“Believe me, I know,” I tell her, “but what choice do we have? Anton is going to seek revenge one way or another. We need to be as ready as we can because I don’t plan on losing anyone to this.”
“I know, it’s just…”
“It’s hard,” I finish for her. “We’re all missing Rivers but we need to learn how to function without him. Maybe it’s a good thing as it gives us a chance to see just how strong we are on our own.”
“I seriously can’t wait to see him again so I can kick his ass.”
“Whose ass are you kicking?” Noah questions, joining us again.
“Rivers,” she grumbles.
Noah scoffs. “Believe me, there won’t be anything left of him after I’m through with him, especially now.”
“Come on,” I say, defending the guy who’s apparently my half brother. “Give him a break. He couldn’t have known this was going to happen. None of us could.”
“True, but it doesn’t make me any less pissed at him.”
I stand and walk towards him, changing the topic as bitching about Rivers really isn’t helping anything. “What did Simon say?”
“He’s in. He’s meeting us there in ten, so we better get going,” he says. “Hopefully this is quick. I need to be out before mom and dad get home.”
With that, we hide Noah’s Camaro in my garage and take my Supra back to his place. Precisely ten minutes later, we pull up to find Simon bringing his old shit box car to a stop on the curb outside Noah and Tully’s place.
Noah jumps out of the car and heads over to the guy, shaking his hand and thanking him for coming.
We get inside and Tully helps Simon get things sorted while Noah hurries through his room, grabbing all his stacks of cash and anything important which he wouldn’t want Anton’s guys getting their hands on if they were to actually show up here tonight.
Simon sets up a few cameras throughout the house and gets Noah to download an app on his phone where he can record and watch what’s happening through the night.
Tully heads down to her room and quickly packs up some of her more treasured things before finding all of Lily’s special things and placing them all in the back of my supra, keeping them somewhere safe where they’re not at risk of getting ruined.
Once Simon leaves, we all hurry around the house, making sure every treasured possession is taken care of and before I know it, Noah’s handing Tully a bunch of cash and reminding her of the importance of getting their mom and dad out the door for the night.
Noah and I head back to my place and as I cook dinner for my family, but he can’t help but continually check the cameras, making sure Tully and his parents are alright.
When Tully shows up two hours later with all her worldly possessions, relief washes over Noah, and just like that, we settle in for our night. Tully and I are staring at the TV while Noah stares at the screen of his phone, watching the front door.
———-
My bedroom door creaks open and I peer into the dim light that comes from the hallway as Noah pushes into my room. I instantly push up, alarmed. “What’s wrong?” I question, searching his face as he closes the door behind him.
The soft noise of the door closing has Tully shooting up in bed beside me, both of us sleeping uneasily with the thought of Anton’s men coming through the doors. “It’s ok, it’s just me,” Noah murmurs quietly as to not wake dad or Aria. He sits down on the edge on my bed, phone in hand. “You were right. They’re ransacking my place.”
With that, he turns the phone around to show us the screen and right there in front of us is Noah and Tully’s home turning into a crime scene. Tully sucks in a gasp as the camera captures a masked man storming down the hall and heading into her bedroom. “What do we do?”
“Nothing,” he says. “I got a movement notification from the sensor Simon set up near the front door. I’ve already called the police. All we do now is sit back and watch.”
“But they’re destroying our home,” she cries, watching as drawers are tipped out all over the floor, couch cushions are cut with knives, and family photos are torn off the wall, searching the spaces behind them.
“Believe me, Tullz,” I know,” he says. “But we’re safer here. We’ll head back in the morning and start cleaning it up, but for now, we just have to be thankful that we’re not home and that mom and dad took the bait.”
She nods her head as tears silently slide down her face.
With that, Noah climbs in between me and Tully comforting us both, the best way he knows how as we watch it all play out on the screen before us.