Page 85 of Risking it All

“They made me food,” I answered.

“That’s what I’m afraid of.” She pointed at Noah and Isaiah. “Be nice.”

Noah and Isaiah smiled like they’d been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, and she left.

I couldn’t figure out this morning at all. “What’s this all about?”

“My daughter has had enough danger in her life, and she’s not even eighteen. Just doing a risk assessment.”

Fair enough. Macie was becoming the sun of my world, and I’d easily beat the shit out of anyone who hurt her. “I’m being heavily recruited by the gang if that’s what you’re asking. As for dating Macie, I’d love to, but I told her last night we shouldn’t see each other anymore because I don’t want any problems I have bleeding into her life.”

Noah pushed his eggs around his plate then tossed his fork into the sink. “Foster kids go to college for free. I went, earned my degree, and worked my ass off. That’s why I have a nice house. As for Isaiah, he also worked his ass off and earned a ton of automotive repair certificates, worked in multiple garages at the same time to save enough money to eventually buy his own garage.”

They went quiet as if letting all of that sink in. It sounded great, but I didn’t have the luxury of time, college, certificates, or trade schools.

“Macie says you gave her a yearbook marking who could be jacking cars,” Isaiah said. “If you’re currently not in a gang, how do you know your information is fact?”

“I don’t know facts, but I have a friend who’s in, and he knows what’s going down. All I’m doing is trying to help Macie narrow the list.”

“And snag a fifty-thousand-dollar reward?” Isaiah added.

Not feeling hungry anymore, I pushed the plate away. “I’ll take that reward if I help her find who did it, but Macie knows this already. I’m not playing her out. I care about her, and I want to find the bastards who did this to her. If I can score money to help me and my sisters along the way, I’m not passing up that opportunity.”

Noah looked over at Isaiah and he nodded as if agreeing to whatever unsaid question was on the table.

“Anything else you want to know?” I asked.

“Anything you think we should know?” Noah turned the question around.

Why the fuck not? “I’m in group therapy because I stole five dollars out of a car in front of a police station. Therapy is part of my plea deal.”

Isaiah snorted. “And I had been beginning to believe you were smart.”

“Why’d you do it?” Noah asked.

“I thought maybe the gang wouldn’t want me if I messed up so blatantly bad.”

The two of them went silent, and I wasn’t sure if I preferred the silence over their barrage of questions. Isaiah then said to me, “What’s your last name?”

“Aslanov.”

His head tilted in that I-know-that-name and not in a good way. “Any relation to Jack Aslanov?”

Fuck me. “He’s my dad, but he and I don’t see eye-to-eye. He went to prison a few years back for dealing and just got out. For all I care, he could have rotted behind bars. How do you know him?”

Isaiah rubbed his jaw. “I street raced when I was younger. Your dad was around.”

Which meant he knew Eric. I glanced back and forth between Noah and Isaiah and alarm bells rang. Were these two loyal to Eric then? Were they now? The stool squeaked as I unconsciously backed away.

“Don’t get the wrong idea, kid,” Isaiah said. “Eric was no friend of mine or Noah’s.”

The fact that Isaiah could put two and two together to equal Eric made me want to vomit. I was so damn edgy that my skin felt like razor blades. “You know Eric then?”

“As I said,” Isaiah answered. “He and I have never been and will never be friends. If you’re Aslanov’s kid, then I’m assuming you know Eric better than others. Is he the asshole pushing you to join the gang?”

I didn’t answer and appreciated it when neither of them pressed.

“You truly on your own?” Noah asked, and for the first time, the question didn’t feel like a full-on inquisition, but genuine concern. I didn’t know them. Didn’t trust hardly anyone.

---