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I jump, not expecting it. The other brothers were nowhere to be seen earlier, and I didn’t hear them sneek in. Bad timing, Cassie. I turn to see Leo, looking unimpressed, and next to him, a sweaty Jett, I’m assuming fresh from a session in the gym.
“My family is going to worry if I don’t show up at home today. I’m already going to be on the shit list after missing most of Andy’s wedding.” My voice is wobbly as I say it. I don’t want some assholes telling me that I can’t go home to my family. But I’m also kind of scared to leave. I feel differently about the world now. How can one day change so much? It has, though. When I leave this house, I’m going to see constant threats out there, cars that might take you out as you’re driving or big burly men who want to drag me away.
“Better than being dead. Or missing,” snips Jett, sharing a look with Brandon before chugging a glass of orange juice.
It’s as if he just read my mind. Missing or dead. I swallow hard and turn to Brandon, and I know my eyes must be the size of dinner plates because I’m freaking the fuck out over here.
“It’s okay, Shortcake. I’m sure we can take you home for a bit to see your family and get some of your stuff. What Leo is saying is it’s not safe for you to stay living at home. You’re going to have to crash here with us for a bit, just until this threat is under control.” He squeezes my hand like that should be enough to make me feel safe again.
My heart is going nuts, and I glance down at my watch. This isn’t good. I know this feeling. My hands are suddenly so sweaty. Am I about to have a full-blown panic attack?Breathe, Cassie, I tell myself, trying to focus on Brandon.
“Cassie, are you okay?” he asks me.
But I’m not, not at all. I stare at him, feeling like the room is spinning. “Someone needs to start talking sense because I think I’m losing my mind. Brandon, you’re a football coach and I’m a dance teacher. We live normal boring lives. We’re not at risk of being murdered. Right?” His face isn’t reassuring me at all. He looks lost for words, so I glance around the room to the brothers, needing just one of them to tell me this is all just some stupid prank. But I know it’s not. I’m in the Riveras’ house. This is no joke. I suck in a deep breath, trying to calm myself down, and bury my head in my hands.
Brandon takes me by the shoulder, trying to get me to look at him. “I’m sorry, Cassie. This is all real.”
“You’re safe here with us, Cassie, your life won’t be at any risk,” Kobe tries to reason with me. “Just might be best if you hang with us for a bit so we can keep an eye on you. Just until this little tiff we’re dealing with settles down.” But I’m confused and starting to feel really angry.
He calls it a tiff. “I can’t tell my parents I’m staying with you, Brandon, they’re going to flip out, you know that.” I feel my heart pounding out of control in my chest. My dad is going to kill him himself. When we kicked this thing off between us while we were in Austin, I thought it would be okay, that when we got home, we could sit down and talk to my parents, tell them that we’re both adults now and that I love him, and I always have. I thought I might be able to get them to hear me out and maybe understand. But now, there is no chance. “Why are you so worried about me, anyway? I’m no one,” I ask, looking in Leo’s direction.
“You’re someone to Brandon, and he was in the car targeted yesterday,” says Leo.
I glance over in Leo’s direction. He has been pretty quiet until now.
He’s watching me, leaning against the kitchen counter, cigarette held up to his mouth. I’m nothing but an inconvenience to him, that much is clear, but he is tolerating me for Brandon’s sake. I get the impression he wouldn’t do that for just anyone. “Jett, take Cassandra to talk to her folks, get her stuff. I need Brandon’s help this morning.”
Jett is shoveling cereal into his mouth like a pig where he sits on the kitchen counter. He has been watching us all like this is his morning entertainment. But now that the boss man has given him his orders, he hops up and dumps his bowl in the sink. “Be ready to go in ten, sunshine.” He winks at me and then leaves the kitchen. I’m hoping he’s headed to take a shower because he is a sweaty mess, and I don’t want to be stuck in a car with him like that.
I look back to Brandon, but he gives me a reassuring smile, like everything is going to be just fine. They need his help? I feel so out of control my head is spinning. Really, what planet am I on? I want to protest, tell them that Jett driving me home will go down as well as me turning up to my place with Brandon, but suddenly I feel like I have no fight left in me. What’s the point? There is way too much testosterone in this kitchen, and I know I don’t stand a chance of getting my own way here. They all just do whatever Leo says, like they’re his little minions. So I give in and do as I’m told as well.
BRANDON
"SHOULD I BE MORE concerned about having her around?" Leo's brow is raised. He thinks Cassandra is a distraction to me, but he’s wrong. She is my driving force, the only reason I'm determined to continue what we started all those years ago. I wouldn't say the Rivera boys and I are out for revenge on those who did us wrong back when we were just the poor kids of this town, but we are here to prove a point. And we're not going to stop until we do.
"Cut her some slack, Leo, she's been through a lot in the last twenty-four hours, and this is all a shock to her. Before this weekend she thought her boyfriend was just some famous football player turned high-school coach."
Kobe laughs like this is amusing to him. Right from the start he told me to come clean with her, but I couldn't. I knew I needed time to ease her into it all. He is my oldest and best friend, but he's a shit-stirrer. I throw him a look that tells him not to mess with me today, and he swallows his laughter.
This morning has already gone down badly. I could see her inner turmoil as she tries to deal with everything that's getting thrown at her. That's why I had Leo tell her she had to stay. Yeah, there’s some threat around the club, but it’s unlikely that it's aimed at me or her in any way. But I've had enough of playing this game with her dad, and it's time he knows who she belongs to. And after what happened yesterday, I'm not waiting any longer to get what I want. She needs to be here with me.
"I'll deal with Cassandra, she's no concern for either of you. What’s the latest?"
Leo lights up a smoke. "Piper Acevedo." The name rolls off his tongue like he has practiced saying it in his sleep. And I bet he has. From what I’ve heard, she's beautiful and dangerous; she also didn't take her brother’s suicide well.
"What about her?" I glare at him.
"Ace's sister is not happy we took over. She thinks she has some claim to all of this." Kobe motions to the room we’re in.
I massage my skull, the pain drilling through my head. I can barely focus on what he is saying, let alone work out how to deal with dramatic siblings who lost out on some inheritance they were never entitled to. "Deal with her, Leo. That's what I'm paying you to do."
He smirks. "There is nothing to deal with. We had a contract with Ace. He signed every last business over to us. She might have the surname, but the Acevedos and all their dealings are ours now."
"Don't you think she could be the one behind all of this?” grumbles Kobe. “She came into Queen of Hearts last week trying to cause a scene. Had to remove her myself, and the bitch bit me." He rubs his bicep. Queen of Hearts is now his pride and joy, and when he's not training Jett in the gym, that's where he is.
"Not a chance. She's after me. She won't be back to your club, Kobe." He smiles devilishly and I know what that means. That problem of Piper Acevedo is taken care of. I can rely on him to deal with it, and then we can move on.
"What did the security footage get from the perimeter cameras?"
