Shaking my head, I couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t often you saw the charming, overly confident Braxton lose his cool over a woman—hell, over anyone. He pulled out his phone and started to text someone.
“Whoa, who are you telling?” I snapped, my protective instincts kicking in.
“Just the media,” Braxton quipped. “I’m telling the other guys so they aren’t blindsided when she shows up tonight like I was.”
“Asshole, the whole world is going to be blindsided. No one has seen her since she was five,” I reminded him. “Besides, none of the others even know what she looks like. One picture flashed on a drunken night, and all you remember is her ass.”
“Legs. I remember her long, luscious legs too. Although I guess they’re attached to her ass…” He paused, tapping his chin deep in thought. “Does that make me a horrible person if I can’t remember her face, but I can remember her ass?”
I didn’t even bother to justify that question with an answer. “Tell them to keep it to themselves. No one else is supposed to know but you, me, and the boss.”
“Yeah, yeah, you know sometimes you have the biggest stick up your ass,” he muttered. “Trust me, it’s far more fun to have something else up there.”
“How many times do I have to tell you I’m not sleeping around with anyone? It’s not because I’m secretly gay, it’s because I’m already taken.” I sighed.
“Pft, I’m not gay either, but boy, do I love Jace’s dick, and he knows just how to use it too,” Braxton said, wiggling his brows. “As for being taken, dude, you haven’t talked to her in seven years. You even said she was sleeping with other guys.”
“And yet she’s never actually dated anyone since I left, just fucked around. What does that tell you?” I asked.
“She’s pragmatic, get in, get dicked, get out. A woman after my own heart. Sex is a physical need, and it doesn’t need to be a lifelong commitment,” Braxton stated, dragging out the same old argument he always does. “Jace doesn’t give a shit that I sleep with other people and crawl back into his bed. Just like I don’t bat an eye when he does it.”
“He’s also the only guy who it’s safe to fuck. If you got caught by any of the old crew, you’d be six feet under,” I pointed out, getting a glare from Braxton. “You know I don’t give a fuck who you fuck as long as it isn’t me. This is the world the boss is trying to change for Astin. Turning it into one that doesn’t kill people for being a woman or gay.” Braxton gave me a look, making me roll my eyes. “So sorry, I meant bisexual. It takes time, but he can’t do more without her here to fight with him and rally people like us to her side.”
“God, you’re so fucking whipped, and you aren’t even together. Let’s hope she’s all you guys hope she’ll be, or we’re all gonna die protecting our biggest failure,” Braxton commented as we fell into silence as we drove.
Crossing the border was a breeze, just as the boss had promised. We stopped to get Truebucks and made the last part of the journey. When we pulled up to the large Victorian mansion where I’d spent all my childhood growing up in, I smiled. So many good memories of Astin and Dad were here, and I was glad I got the chance to say goodbye to it all. The moving trucks were already loading things to take back to the main estate, and who the hell knows where else. We both got out of the car, stretched our legs after the long drive, and headed to the front door. Glenda was there giving orders and yelling at movers to be careful as they carried the furniture out.
“There better not be one scuff on that table,” she ordered. When she caught sight of me, she stopped, and a wide smile bloomed on her face. “Well, look who the cat dragged home. Come here, boy. Give me a hug.”
I swept up the old woman who’d looked after me like the mother I never had.
“That old coot sent you to come get her, I see,” she commented when she let me go. “Hate to burst your bubble, but she’s already gone. I really should’ve expected this would happen after being cooped up for so long. She did her last nightly prowl and was gone before I even woke up. Took her personal bags along with her car,” Glenda grumbled, waving her hand dismissively. “I’m getting too old, I tell ya. Normally, I can hear when she opens the garage door, but you know her, she’s gotten quite sneaky.”
“Boss is going to kill me.” I groaned. “This is exactly what he was afraid she’d do.”
“Serves him right. She’s just like him.” Glenda cackled. “That boy couldn’t be told what to do by anyone but his mother, Lord bless her soul. She had a way of getting him to see reason.”
Braxton gaped at Glenda, having never heard someone talk about Boss like that. He looked at me then back to Glenda like she shouldn’t be alive after speaking about the leader of the Caprioni Family like she just did.
“What are you standing around gaping at me for? You better get going if you have any hope of finding her,” Glenda insisted, clapping her hands to hurry us out of the house. “Just so you know, she removed every single tracker they tried to put on her car so that won’t be an option. She still wears her mother’s necklace all the time, though.”
“Thanks, Glenda, see you back in Eastrose,” I called as we hopped back into the SUV.
“What the hell is happening?” Braxton asked as I floored it out of the driveway, kicking up gravel.
“Life with Astin Caprioni, my friend.” I laughed, excited for the hunt. “It’s never gonna be boring.”
three
Windowsdown,Guccisunglasseson, blasting “Bring Me To Life” and singing along at the top of my lungs, I flew down the highway way over the speed limit. Life couldn’t get much better than this. For a brief moment, I could forget about what I was driving toward and just wanted to live in the here and now. Once I was back at the family estate, I’d be trapped in its walls and rules that went along with who Daddy wanted me to be. However, right now, I was going to celebrate my twenty-fifth birthday in the city before I had to make it back to the house for the stuffy party Daddy was planning. With my personal things in the trunk along with two different dresses to pick from, depending on my mood, I couldn’t help but smile.
My car was untraceable, and I had at least a two, maybe three-hour head start on the idiots who were coming to pick me up. Did Daddy really think I would be waiting for them on the front steps of my lifelong cage? If he did, then whoever he sent was in for a rude awakening.
It wasn’t my goal to be an outright bitch or cause trouble, but it was my birthday, and I was going to do something fun. I had to make up for all those years I spent with Glenda and a boring birthday cake. This was my one chance to do something crazy before the whole world learned who I was. After the announcement, there was no chance of this happening without bodyguards.
The border crossing was easy. From my training, I knew they had officers in place who would turn a blind eye. Besides, I didn’t mind letting Daddy know I was back in the country and on my way home—eventually.
“Identification, please,” the officer asked when I pulled up to the booth.