Page 4

THEO

I don’t know how I ended up getting roped into driving the moving truck, but here we are. I’m usually the person who navigates, has their computer open to take a deep dive into the ins and outs of our next conquest, yet the truth is I haven’t had the heart to touch my computer much to code or hack.

Unless it’s a specific request from the Kings Society or something the guys ask me to look up, I’m letting my skills collect dust. It doesn’t feel right after Rachelle died and we let Nacio take the fall for it.

I don’t have many emotions, I’m pretty broken if I’m honest, but I’ve been having nightmares about blue lips and Nacio’s screams.

My eyes feel like sandpaper as I rub them, and I reach for my energy drink before I slam it down. I have candy as well for the drive, however, the caffeinated drink is cold and burns on the way down. I feel the need to punish my body right now. Candy will give me pleasure that I don’t deserve.

Elijah is driving my car, and Jared is driving his own vehicle. Elijah typically gets rides from us, and chose to leave his car behind. It comes with too many strings. In fact, he left behind a lot of the things his parents have given him.

His inheritance unlocks when he’s twenty-one, and he was able to get one of the members of the Society to become the guardian for it.

His parents agreed to transfer the guardianship for it because he completed the bet.

While he’s free from them in some ways, I have a feeling that they’ll continue to be an issue.

He has one more year of guardianship before his inheritance is completely his.

Elijah is going to need to be careful. As locked down as he is, as much of a dick as he pretends to be, he loved his parents. Despite the issues and added bonus that they’re sex trafficking assholes.

Groaning as I see the sign that announces that I’m entering California, I curse to myself because I still have several hours before we reach Santa Barbara.

Our university plans changed over the last two years.

Staying in Portland was never in the cards, and going to the Ivy League school the four of us wanted to go to doesn’t feel right without Ignacio.

We need a fresh start, so California is going to be ours.

Jared told me how torn up Liliana is about everything, but all I’ve seen is the stone cold mafia girl she’s become. One that kills people without blinking, doesn’t give a second thought about using others, and is following in her father’s footsteps as a hitman and enforcer.

I know there are nuances to every person and situation, so I’m holding my judgment for now. The odds are pretty low that she’ll attend university if she’s so involved in her father’s work. She used to be so full of life, and then Rachelle walked in and fucked it all up.

Rachelle Reyes was marked for death from the moment her mother married Emil. I know I’m the one who drugged, kidnapped, and buried her in a casket with my friends. I know I was the tool used to kill her, but it had to be done.

Seeing Ignacio distraught, screaming at us to help her when we were already on edge about our decision, was the tipping point. We all would have gotten away with this if he’d simply stayed away. Then, maybe we could have kept him and found a way to move on from this.

She’s just a girl, right? Nothing special…

“Fuck,” I mutter. I may lie to others, but lying to myself is stupid. I’m not quite delusional enough to believe it either.

It’s stupid late. The roads are empty, and I’m glad we’re moving into a house that we bought together for the duration of our schooling.

We can always rent or flip it later on with how coveted the real estate market is, in Santa Barbara especially.

We’re minutes from the school, beach, and restaurants.

I’m starting to believe our real estate agent’s spiel. That’s just wonderful.

The shrill sound of my phone makes me wince. It can only be one of the guys at this hour. I’m not weaving on the road, my hands are steady, so why are they calling me?

Hitting the button on my Bluetooth earpiece, I answer the phone. Relax, I only have one in, but only so I can listen to my music and pay attention to the road.

“Yo,” I grunt, my eyes on the road.

“— hello, Theo. Thank fuck. It always takes a second for the call to connect,” Elijah says. “Are you doing okay? Jared called me to ask the same.”

I’ve been on edge about them checking in with me, but I get it. No loose ends are allowed and they love me, even when I don’t think I deserve it.

“Yeah, I’m pounding down my energy drink and listening to my favorite metal bands,” I explain. “Thanks for checking in. It sucks that we’re making the drive alone. Maybe we should have just shipped the cars.”

“That’s expensive though,” he reminds me. We’ve never had to worry about money, but now his guardian is very fickle on what he allocates to Elijah. “Driving is fine, and then we don’t have to wait for them to come in. I’m just worried about us falling asleep.”

“I’m good for now,” I tell him, glad the yawn threatening me doesn’t come out. “I just want to get there.”

“You sound like me,” he teases, earning himself a slight twitch of my lips. Too bad he won’t be able to see it.

