Page 77 of Dirty Dancer

Vaughn chuckled from the back seat where him, Kel, and Freddie were crammed together. Liam wasn’t that far behind us and Rome had elected to ride with his brother. “Nice,” Vaughn commented. “Way to elevate the mood Hawk.”

I snorted. “I woke up to my warning letter, why shouldn’t I embrace the warm and fuzzy.”

That earned a real scoff from Kellan, but it was Freddie I checked in the side mirror. His expression tightened. That warning letter was something he’d been dreading. I’d just remind him, it didn’t matter if they kicked me out of the group home at the end of the school year—the only concession they would make considering I’d literally just “aged out.” Four more weeks of school, but graduation day meant get the fuck out.

Worked for me. We’d been saving every dime to get a place and we would stick close to get to Freddie if we had to. If we had to pay other kids to keep an eye on him and watch his back, we fucking would.

Our parents, the system, and life might leave the us behind, we would not. We were Vandals and he was one of us. Kid brother might know how to push my buttons on a good day, but I wasn’t going anywhere.

Fifteen minutes later, we followed the long drive up and around the colonial buildings. While the resort was open year round, this was not the busy time. I was planning to work up here this summer for the extra dollars and for the bungalow we could all share. I’d probably just sign Freddie out of the group home for the summer too if they let me.

Fuck letting, I’d just say I was gonna give him a job and they would probably not complain about not having to pay for him to eat. Whatever.

As soon as Milo pulled in, I was out of the car and striding up to the cliff edge. The drop from here would be exhilarating. There were a couple of paths to get back up too so we could do it more than once.

Freddie came to stand next to me and glanced over the edge. “You’re nuts.”

I grinned. “That’s what makes it fun.”

Stripping off my shirt, I backed away from the edge. At the car, I stripped off my shoes, then my pants. I had my swim trunks on. Milo was briefing the guys with a plan. To be honest, it was probably a great plan. He’d earned the name Raptor for his fierceness in protecting us as well as his keen insights.

I was a hawk, though, so I could see everything I needed to see right now.

“Hey,” Milo called as I strode away from them. “Jas!”

I laughed. “Happy birthday to me, bitches!” Then I was running. I didn’t need to dive off the cliff and I still wanted to get some distance when I leaped. I heard their laughter, yells and whistles, but I was already jumping.

The air whooshed at me and there was a moment of perfect peace as I seemed to hang there suspended and then I plummeted. The icy water at the bottom was a rush that slapped reality back into me.

The tide wasn’t hitting the rocks yet so nothing threw me back at the cliff. When I surfaced, my laughter echoed back at me.

Fuck yes.

I swam for shore.

I was totally doing that again.

RUTHLESS TRAITOR BONUS SCENES

CRAVING (ALTERNATE POV)

LIAM

Taking Hellspawn to the Blue Diamond hadn’t been high on my list. Then again, Emersyn needed a break. Everyone wanted to smother her in protection. She needed it, but she didn’t have to suffocate under the weight of it. Former 19 Diamonds territory might not seem like the best place to take her with a bounty still on her head. Yet that was exactly why I took her with me

No one would be looking for her here. While I owned the place, my involvement had been obscured by shell corporations and other LLCs. I still needed to figure out what to do about her uncle. He’d put the bounty on her and rather than make her—or anyone else for matter—aware, I sat on the details.

Out of the apartment, she relaxed. Not the way she did when we went to train. There she was all focused-energy and compulsion. I swore she lived for the challenge. Not that I was remotely opposed to it. The fact she pushed back when I pushed her made me push her harder.

We made our way through the club to the booth I’d chosen on my first visit. No one was allowed to sit here unless the club was overflowing. She scooted in, but her attention was almostexclusively on the dancers. The fact I had to keep getting her attention to get her moving amused me.

She was laser-focused on the dancers and I wanted to watch her. When Cathy reached our table, I had to talk right into her ear or risk disturbing Hellspawn’s growing fascination with the performance. The girl on the stage wasn’t bad, but she lacked my partner’s lithe physique and staggering amount of control.

Cathy wanted to stay but I sent her for the drinks and food first. It wasn’t unusual for one of the dancers to come straight to me to tattle about something or other. Frankly, I hadn’t owned the place all that long. A few weeks at most, but they all had issues and they came to me to get them fixed.

Easily enough handled.

Through the next few sets, Hellspawn remained riveted on the stage. It wasn’t until she knocked my drink over onto Cathy that I realized she’d been paying as much attention to me as she had the dancers. Not going to lie, the warmth of that acknowledgement settled in my chest. It was a stupid thing to appreciate. Though the last thing I wanted to do was leave Emersyn out here, but Cathy told me about some skimming. I needed to deal with it. An iron fist in a velvet glove was only effective once you’d proven how capable of steel you were.

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