Chapter 10

Grayson

I haven’t left this room since Collin called me. Eyes glued to the computer screen, I watch my girl as she sits on the couch and studies. It’s the first time she’s sat still in a while. She’s been—what I’m going to guess is—stress cleaning since I sat down to check in on her.

I’ve missed supper with Erin and my dad, but I don’t care. I’m worried.

With Bradly’s eyes set on Sadie now, I’m not taking any risk. I fucking hate that man. He’s a slimy bastard. Neither Declan’s nor my family would do business with him. They don’t trust him as far as they can throw him. He’s got his hands in too many dirty dealings. And while our families aren't exactly squeaky clean, we don’t dabble in the shit he does.

Movement in one of the frames has me taking my eyes off my girl and to the camera that shows my front door. “Shit,” I mutter as I stand up. Collin is here. If he felt the need to come over rather than call me, it can’t be good.

Taking one last glance at the screen, I check all the cameras I have set up around Sadie’s property to make sure everything is okay before leaving.

Jogging down the stairs, the bell rings, and I yell out, letting the house staff know I’ll get it. Pulling the door open, I find a very pissed off Collin. “Shit.”

“Oh, it’s far fucking worse than that,” Collin growls, stepping into the house.

“Come on,” I tell him and lead him up to my room. “Alright, what did the bastard have to say?” I ask, closing my bedroom door behind me.

Collin starts pacing my room, running his hands through his hair in frustration. “I’m so fucking close to going over there and killing him, Grayson.” He holds up his hand, pinching his pointer finger and thumb together. “This fucking close.”

“What did he say?” I ask, crossing my arms with a frown.

Collin scrubs his face with his hands before turning a deadly look on me. “He told me that I’m going to be married to Connie on February twenty-fourth.”

My brows jump. “And what did you say?”

“Nothing. I said fucking nothing because I couldn’t!” he shouts. “I wanted to tell him to get fucked, but that would risk a bigger target on Sadie’s back, and I’m not going to do that. So, until I find out how to bring him down, I have to play nice. Or at least keep my mouth shut and let him think that I’m going to do as he says.”

“Wouldn’t he know you’re just agreeing to please him? You’ve fought back for so long, why would he think you would just give in now?”

“Because he knows how much Sadie means to me and that I wouldn’t risk her. He’s counting on it. It’s why he’s using her as a threat. Money and power mean shit-all to me. But her? She's my whole fucking universe. He thinks I’ll marry Connie to protect Sadie. But I can’t marry that woman, I can’t. I won’t. I’d kill him and go to jail before I let that happen.”

“It’s not going to happen,” I tell him. “You need to take a breath, or you're going to spiral. And you don’t make the smartest choices when you spiral.” I’ve heard the whispers of the things he’s done while he was in Archduke Academy. He might not be evil like his father, but he doesn’t have clean hands either. There’s things I’m sure his mother doesn’t know about.

But like I said, it’s all hearsay. He’s never confirmed it, and I plan to stay in the shadows on it unless it puts Sadie at risk.

Collin groans, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. “I have to have a conversation with Sadie that I never wanted to have.” He looks at me with his gutted look. “Until my father is dealt with, I can’t be seen with her outside school. He told me if I’m caught with her, there will be consequences. The fact is, I don’t know what my father is completely capable of. I’ve done my best to keep an eye on him for Preston’s sake, but there’s a lot I’m unaware of. And that scares the shit out of me. He’s beyond unhinged, and I wouldn’t put it past him to hurt everyone around Sadie before going for the kill. Maybe literally.”

“Then we have people look into him, dig up as much dirt as we can. Have you thought about asking Rosie to talk to her mother?”

Collin shivers. “I mean, sure, Queenie would be perfect for something like this. But the woman is bat-shit crazy. What if she doesn’t like something we’ve done and kills one of us?”

“She doesn’t kill people for the fun of it.” I roll my eyes.

He gives me a blank look. “Dude, it’s literally what she does. Have you not heard about D-Days? They are a blood bath, straight out of a horror film.”

