Broken Trust: A Dark High School Romance(54)

“Car’s ready,” he said as he passed by. “Bomb squad has been over it, and the area is secure. We can head on down.”

I jerked back, watching his broad shoulders as they disappeared down the hall. “Did he just say bomb squad?”

Dylan laughed. “Yeah, we haven’t managed to ditch the security team when we’re in New York. Too many of our competitors here for us to be complacent.”

I must have looked nervous, because he wrapped an arm around me. “Don’t stress. I’ll double check it myself.”

“What?” I gasped. “You can detect bombs too?”

Was there any fucking thing that Dylan couldn’t do?

He shrugged. “Yeah, I’ve had training in it. Wouldn’t call myself an expert, but I don’t risk my friends without double checking things myself.”

Apparently Beck had the same training, because he joined Dylan as they walked the perimeter of our car. Checking it over. Poking and prodding some shit. “I want all of you to stand back until it’s started,” Beck said, waving us toward the elevators.

“Fuck no,” I said, stepping close to him. “We’re all in this together, dude, and I’m not moving.”

He shook his head. “Stubborn like the rest of them.”

Jasper chuckled. “Beck always tries to pull the ‘I’ll start the dangerous car while you all wait in safety’ move. It hasn’t worked yet.”

Beck nailed Jasper with a glare. “Figured you fuckers might be more cautious now that we have Riley, but apparently not.”

“You’re not blowing yourself up and leaving us to deal with Delta alone,” Dylan said. He didn’t sound like he was joking.

Beck didn’t argue, he just swung around and climbed into the back, letting Jasper take his place behind the wheel. I ended up in the middle again, and sinking back between the guys, I held my breath as the car started. When there was no explosion, Jasper shifted it into reverse, and we left the parking lot.

It felt different in the car today, less tense, more of a companionable silence. My little speech this morning had knocked all of us around, and while it was definitely more emotional than we were most of the time, all of us had needed it. Step one to healing.

When we got outside of New York, Jasper cranked the music, and I spent the rest of the trip screaming old school Eminem songs, rap battling it out with Jasper, who knew every single fucking word to every song.

“Fancy yourself as a rapper, I see,” I said to him when I stopped to catch my breath.

Dude was Slim Shady junior.

All too quickly Jasper pulled up at my place, and I blinked when they all got out. “What are you doing?” I asked. “Don’t you guys have to get home…?”

Jasper snorted. “We are home, babe. We now own this entire building.”

Okay then. “You moved fast on that,” I said, surprised.

He shrugged. “I mean, not everyone is out yet, but all of your floor is vacant, and the rest should be out in the next few days.”

Two days ago that would have pissed me off so bad, especially since they’d emptied the entire building. But now … now I was happy and excited. This was the best of both worlds. I got my independence from Catherine, the evil bitch, and still had the protection of my very well trained friends around me.

“Well, then,” I said, jumping out onto the sidewalk. “Better pick out your apartments.”





22





If I ever ended up back in my poor neighborhood, I would probably be astonished when it took people thirty days to buy a place and two days to move in. By the time we left for school on Monday, all four of the guys had an apartment on the same floor as me. Fully decked out with sweet as fuck furniture, and looking like they’d lived there for years, rather than hours.

“There are some parts of this world I could get used to,” I said as Beck drove me to school. “The money definitely opens a lot of doors for you.”

It felt weird to be alone with Beck, even though I’d seen him quite a bit yesterday helping to move furniture and picking out the thick quilt and cover for his room. He’d even managed to set a room up with guitars. I was pretty sure they were all new, his originals back in his mansion, but I loved that an important part of who Beck was, got to come along to this new place. I’d tried my best to forget that song he sang when he thought I was asleep, but there were nights, when I closed my eyes, that the music would be in my head. His beautiful voice. Destroying me note by note.

“I’ve always had money, and I’d definitely struggle without its power, but at the same time, it’s fucking soul destroying. People kill their families for it. They lie and steal and hurt, and maybe it’s never that I’ve had that desperation, but part of me wishes that all of the money would just disappear.”

I hesitated to ask the question, one which had been hovering in my mind for days now. “Do you think we could visit my brother’s grave?”

Beck was silent, his hands tense on the steering wheel, and for a moment, I thought he was going to just completely ignore me.

“Yeah, it’s been too long for me as well,” he finally said, pulling into the school. “We can go this afternoon.”

I nodded, relieved that he hadn’t bitten my head off. Oscar was a touchy subject for all of them, and I really knew fuck all about my brother. Part of me wondered if I was just a morbid freak, because his death was often on my mind. It felt like there were pieces missing. Not just for me either, because the police had never figured out whether it was murder or suicide.