Page 24 of Pretty Lies (Watch Me Burn #1)

“I guess that’s fair,” I said with a cringe, cranking the stereo up as “ Bad Mother Fucker” by Machine Gun Kelly started, rolling my window down and lighting a cigarette.

My skull screamed at me to turn it off, but I didn’t want to make small talk in the car.

It would either turn into a conversation about a threesome or about Lukas.

Neither I was comfortable discussing.

Jensen chuckled, giving me a knowing look before pulling out of the driveway with a screech of tires, driving along the street to turn onto the main road. Tyler bopped along to the music in the back, rapping the entire song perfectly, which kept me amused for the whole drive despite my headache.

Once Jensen had parked, I climbed out and waited for them both to follow, laughing as Tyler tossed me over his shoulder. “Hey! Put me down, asshole!”

“Why would I do that?” He swatted my ass, making me squeal as they both laughed and made their way towards the front door, Jensen opening it to let us through.

“You’ll pay for this, Tyler Johnson!” I threatened between laughter, my stomach rolling from the motion.

“I fucking hope so.”

We found Josie and Max in the kitchen, and Tyler placed my feet on the ground, resting an elbow on my shoulder to lean on me. Jensen moved to my other side, and I liked to pretend for a moment that they were here to back me up, not just drop me home.

“Why do I get an intervention every time I walk through the front door?” I asked Max, giving Tyler a dirty look as he playfully poked me in the ribs, not taking the situation seriously.

I was surprised when Josie stepped forward, her blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail and her tight, black dress hugging her figure perfectly. She looked like she was on the way out for a business meeting already.

“Rory, we need to have a serious talk. Boys, can you come back later?” she asked carefully, but I snorted, sneering at Max. Whatever this was, it was his fault, and he was too chicken shit to handle it himself.

“Whatever you want to talk about, you can say it in front of the guys.”

“Look, this is a private matter. We’re just trying to make this house as comfortable as possible for everyone.”

I heard it in her tone, the stress and the worry. She’d sent her own son out of the house to keep me safe, not realizing the only monster here was the man who warmed her bed at night.

“When can Caden come home? If someone needs to move out, I volunteer. I’m almost eighteen anyway,” I said as I crossed my arms. “It’s not fair that he’s the one banished.”

She seemed surprised, despite speaking in a calm voice. “You want him to come home? I thought you’d feel safer if?—”

“You seriously believe my dad? Caden would never hit me. He’s a dick, but he’s not abusive. I’d feel safer with him here to be honest.”

Relief crossed her face, but she spoke firmly. “You don’t need to cover up his behavior, sweetheart.”

“I’m not! Why the hell would Caden hurt me like that? There’s no fucking reason!” I exploded, her face morphing into a wince.

“My son can be a handful but?—”

“He’d never hurt me. He was checking on me because Max hit me. He caught me kissing Caden.”

Her eyes went wide, but Max scoffed. “Again with the lies, Aurora? When will you learn?—”

“You let me think that Luke walked away from me, but in reality, you threatened him into staying out of it, all because he wouldn’t teach me a lesson.

” I shook my head with disgust, my eyes hardening.

“I will kill you. Not today, not tomorrow, but I will fucking do it. You took everything from me, and all that did was leave me with nothing to lose. That’s a dangerous thing.

Sleep with one eye open, I’ll strike when you least expect it. ”

“You listen to me, you little cunt,” Max started, but Josie cut him off sharply.

“Don’t you dare talk to her like that.”

Max blanched as if forgetting she was there to witness the real side of him that he kept hidden in the dark, and I ignored him as I turned to Josie.

“Caden doesn’t like staying at his dad’s, he wants to be here with you. Don’t let Max turn your relationship with your son toxic. You really sided with Max over your own son and sent him into that abusive piece of shit’s house?”

“I didn’t know what else to do. I thought he’d hurt you, and when he took a swing at your father when we were talking, I panicked. I saw so much of his father in him at that moment. It scared me,” Josie admitted quietly.

“I can understand that, but you did the wrong thing in sending him there, and then you and Max took off for a week and didn’t tell me you were even going.”

She turned to eye Max, her voice flat. “You didn’t tell her?”

“She’s fine,” Max muttered, her eyes narrowing.

“She’s your daughter. You’ve made a lot of changes lately in her life, so it’s not fair for you to just vanish.”