“How would you know? Have you seen one?” I raise a brow.

“No. But Rosie loves to brag about them to me. I love the trust we have, but some things should just stay inside your head.” He gives me a blank look.

“You seem awfully close with Rosie.” I tilt my head to the side.

“Relax. It’s not like that. Sure, she’s pretty, but she’s not Sadie.”

He has a point. “What about Rosie herself?”

Collin shakes his head. “She’s new to her mother’s line of work. While I’m sure she would love to, she’s more of a low-key, low-life kind of killer. The people you won’t notice are missing kind.”

“We could at least see if she has any connections she can get in contact with.”

“Yeah.” He nods. “I’ll see how many people I can get working on this that I trust.”

We have our own contacts, but a lot of people in our society use the same people to dig dirt up. We can’t risk one of them ratting us out. It needs to be people we can trust.

“What about Black Venom Crew.”

Collin shakes his head. “They’re in the middle of a war of their own right now. No, we need to handle this ourselves.”

“Alright.” I nod my head. “We can do that. Let’s start with Rosie and go from there.”

“In the meantime. We need to have eyes on Sadie at all times. I’m going to talk to her tomorrow and let her know how important it is. I know she wants her independence, but that can’t really be a thing right now.”

“I think she’s going to start regretting not falling for a normal guy,” I chuckle.

He raises a brow. “Are you gonna bow out and back down to give her that chance?”

“Fuck no,” I snort. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Neither am I. Letting Sadie go isn’t an option, so we just have to do everything we can, apart from that, to protect her. Gonna make it fucking hard when I can’t even be seen with her,” he snarls. “Maybe I can convince her to move into the mansion. Would it be weird if she lived with her mother’s best friend?”

“Yes.” I give him a blank look.

“Do you think she would be willing to move in with one of her friends?”

“No.” I shake my head. “If Sadie is going to move in anywhere, it’s here.”

“Why do you get to live with her?” His brows furrow. “That's not fair.”

I laugh. “What the hell do you mean, it’s not fair ?”

“You would get all the time with her. Worm your way to the number one spot in her life.” He jumps to his feet. “That's my spot. I’ve known her longer.”

“Dude, do you hear yourself right now?” I laugh. “You sound like a damn child. And it makes the most sense because, hello? Our parents are getting married in a few months. Most blended families live together. Even if they’re college age.”

“Fine,” he sighs heavily. “Okay, yeah, that makes the most sense, and she has a room here. But how do we get her to agree to move in here without telling her to? She’s already freaked out enough with all the changes in her life. I don’t want to push her to say fuck it with the lot of us and decide it’s too much for her to handle.”

“She needs to think that moving in here is her idea,” I tell him.

“Or, something happens, and she has no choice but to move out of the cottage and into here. At least for a little while.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. You come up with something.” He shrugs. “You're the mastermind of stalking.”

“Aww, thanks.” I grin.

“That girl is going to leave our asses when she realizes how much shit we do behind her back.” He groans, rubbing at his face again.

“It’s to keep her safe.”

He looks at me with an exasperated look. “Yeah? How long have you had those cameras set up—for what, months now? Years?—been keeping her safe? What did she need to be protected from before?”

I grin, flipping him off. “Fuck you.”

“I have a point.”

“I’m just as psychotic about our girl as you are.” I shrug. “I mean, chicks like stalker romances. A lot of them would love to have one of their own.” I grin.

“You're sick.” He shakes his head.

“As are you, my friend,” I chuckle.

He doesn’t argue. “Show me.”

“Show you what?”

“You know what.” He scowls. “Show me the damn setup.”

“Ahh.” I nod my head. “Follow me, good sir,” I say in a chipper tone. “Let me show you to my lair.”

I lift the picture up and type in the code. Collin snorts as the door pops open. “This is insane.”

“Just wait.” I shoot him a grin as we step inside the room. The wall is covered in monitors, almost all of them with a different view of Sadie’s property.

