Chapter Sixteen

Gavin

I was about to pull my hair out, trying to shuffle the money Carter had been sending my way, when my phone rumbled across the desk. It was a welcome distraction from the numbers. He’d ramped up the volume of the deposits after he’d gotten Dirk sidelined, but cleaning cash took time. So did the creative accounting it took to make it look like the Hamiltons had a higher overhead than they actually did. Since Dirk and Milo were out of the picture, Carter had been able to shunt even more to our hidden accounts.

If it hadn’t been for Shelby being such a distraction for Dirk, and in turn making Milo extra vigilant so that he wouldn’t lose his place, we wouldn’t be nearly as close to ending the old man’s reign as we were. The sting of guilt was sharp—her suffering had ultimately been our gain. With a sigh, I snagged my phone off the desk. My heart stuttered when I read the notification, and I had the screens up, looking for our ward, before I’d even used the biometrics to open the screen lock or replied to Blake.

Blake: I might have upset Shelby. I would have followed, but I was concerned she'd hurt herself if she thought I was chasing her. Can we get eyes on her?

Me: What happened?

Blake: She walked in on one of my appointments. I didn’t know she was there.

I exhaled harshly in relief when I saw River had a hold of her and was pulling her into their room. With her location fixed, I locked my computer, then my office door, barely watching where I was going as I replied.

Me: The cousins have her, and I’m on my way. What the fuck were you thinking?

Blake: She walked in when Erin was on my table. I had no idea she'd come in.

Me: Why wasn't your door locked? You know she's around, Blake.

I arrived at their door right as Rain came out. With a finger against his lips, he waved me off, then gestured back the way I’d come. As soon as we were out of earshot of his room, he stopped and leaned against the wall.

“Shelby’s in with River. I’m guessing Blake sent you the same text we got?” I nodded and watched as his eyes narrowed on me. “What were you planning on saying to her?”

My brows shot up at the uncustomarily direct challenge. “Last I checked, I run this place, Rain, but if you must know, I was going to make sure she didn’t try to take off or hurt herself. What’s your plan? Keep her holed up with you and River indefinitely?” I asked with a scowl. They’d do it for sure if I let ‘em.

The cocky prick bent his knee and propped his foot against the wall. He was lucky he didn’t have his boots on. “We might take advantage of her needing some comfort, but you know we won’t go further than that, Gav. We want her to stay, not skulk around corners, afraid to run into anyone, just biding her time until she can leave. Right now, I’m off to get her something for her hiccups. She’s hurting.”

“We can’t keep her, Rain. She’s not a pet,” I warned, then sighed as he pushed off the wall. He was clearly intent on ignoring me, so I let it go and switched the topic. “I’m going to hang out, make sure River doesn’t need assistance.” Rain knew it was an excuse as sure as I did, but he didn’t call me on it.

Right as he was about to turn the corner down the hall, he looked back over his shoulder. “Stay in the hall, Gav. It’s our turn.”

Asshole. Bossing me around in my own compound. Nonetheless, I waved in acknowledgment and went back to the door. My shoulders relaxed just a touch when I saw he’d left it open a crack. He’d known I’d be back. If it wouldn’t have chanced tipping Shelby off that I was hovering, I’d have released a groan at being so predictable. Instead, I checked Blake’s reply.

Blake: No one comes in. They know better. She was after more pills.

I frowned at that, fingers flying over the screen as I kept half an eye and an ear on the situation through the crack in the door.

Me: Is she abusing them?

Blake: More trying to self-medicate, I imagine.

Me: If she's hurting that much, she needs to be looked at.

Blake: She's sore for sure, gonna be for a while, but I suspect she's using them as a crutch to avoid reality. So I cut her dosage down.

Blake: I could come down?

Me: No, she's shook up. I don't think seeing you will help. If anything, it will make it worse.

Me: Is she on anything for anxiety?

Blake: I'm not exactly versed in that area, Gavin.

Me: No shit. You should have called Sherry.

Blake: You know she refused to come back?

Fucking jealous, vindictive bitch.

Me: It's her job. I'll set her straight. You need to start locking your door.

Blake: Already a priority.

Me: She's upset you were fucking Erin.

Blake: I didn't. Couldn't, really. I'm just about positive that wasn't the part that upset her.

Blake: I don't want her to think bad about me. I went to her room and tried to explain.

Me: You know we can't keep her. I just reminded Rain of the same.

Blake: I know.

Me: Do you, though? She's like catnip to a pack of wild cats. It won't end well.

Blake: I KNOW.

Me: When she calms down, you need to sort this out.

Blake: Already in the works. I'm deleting my spank bank now. Don't think I could watch them after seeing her upset about it anyway.

Me: She saw your recordings?! What the fuck, Blake?

Blake: I told you, I fucked up. I didn't realize she was getting attached. I thought it went one way.

