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Chapter Twenty-Four

JOSHUA

“We’re going to be late.” I hold out my arm, letting Skyla use it while she balances to pull on the high-heeled combat boots.

“Late might be a good idea. These people are monsters.”

She hurries out the door, and I follow behind her, hurrying down the stairs and stepping out into the parking lot behind the building.

Andrew stands beside my car, his hands tucked into his pockets and a grim frown on his face.

Skyla casts him a curious look before getting into the car.

I stop in front of him. “What’s going on?”

He takes a couple of steps from the car, his body still tense.

“What do you want me to do with those packages that are waiting for you? With your brother sniffing around, it doesn’t seem right to leave them in the warehouse.

They’re getting restless too. Sooner or later, we’re going to have a problem on our hands. ”

It’s a struggle to keep my expression neutral, but I do it.

The last thing I need right now is for Skyla to think that there’s something going on. She may not be willing to kill me for information, but I do believe she would knock me out and torture Andrew until he told her about the less savory parts of my life.

Andrew leans against the car that’s parked beside mine. “This is a problem we need to deal with tonight. Logan is getting restless, and I think it’s only a matter of time until he snaps.”

I take a deep breath and roll my shoulders back, sorting through all the options of what to do. “You’re going to have to take the packages across several state lines or out into international waters. I want them dealt with as soon as possible.”

“And the ones stashed in other states?”

“See that they’re taken care of too. Wipe out the packages you have to. Any that are willing to comply, load them onto the yacht and take them out into open water. Have someone hold them there until I tell them to come back.”

“Some of them could still be found if you do that.”

“It’s a large section of the business that we can’t afford to give up right now. Just make it happen and don’t sink it unless I tell you to.”

Andrew nods and turns, opening the car door and getting inside. He takes off without another word.

There are some things I don’t think my brother would be willing to look past, and that happens to be one of them. He would search until the end of the earth to figure out the rest of the pieces of the puzzle. The ones I’ve kept from him since taking over the family business all those years ago.

Logan has become a real problem for me, and now more than ever I need to do something about it.

But not this second. For the next couple of hours, my focus needs to be on Skyla.

After taking a moment to myself, I get in the car, grinning at Skyla and getting settled. I turn the key in the ignition, the engine roaring to life.

She presses her lips together. “Want to tell me what the two of you were talking about?”

“I don’t think it’s worth it. Just some boring business stuff.”

The longer I’m with her, the more I hate lying to her.

I wish I could tell her the truth, but it’s not safe yet. Not when I have to worry about Logan and Grady at the same time.

When things are more settled, I’m going to tell her everything and get it out in the open.

Then we’ll be free to move forward.

Skyla crosses one leg over the other. “You know, if there’s something going on, you can talk to me. I have my own share of skeletons lingering in my closet.”

“I know.” I turn out into the New York traffic, weaving through cars and heading to her family’s home.

“There’s nothing to worry about, though.

I’m dealing with Logan and Grady, and there are other aspects of my business I have to worry about, but they’re nothing that’s going to be a problem for you. ”

Her eyebrows pull together, but she doesn’t continue to press me even though I can tell she doesn’t believe me.

She wants to keep asking questions, that much is clear from the way her mouth opens and snaps shut again.

I could tell her the truth right now.

It would ruin our night. And she probably wouldn’t forgive me.

She’s done worse. Maybe.

Skyla fidgets in the seat beside me, playing with the tattered fabric from the rips in her jeans as we get closer to the house.

I reach out and take her hand, lacing our fingers together. “Everything’s going to be fine. You don’t have to sit here and worry.”

“All I can do is worry. You want to tell them the truth about us.”

I turn onto Aiden’s street. “We need to tell them the truth, together, and then we can move on with our lives.”

“I know you think that’s the way this is going to go, but you don’t know my family. Not the way you seem to think you do. These aren’t forgiving people. Ellie held a grudge for over a decade. Royce kidnapped his ex-girlfriend.”

“They could’ve done worse.”

“They’re the most well-adjusted members of the family. Case in point, the serial killer sitting beside you.” She gestures to herself before looking out the window. “This is going to be a nightmare.”

My entire body tenses as I pull into the driveway. “Do you really think it’s going to be that bad?”

“I’m sure they’re going to tear us apart.” The corner of her mouth twitches before she sighs. “They’re going to be pissed, and I don’t know if they’re ever going to forgive me. Things are tense enough between us all with what I do.”

“They all know?”

