Five
Fox
2 Weeks Ago
The party sucks. It’s nothing like Wren Thorne’s extravagant and hedonistic parties, but I wasn’t expecting much from the spoiled brats of Ridgeview.
Whatever, that’s not why I’m here tonight amongst the kids of the most influential and powerful people in town. Just need to blend in until the time is right, then I’m getting the hell out of here. Except right now I stand out too much to do what I need to.
People side eye me and mutter when I walk through the kitchen to another room where the pounding beat of music fills the huge house. No one will kick me out, though. They’re all too chickenshit to cross me. If my fierce scowl isn’t enough, the rumors about me are, so they let me crash.
“Bet he’s got a dumping ground spot out at the old quarry,” someone whispers loudly. “Buries all the bodies of people he’s offed for the mob out there.”
“No way,” a girl responds, giving me a once over from the corner of her eye. “He’s so hot. He can’t be a hitman.”
“He totally is! It’s how he made all his money.”
Rolling my eyes, I slip past them. The rumors in this town are getting stupider by the minute.
I grab a beer bottle to look less like an angry shadow and prowl around the party, keeping an eye out the entire time. People don’t stand in my way because they recognize that I’m a predator who could tear them apart. When I spot the girl throwing the party—the daughter of the mayor, who has a habit of bringing his work home—I begin to make my way toward her. Her gaze trails me up and down, the heat flaring in her eyes easy to read. The corner of my mouth twitches in triumph.
Like a bad boy, do you?
“I don’t remember inviting you,” she says in a fake tone meant to entice me.
My shoulder hitches and I take a swig from the beer bottle. “I don’t like playing by the rules.”
She releases a breathy sound and inches closer, pressing her tits against my arm. If this all turns out to be a waste of my time, I’ll be pissed I had to put up with her. Swallowing back the snarky comment climbing my throat at how she was making out with some dude from the football team thirty minutes ago, I give her a lazy smile that makes her flutter her lashes flirtatiously.
“You’ve got a sweet place. Is your dad someone important?”
Buying my act, she flaps a hand, leaning into me harder as she fires off questions rapidly. “I guess, but who cares? Did you bring your motorcycle? Can you give me a ride?”
I trace a thumb over my lip. “I did.”
Didn’t mean I was going to let her touch it. I barely let the guys back east touch my bike.
Girls like her have never interested me. That goes for most of them, actually. Even amongst Wren’s mismatched band of Crows, the girls that hung around never held my attention. There was only ever one girl who had my heart. Just one, but she crushed it to dust in her little fist.
The mayor’s daughter keeps doing most of the talking and flirting while I stand there leaning against the wall, tuning out half of what she says to scan the room. Now that I’m blending in, the attention is off me. Good, that’ll make it easier to get into the home office.
The plan is going fine until all the air in the room sucks out
when I catch sight of who just entered through the front door out of the corner of my eye. Maisy fucking Landry, hair down from the ponytail she favors and dressed in a loose crop top that exposes her flat tanned stomach and tight blue yoga pants that hug her ass and her long toned legs. Goddamn, daisy. My focus splits, snagged by the need to watch Maisy’s every move and stick to what I’m here to do—use this chick to gain access to her dad’s computer.
For now I ignore her. It’s been the best way to deal with the raging pain that sears my chest from the inside out every time I look at the liar. If I don’t, I teeter on the brink of losing control and burning this whole fucking town to the ground.
Ridgeview, the town that turned on me and my family ten years ago. This was our home until it got my parents killed. I’ve waited this long and the time has finally come. I’m out for blood and I’m going to get it if it’s the last thing I do.
Maisy scans the room and stops on me and the girl dragging her manicured nails over my chest. We lock eyes and I let my mouth quirk into a savage curve as I wrap an arm around the girl’s waist, hauling her against my body. She squeals and releases the fakest moan.
“You want that ride now, baby?” I ask.
The chick doesn’t notice that I’m not looking at her. She nods. “Let’s go upstairs.”
“Lead the way.”
Maisy’s nostrils flare and she rips her attention away, stalking through the party with an angry grace that makes my blood thrum more than the chick melting against my side. I force out a breath, trying to get my head screwed on right. I’m not here for games.