“Go get your girl, brother.” Maddoc swallows, tipping his chin.

I look to Bass and the dude holds his knuckle out, so fuck me, I lift mine to his.

“Still think you’re a bitch, but I might let you come to my wedding.” I grin.

Bass scoffs a laugh, but it turns into a groan. “Don’t start your ‘Brayshaws start early’ bullshit, man. It’s day one.”

“For you. She’s been mine for a hot minute.”

He flips me off with a laugh.

Captain steps up to Bass, a hard expression on his face.

My brother, he cares for Brielle. He believes in her place here, and his words prove it.

“You’re wrong to think she don’t belong.” Cap’s straightforward with Bass, standing tall and sure. “We have power, we have schemes, we have knowledge, what we don’t have are gentle hearts. She does. She’ll round us out, and we’ll all be better leaders because of it. Because of her.”

Bishop’s eyes gloss and he gives a hard, curt nod, turning to me.

“The fuck you waiting for, Brayshaw? Don’t make my sister wait like I did. Let her know we’re good, we both know what it’ll mean to her.”

I spin on my heels and dart forward, but something has me pausing and whipping back around.

Bishop chuckles, and damn, it’s a deep one. “You really are fucking whipped.”

He knows as well as I do why I stopped—it’s the look in my girl’s eye that I know I’ll get if her brother walks up beside me. If he gives her what she doesn’t need but desperately wants, even if she hasn’t said it yet. His blessing.

I grin. “I ain’t mad about it.”

He shakes his head and falls in line beside me.

My brothers head out the back gate where Maddoc parked, and the two of us head back toward the front. We don’t have to say we’ll worry about this shit later. It’s agreed upon without a word.

We step around the side of the school, slowing the closer we get when Brielle isn’t easily seen through the windows of Mac’s car.

“Royce...”

“Maybe she’s lying down.”

We step up to it, tear the doors open, but it’s empty.

Bass spins to his car, and his Barbie sits up in the seat, stepping out.

“Where is she?”

“Where is who?” She smirks.

“Fuck this. Let’s head back, grab her on the way.”

“Yeah, that won’t work.” She tips her head. “She didn’t walk.”

Bass crowds her. “What are you talking about?”

She shakes her head with a smirk. “I was scrolling through Instagram and lost services, so I hopped out and walked around a bit, within the five-foot span, so don’t have an aneurism.”

“Keep talking,” he demands.

“Imagine my surprise when I spotted the girl of the hour slipping into the night with a different knight.” she looks to the moon with a mocking edge. “Ah, the irony, right?”

“Get to the fucking point, girl.”

“Oh, an angry boy, nice.” She tips her head.

“Cut it,” Bass snaps. “Where’d she go?”

“Hopped in a car.”

“What fucking car?”

She smirks. “I could show you.”

I rush her, but Bass doesn’t let me too close.

She laughs, her eyes sliding to his. “Ah, down boy,” she whispers like a privileged brat. “First, I need your word that you’ll—”

Bass shuts her ass up by slamming his lips into hers, and her eyes shoot wide.

“Quiet, Rich Girl,” he rasps against her lips, snagging the phone from her hand.

I glance between the two, at her, stuck there frozen, mouth parted, hand up even though her phone’s no longer in it.

I laugh and her eyes snap to mine, her face smoothing and going back to the bitchy Barbie. “Damn, Bishop, girl’s got a Brayshaw size hard-on for you.”

He scoffs. “Yeah, try and convince her of that,” he mumbles, looking to her. “Password?”

She blinks, reaching out. “I’ll put it in.”

He pulls it back. “Password.”

She clamps her lips together, looking away when his eyes narrow, and he stalks toward her.

“We don’t have time for this junior high bullshit.”

Her lip curls my way, but her gaze falls when Bass pushes against her. “I haven’t changed it in a while...”

“Password,” he snaps.

She lifts her head, stealing herself. “D-O...”

“M?” he growls.

She clears her throat, nodding. “And add an S.”

“Who’s Dom?”

Bass glares and she slinks away, leaving her phone in his hand.

Whatever just happened is forgotten, as he pulls up the photo.

His face turns white. “Motherfucker.”

I yank it from him, zooming in on the car, and the dead man beside it.

Leo.

Chapter 36

Royce

“There’s no way she’d walk away with a stranger. She had to know him or think she did. He made his way to her and introduced himself as someone different. Something.”

“He had to have followed her here.” Bass shakes his head. “Think about it, someone had to lock the gates and that door that kept you out of the school those few extra minutes. Coach Von couldn’t do that and be in there at the same time.”

“He knew she’d black out,” I realize, brows drawn. “He knows all about her. He watched her, followed her, and then I showed up in that town and threw him off course, but the fucker knew I’d never walk away from her. He bet on it and set shit off here, then followed her back.”

“And he knew you’d fuck up, and that you’d call me to take her away when you did.” Bass glares, shaking his head. “Punk bitch,” he growls.

This is why we don’t let people into our core group, this shit happens when things go sour.

Bass closes his eyes. “I sent her to my aunt’s to keep her away from this, and it didn’t fucking matter, because I was still fucking in it. Everyone connected to anyone in worlds like this are at risk.” He meets my gaze, hit with a realization of his own. “People we love are safer with us than without.”

He begins to pace and then suddenly freezes.

“Bishop.” I dart toward him.

“He led us here, knowing she’d be with us but not too close. That we’d keep her back just in case.” He starts walking, then breaks out into a jog, and I’m forced to follow.

“Bass!”

“He’s doing this because of me. I know where he’s taken her.”

I fall in line beside him, running at his pace.

“I thought I ended him,” Bass admits. “If he hurts her, I’ll kill him.”

“He touched her.” I clench my phone in my hand. “He’s already dead.”

The only way he’s going anywhere is in a body bag.

Bass skids around the building, jerking to a halt a half court’s space away from the pool and my muscles clench.

“No...”