“Caden,” I said sharply, crossing my arms as they both looked back at me. “Tell him he can come home.”

“I’ll call him,” she replied, making Max growl before he stomped down the hallway, slamming the door like a child throwing a tantrum. He was cracking, showing his true colors right in front of Josie, and I hoped that she didn’t let him manipulate her further.

I didn’t know her well, but Josie was kind and a really good parent.

The complete opposite of my father.

Josie met my gaze, appearing unsure as she spoke. “I’ll talk to your father, I think he’s a little bit stressed, but that doesn’t give him the right to speak to you like that. You guys hang out and leave me to deal with him, okay?”

He was only stressed because he could see the impending collapse of the cushy life he’d wormed his way into. If he stayed with Josie, he’d never have to work again.

Marrying into this family would give him access to money and connections, allowing him to make waves in the underground.

“If you marry him,” I said quietly, holding her gaze steadily. “Make him sign a prenup. I don’t want his greed to ruin the life that I know you worked hard for. He’s poison, Josie.”

She swallowed nervously, her eyes flicking over the three of us before she nodded and wandered off to find Max, leaving me with the guys.

“Holloway will never let his mom marry a guy like Max,” Tyler hummed as we walked outside to the pool, his hand giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “We won’t let him fuck with her. Besides, Caden’s dad refuses to sign the divorce papers. She can’t marry Max until that’s handled.”

“You guys have no idea how bad it can get. Before the Heights, we had all of this,” I said quietly as I motioned around the yard. “But he fucked it all up.”

“Like I said, we won’t let him fuck with her. You used to have money?”

I chuckled, but there was no humor behind it. “We had everything, Ty. I might have been worth more than you, even. I was born in Ashburn, but was raised in the Heights when we lost it all.”

“So you were a rich kid too? I can't believe you judged us,” he teased, and I didn’t bother arguing. I might have been a rich prick as a child, but I definitely wasn’t spoiled like these guys.

“I say we cool off in the pool until Holloway gets here. You in?” Jensen asked, already pulling his shirt over his head as he added, “I bet I can hold my breath underwater for longer than you.”

“Bet,” Tyler grinned, yanking his shirt off too.

I rolled my eyes and started stripping down to my bra and panties as the guys pushed and shoved each other towards the pool, both of them ending up in there with their pants still on.

I sat on the edge and slid in carefully, watching them battle for the best set of lungs as both of them vanished below the surface.

We spent hours in the pool until Caden’s Challenger sounded in the driveway in the middle of the afternoon, butterflies filling my stomach at the thought of seeing him again. I was stupidly addicted to him, my legs carrying me out of the pool and into the house in search of him.

He walked into the kitchen and I made my way towards him, not being able to stop myself as I threw myself into his arms, not giving a shit about getting him wet as I wrapped my arms and legs around him tightly.

He chuckled, his hands clamping onto my ass to hold me up as he kissed my neck. “It’s only been half a day, baby. Did you miss me?”

“I did say I would,” I murmured, burying my face in his neck and clinging to him until the others called to us from outside.

I thought he seemed tense, but I decided I’d imagined it as he carried me outside and put me back on my feet, bumping knuckles with the others before stripping down to his boxers to join us.

Caden

Being forced out of my own house put a few things into perspective. For one, Mom was completely blinded by that prick she was dating, and secondly, she’d chosen to put that asshole’s kid before her own.

I’d surprisingly not blamed Rory for that, knowing she was in a shitty position herself with her father’s abuse. She didn’t want to live in my house or use Mom, and Tyler had texted me to let me know how Rory had gone to bat for me against Mom and Max this morning.

She could’ve ignored it, gotten all cozy in my big-ass house and taken advantage of my mother, who’d sacrificed so much to earn what we had, but Rory wasn’t interested in cozy.

I had a feeling that girl would’ve slept outside in the cold if it meant letting me come home, and that was the problem.

The plan to make her fall for me had obviously worked, but the thought of pulling the rug out from under her didn’t settle well in my chest. I’d gotten used to her being around, even when she wasn’t on my dick.

I was falling for her, and that couldn’t happen. I wasn’t the type to settle down with a nice girl, and her damage ran deeper than her daddy issues. It was supposed to just be me and my boys, power and pussy galore, but she’d somehow taken over our lives in a way that irritated me.