Page 78 of Pretty Monsters

"None of us have heard from our friend Jess in over a week, and it's not normal," Jen supplies.

"I can try and call her again," Amber offers. She takes out her phone.

Lucien is moving around her and freezes. "That's Jess?"

She lowers her phone, and we all wait for him to explain his reaction. "I've seen her."

“Yeah, she was at the party for Raven,” Jen reminds him.

Lucien shakes his head. "That’s not what I’m talking about. I remember her from the strip club. She isn't going by the name Jess, but that's her. Of course, the girl I met was so strung out I am not sure she's there totally by choice or just to keep her high going."

"Fuck! I swear that girl is nearly too stupid to live!" Ford curses.

"Ford–" Jen admonishes.

"Just save it, Jen. She's been doing stupid shit for the last six months. I know both of you have seen it. Ever since she hooked up with that loser with the muscle car she's been spiraling. We'll help her, okay, but we can't run off half cocked because she's trying to exorcise her daddy issues by shoving her tits in men's faces for dollar bills."

"I think you're all missing the bigger problem. She's connected to all of you. There was a chance Damien's men wouldn't question you at the apartment more than to show our picture around, but now they're going to look harder." Sin's voice is resigned.

"Everyone is in danger now," Lucien agrees.

"Not if we act fast," Teddy suggests. Gone is the lovable goofball façade. In its place is a look I've seen more often on Sin and my brother.

"What's your plan?" Sin seems to have picked up on the change too.

"Do you know her schedule?" Teddy asks Lucien.

"She should be getting off work around midnight. It's too late to catch her going in to work."

"Jackson, since your face wasn't broadcast on the news tonight, I think we have to be the ones to go and get her." His entire demeanor has changed, and it's freaking me the fuck out.

Sin's eyes narrow as he reassesses Teddy. "Why you?"

"I know I've got a lot of explaining to do. Let's just say my background is more like Lucien's than Ford or Shane," he explains.

Teddy seems to stand taller, his muscles bunch and ripple. I'm not sure how he managed to downplay his powerful frame, but he's far more deceptive than I'd given him credit for.

He sighs, realizing he isn't going to be able to deflect our interest from his past. "My name isn't Ted Reese. I mean, it is, but Reese is my middle name. My real last name is O'Brian."

Ford and Shane trade puzzled looks. "Is that supposed to mean something?" They clearly have no idea who their friend really is, but judging by the look on Lucien and Sin's faces, they do.

"Are you from Chicago, Ted?" Sin asks. His voice is deadly calm.

Ted nods. "Yeah, my dad was the head of the Irish mob in Chicago. From the time I was able to walk I've been trained to be one of his soldiers so I'd be ready to take over. Except, my mother was a good Catholic girl who, despite her love for my father, never accepted I'd follow in his footsteps. Every chance she got she made sure I held on to my morals."

Lucien silently moves next to Sin. "Theodore O'Brian was murdered in his bed. I thought his entire family died that night."

“That was the story the FBI fed the press. The truth is my dad came home that night with two bodies in the trunk of his car. He sent my mom to her room while he made me help him carry them to our basement while he waited for some of his men to show up to dispose of the bodies. It was a fucking mom and a kid not much younger than I was at the time."

He's purging a blackness from his soul and can't seem to stop now that he's started. "He kept explaining that sometimes drastic measures were necessary. They weren't criminals, they just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Without a second thought he ended both of their lives.

"This was my legacy, and I couldn't do it. When he turned his back on me I knocked him out with a shovel. Once he was out I went and told my mom to get the car. Then I went back inside, doused all the bodies with gasoline, and lit a match. I don't think he was even dead when he started to burn."

"Shit, man. We've known you since junior year of high school. You killed a man when you were fifteen?" Shane is pacing.

One thing is certain. After tonight this group will never be the same.

"Everyone has always bought the act. When you present yourself as a clown, most people accept it and don't look too deep. A war broke out amongst my father's men for control, and the ones who weren't killed were rounded up by the governor's anti-crime squad."

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