Page 102 of Prince of Pain

Iwas still awake the following morning when Slash poked his head into my bedroom.

“Hey. Can I come in?”

“If you have to,” I grunted from my spot on the floor, not at all surprised when he moved to sit in front of me.

“Yesterday got a little bit heated. Are you calmer today?”

“That depends. Did you fix my money?”

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” he sighed, leaning back on his hands. “We’re going to put you up in your own place. You’ll have everything provided for you. The yelling was one thing, not that we can have it around other kids, which we don’t love more than you, by the way,” he said gruffly before continuing. “The way you got in your mom’s face was crossing a line, and I don’t have to tell you how much you overstepped when you laid a hand on her.”

“You’re kicking me out?” I asked flatly, and he shook his head.

“Not exactly. We’re not going to kick you out and leave you alone when it’s obvious you need us more than ever right now. The issue is it’s going to be a long road, and your violent outbursts can’t happen. For one, we will lose any rights to foster children. I know you think we care about them more than you, but it’s not true. Those kids have no one, Ryder. Babies arrive with physical trauma from adults who were supposed to protect them. You’ve seen a lot of it, so you know how horrible those children have suffered. We have the money to give them somewhere safe to grow, and older kids like Noah can be steered back onto the right path with a good education and opportunities before it’s too late. We’ve rarely said no to you about anything. You kids always got what you wanted unless it was unreasonable. If we didn’t love you, we’d throw you out on the street and tell you to fend for yourself, not caring about what happens to you.”

“You don’t.”

“We do,” he said patiently. “We’re sorry you were struggling and we didn’t notice. Things have been hectic but we should’ve checked in more with you. It’s hard to help you when you claim you’re fine though.”

“When do I have to leave?”

“We’ll help set you up this afternoon. The food will be fully stocked, and you are welcome to request cooked meals be delivered or things like pizza. This is not a punishment, this is so we can all calm down and have some space safely. Okay?”

“Give me the address, and I’ll go,” I shrugged, getting to my feet. “Do I get to keep my car, or are you taking that away from me too?”

“For now, you can keep it. The second we’re told about any DUIs or reckless driving, that will change like it would with any of you kids. They are a privilege and not a right. If you decide you want rehab or therapy, let us know, and we will organize it. There will not be a maid.”

“Jesus, anything else?” I bit out as he stood and calmly walked back towards the door.

“Is it possible for you to apologize to your mom?”

“She needs to apologize to me,” I scoffed, and he just shook his head and walked out, closing the door gently behind him.

I wasn’t going to waste time by hanging around here while they waited for me to get the fuck out, so I shoved things in bags for the second time in the last two weeks, lugging them downstairs with my keys in hand.

The only people around seemed to be Slash and Marco, who both looked at me from the table as I walked into the kitchen.

Marco looked ready to strangle me, but he kept his mouth shut, letting Slash do all the talking.

“The address and key for the house are in the envelope. If you break windows, you go cold. If you burn it down, you don’t get another one. Clear?” he said sternly, offering me the envelope. “If you hit one of us in a rage again, you will be put in the basement to dry out for as long as it takes, the nice version of rehab being null and void. If you decide you’re genuinely sorry, say so. It won’t get you your cards back, but it’s the right thing to do.”

“Bite me,” I growled, snatching the envelope. “I suppose you’re going to ban people from my new house?”

“No. You’ll eventually learn who are good people to have around you, and who are bad. We’re providing you with enough food for yourself, so if you feed other people and run out, you don’t get more,” he warned. “Oh, and when your car runs low on gas, we’ll fill it up for you.”

“Kind of you,” I deadpanned, stalking towards the internal garage door with my bags and not bothering to say goodbye as I shut it behind me.

I tossed my bags into the back and opened the envelope, running my eyes over the address. It was closer to the docks and bordered on Blackwater, which was fine by me.

I waited for the garage door to open before taking off, putting my phone on the holder and calling Tempest.

She answered almost instantly, sounding out of breath. “Hey.”

“Were you running or fucking someone?” I scoffed, making her huff.

“Neither. I was lugging all my bags down to the car. I’m just leaving Kingslake. Where are you?”

“Just left home. I got kicked out too.”

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