Blake: She thought we were going to whore her out…

Of course she did. Fuck my life. What other conclusion would she have jumped to? Before I could type more than a couple words in reply, I heard Shelby reveal she knew something I'd hoped to avoid telling her and Carter most certainly didn't want her to be aware of.

Me: You told her Milo was your brother?!

I was going to kick his ass if his loose lips backfired on us. Raking a hand down my face, I considered filling Carter in until I heard the next gem she dropped.

Blake: Fuck this. I’m coming.

I didn’t even bother to reply. I was too invested in River casually talking about double teaming her and filling her holes. How he went from defusing her about Milo and Blake being related to that without her freaking out was a talent. My dick was trying to stir to life as I imagined exactly what he’d described when Rain reappeared. “Get in there and make him shut up!” I hissed, cognizant of keeping it down so as not to be overheard. Fuck, that was all I needed, to be caught eavesdropping and half-hard by the redhead that had us all acting like besotted idiots.

Rain smirked like he already knew the topic of conversation, and he probably did. The boys shared an uncanny ability to know what the other was thinking or if the other was in trouble. Without a care, he winked, then slipped back in, leaving an even smaller crack for me to scowl at.

“What’d I miss?” Blake asked, coming up behind me.

I glared at him. This whole situation was his damn fault. “She has bad hiccups. Rain is currently showing her his cure.” Blake’s eyes widened, and right as he was about to bust in, I realized he thought I meant something entirely different than what was actually going on. Frankly, he deserved it. “Knock it off, idiot. She’s drinking water.”

He froze and had the decency to look contrite. “You could have led with that, you know?” he admonished in a whisper. “She might need more meds if she’s hurt herself running from me. I told her I wanted to get new scans. That didn’t go over well, either.”

I rolled my eyes. “You think? Jesus, Blake. Did you drop anything else on her that she didn’t need to know?” I did a double-take at the guilt written all over him. “You’re trying to get us killed, aren’t you?”

“I thought she knew about the escort side of things. I told her Alan assumed as much, and she thought we were going to force her. What else was I supposed to do? I straight-out told her I couldn’t say anything else, that it had to come from you or Carter, and that I was risking a lot telling her that much.” Blake was pissed, and I could see how he’d been stuck in a hard place and trying to calm her down.

“Fine, but if there’s a next time, fucking call me. Got it?” I accepted his nod, and we refocused on the conversation in the room just in time to catch Shelby giving the boys the biggest blow to their ego they’d probably had since puberty.

Blake turned wide eyes to me. “She did not—” I was trying not to laugh, nodding until my mirth dried up like Aunt Beth’s chicken used to every time she cooked it. “Oh, damn, you’re not her favorite.” His own smug grin was wiped off his face when she asked about Dirk’s whores, and then it was my turn to sit on the high-horse again as Blake muffled his groan of shame. “Fuck you, Gavin,” he muttered when River revealed I didn’t touch the working men or women under my supervision. I cringed a tad at the mention of Milo. There hadn’t been any love lost between him and Blake, but the man had still been his brother. Blake didn’t seem fazed by Milo being mentioned, though, so I didn’t comment on it.

A minute later, neither of us were anything but more pissed by the second with Shelby’s next revelations. I was gonna fuck Carter up when I got a hold of him. From Blake’s anger to his mounting uneasiness, he knew it was coming too.

I knew Rittenhouse was a bastard, but it was all in the name of taking the Hamiltons down once and for all. We’d already had words over what he’d let happen with Shelby, and there she was, sitting between the cousins, spilling just how selfish he’d been to drag her into his life.

When she abruptly ended her recounting with a heavy tremor in her raspy voice, I spun on my heel, jaw and fists clenched with pent-up rage. I had just the outlet I needed only a couple hours drive away. Nothing was going to stop me from giving him back at least a portion of the pain he'd caused. Not even my well-meaning friend who’d inadvertently opened the can of worms. I almost wanted to thank him for not locking his door, or else we might not have ever found out the absolute bullshit my cousin had allowed to happen to the poor girl.

“Gavin, man, you don’t want to do this,” Blake tried as soon as we were in front of my office.

I just shook my head as I unlocked the door. Pulling up the schedule, I checked where Carter was supposed to be before I grabbed my helmet. The bike would be easier to get in and out. “It’s happening. You heard her, same as I did, Blake. You think that’s all that happened to her? If that’s what she’s willing to share, what is she too scared or scarred by to say a damn word about?”

He knew I was right by the grim acceptance in his dark eyes. “Call me if you’re not in shape to ride back, yeah?” I nodded, and he exited ahead of me, waiting while I locked up again. “I’ll keep an eye on things here and sort out some way to get her proper medication. I should have followed up on it already. We are going to have to get her in for new scans, though. I need to know how she’s healing.”

“We’ll figure it out. I’ll let you know if I can’t get back on my bike.” I was done stalling, so I walked off with Blake’s disapproval beating on my back until I was out of sight. My heart raced with adrenaline for what I was about to do.

