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“Oh, it gets better,” I say sarcastically. “A week later, I see him on the patio with Colton and Aiden. Gloria was there, being her coy self sitting close to Mason.”
“I hate that bitch,” she quips.
“I got the fuck out of there, and he followed me out to move Colton’s car so I could leave. He told me it can never happen again because of our parents and what Aiden will think of him. I was heartbroken that he wouldn’t fight for us. I get we were seventeen, and he probably feared a fallout between the guys. He told me he felt like he took advantage of me, but I assured him it wasn’t like that. I told him I wanted to be with him.”
My eyes get glassy as I relive the moment that twisted the knife inside my heart that led to the loss of my little angel. “Two and half months go by, and I get home and see that Mason, Colton, and my brother are there. Once I get inside, I see the door to the pool house slightly open.” I close my eyes.
“Please, don’t tell me what I think you’re going to tell me.”
I nod. “I walk in and Colton is fucking Gloria from behind while Mason was stumbling, trying to put his shirt on probably drunk and high. She was smiling licking her lips probably from sucking Mason off on her knees moaning at how good she would taste on his cock. It looked like he was done fucking her.”
Khalani slams her hand on the steering wheel. “That, motherfucker. In the house. Your house?”
“Yep.”
“Now I just don’t hate her. I loathe her entirely. She knows how you two look at each other. A girl knows when another girl likes a guy. Let’s not talk about Mason. No wonder you talk to him like that. I don’t even know how you can say a word to him. I know what that feels like because of Aiden and Jessica. I was weak because I had just lost my brother and probably looked pathetic.”
I snort. “Trust me, you don’t.” If she only knew the extent of my pain.
We both openthe door to get out of the car to walk up the house where Linda lives with her brother, the leader of the East Hillside Kings and I follow her in tow up the walkway with the manicured lawn. Looking around the exterior of the white house with a small porch, I notice that the house is well kept.
When she knocks, Linda opens the front door. Linda stands with a grin on her face holding the door. She is beautiful with classic features and arched brows. Like Khalani, tattoos decorate her neck and her arm.
“What’s up?” Linda nods in my direction. “Who’s your friend?”
“This is Lucy. Lucy, this is Linda,” Khalani tellsher who I am but makes a point to Linda that she keep it to herself.
Linda cracks a smile, looking at me in a new light.“You do resemble him. That shit is crazy. No one here knowsEl Demoniohas a twin sister. I can see why. That would make you a target.”
“We’ve been going to the gun range. We pack our heat.” Khalani raises her shirt, showing her Glock under the waistband of her khakis.
“Orale. That’s my girl. Especially around here in the east of Hillside.I overheard from Smiley and the Kingsthat someputoscalled the Southside GuNz are trying to move on our turf.”
“Are they a threat?” I ask, worried about the guys.
She shrugs opening the door wider to let us inside. “I don’t know, but I would keep thatgun on you. You never know when thosepinche cabroneswill roll up.”
Things are different in the East. Khalani gave me a rundownon how shit works.I look around the living room with Mexican touches of décor. Sugar skulls adorn the credenza against the wall and the front door. Modern leather couches are places against each wall so you can see the huge flat screen TV mounted on the far wall. The house has brown wood floors and does not look like gang members frequent or live here. There is an arch way to my right that must lead to the kitchen with well-appointed stainless steel appliances.
Linda gives me a smirk. “So when anyone asks, I’ll tell them you attend Hillside University and are friends with Khalani.”
“Thank you. I appreciate that. It sucks being in my family’s shadow.”
Lindasnickers.“I know the feeling, trust me.”
“Khalani told me you go to the community college,” I say. “Why don’t you attend Hillside University?”
She pauses right in front of the door that must be her bedroom and waves her hand over her tank top and khakis. “My husband isn’t a King, so I don’t think I would fit in. There is also the issue that it’s expensive, and I don’t havethat kind of cash lying around. My brother does, but I wouldn’t let him pay for it. He risks his life for that money and still does for the Kings. The last thing I need to use it for is an education I can get for a quarter of the cost here.It’s not like I’m going to work in an office or anything.”
My gaze softens that she would stay because she couldn’t afford to go when I havethe privilege of not worrying about money. “Well, if you change your mind, let me know. I’ll pay for it.”
She smiles, opening the door to her bedroom. “I like you Luciana Sincere. I appreciate the offer, but I can’t take it. A person like me wouldn’t fit in a place like Hillside University not to mention it is far and I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on my brother and he is all I have. I have already lost the person I cared about to this life. We’re just happy Khalani and her mom are well taken care of.” She winks at Khalani.When we step into her room, there is a full sized bed in one corner and posters of Chola’s next to low riders with impressive paint jobs and graffiti. Her walls are covered in graffiti art and they are impressive. Whoever tagged these walls is seriously talented.
“Who did the art on the walls?” I ask pointing to one wall with sugar skulls in an array of colors mixed with purple, pink, and yellows.
“I did.”
I nod, admiring all the work behind her bed and notice a table with a gas mask and an array of spray paint bottles in different colors neatly placed.
