Chapter Ten – Giselle
This day was just getting better and better. That was sarcasm, and I knew it didn’t stick the landing. No, if anything, the day was getting worse and worse.
After Ezekiel had left, it was but a short fifteen minutes later when Piper showed up at the house. She was here for me. She wanted me to come with her to hang out with the other heirs. I had no idea why she’d come to me, but I knew I couldn’t say no. So, I went.
I went, and Zander tagged along, because of course he had to. My father wasn’t home right now, so it wasn’t like I had to ask his permission. Besides, I figured, if anything, my father would appreciate me getting closer to Piper, Dex, Jett, and whoever else would be there.
Zander drove, following Piper’s car. I itched all over, the hands under my gloves hot. I couldn’t shake the feeling I’d had when Ezekiel was there. Everything he’d said, the fact that two Greenback Serpents had come to Cypress in search of me… it wasn’t good, obviously. The shit would soon hit the fan, and it was going to be ugly. Not sure even my father could salvage this disaster.
I had to tell him. I knew I had to tell my father about those Greenbacks, but… shit. I didn’t want to.
“What did that priest want?” Zander broke the silence of the car ride. He’d refrained from asking me before, probably because he’d seen how freaked out I’d been when Ezekiel had left. I… I could’ve handled myself better with that man. “You seem worried about something.”
I let him get too close to me. I’d felt his breath on my cheek.I hadn’t pushed him away, and the strangest part was, I didn’t want to.
“He was dropping off something for me that I forgot” was all I said. I brought a hand up to my face, touching my cheek, but all I felt was the soft fabric of the white gloves I wore. I’d changed into a pair of ivory pants with a long-sleeved white shirt because I didn’t know what this hangout session would entail.
Keeping the truth from Zander wasn’t something I wanted to do, but at the same time, I didn’t know how to tell him. Oh, yeah, I happened to kill three Greenback Serpents back home, right before we moved here. They killed Father Charlie, the man who’d saved my life three years ago because my father sold me out for a night with Rocco Moretti.
No. I couldn’t say that.
“What?” Zander asked.
“Nothing important.” I thought back to the golden cross Ezekiel had left on my desk. I’d hurried and put it in a drawer before Zander had come in. It felt almost wrong to have it, after what I’d done, what I would do here. Father Charlie would look down on all of it.
I wasn’t ashamed. I wouldn’t take back what I did with that guy in the club, so I didn’t know why it mattered to me so much.
It wasn’t enough for Zander, for he went on, “You two were in there a long time together. He didn’t… try anything, did he?”
Okay, that got me to glare at him. “He’s a priest, Zander.”
“That doesn’t mean anything. You’ve heard all those scandals the church has had over the years. Just because he’s a priest doesn’t mean you can trust him, and it definitely doesn’t mean I trust him to be alone in a room with you.” His hands tightened on the steering wheel. “He rubs me the wrong way.”
“Everyone here rubs you the wrong way.” Especially if they show any interest in me whatsoever, I added in my head. I kept that part to myself, because after our little chat on the way home from that party, it was obvious why he acted like he did.
“I can’t help it, Giselle.”
“I know.” He didn’t say anything to that, which was fine with me. I moved my gaze to the window. I didn’t voice how weird I thought it was that Piper had come to the house for me, but I did wonder it in my head.
Piper’s car led us through Cypress, and eventually we pulled into a long driveway. She parked before a large mansion, and Zander parked beside her. I was the first out of the car, and Piper gestured for me to follow her. Zander was shortly behind us, but he kept his distance.
“Whose house is this?” I asked, craning my head back to gaze up at the house. Not the biggest mansion in Cypress, not by a long shot, but not exactly a normal-sized house, either.
“Slade’s, although Shay pretty much lives here,” Piper rattled off, pushing inside the house. “From what she tells me, though, she makes her rounds.” Her hips swayed with an invisible beat as she brought me into what must be the living room. Her long blonde hair was held high in a sleek ponytail, making her figure look even more slender. Tight jeans clung to her legs, along with a dark shirt that hung so low on her chest you could see the lace of her bra on the top curve of her tits.
The TV was on, and Slade and Nix hung out on the couch facing it. There was a space between them, so it was clear Shay was around.
Nix looked at me when we walked in, but I pretended I didn’t notice. Beside me, Piper hooked her arm through mine, and I resisted my natural urge to tense up. “Zander, go sit with the boys.” It was an order, and though she wasn’t the one who gave him orders, I nodded along with her, knowing this would go smoother if I went along with whatever she said.
Zander didn’t look like he wanted to sit with the guys, but he also knew better than to argue with me. “Okay, well, if you need me…” Before rounding the corner of the hall, I saw him sit in a chair, putting some distance between him and the two guys.
“Jett and Dex aren’t here?” I questioned. I didn’t really care either way, but it was odd the twins weren’t here.
“They had to do something with Atticus,” Piper spoke with a shrug. “I don’t know.” We went up the stairs, and I had no idea where we were going in the house.
“What is this, anyway? What’s going on?”
All Piper did was smile at me. Well, smile at me and continue to drag me through the hall. We stopped before a closed door, and finally her arm slipped out of mine. Thank God. She continued to smile at me, and she lifted a hand to my hair, touching the wisps framing my face—much like Ezekiel had done earlier.