Page 104 of Deceptive Games

“Caden? Are you home?” Josie called out, and he turned to give me a look.

“Not a word of this to Mom.”

“You mean you don’t want me to tell her that her sweet kids have been committing felonies in her absence?” I deadpanned, and he flipped me off before turning to go and help her bring her things in.

“I warned you,” I said quietly, stepping closer to Rory and taking her chin in my hand, needing her to see how serious I was. “Getting involved with me and my guys changes things. You can’t fuck me or fight in my cage without gaining enemies. Lopez’s crew might be smaller than ours, but they’d be brutal if they got their hands on you and we weren’t there to stop them. That man makes Tristan look like a saint.Thinknext time. I’m already looking for your mom, I don’t want to be looking for you too.”

She flinched slightly, and I sighed before sliding my arms around her to pull her closer. “Has Slash been bothering you?”

Tension rolled off her, but shook her head. “No, why?”

“You don’t think I know you punched him? Do you know how many people have gotten to punch that man and get away withit? You. That’s it. Obviously, he’s in agreement with you about it being warranted, but it won’t be next time. You got lucky.”

“Yeah, I feel super lucky,” she said bitterly, making me roll my eyes.

“You two need to quit your dramatics and just avoid each other. You can’t let him get to you like that. He’s really getting under your skin if a few words makes you punch him.”

I let her go as she pulled away, not looking at me. “I’ll work on it.”

“Thank you. I need to go, but stay out of trouble, okay? Maybe avoid the Heights too. Justin’s got his eye on you, and nothing good will come from that.”

“Do you guys usually have trouble with the Demons?”

“No, so make sure it stays that way. If you think the crew hates you now, just wait until you drag the Demons to our door. Nothing would save you then,” I warned, leaning down to kiss her with every intention on it being quick, but the second my lips were on hers, it was like something calmed inside me, and I deepened it to savor it a few seconds longer.

“Good morning,” Josie said dryly as she walked in, putting her keys on the counter and eyeing us, making me smirk as I moved back.

“Welcome home. Have a good trip?”

“Yes, thank you. It’s a little early for you to be here, isn’t it?” she hummed with disapproval.

“I can’t stop by to make sure my girl is behaving?” I joked, and I didn’t miss the slight confusion in her eyes.

“I think Lukas has her handled, but if you really want to make sure she’s doing as she’s told, you should’ve told her to get to school.” She turned, looking at Caden as he walked in. “And you. Why aren’t you at school?”

“I wanted to be here when you got home. Jense and Luke picked up Ty on their way through,” Caden shrugged, but my mind was still on her comment about Lukas.

Rory gave me a dirty look to mind my own business, making me realize Josie had no idea that Rory was warming multiple beds. It was almost worth outing her just to see what would happen, but I’d hate it if someone blurted out my private shit in front of others, so I forced myself to shut my mouth.

The doorbell rang and Josie scuttled off to answer it, and I chuckled. “Your new mommy doesn’t know you’re taking multiple cocks?”

“Shut up,” Rory hissed, but Caden snickered, finding amusement in the whole thing too.

“She doesn’t know you two are fucking?” I asked, motioning to Caden. “What a naughty boy.”

“Hey, if she thinks we ever stopped, that’s on her,” Caden grinned, but his face fell when Josie entered the room with two police officers as they spoke in quiet voices, their hats in hand.

Rory did well to hide her panic at seeing them, and I decided to teach her a lesson about setting fires by letting her worry since I knew they weren’t here to arrest her for arson.

“Are they still out there? Are we in danger?” Josie asked, her voice shaking slightly and making Caden step closer to take her arm.

“Mom? What happened?”

“It’s your father,” she said tightly, her eyes sliding to me and Rory as she continued. “He was found murdered in his home this morning.”

“Dad’s dead?” he asked, his acting on point as he turned to the cops. “Murdered? Are they coming after us too? Who?—”

“We’re still getting the evidence together, but we hauled his attacker in half an hour ago. We’ll know more soon. There is no immediate danger to you or your mother. They were known toone another, and it appears to be a business deal gone wrong. He’s been dead for days, but the guy is cooperating, which makes things easier. I’m sorry for your loss,” the officer said, my eyes glued to Josie. She wasn’t reacting how I’d expected, and if she didn’t get the relief off her face, she was going to fuck up the entire plan.