***

Gavin

“Dammit, Gavin, how am I supposed to explain a busted up face to Winston?”

“I don’t know, maybe tell him you’ve been training because you’re the shittiest bodyguard out there? Not really my problem, is it?” I sneered, knuckles burning with the sting from splitting them on his teeth. At least they’d split his lip first.

I advanced on him, ignoring the way he held his hands up in an attempt to calm me down.

“Gavin, knock it off! It will be your problem if someone sees us and reports back. We’re too close. I know I fucked up, alright? I can’t go back and fix it.” Genuine regret colored his voice, the emotion reflected in eyes that looked like mine, but my anger burned too bright.

“Would you, though? You fucked her, took her virginity, and then she was terrorized and abused for it. Who came to her rescue? You? No, you fucked her ass raw then brought her to me after Dirk did his best to end her. Defend yourself or not, you’re still getting your ass kicked.”

He got the clue that I wasn’t fucking around when my next swing nearly knocked him off his feet. It left him doubled over, wheezing and clutching his ribs, something Shelby did often. Guilt fueled my need to inflict the same damage on the one who should have protected her or gotten her out.

“Fuck, Gavin,” he wheezed. He looked up at me, one hand braced on his jean-clad knee, and glared. “I'm trying. You know that.”

“But you're still going to take her back when he snaps his fingers and demands it, aren't you?” That was the crux of it. I wouldn't be able to stop him either. We'd all be left holding our dicks while the remaining Hamiltons had their way with her.

“I don't have a choice. I need more time!” he hissed, looking around again for any unwanted spectators.

“You had a choice when you orchestrated a meet-cute at the fair then took her virginity though, didn't you? You'd better apologize to her on your knees and start making amends. You begin by getting her out of the middle of this goddamn mess!”

The color drained from his face. “How did you find out about that?”

“Same way I found out what pushed Dirk's crazy ass over the edge to keep her as a whore instead of his wife. She kept a picture, apparently, and he took what you did out on her. Why did you have to bring attention to her, huh?”

Carter answered me through gritted teeth. At least I wasn't the only one pissed off to the point of violence. “He was already following me on the check-ins. I didn't have a choice but to keep up with them either. I'll make it right, and I'll apologize, but I can 't get her out yet. He has too many people and contingencies in place if I don't toe the line. You know that.”

I was well aware since it was what we'd been working on for years. I just hadn't known the extent to which an innocent had been made to suffer in the meantime. “If you can't get her out, I want to tell her,” I demanded, despite knowing it was futile. He shot me down before I'd barely gotten the words out.

“No, it's not safe. If she tried to run or said something to the wrong person, it would bring it all down on all of us. Now,” he spat, wiping his bleeding lip with the back of his hand, “why would she tell you any of that if you weren't prying where you shouldn't be?”

“I overheard her telling the cousins in their room,” I informed him smugly. It was a pleasure to watch his face go red.

“What the fuck was she doing in there, Gavin?” I was sure his mind had gone right to where I'd directed it, but I’d given him the truth of it too.

“She saw something that would have probably scared, or maybe disgusted, her if she hadn't been traumatized by Dirk, Milo, and those whores of Dirk's. Instead, she freaked out when Blake confronted her about it. She went running to find me but ran into River first. Last I saw, she was sandwiched between them.”

I laughed as he roared and charged. I wasn't laughing when he tackled me to the ground, but it was worth it.

“Fuck off. I told you she's mine.”

“If you think that, you're delusional. She can barely look at me without seeing you. Sucks, if I'm honest about it.”

“We don't have the time or luxury to be fighting,” he said, visibly taking hold of himself and putting the puppet back into place as he came to some sort of conclusion. He got off me and stood as he spouted his bullshit. “I understand you've gotten attached. Shelby is easy to care about, and she's beautiful on the outside too. But, Gavin, any interest she might have is only because of our resemblance to one another.”

The son of a bitch was actually going to dust his imaginary lapels off and walk away.

Can't have that .

I narrowed my eyes as I got to my feet and wrecked that carefully cultivated mask. “She seemed pretty interested when she was staring at my dick.” I didn’t mention it was to teach an idiot who had overstepped, and scared her, a lesson.

His eyes widened comically before the shock wore off and a jealous rage took its place.

Finally, stupid prick.

With a grunt, I landed on my back again. He'd been a bit quicker than I'd anticipated.

I took half a second to suck a breath in then rolled until I was on top. I'd feel it for sure when it was over, but so would Carter's self-serving ass. The old man wanted to use her up and discard her like she was no better than the tissue he used to wipe his ass. Over my dead body would I let him carry out his plans for her. Neither would Blake if I told him.

As for the cousins… Well, it was best they not find out what those plans were. I wouldn't have a chance to rein them in before they started dismantling anyone and anything they could get their hands on. Cleaning up a swath of body parts and demolished buildings across the city would land us all in prison, dead, or both.