Page 36 of Never Gonna Lie (Forbidden #2)
Chapter Thirty-Six
JAMES
W atching Raven walk away, my dick hard beneath my shorts, I should feel guilty about last night, but I don't. I’ve come to the realization that I don’t know Drew anymore, so therefore zero are fucks given if I fuck his daughter into oblivion.
The slight sting of guilt is there, but I shove it away.
If I’m going to hell, I might as well have fun in the meantime.
“You need to start talking, and you need to start talking now, Drew,” I snap. “You’re lucky I haven’t had your ass thrown out of the company for this.” I lean back in my chair, watching him on the screen. A multitude of emotions pass across his face.
He sighs as he runs his hands through his hair before hanging his head in shame. “I fucked up,” he says.
I scoff; any sympathy severely lacking for him.
“I took a gamble on a deal, and it went south. I thought I could fix it,” he replies angrily .
Rage like no other fills my body, and I have to clench my hands together to stop myself from throwing something. “Is the company involved?” My irritation with him clear in my tone.
Drew’s head snaps up on the screen. “No,” he venomously disagrees. “I would never do that to the company. All of my money is tied up in assets. I didn’t have the liquid funds to pay the money.”
“Ten million more?” I roar. “If you needed the money, why didn’t you come to me? I would’ve given it to you.”
“I don’t know what you want me to say here, James. I fucked up, okay?” he shouts. “My fucking daughter was attacked because of my issues.” He pauses, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen. You don’t need to make me feel like more of an asshole than I already do.”
“Help me here, Drew. What could you have possibly done that could have gotten you into this much trouble?” I sigh. “This isn’t making any sense. You’re not making any sense.”
“Just trust?—”
I jump up from my chair, seething with anger as I start pacing behind my desk.
“Trust you? Are you out of your goddamn mind?” I seethe.
“No, I won’t fucking trust you. Raven was attacked because of you .
” I point at him to emphasize my point. “You put your own god damn daughter in harm’s way. My wom—” I cut myself off.
“I know, I know. I’ll make it right, I promise. I’ve got a way to sort it out. I just need some time. Please,” he implores, his eyes wide, desperate for me to listen to him.
“I don’t give a shit how you fix it, Andrew, but you fix it now, or so help me god, I’ll fucking kill you myself.” Leaning forward, I disconnect the call, having had enough of his bullshit for one day.
Storming toward the front door, I grab my keys and head to my car. I need space to breathe and sort this shit out .
Getting in the car, I slide out my phone from my jeans pocket and open the group chat:
SOS
Within seconds, I get a reply from my needy Viking.
Theo
On my way
I smile. This guy always has my back. Never one to ask questions when I need him.
Noah
What he said *finger pointing upwards emoji*
Caleb
I’ll be there in ten
A feeling of warmth spreads through me as I turn the engine on and put the car into gear. I reverse out of my drive and head to Bucky’s.
Bucky’s is dead as I pull up. I shut off the engine and sit for a second, closing my eyes and leaning my head back against the headrest.
A banging on the roof of the car alerts me to my surroundings, and I glance up to see Theo’s face smushed against the window. I scrunch my face up in disgust before laughing at his antics. “Window licker,” I call out.
“I’ll happily lick something,” he shouts back, grabbing his crotch.
Removing my phone and smokes from the glove compartment, I get out of the car. “You disgust me, you know that?” I say, giving him a man hug.
Theo laughs, and we walk inside, finding Caleb and Noah already sitting at the table waiting.
“Fuckers,” Theo greets, slapping them both on the back before sitting down next to Caleb.
“Boys.” I nod my own greeting, throwing myself down in the seat next to Noah. I ruffle his hair, and he swats me away, glaring at me.
“What’s the SOS about?” Caleb asks.
A waitress comes over and I order a beer. Once she’s left, I reply, “Drew got into some shady shit and it nearly got Raven killed.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, back the fuck up. Why’s Raven involved in this?” Caleb asks.
The guys have known about Raven; both Drew and I have spoken about her in the past, but they’ve never met her.
“I honestly don’t know what the fuck is going on,” I mumble around my beer.
“He’s not making any sense. He’s taken ten million out of an offshore account for something, said he needed the money because his own money’s tied up in assets, but he’s a fucking billionaire.
Something ain’t adding up. The money he took out of the account was taken the same day Raven—” I pause, emotion causing the words to get caught.
