Everyone at the party turns, noticing them at the doors, and I walk with Aro to cut them off before they come any farther. No one speaks as they watch Weston invade, the music dead and silence taking over the entire house.
Farrow looks to Hugo—his future employer—no doubt. “You want to take this?” he teases with a smile.
But Hugo just shrugs, looking amused. “Have at it, kid.”
I take Aro’s hand, trying to shift her behind me, but she refuses to go.
“You after something?” I ask Farrow.
“Oh, we’re just dying to see how the other half lives.”
“Be careful or we may cross the river to do the same.”
His eyes gleam, and Dirk and Stoli take my side.
“We’ll just have to take off our Rolexes first,” Stoli adds.
I laugh, turning my head. “You got a Rolex?”
“Dude, my dad is overcompensating since the divorce.”
Aw… I fix my gaze back on Farrow, seeing how well he’s holding it together, or trying to. The dude is dumber than a brick. All he has are his fists.
He turns his eyes on Aro at my side. “Hey, baby. Been missing you at school.”
Nicholas shifts, and it grows quiet, the tension thick like someone is about to move.
But then we hear Kade’s voice. “She’s not missing you,” he tells Farrow as he finally joins us with a cup of something in his hand. “Pretty boys are nice, but pretty doesn’t last. Your girls always make their way over here when looking for someone to pay their Visa cards for the rest of their lives.”
Aro whips her head toward Kade, takes a step, and I reach out and grab her, rolling my eyes. “He’s kidding,” I tell her.
I level him with a look.
He wasn’t talking about her. Or really anyone in particular. Just flashing Daddy’s wallet to make Weston feel inferior, which is a low blow, but hey, it’s Kade.
Farrow approaches Aro. I tighten every muscle.
“We saw the video last night,” he says.
“Both of them,” Hugo adds. “And you still owe a debt to me.”
Both of them. The one Stoli posted after kidnapping her, and the one I handed off to the police proving Reeves is a dirty cop. That one hasn’t gone out to the public, but Hugo would know about it by now.
“You know I’m a feminist, Aro,” he points out. “I will hold you just as responsible as I would any man.”
He’s not talking about the shit we found in the trunk that night in the park by the fish pond. He’s talking about her betraying Green Street. She was safe when she became mine at the tattoo shop, but that changed yesterday when the Reeves video proved they were running drugs in Green Street. Now we’re enemies again.
Aro shifts next to me, and I follow her gaze, seeing white and blue hair peek out from between all the Weston kids.
Tommy Dietrich.
Whatever that kid’s looking for, she’s finding it with Green Street.
But then I hear Kade’s low bite. “Tommy…” he grits out. Then he jerks his head, gesturing for her to get her ass to his side. “Now!”
Her eyes flit anywhere but at him as she swallows.
Scared. Nervous. As always.
But then…
Her jaw tightens, she raises her eyes, and she lifts her chin. “Or what?” she asks him, meeting his gaze. “What will you do?”
“You’re Falls.”
And to my surprise, she steps forward, almost like she’s following orders. But she stops. “Then give me a ride home. On your motorcycle.” The kid doesn’t blink. “Take me home.”
Kade doesn’t say a word. Just stares at her.
“How about a game then?” Fallow smiles. “And then we’ll leave, okay?”
T.C. and another guy I don’t know hold up their hands, several sets of silver handcuffs dangling from their fingers.
“All you gotta do is run,” Farrow tells us, looking around at the crowd.
“Ohhh,” someone laughs behind us.
Excited chatter starts to fill the patio, and everyone shifts, ready to move.
Tie them up, hold them hostage. Other things if people are into it.
Yeah, tie up the Trents and Caruthers, so we won’t stop them from looking for whatever it is they’re really here for.
T.C. shouts at the top of his lungs. “Get ’em!”
Screams go off, frantic laughter and squeals, and everyone runs. I look to Aro. “Hide,” I tell her.
“Shit!” Dirk cries, and I whip my head around to see someone taking him down with cuffs in their hand, but they both disappear into the pile of suds.
I look around. “Dylan!”
But then I catch a flash of blue as Dylan runs back into the house.
“Get off me!” I hear Aro cry.
I look to see her shove some Weston chick in the chest, the girl falling into clouds of foam and then we hear a splash. I can’t help but laugh, because that was the pool. She should be glad for the soft landing, I guess.
“Let’s go!” I grab her hand, because of course, she didn’t go hide like I told her. We run back into the house, and I don’t see Kade anywhere, but people race and laugh as Rebels catch girls, tying them up, and throw guys down on the ground.