Page 122 of Filthy Liar

“You’ll be useless if you don’t rest and keep your energy up, Lavaro,” she warned, turning to me to hand my lighter and cigarettes back. “Thanks for the smokes.”

“Any time,” I replied, watching her walk inside like she hadn’t been losing her shit a second ago.

“How did you manage to corrupt Rory Donovan? She was smoking?” Cruz teased, making me wince.

“She’s stressing about Ry. We need to end this shit before he comes home.”

“We’re trying,” he said dryly. “Do you guys want to eat something before heading home?”

“Nah, we’ve got it,” Ander answered, motioning to the door. “You can tell the others we’re leaving though, so they’d better hurry up if they’re coming.”

Exhaustion covered his face, and Cruz must have noticed since he just nodded and said goodbye, heading inside to tell the others it was home time.

“You want a bath when we get home? I’ll rub your shoulders,” I offered, a small smile tugging at his lips.

“You can rub my cock with the inside of your pussy.”

“Aw, promise?” I asked, knowing he just wanted a distraction for the night. “Sex marathon?”

“Deal.”

CHAPTERTWENTY-TWO

RAVEN

We’d all crashed hard when we got home from the Thieves’ compound on Sunday night, and Monday hadn’t uncovered any more clues to Blake’s whereabouts.

It was now Tuesday morning, and Ander had left to help the Thieves scour through footage, while the rest of us went to work. I was a little stressed about Zavier, I knew he was going to a meeting with the Kings this morning, but I had to remind myself that Slash would keep him safe.

It was unlikely the crews would go to war again, but never impossible.

Ander was a ball of tension, and no amount of sex marathons was calming him. The silence on Dante was starting to get to him, and I knew he needed answers soon or he’d do something stupid.

Reid dropped me off at Rory’s on his and Logan’s way to the community center, and I’d barely walked through the door when Gregory almost bowled me over.

“They’re adopting them all. It’s been approved already. Their house is huge, probably even bigger than this one! They’re building a playground in their backyard and everything!”

“Good morning to you too,” I teased, closing the door behind me. “It’s been approved?”

“Yes! They’re all going to live in Kingslake!” His voice cracked despite his excitement, and I gave him a small smile.

“You got to go to the house and check it out then? Are you happy with it?”

He followed me into the kitchen, nodding. “It’s really nice. They gave me their phone number so I can call them to visit whenever I want. They’re enrolling them in school stuff too. They’re going into the private school system, so they’ll get a really good education. They’re already securing their places in Kingslake Academy too. Even the twins. They’re only three!”

I chuckled at his confusion, giving his shoulder a nudge. “Rich people have to secure their place early. I’ve heard of some people doing it for unborn babies even. It’s a whole different world, dude.”

“Nancy’s getting a pony. She got all excited when she saw photos of horses in her new bedroom, which they all get their own, by the way, and apparently their friends own a riding stable. They can put the pony at the stable and take Nancy there to ride it.”

“That’s nice of them.”

“All of them get swimming lessons, and can pick something they want to do, like sports or art. I thought rich people were mean, but they’re super nice. They’re letting me stay with them this week to help the kids all settle in,” he added, relief filling me.

Knowing all the kids would be safely away from the danger made me feel so much better, and I’d bet money on Rory putting that idea in their heads to make sure Gregory was safely out of harm’s way and to ensure the transition was as stress-free as possible.

“You sure you don’t want to go? Hell, I want to move in with them too,” I joked, his nose scrunching.

“I like it here.”

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