I’ve never been so scared as I was that night, and reliving it isn’t helping.
I clear my throat and start again. “It was taken the same day Raven was attacked.”
I lean my elbows on the table in front of me, twirling my beer in my hands.
“Someone had a knife to her throat. Said ‘Daddy dearest is gonna pay’ or some shit. I’m fucking furious with Drew for putting her in harm’s way.
His own daughter, for fuck sake. I just wish I knew what had happened to cause this.
” I finish, taking a large mouthful of beer, and look at Caleb and Noah, both of whom are staring at me, mouths wide open.
Caleb, being the most sensitive one out of the group, pipes up first. “That motherfucker!”
“My thoughts exactly,” I muse as I take a sip of my beer.
“He won’t give me the full story, keeps palming it off as a mistake, but it’s one huge fucking mistake.
” I sigh heavily, leaning back in my chair and tipping my head toward Theo.
“Tips has been looking into it for me, so he knows more than I do.”
Theo clears his throat. “I still haven’t gotten to the bottom of it, but… I’m not sure if Drew really did have anything to do with the attack on Raven.”
I blink, then blink again. “Care to elaborate, dickwad? Cause this is news to me,” I growl.
Theo runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t have any concrete evidence yet, you knob, so I didn’t wanna say anything.” He gives me a pointed look before continuing, “The timelines match up, but something’s bugging me. I’m working on it, though.”
“Well, work on it quicker, Theo. Raven’s in danger, and I can only protect her so much,” I snap.
Theo gives me the eye, but I ignore him. My private life is no one’s business but my own. Unless he specifically needs to know, I ain’t telling him shit.
By the time we’ve been here for a few hours, I’m feeling more relaxed and less tense. My phone vibrates on the table, and I pick it up to see a message from Raven.
Raven
I’m going out to dinner with Mia. I’ll be back later.
Is Leo going with you?
Raven
Yes, Daddy.
This girl .
I’m with the boys, I’ll be home later. Behave.
Raven
Where’s the fun in that, Daddy? *winky face emoji*
I think my heart just stopped in my chest.
“What the fuck are you smiling about?” Noah grunts.
“Ah, poor, sweet, delusional, Noah,” I mock. “It’s what us normal people call smiling. You should try it sometime.” I wink at him, and he rolls his eyes.
“Give me something to smile about and I will,” he gripes, nursing his beer.
Theo stands up, going for the belt on his pants.
“No, Theo.”
“Sit the fuck down, man.”
“I don’t want to see that again.”
Caleb shields his eyes, Noah’s looking anywhere other than at Theo, and I’m trying to grapple with him to sit him the fuck back down.
Theo pouts. “You guys are no fun.”
“Oh, I’m fun, I just don’t wanna see that. ” Noah gestures to Theo’s crotch.
“You weren’t complaining last night,” Theo exclaims in mock indignation, his hand clutching at his chest. “I thought you loved me.”
Noah looks about ready to punch Theo as he snaps, “There was no last night, asshole, so shut it.”
“Ooooh, I love feisty Noah.” Theo gives a full-body shiver in excitement.
“Theo, you know Noah doesn’t like it when you talk to him like that. He’s a grumpy asshole who needs a hug” —Caleb pauses his speech, lifting a strand of his hair up— “and a haircut. Ronnie Radke is so last season.”
Noah bats Caleb’s hand away, and I laugh. These guys have always had the ability to make me smile. I may grumble sometimes, but I couldn’t do life without them. They’re my ride or dies.
“I don’t know, Caleb,” Theo muses, looking intently at Noah. “I’d say he looks more like Matt Tuck, circa The Poison album.”
Caleb snaps his fingers. “You’re a genius. I knew he reminded me of someone.”
“I fucking hate you guys, you know that,” Noah grumbles, spinning his bottle on the table, a look of boredom on his face.
I don’t remember Noah always being this grumpy, but I guess we all change as we get older. God help the woman he ends up with. She’s gonna have to be full of sunshine to put up with his ass.
“And on that note, I’m out,” I chuckle. “I’ll catch up with you guys soon.”
Theo goes into lawyer mode, the switch slightly unsettling. “I’ll call you tomorrow. I’ve set up a meeting with Drew, so he’ll be driving down.”
I nod my head and head home, wondering if Raven’s back yet.