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“Okay, Jett is here to look after me. Some shit went down yesterday and now I might be messed up in it because Brandon is.” I can feel the tremble in my hands as I say it; I know how this all looks. “Please help me with Mom. I need to get some of my stuff and get out of here.” I plead with my eyes, hoping Jasmine, of all people, will understand. She knows this world better than any of them.
“Cassie, you’re not going anywhere with these guys,” Axel pipes up, still glaring at Jett like he has some say in what I do with my life.
I take Jasmine’s hands, trying to get her to see reason. “Look, I know how this might appear, and at the moment it’s all a bit confusing to me as well, but I love Brandon, Jas. You get that, I know you do, and he says these guys are his family and they will look after me. I have to trust him.”
Jett clears his throat. “Things are changing, Axel. After Ace so suddenly died, the power has shifted, and you know whenever that happens, it causes trouble. We're not out to cause you any harm. Whatever beef you had with Ace died along with him.”
Axel's expression changes as he processes Jett's words. His glare of hatred softens to an uncomfortable distrust for him. “Is that why Leo has been trying to set up a meeting with us?”
Jett scratches at his stubble, way calmer than he should be. “Might want to get on that. This is all going to affect you just as much as it will us. Better make sure you’re in with the right crew when shit goes down.” The way he says it is so cocky and overconfident. Most people I have seen around Axel give him this strange respect, but Jett couldn't give a shit.
“What are they talking about?” Jasmine whispers to me.
I shrug. Everyone around me is talking in cryptic messages that I don’t understand. “I don’t know. Thought you might have a better idea?”
She shakes her head, looking just as confused as I feel.
“Please, Axel, can you just help me?” I beg him. We don’t know each other that well, but I know he loves my sister, and he has a lot of pull in this town, with the Stone family owning half of it and all.
He lowers his mouth to Jasmine’s ear and says something I don’t catch, and she kisses his cheek and makes her way back over to me. “Okay, let’s go talk to Mom,” Jasmine says. We leave the boys in some kind of standoff out front, with their arms crossed. But they’re not beating the shit out of each other, so I guess that is as good a compromise as we’ll get.
“Cassie.” My mother comes rushing toward me from the kitchen. “How is your friend? Andy said you went to stay with him last night. He must have been really hurt.”
“I’m sorry I just took off, Mom. You and Dad were dancing and I didn’t want to put a damper on anyone’s night. He’s still not great, a concussion after a nasty knock to the head, but with a bit of rest I’m sure he will be okay in a few days. I’m so sorry I missed most of the wedding.”
“That’s good.” She smiles, and I wince, knowing what I have to say next is going to change our relationship forever.
“Mom, he’s not just a friend. He’s my boyfriend. We have been together for just a few weeks, but when I found out he had been in an accident, I was so scared that I would lose him. Because even though I’ve only been with him for a little while, I have known him a long time, and I was really worried I was about to lose him all over again.”
Her eyes widen. “Who are you talking about, Cassie?”
“It’s Brandon, Mom.”
Her eyes flick to my sister. “You knew about this, Jasmine?” she snips like Jasmine is about to get a piece of her anger as well.
Jasmine holds up her hands, showing her innocence. “I just found out as well.”
She turns back to me. “You know how your father feels about him, Cassie.”
“I know, but things are different now. I’m older. You can’t help who you fall in love with, Mom.”
“He’s so much older than you,” she mutters like she just can’t believe it. But he’s not that much older, it’s only five years. That’s not a big deal at all to anyone other than my family.
“Brad’s heaps older than Andy and you’re okay with that,” I reply. The double standards in this family, just because I’m the youngest, are getting on my nerves, and I have had just about enough of it.
“Brad didn’t try to seduce Andy when she was a minor.”
I look at Jasmine, hoping she will back me up, but she’s got nothing, and I can feel my face heating with anger. “He was her coach. I don’t really see the difference.”
“What is a Rivera doing in our yard?” My father’s voice booms from the front door, and I jump. My nerves were already on edge, and now I’m really screwed because I haven’t even managed to get Mom on my side before he came home.
Again, I look to Jasmine for help. This is getting out of hand quickly. “He’s a friend of Cassandra’s,” she tells him with a sigh. “Don’t believe everything you read in the media, Dad, you know better than that.”
He sees me, and his expression changes. “You’re home. Is your friend alright, after the car accident?”
“He will be.” I offer a weak smile.
“Good.” He places the grocery bags on the kitchen counter and looks between me and Mom.
