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“I never beat you as a child because that was your mother’s one line that she wouldn’t let me cross.” William straightened his jacket before looking back at me. “That stopped the second you turned eighteen. And honestly, I don’t think she has the capacity to care anymore.”
“You think I’m scared of you?” I sneered, grateful my anger was covering my fear. “You couldn’t even handle me by yourself. You need help to deal with a girl half your size. You are nothing but a small, insignificant, soulless piece of shit.”
“You’ve really grown a backbone while you’ve been gone.” William’s voice held no emotion other than absolute hatred for me. “I’m going to have to fix that.”
The other man still had me in his painful hold, and I squeezed my eyes shut when William raised his arm. He could hit me all he wanted; it was still better than becoming a mindless servant to those pills. A pained grunt rang out through the silence before a familiar voice spoke.
“I wouldn’t try that again if I were you.”
Shock rippled through me when my eyes flew open. West was holding William’s wrist, bending it back until William was scrambling to free himself. The man released me to help his boss but was shoved back against the car by River and Eli. River held the same gun he’d had at the basketball game and rammed it into the man’s skull, knocking him unconscious.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” William thundered once West finally let go of him. “You all are going to be in a world of pain once your parents find out what you just interfered with—”
River cut him off with a cruel laugh. “Please. You aren’t going to tell them shit.”
I rubbed my sore wrists, trying to get my breathing under control as the three of them surrounded William. They looked nothing like the boys I’d grown up with. Each one of them had nothing but murder in their eyes as they glared at my stepfather.
“She is going to be a problem.” William’s anger dimmed as nerves broke through his confidence. “I’m helping.”
“She isn’t your problem to handle,” River murmured.
Eli nodded. “You have no say when it comes to her.”
“She’s ours to deal with,” West finished as William’s gaze darted between the three of them.
The way they spoke was a unified front. As if the last few years had never existed. There was none of the tension of the past as the three of them found common ground.
“Our parents let you sit at our table and play your games because there needs to be someone with the Whitman name in control,” Eli said coldly. “We listen to you because it’s expected.”
West stepped closer to William. “But that expectation ceases the second you put your hand where it doesn’t belong.”
“Next year, you’ll be nothing at our table.” River shook his head. “Actually, you won’t even be at the table.”
William’s face flushed bright red, his hands curling into fists. “You have no right to talk to me like this. Have you forgotten who I am?”
“You are a piss poor excuse of a man who had to drug his wife to gain control you couldn’t get on your own,” Eli snarled, his chest bumping William’s as they shrank the circle around him. “We have the power you crave. And it’s something you’ll never fucking have.”
“So enjoy pretending for the next year,” River said with a cruel grin.
“Because you’ll be fucking done once we become heads of the families,” West promised as William’s face paled.
“Leave her alone. Or your son might just have an accident while he’s serving the rest of his time.” Eli’s words shot ice through my veins. I wouldn’t let them hurt my brother any worse than they already had.
“You can’t—”
“What happened when everything went down and he got caught?” West cut in. “You wanted us to pay for it. Yet here we are.”
“Because you and your son aren’t shit to this city.” Eli’s stare didn’t leave William. “We are. You have no real say on anything unless our parents back you up.”
“She’s hiding things,” he screamed, trying to get back some type of control. “Did you find out where else she went today? She can’t be trusted. She’s been gone so long, and we have no idea what she’s been up to. Did you forget what she’s been doing to two of you for the last two years? She doesn’t care about this city.”
River grabbed the collar of William’s jacket and shoved him into Eli. “This will be the last time I repeat myself. She is not your problem.”
“She’ll become the head of her family, like she’s supposed to.” For the first time, Eli glanced my way. “Along with the three of us. It’s not up to you to keep her in line.”
“Nope,” West piped up. “That’s up to us.”
“You’re going to regret this,” William hissed.