“I know, I’m starting to hit that part of the trip where I get antsy,” I confess.

“Want to hit a rest stop for snacks and a stretch break?” he asks hopefully.

While I know I can push myself to keep going, I also understand that not everyone can. Elijah must need a break. Fuck it.

“Yeah, you know what? It looks like there’s a stop up here soon. It’s a rest stop and gas station,” I say. “Let Jared know that we’re going to stop?”

The cars are flashy and expensive, but we’re all armed. Just because we appear to be preppy rich boys, doesn’t mean we can’t defend ourselves.

“Yeah, I’ll let him know,” Elijah says in relief.

Fuck, knowing him, he needs to piss and has been holding it. Tapping the earpiece to hang up, I switch my music back on, my head bobbing to the notes as it blasts. It’s filling me with adrenaline, my heart racing as I get lost in the music.

Watching for my exit, I slow the moving truck down and merge off. The guys are right behind me as I drive, a little caravan of expensive shit and us. Sounds about right.

It’s about the only thing we have left after our gamble to kill Rachelle. We all thought that freedom and the Society’s influence would be all we’d need. Turns out we weren’t completely right.

We just sold our souls to a different kind of devil.

Glancing at the gas gauge, I decide to pull into the gas pump and top off the tank. We’ve been driving for hours without stopping, it couldn’t hurt. Jared and Elijah stop near me to do the same, the three of us silent as we pump our gas.

The area is busy for it being two in the morning, filled with truckers and people passing through. It doesn’t mean it’s safe, so the three of us stay vigilant while we stretch and wait for the tanks to fill up.

“I’m all set here,” Elijah says, closing up the car. “I have to take a piss and maybe grab some snacks. Does anyone need anything?”

“Can you grab me a soda on the way out?” Jared asks. “This should be enough.”

He pulls out a twenty dollar bill, knowing it’s too much, and Elijah gazes at him for a moment before taking it with a nod. He shoves it in his pocket with a sigh as he heads toward the rest stop, and Jared smirks.

“You know he hates that we insist on giving him cash so he can save his,” I grunt.

“Yeah, I do. We may need to start up a new business while we’re here,” he says. “Give him a chance to have his own money again that’s not tied to his parents.”

“That’s not a bad idea,” I agree. If I’m honest, I’d rather not touch anything that the Society gave us as a graduation gift either. It’s the definition of blood money.

I could work for anyone on the dark web with my computer skills, but with my heart not in it, I don’t want to chance it. There’s a greater possibility that I’ll fuck something up or trigger a security alert. I would much rather start up a business with my friends.

“Think Santa Barbara needs a speakeasy that’s also a sex club?” I ask under my breath as Jared watches me put the pump back. This truck sucks ass for mileage.

“I think they might,” he says with a smirk. “You’re right. He needs to make his own money. I don’t want him to hate us or feel like I’m being an ass for giving him money.”

“We’ve always been free with it,” I agree. “It’s never mattered. The Society was always our way out, but I never wanted it to become our identity.”

“Shh,” he reminds me. “Let’s get to our house, lock it down, and then we can make our plans. I’m on the same page as you.”

Nodding, I turn to see if I can look through the windows of the rest stop for Elijah. He’s been taking a while. Not saying that he needs to tell us if he’s taking a shit, but he’s the type to at least warn us if he’s going to be longer.

Checking my phone, I grunt at the lack of communication from him.

“Should we move the cars and go find him?” Jared asks, as if he can read my mind.

It’s a reminder of how close we all are, and how difficult it typically is to hide shit. It’s why it hurts so much that Ignacio played us all for pussy. I think that’s why he avoided us so much.

There’s no way he’d have kept us in the dark otherwise.

“Is that… I think I see him waiting in line to check out,” I say, craning my neck for his messy dirty blonde hair.

Jared turns as well, narrowing his eyes.

“Fuck, I’m going to have to trust your eagle eyes on this one,” he says, meaning my glasses.

“That’s cute,” I snort, nodding as I see Elijah push open the doors. “Yeah, that’s him.”

He looks frazzled as he pushes his hair off his forehead, bag in hand as he looks both ways inattentively. Elijah is pale, as if he saw a ghost.

What the fuck happened?

He jogs over to us quickly, shaking his head.

“Ready to go?” he asks.

“Why do you look so weird? Did you remember my soda?” Jared asks, frowning.