I don’t bother responding and move past her – of course my boys follow.
Royce laughs as he takes the seat beside me, Maddoc and Captain opposite of us.
“What?”
“Nothing, you’re just a natural, unapproachable bitch. I dig it.” He nudges me with his elbow. “Very Brayshaw of you,” he laughs lightly when I punch him in the thigh.
I look to Maddoc, finding both him and Captain grinning.
“Can I ask you guys something?” I ask, tearing open a sugar packet for the hell of it.
“If we told you no, would you ask anyway?” Cap teases.
“Yes,” I laugh and prop my elbows on the table. “Was that true, about your dad being okay with you guys making moves on your own?”
“We don’t run shit by him before we handle business, Raven.” Maddoc frowns.
“But you listen to him.”
“We trust his judgment. He’s been where we are, dealt with shit from the Gravens along the way.”
“And now?”
“And now he understands things have gone too far.”
I eye them. “Me.”
“You,” Maddoc confirms, leaning forward. “The second he touched you when he knew you belonged to me, the second he tried to take you from me he sealed his fucking fate. I wanted to ruin him before on principle. Now I’ll destroy his entire fucking world and everyone connected to it.”
My blood shouldn’t warm at his words, yet here I am, growing hot beneath my clothes. The gleam in Maddoc’s eyes tells me he knows it too.
“But to answer your question, RaeRae, yeah.” Royce motions for the waitress. “He told us to do what we needed, so we will.”
“Starting tonight,” Maddoc adds, nodding at the chick when she wordlessly sets down four waters.
“Tonight?”
Royce looks away while Maddoc holds his face blank, but Cap, he grins into his cup.
“What’s tonight?” I ask again and they chuckle.
The waitress comes back, setting down a couple pizzas.
“Carb up, RaeRae. You’re gonna need it.”
They get straight to eating so I do the same and twenty minutes later we’re back in the leather seats of Captain’s SUV.
It only takes a few minutes before I realize where we’re going.
I scoot forward in the seat, but Maddoc pulls me back, and this time onto his lap.
“What are we doing?
“Getting excited?” Royce bounces his eyebrows.
My stomach flips. “What are we doing?”
Cap pulls in and drives along the inside of the dirt path, not stopping until he’s right at the edge of the entrance.
The hairs on the back of my neck start to tingle when Mac all of a sudden appears and the gate is pulled open.
Captain rolls through and every head turns to watch as the sleek Denali makes its way forward.
“What the hell are you guys doing?” I ask, but it comes out as a bit of a whisper.
“I told you,” Maddoc speaks into my ear. “We’re done hiding.”
“Perkins will cause problems, no? The other families you talked about, they’ll know you guys are leading now, aren’t you supposed to wait ‘til you graduate? Someone will rat.”
“Let them,” Maddoc mumbles in my ear.
I tense then slowly spin to frown at him. “You want it to happen.”
“Someone needs to be the example. Let them challenge us. Never again will we fall at any other’s hands. Not us. And not you.”
“You’re not above the fucking law, Big Man—”
“Yes, Raven.” His eyes darken, determination etched across every inch of his face. “We are.”
My stomach about bottoms out at his words and I jerk when a hand touches my upper arm.
I look to Captain.
Always with those reassuring eyes.
“We know what we’re doing.”
“Have you dealt with snakes before, Cap?” I challenge, and a rare smirk that has me pulling back a little finds his lips.
“We are the snakes, Raven.”
I gape at him a second before a laugh bubbles out of me. “Well, shit. Let’s get the fuck out.”
Royce grins and all at once, the boys reach for their handles, but when I reach for mine, Maddoc yanks me toward him.
I frown but he only winks in return, and then the boys are stepping out, all fucking eyes on them.
Maddoc turns his head to look at me and reaches out a hand.
I glare, not missing the teasing gleam in his eye – he knows I hate this shit.
At the same time, though, there’s a lot of stray females out here, better they learn quick who they can and can’t touch.
I slide across the seat and step out, leaving his hand hanging, but I do take him by surprise when I grip his collar and pull myself up on my toes.
“Real cute, Big Man,” I whisper, and the corner of his eyes tighten in humor. “Now finish your little show.”
His eyes blaze and a low groan leaves him as he dips his head and kisses my neck a moment.
I drop to my feet and he stands to his full height, one of his hands sliding into my back pocket as the four of us walk toward the wooden crates at the edge of the setup, and my adrenaline starts pumping to the beat of the loud ass music floating through the air.
It’s like an instant, natural high no drug could ever give me.
I look around at all the people partying and placing bets, smaller fights already happening in the back corner while the larger circle is kept clear by nothing but a couple barrels and tied ropes.
My fingertips tingle.
This fucked up shit is in my soul.
Bass meets us at the first area.
He nods at the guys, then shifts toward me and a rare smile breaks across his face.
“Ready for some fun?”
I tense, my brows snapping together. “Wait, what?”
He frowns and looks to Maddoc. “You didn’t tell her?”
“Tell me what?” I rush out, a little too excited when I could be reading this all wrong.
Maddoc’s eyes shift between mine, but his lips stay tightly pressed.
“Maddoc,” I prompt.
The boys step closer and Bass steps back.
“All you wanted while you were here was to fight. We took that from you,” he says.
“If I wanted to, I would have found a way,” I argue, but it’s weak from the sudden weight of his eyes.
“And I’d have loved pissing you off when I stopped you.”