enough drugs so they’d forget what happened.
I cocked an eyebrow up. “Were you going to leave them as they were when your boys were done with them? Or were you guys going to wash them and fix their clothes so they wouldn’t know what happened to them?”