“Yeah. Most of them choose to ignore it, though. Gia—she’s with Royce—is the only one who doesn’t seem to be bothered by it. You should’ve heard how thrilled she was when her mother found the bloody milk I left in her fridge.”

“You left bloody milk in her fridge?”

“She was going to find the other body parts quickly. I thought it would be funny to leave something she wouldn’t find for a while since her daughter is the one royally fucking my family.”

“Zoe?”

“Ding ding ding.” Skyla points at me with a finger gun, something I never thought I would see her do.

It doesn’t translate well to the normal behavior of the woman sitting beside me.

She must really be worried about her family if she’s acting this strange. She’s even starting to freak me out.

Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that I’m not telling her the truth about everything going on in my life. That might be throwing her off a little.

We pull into the driveway, and she pulls her hand from mine, getting out and freezing in place.

It’s only when I step out of the car that I realize why.

There’s shouting coming from inside the house, though I can’t make out the words or who is yelling at whom.

She looks at me as we round the car. “It’s not too late to cancel on them and go home. They definitely don’t know that we’re here yet.”

I press a hand to the small of her back, guiding her forward. “I’m not scared of your family yelling at each other.”

“You should be. They’re feral when they’re fighting.” She opens the front door and steps inside, the shouting coming to a halt before it picks up again.

“I’m not a child anymore!” Summer stands in front of Aiden in the kitchen, squaring off against him. “You need to stop treating me like I’m ten and don’t have a clue about the world. I’m an adult.”

“Yeah, because this is what an adult does?” Aiden slams his hands on the counter. “We’re not going to keep arguing about this! You’re going to get your shit together, and you’re going to stop causing problems for me to clean up!”

Maybe tonight isn’t the best night to tell them about me and Skyla.

Although, they’re already angry, so now might be the perfect time. After all, how much worse could it really get?

“I can’t spend the rest of my life just being Jade’s twin! Or your little sister! Or dedicating every part of my life to the family like the rest of you seem content to do! I want more for myself.”

Skyla looks up at me. “Still think running for the hills isn’t a good idea?”

I roll my eyes. “No. We’re here to have dinner with everyone, and things are going to be fine.”

With a nod, Skyla steps into the middle of the mess. “The two of you need to both get your shit together and actually listen to what the other is saying for the first time ever.”

Aiden scoffs. “Stay out of this, Sky. You don’t even know what she’s done this time.”

Summer throws her hands up in the air while the rest of the siblings watch on from around the kitchen. “What about what you ’ve done? There’s nothing wrong with me going out on a date or two and having a good time!”

“There is when it’s with some asshole who is never going to treat you right.

I told you I didn’t want you seeing any of the soldiers, and yet you go and ignore me every single time.

You think that the rules don’t apply to you because you’ve spent most of your life being spoiled by me and Skyla, but that’s done now. ”

Skyla sighs and physically puts herself between the two. “We’re going to table this conversation for now. We can talk about it more later when everyone has a clear head and Ellie hasn’t spent the day working on dinner to feed all of us.”

Ellie shoots her a grateful smile as she finishes plating up the food. “Dinner is ready if the rest of you want to go sit down.”

The others filter out of the kitchen and into the dining room, though the feeling is still tense.

Skyla and Ellie grab several of the plates, and I take a few more, following them into the dining room and setting out the food in front of everybody.

Within a few minutes, there’s nothing but the sound of Bianca babbling to herself in her high chair and forks scraping against plates.

A couple of minutes later, they’re talking and laughing as if none of them were ever fighting with each other. The conversation ebbs and flows, moving from one conversation to the next with a speed I can’t quite keep up with.

Ellie turns to me with a smile, Sean sitting on the other side of her and barely paying attention to what’s going on around him.

She leans closer to me, amusement in her eyes. “You shouldn’t be worried about this bunch. We may fight a lot, but at the end of the day, there’s nothing we wouldn’t do for each other.”

Jade snorts from the other side of the table. “Except apparently tell each other when we elope.”

Skyla stiffens on the other side of me, looking at her sister from across the table. “Well, would it make you feel better to know that we’re not married, and this entire thing has been for show?”

The table falls so silent you could hear a pin drop.

Jade pauses with a fork halfway to her mouth. “Excuse me?”

Skyla mutters something under her breath and looks down at the food on her plate, pushing it around to the edges and ignoring all the sets of eyes on her.

I clear my throat, looking at Aiden, hoping that he’ll back me up when this all goes to shit. “We were never marrie?—”

A fist collides with the side of my face, blood filling my mouth.