Damaged (Boys of Winter 2)

I let out a sigh and stop pacing, and as I do, my stare falls to Cruz who gives me a small nod, silently letting me know that whatever I choose to do, I’ll have his support. Carver though, he looks like he’s about ready to snap her neck just like he’d done to her bastard boyfriend. He never would though. Ember is important to me, and because of that, he’ll protect her just as he protects me.

I meet Ember’s pissed off stare and try to think of something smart to say, but all that comes out is a grunted, “ahh, fuck, Ember. Dynasty … it’s all fucking true.”

Carver groans and sits forward, dropping his head into his hands. “Fucking hell, Winter. Good job keeping the secret. You didn’t even try to lie your way out of it.”

Ember clenches her jaw, clearly not fond of Carver’s easy attitude about me lying to her. “Are you fucking kidding me?” she demands, keeping her heavy, betrayed stare on me. “All this time you’ve known about Dynasty and you didn’t say a goddamn word? Even when I brought it up, you just let me go on talking shit, wondering if I was going crazy.”

I shake my head. “To be fair, I only found out a few weeks ago, but yeah, I guess I’m a shitty friend. It wasn’t my secret to tell.”

“Bullshit, Elodie Ravenwood,” she scoffs, proving that she knows so much more than I had hoped. “I’m not stupid. I found the fucking birth certificates in that book. You lied to me. You told me the guys said this was your place and that you were the daughter of Andrew Ravenwood, but it was so much more than that, wasn’t it? Andrew was the leader of Dynasty and now you are.”

My lips press into a hard line and I look down at the book. “Just how much reading did you get through?”

“Seriously? You want to joke right now?” she scoffs. “I can’t believe this. I thought we were friends.”

“Look, I just …” I let out a loud groan and drop onto the couch beside her. “I’m not lying. Dynasty isn’t my secret to tell. It is so much bigger than me. There are seventeen families involved in this, I can’t just go spilling my guts to whomever I want. It doesn’t work like that. I mean, yes, I might be the leader of it, and yes, I’m still trying to figure out what that means, but it’s also a dangerous world and I didn’t want you pulled into it. If you only knew the amount of near misses I’ve had over the past few weeks … fuck.”

“Weeks?” King scoffs. “Try years.”

Ember’s brows furrow as she looks back at me. “What the hell is that supposed to mean? Has someone been trying to kill you?”

“Try many someones,” I tell her, flopping back against the soft cushion of the couch.

Her eyes bug out of her head. “WHAT?”

My hands pulse with that familiar urge to hit something, as beating the living shit out of some scumbag loser sounds so much better than having to explain this all to my best friend. I turn to Carver with regret in my eyes. “I’m warning you now, twatmuffin, I’m about to tell her everything so if you have a problem with it, you can fuck off. I’m not about to sit here and listen to your snide comments the whole way through.”

Ember gapes at me, still seeing Carver and the boys as untouchable. She’s shocked that I’d dare use a tone like that with them, especially Carver. He just groans and looks back at Grayson. “Why the fuck don’t you have my back on this?” he questions, his eyes narrowing on his friend. When guilt flashes in Grayson’s eyes, realization pulses through Carver’s. “Fucking hell,” he grunts. “You jumped ship.”

King and Cruz both straighten, looking between me and Grayson for confirmation, and when I cringe, they both raise their brows, trying to figure out what this might mean for us, but now is not the place, and certainly not the time. I’ve already got one bomb to drop on Ember, I’m not about to drop another.

Ember waits impatiently, and as I bring my gaze back to hers, I let out a deep breath. “Okay, so you know the basics of Dynasty,” I start. “It’s a secret organization run by seventeen different families with the Ravenwood line being at the top, and seeing as though there is only one living Ravenwood left—”

“That makes you their leader,” she finishes for me, eyeing the boys as though she’s secretly impressed that I have something over them.

I nod and continue. “Yes, I’m their leader, but Dynasty has some pretty solid and fucked up traditions and values. The other sixteen families are evenly split. The way the guys described it to me is good versus bad with me being the voice of reason between the two sides.”