“This is kind of creepy,” Collin comments, leaning in to get a good look at the screens.

“Listen, if you're going to be a dick, you can leave.” I’m only half kidding. It’s not normal, I know. Creepy? Yeah, maybe a little. Do I care? No, not really.

“I have no idea how she’s going to react when she finds out that you’ve been watching her for years.”

“Not that many years.” I roll my eyes.

“Still. How much time do you spend in here?”

“Not much. I come in, check the cameras to make sure nothing bad happened while she was away, and make sure she’s safe when she’s home. It’s not like I spend hours sitting and watching. I have a life, too, you know.”

“You jerk off while watching her?” he asks, giving a smug as fuck look.

“Only when she’s playing with that pretty pink pussy and calling out my name while her fingers are buried deep inside.” I wink.

“Lucky bastard,” he mutters. “She call out any other names?”

“Maybe.” I shrug. “I just pretend she’s calling my name if she does.”

“If Sadie didn’t decide to make you her boyfriend and I found out about this, I’d kill you, you know that?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you tried. I’d do the same if it was anyone else but the four of us. Although Declan would never. He would lose his shit on me if he found out about this. And I’m praying like hell Sadie finds this charming more than anything.”

“We’re delusional as fuck, you know that, right? It’s not going to end well.”

“Fingers crossed she’s madly in love with us before she finds out.”

Once she's safe in this house, I won’t have the need to keep an eye on her like this. The whole reason I put the cameras up in the first place was because of how the men in this school would talk. Just because she had a boyfriend didn’t stop them.

It wasn’t until towards the end of their relationship I started to get a little more obsessive. Hey, the heart wants what the heart wants.

I’m unapologetically infatuated by this girl, and I feel no shame about it.

Collin and I talk a little bit longer before he leaves, getting one last look at Sadie studying on her couch before leaving.

I feel bad for the guy. He’s expected to follow through by marrying someone in just a few months, I don’t have to worry about it for years—not that it’s happening anyways. The girl I’m betrothed to wants to travel and see the world as long as she can. Go for it, girl, get it, make the world your oyster because I’m not going to be a part of it in any way, shape, or form. Give me time to find an out.

An out I’m going to get. Even if that means I lose all contact with my grandfather. If my dad is by my side on this, then I’ll be okay. I’ll learn to live.

That is if he even approves and doesn’t kill me when he finds out I’m madly in love with my stepsister, the daughter of the woman he’s head over heels for.

He’s got to understand, right? He’s in love, he knows how it feels. I’m sure he would do whatever he could to get Erin if he didn’t already have her.

Would he go through the lengths I have to do it? Probably not, but hey, everyone is different.

Heading back to my room, I go over to the computers to see where Sadie is. She’s not in the living room anymore, but lying in her bed. Frowning, I look at the time.

It’s still really early. Maybe she’s feeling sick? She doesn’t look too happy.

I send her a text.

Me: Hey, Pretty Girl. missed you today. I’m coming to find you tomorrow, though. Can’t keep me away for long.

My heart fucking squeezes when she reads the text and smiles. Me, I made her smile.

She texts me back.

My pet: I missed you too. Sorry I didn’t text, I haven't been feeling the best today.

Me: Want me to come over and make you feel better?

She grins before texting me back.

My pet: As much as I’d love that, I think I’m just going to lay in bed and watch Tikok until I fall asleep.

Me: Alright, Pretty Girl. Get some sleep. Can’t wait to see my girlfriend tomorrow ;)

I press send and wait. She reads it, her whole face lighting up. She sends me a kissy face and a goodnight before putting her hands over her face in excitement.

Fucking hell, this girl; this girl right here is going to kill me. And what a sweet death it will be.

I’m going to make sure I do whatever I can to see that smile, hear that laugh, and make her blush every single day.

I’m also going to think of a plan that gets her to move into this house. I want my girl close. Just the thought of having her just down the hall, able to get to her whenever I want, has my cock aching.

“Soon, Pretty Girl. Soon.”