“You thinking Cap knows something we don’t?”
“He suspects.”
“But he’ll tell us.” Royce’s eyes bounce between mine. “Right?”
I nod. “Even if he doesn’t want to.”
“Why wouldn’t he want to, Madman?”
“When does he ever not tell us when something’s bothering him?”
“Fuck.” Royce runs his hands down his face, falling back against the chair. “Can’t be coincidence he chose today to make Perkins bleed either, can it?”
Nope.
The ride home is a quiet one, and when we pull up, we find Dad’s town car parked right in the middle of the driveway.
Cap turns off the engine and Royce immediately jumps out, rushing up the steps.
I reach for my handle, but Cap’s hand on my arm has me pausing.
I look to him and his eyes fall to the steering wheel.
“Cap.”
“Can I ask you something?”
I pause, tension lining my brows. “Since when would you ask?”
He lets out a small laugh. His features tighten, and my muscles follow the move. “Would you do what she did?”
When I don’t respond, he looks my way.
“Raven. Would you protect her, no matter the cost like she was ready to do for us, even if that meant losing her?”
“Why you asking me that, Cap?”
“Answer the question, brother.” A wretched expression takes over his features. “I need you to.”
“Yes. Without a second thought.”
He stares a moment before blinking and looking away. “So would I.”
“I know you would, just like I would Zoey.”
He slowly meets my eyes again, a lost look in his. “You always have my back.”
“No matter what.”
“You trust me?”
My pulse kicks at his question.
Captain doesn’t ask useless questions. “With my life.”
“Good.” He nods, looking away. “Let’s go inside.”
Together, we make our way in the front door, finding Royce coming down the stairs with Victoria.
She gives a tight grin. “She’s asleep.”
“I’ll drive you back,” I offer but she shakes her head.
“I’m good, but make sure you clear things up with my teachers, like you said.”
I pull out my wallet, but she lifts her hands, shakes her head and walks out, closing the door behind her.
Royce frowns from Cap to me. “Dad wants us in his office.”
“Fuck,” Captain hisses, then quickly shifts toward us. “Guys, look I have to tell—”
“Boys.” We turn, finding our dad standing in the hall. “Come.”
With one last look at each other, we head his way.
He steps in before us, moving to sit against the edge of his desk.
When Royce doesn’t shut the door behind us, he motions toward it.
“It’s fine,” he tells him. “The girl’s gone. It’s just us.”
“And Raven,” he corrects.
“Exactly.” Royce eyes him. “It’s fine.”
He nods, mumbling to himself, “I was afraid of this.”
“Afraid of what? What’s going on?” I ask.
With a deep breath, he meets each of our eyes. “You know she’s of Brayshaw blood.”
“Just learned,” Royce glares.
Our dad nods. “I’m sorry I wasn’t forthcoming right away and you had to hear it from someone else.”
“Why would you hide this from us to begin with?” Captain asks almost as if he’s baiting him.
My eyes tighten.
“All these years, I had a plan,” our dad says. “But it seems I may have made a wrong move somewhere, which makes things a little trickier.”
“You don’t need a big lead up,” I tell him. “We’re not your men, we’re your sons. Just talk.”
He nods. “You boys are aware our world extends beyond our territory. There are several families, like us, that lead lives as we do, each offering something different in their zones, but serving the same purpose. We keep our towns clean, our people honest, and clear out the garbage. We do these things to not only protect the way of life we have chosen, but to punish those who decide to hurt our people.”
“We know all this already,” I say.
“You met the family from Riverside?” he asks.
“They came to warn us, said someone was looking to burn down the warehouses.”
“Yes.” He nods. “It was Vienna Sproud, one of the girls in the group home.”
“Whoa, what?” Royce snaps.
“She was sent by Collins Graven, of course, but still. Seems she disappeared for now, but she’ll be found and dealt with.”
“She won’t be back,” I tell him and his frown meets mine. “Raven already banished her.”
“Raven banished her,” he draws out. “And how would she have the power to do that?”
“She earned respect before she learned who she was. Our people welcomed her when she was nobody to them.”
“Good to know.” His brows furrow, an irritated look crossing his face, and I grow tense.
He didn’t like hearing that, but why?
“I’ve got a meeting set tomorrow,” he announces. “You’ll miss class and accompany me out of town where you’ll meet the head of each family.”
“Why tomorrow?” Captain asks, stiffness in his tone. “What’s the rush?”
“Things are moving rather quickly, which brings me to my next concern.” His eyes bounce between us again. “I asked you to keep Raven from the Gravens and you failed to do so.”
I take a step forward, but Cap’s eyes hit mine, a warning burning, and I force myself calm.
“He showed up at our game, we were in the locker room. We—”
“The why doesn’t matter at this point, son. Fact of the matter is, Graven has laid eyes on her earlier than planned, so now we are out of time. Things will move.”
“What things,” I force past clenched teeth.
“If you’d have done what I asked,” our dad repeats himself. “We’d have more time. You would have more time. I needed it to be on our terms, but what’s done is done.”
“Why keep her from them if you expected them to find out anyway?” Royce asks him.
“To ensure the same actions would be taken, to solidify the terms and make sure, this time around, it was solid proof.”
“You need to give us more than that! I’m tired of this roundabout bullshit!” I demand, my anger threatening to boil over.
“Ravina Brayshaw,” he booms, not one to be over spoken. “Was promised to Felix Graven.”