AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Where are we going?” I ask as we get into my Audi.
“I can’t believe you drive now,” she says, distracted. “You go to the gymandyou drive, we avoided together and you’ve gone to the dark side.
“What can I say? I’m a big boy now.”
She chuckles. “Okay, you know the estates?”
I tense. “What are you doing in the estates?”
“It’s not in the estates, it’s just outside. You drive until we get there and then I’ll tell you where to go.”
I do as she says, navigating traffic smoothly. “Have you spoken to Gray?”
She smiles. “Every day. I don’t think he trusts you three.”
“He isn’t the only one, huh?”
Her smile fades and I regret bringing it up. I glance at her when the road allows it, the bruise on her cheek is still an angry purple. She hasn’t tried covering it, mostly because she hasn’t left the house, but also because it’s too tender. The split in her lip is healing but still shows as a red gash across her perfect mouth. Why would I remind her that she doesn’t trust us?Of courseshe doesn’t trust us. She looks like she’s gone six rounds with Mike Tyson because some dickwad wanted to send Lance a message. She has absolutely no reason to trust us.
“Where is he staying?” I ask, trying to bring the conversation back around.
Another slight smirk. “He says he’s staying at his grandmother’s.”
“But you don’t believe him?”
“You remember Enzo from my birthday?” I nod, knowing what she’s about to say but wanting her to continue talking. “They have a thing going on, but Gray is more of a casual hook-up, doesn’t want to be tied down kind of guy. It would make much more sense if he stayed at Enzo’s as it is in the city centre whereas his Gran lives in the suburbs. I just don’t think he wants to tell me because he thinks I’ll give him a warning talk again.”
I raise my eyebrow at her, and she chuckles.
“They’re good together but Gray can’t be convinced to do anything. He has to get there on his own. In the meantime, I don’t want either of them hurt.”
“How did you meet Gray?” I ask, curious.
She puffs out a breath. “When I moved back in with my parents after university, I had to get out again pretty quick, or else I was going to murder one or both of them. Gray was looking for a roommate and had an ad online. I took him up on it. I took work wherever I could to begin with, one of them was at an Italian deli that Enzo and Tony own. Tony introduced me to Gaby, and we auditioned for Starlight together. Rio and Emma, who were there on my birthday, are other performers at the club and Caroline is Rio’s wife.”
I smile at the road. “I’m glad you’ve found your squad.”
With Elle’s directions, I pull into the dodgy-as-fuck car park of a community hall. There are a couple groups of people hanging around in the dark, smoking and drinking with litter scattered around. Several large potholes in the paving show the lack of funds in this part of the city. I know where we are; I grew up a ten-minute walk away and I’d been here before. I used to be one of the lost souls hanging round in the dark just to be away from the home that I could only see as the place I found my sister slumped on her bedroom floor.
Now I stand out like a sore thumb in my designer suit and expensive shoes. I’ve not been back to these parts in six years, and it was the last place I expected Elle to bring me. She takes the duffle bag that she’s brought with her and slings it over her shoulder, heading toward the centre entrance. We go through the long hallway with doors on either side until we reach the end and Elle walks through the double doors into a large hall. It looks a bit like a school sports hall with various markings on the ground to lay out courts. In one corner is an upright piano and along one side are stacks of rickety old chairs.
Elle dumps the duffle on the piano and starts dragging chairs over and unstacking them to form rows. I, of course, step in and help her, telling her not to do any heavy lifting as her face winces every time she frees a chair from a stack. So, while I continue with the chairs, she starts unpacking the duffle bag of percussion instruments; she must have grabbed those from her place a few days ago. We work in companiable silence as I wonder what the fuck she’s doing here.
“Yo, yo, yo, Miss M, your favourite boi is in the house!” A fake American accent bellows into the room. I turn to see a kid walking in, he couldn’t have been older than eighteen; tall and slim, wearing a white tank despite the cold weather, and jeans slung so low that a good few inches of his underwear are showing. His utter faith in the belt preventing the jeans from falling to the floor is admirable. His baseball cap is worn to the side, and he has a silver bar through one eyebrow.
Elle turns and smiles at the youth. “Hi, Romeo, come on in.”
His cocky smile is lost as he gets a look at her and he rushes forward. I jerk forward not sure what is happening but pretty sure I want to intervene. But I stop when he reaches her and gently cups her face in his hands, inspecting her injuries. “What the fuck happened? Who hurt you?” His eyes drift over her shoulder to find me and they narrow to slits. “Who’s this? He your boyfriend? Didhedo this?”
I could laugh, but I choose not to. I just raise my brow at the kid, his concern is endearing, really. Elle does laugh though. “Calm down John Wick, this is my friend Hayden and he’s here to help this evening. And I’m fine.”
He lets her go but keeps his narrowed brows, his concern not alleviated at all. “Whatdidhappen?” He says, softer now.
She waves a hand in dismissal. “I got mugged, but I promise you, I’m okay.” She smiles reassuringly.
“Around here? Tell me where, I’ll find the fuckers and knock them the fuck out.”
She laughs again. “It wasn’t around here, and I’m pretty sure I should be telling you to watch your language.”
