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“What the fuck?” I shout as I look around and see the seriousness in all of their gazes.
I jump down off the gurney and walk over to the cabinet to grab a bottle of painkillers. I try to get my thoughts in order as I grab a glass from the sink next to it and fill it with water.
Xave hadn’t found much on the guys’ families, but he was still digging. He had admitted to me that he had once tried to find Clay, but all traces of his family had disappeared, and that, combined with the rumours of Raphael's dad being involved in a criminal organisation had thrown up some major red flags for me.
And now Clay was here telling me they wanted their father’s dead.
I turn off the tap and turn around, leaning on the sink to watch them for a second. They’re all looking at me as if I am the answer to all of their daddy issues. I look at Xave with a tilt of my head and he lifts his shoulder in a shrug, telling me he’s just as confused as I am at this turn of conversation, so I push off the sink and start walking back towards them.
“Here,” I say to Wyatt, handing him the glass and painkillers. “Take two of these, they’ll help with the pain.”
He nods at me and takes a look at the label on the bottle before opening it and swiping two into his mouth. I jump back up onto the gurney and look at each of them.
“I really don’t know how I imagined this evening going exactly, but this definitely wasn’t on my list of possible scenarios. Although, that list did mostly contain all the ways you would probably piss me off and how I would gut you and hide your bodies in the woods,” I say with a shrug as I look at Clay. “But, I’m intrigued. So let’s hear it, Clay. Why do you want to hire the Queen of Hell to kill your daddies?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CLAYTON
Itake a deep breath and look around at my brothers, who all nod at me, before I look back at Kenzi and Xave.
The shock of seeing him standing there in the open doorway, and just how close he and Kenzi had grown in the years since I had been gone was like a fucking knife to the gut and it had taken me a minute to get my emotions under control. My jealousy rode me hard as I watched him place his hands on her and lust flared to life, as hot as lava flowing through my veins, as I watched them together. Then there was the happiness that he was here and I was looking at my best friend after all these years, before grief hit me at the realisation we weren’t exactly friends anymore.
I had locked them all down as quickly as they had appeared knowing that as much as I wanted to both punch him for putting his hands on my girl, and also drop to my knees at his feet and beg for his forgiveness, showing them both just how sorry I was, getting them to agree to what we needed was more important at that moment.
Xave had only grown more striking in the years since I had been gone. He was tall and well defined, the white shirt he wore outlining his muscles and allowing everyone a peak at the tattoo on his chest through the open buttons at the top. His hair was still in the same short cropped style he had always worn and as my eyes met his, he looked at me with a mix of lust and hatred pouring from his dark green eyes.
His mouth tipped up at the corner in a small smirk and I knew he had caught me checking him out. I couldn’t help but think of what would happen if he were to release all those pent up emotions in an entirely different setting.
I close my eyes and take another deep breath before I look down at Kenzi. Praying that despite our history, or maybe even because of it, she’ll agree to help us bring an end to what our fathers are doing.
“How much do you know about WinterHill?” I ask her.
“Not enough. Obviously,” she scoffs, rolling her eyes at me. “But I’ve got a feeling you’re about to tell me all about it.”
“Our fathers run this town, Kenzi. There is no one in this town that isn’t here without their approval. Every person that lives here or goes to the university benefits them in some way,” I look at her with a tilt of my head, wondering once again just how she got into WinterHill if it had nothing to do with our fathers, like she claimed.
“Just what the fuck are you trying to say, Clay?” She asks as she narrows her eyes at me.
“What he’s saying,Princess, is the only way to get into WinterHill is by going through our fathers,” Rafael sneers. “So how the fuck are you here if it isn’t on their order?”
Her eyes flick over to Poppy as Xave places his hands back on her shoulders and all the emotion drains from her face as she pins Rafael with a cold glare.
“That is none of your fucking business, pretty boy. All you four need to know is that me being here has nothing to do with them. I’ve not met any of your fucking dads, well, apart from Clay’s way back when,” She scoffs and gives him a condescending look. “Do you seriously think we would be here talking about killing them if I was on their payroll? Andyou’rethe one related to the rumoured crime boss? Fucking dumbass.”
“His dadisa crime boss, Kenzi,” I say, bringing her attention back to me. “And the rest of our dad’s work with him.”
Kenzi’s eyes widen slightly and her hands clench in her lap.
“Is that right?” She asks with a tilt of her head. The childish lilt to her voice that I haven't heard her use before causes Xave’s grip to tighten on her shoulders and his head to dip towards her ear.
I’m too far away to catch what he whispers to her, but I catch Wyatt’s eyes widen from where he sits next to Kenzi and he shuffles away from her slightly as he shakes his head at me. Xave stands back up but doesn’t release his grip on her shoulders and Kenzi lets out a small giggle.
“Aww, don’t you want to be my friend anymore, Wyatt?” She asks in that same tone as she turns her head to look at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll hear you out before I decide whether or not just to burn this whole town to the ground with everyone in it.” Xave squeezes her shoulders once more and she takes a deep breath before turning to look back at me.
“Rafe’s dad is the reason we left London six years ago, Kenzi. The reason I had to meet my dad and not you that day.”
Her mouth falls into a grim line at my statement and her eyes blaze like blue fire with the anger I can see in them as her gaze goes to Rafe before turning back to lock onto mine.
