Page 115 of Reckless at Westbrook High

She never let me out.

“Lev.”

I blink and look left, clearing my throat when I catch the look on Wren’s face. “What?”

His jaw ticks and he takes my face in his hands, gently running his thumbs over my cheeks while his eyes ask me a million questions I don’t like.

“I hate this place, Wren,” I whisper, desperately trying to pull myself together because this is not the time for a mental breakdown, but I can’t seem to stop it. “This whole house.. it’s fucking toxic, man.”

He swallows and tightens his grip on me, sliding one of his hands down to mine to remove my nails from my palm. “Unlock the door, Lev.”

I nod and force myself to do as I’m told, ignoring the eyes on me while I place my hand on the glass panel beside the door. The scanner flashes from blue to green and I release the breath I was holding, thankful the paranoid fucker didn’t think to remove my handprint from the system after the shit I pulled on him last weekend. It probably never even occurred to him that I’d do something like this – this is my inheritance, after all – but unfortunately for him, I don’t give a fuck.

I don’t need a billion dollar empire to make me happy.

The only thing I need is him.

I twist both handles to pull the door open and walk inside, eyeing Callie over my shoulder when she freezes where she stands with her jaw on the floor.

“Holy shit,” she says, moving her eyes over the four foot stack of hundred dollar bills piled up on the crate set up in the center of the space. “Holy shit.”

We laugh at her and she snaps her mouth shut, muttering something about fuckin’ rich boys while she snatches one of the several empty duffel bags at Kai’s feet. Me and the boys do the same and move to fill them as quickly as possible, knowing we don’t have much time left considering Killian’s probably lost his fucking mind by this point. We take every dollar there is and make a run for it, rushing back up to the office and out through the house to get to the Lamborghinis parked just outside the front gate. The boys pop the trunks and we toss the bags inside, but then the sound of tyres screeching fills my ears and I look toward the sound, spotting three sets of headlights headed this way. We pull our guns out and fall in line as one just as my father’s SUVs skid to a stop beside us, effectively caging us in on all sides with no where to go.

“Callie, get behind us.”

“Fuck that.”

Damon growls and locks his arm around her waist, pulling her back to his chest to cover her heart with his free hand. “Will you ever do as you’re told?”

“Not today, big brother.”

I snort and Wren slides his hand through mine, holding me tight while my father jumps out with five of his armed guards surrounding him – two on his left and two on his right with our boy standing right there at his back. Killian cranes his neck to get a look at the bags behind us and then cuts his eyes to mine, not even bothering to hide the pure hatred and disgust on his face at the sight of me and Wren together.

“What now, idiot?” he snarls, speaking through his teeth. “Did you really think you’d get away w–”

I grin like a maniac and Ross raises both of his guns to the men standing either side of him, popping off four bullets into each of their heads two at a time. They’re all dead before their bodies hit the floor and he winks at Callie, purposely eyeing her form while he chomps away on the gum in his mouth.

“Sup, pretty girl?”

She raises a brow and Killian roars, ripping his gun out from his waistband before he spins to face him fully. He opens his mouth to go off on him but Ross just clicks his tongue, stepping back with a laugh when Damon moves to get behind Killian. He snatches the gun from his hand and tosses it to Kai, shoving his foot into the back of his leg until his knees hit the concrete. He yanks his head back by his hair and Callie presses her gun to his cheek, leaning over him to get in his face.

“What now, boss man?” she mocks him, smirking when he glares at her. “Do your thing, boys.”

Kai gets behind him to tape his hands behind his back and Wren does the same with his ankles, ripping a smaller piece off to slap it over his mouth when he starts yelling shit no one cares about.

“If you make his nose bleed it’ll make it harder for him to breathe,” Ross calls over his shoulder, shamelessly searching through the bags in Damon’s trunk to steal himself a tip for his efforts.

I shake my head at him and Damon nods like he’s got a point, pulling his fist back to punch him in the nose. Killian grunts and we haul him up off the ground, ignoring whatever he’s trying to say while we shove him into the back seat of his own car. He falls down on his side and Wren slams the door in his face, quickly kissing my lips before he jumps into the passenger seat to wait for me. Damon and Callie take the SUV up front while Kai takes the one at the back and I turn to go talk to Ross, bouncing my eyes between his to check him.

“You alright?”

He nods and continues counting his cash, playing it off like the pro he is, but I’m not falling for it. He’s been waiting for this day for as long as we have, probably longer. I don’t know all the ins and outs of it, all I know is Killian raped his older sister when he was thirteen and he found her in the bathtub a few days later, lying naked in a pool of her own blood with her slashed wrists hanging over the edges.

I don’t talk about that, though.

Boy’s got a switch and if you flip it, you’d better run and hide.

“Don’t forget t–”

---