“I am.”
“How?”
I licked my lips, the saltiness of my tears coating my tongue. “I just know.”
“You’re wrong.”
“No.” I shook my head. “I’m not wrong. You’ll see.”
The sky-blue of his eyes turned a shade darker, his face hard. But I refused to look at him any longer and turned my back on him. For a while, we stood there in silence, and it surprised me that Onyx didn’t leave. He had no reason to stay. No reason to stick around in the room with me. But he did.
“Alyx, the only reason we took you—”
“Kidnapped.” I glanced at him over my shoulder. “I believe that’s the word you should use.” The animosity dripped from my words, and right then I didn’t care. My body was drained, my mind weary. And Onyx didn’t intimidate me the way Granite did. I felt more in control around Onyx, more confident, and that finally led me to this point where I just didn’t give a fuck anymore. Not around him, anyway.
I heard him exhale. Then footsteps. “Granite said to make sure you get something to eat. I knew you wouldn’t be hungry, but I brought you something anyway. I’ll just leave it here for you.”
My tears had stopped, the lingering wetness starting to dry on my cheeks. “You know so much about my life. Even my fucking eating habits.” Finally, I turned to face him where he stood, a few feet away from the door. “It seems the American Street Kings interfered with my life long before youkidnappedme.”
“I’m sorry, Alyx. I know we’re not the good guys here, but we’ve never interfered with your life…until now.”
For a moment, I studied him, trying to figure out exactly what angle he was trying to work. Now, I was no people expert, or even close to a goddamn profiler—but Onyx wasn’t showing any sign that he was currently trying to pull off some bullshit act.
I leaned back, surprised yet still uncertain. “Your brother made himself a part of my life years ago without me even knowing.”
Onyx didn’t respond.
I weaved my fingers through my hair, ruining the ponytail I had just tied ten minutes ago. “You and Neon keep telling me nothing is as it seems. Well, maybe you’re the ones who should take a better look.”
He bit his bottom lip, eyes weary, and his hands deep inside his pants pockets. “Get some rest, Alyx.” He left, locking the door behind him.
The sound of the lock became more and more familiar, and less noticeable. This room was starting to blend into my world. Their faces too—Onyx and Neon. But not Granite. Not his face. The man was an enigma, a paradox not meant to fade. Not in my world, anyway.
Alone, standing in the center of the room, I looked at the side table next to the bed. It was a diet Pepsi he left for me. He knew I wouldn’t eat, and I knew the diet Pepsi was a way for him to crack a joke about it. At least he wasn’t making such a big deal about what I ate.
“God,” I cursed, smiling, yet feeling fucking miserable.
Falling down on the bed like nothing but a sack of meat, I closed my eyes. My stomach felt heavy, my skin clammy, yet cold. There was no telling what tomorrow held in store for me, but if the dread that hugged my insides was anything to go by…it wouldn’t be anything good.
19
Granite
It was justpast midnight when I walked up the stairs, beer still in hand. The guys were riled up, and rightfully so. We weren’t part of a club just for shits and giggles. We were a club because we loved the thrill. We loved the adrenaline, and most of all, we were a family. And when you fucked with anyone in this family, you got burned. And that was what the Pythons did. They fucked with our family when they killed our men, all because they wanted our business with the Sixes, a business my father spent years building. Did they really think that was something we’d surrender to them so easily? Motherfuckers.
On my way down the hall, I passed her bedroom. For a second, I stilled by the door, a part of me wanting to go inside. I wanted to check if she was sleeping, then sit in the fucking dark like a psycho and watch her body move with her rhythmic breathing while she slept. It was like fucking Xanax to me, soothed and calmed me. Sort of like watching waves when they eased onto the shore.
I leaned with my shoulder against the door, thinking about the soft little moans she would make in her sleep every now and then. It was the most beautiful sound in the world.
I chugged down the last of my beer and pushed myself off the door before walking past. Not tonight. My fucking mind was all over the place, and I could feel my control hanging by a thread. Being close to her now would’ve tipped me over the edge, and I’d end up doing something she really wasn’t ready for yet.
A psychopath with a conscience. Imagine that.
My room was a little farther from the others. It was through the kitchen, out the back door, to the right. I liked my privacy, so I had the room where you couldn’t hear people talk through the walls or hear wall-bang-fucking at two in the morning.
I walked in and shut the door, not bothering to lock it. If there was a dumb enough asshole who dared to come in here uninvited, he deserved a bullet in his chest.
The first thing I did was take out my gun, placing it on a table a few feet away from the door. Then my watch. The two knives I had hidden in my pockets, and then I placed my cut over it.