Treachery

Luca

I lift my head and blink open my eyes, confusion clouding my thoughts as I attempt to shake myself awake. Pain shoots across my shoulders, and I immediately regret moving, a loud horn competing with the sound of muffled voices and a constant thudding.

Glancing to my right, I see a man banging his palm against the car window. He’s saying something, but I can’t really hear him over the horn.

On my left, Ava groans and holds a hand to her head, her eyes meeting mine with the same confusion I’m feeling.

Time is moving slow, but only for a moment. Just for a few seconds as my mind catches up to the scene around me. But then like a rubber band snapping, time regains its usual speed, understanding sinking in as the muted noises become louder and panic sets in.

My gaze shoots back to Ava. “Are you okay?”

She nods, but grimaces. “Yeah, I hit my head, but other than that, I’m fine.”

People keep banging on the window of my door, and I reach to unlock it. The door is pulled open immediately, and what sounds like a hundred different voices compete as they ask their questions.

“I’m fine,” I say and attempt to get out of the car.

“You should stay still until an ambulance arrives,” a man says.

“I don’t need an ambulance.”

Nothing else hurts except my shoulders, and when I survey the car, it looks like we were shoved into a metal barrier.

The front is mangled, and the horn won’t stop blaring. Light smoke fills the interior from the airbags.

I turn back to Ava. “Is your head bad?”

She shakes it. “No blood. I think it was the airbag that caught me fu

The people around the car help us out and direct us to the shoulder of the road, the full scene coming into view. Only our car is damaged, but several are stopped, their hazard lights blinking furiously to warn other drivers.

“Are you two sure you’re okay? I saw what happened. That kid almost took out three cars before you. He was driving like a maniac, trying to weave through traffic.”

“It was a kid that hit us?” I ask the older man next to me, his concerned brown eyes meeting mine.

“Some damn teenager,” he answers with a stiff lip. “I was following him for the past two miles and smelled weed blowing out of his car. He was high as a kite and trying to race around the traffic congestion. He was driving a sports car that no one his age should be allowed to have. But you know how their rich mommies and daddies are. They give these kids anything they want without making them work for it. The guy who hit you looked like he was wearing a private school uniform. Most likely skipping class.”

I chuckle at that, not that it’s really all that fu

Crap.

I pat my pockets and remember I was on the phone with Ta

“Luca!”

Speak of the devil...

Turning in the direction of Ta

Gabriel is behind him, and while Ta

“You look like you’re fine,” Ta

“Thanks for the professional assessment,” I joke.

Judging by the look on Ta

“Are you okay?” I ask, lifting a hand to palm his cheek and drag his dark gaze to mine.

My touch doesn’t completely soothe away the rage I see in his face, but Ta

“I should be asking you that.”

He drags me into a hug, his arms wrapping me tightly and his heart beating against my ear so fast that I realize just how scared he was.

For several minutes, he refuses to let go, his heat a wall of comfort around me, his scent helping ease the strain I feel after everything that happened.

Sirens can be heard in the distance, and Ta

“It was a damn teenager,” the older man yells to the first police officer that approaches us, his loud voice ranting as he tells the story again before the officer can ask the first question.

Ta

“You’re damn right a kid did this,” the older man barks as he looks between us and the officer. “One of them prep school brats that have too much money and not enough sense. Every single one of those entitled jerks should be wrung through a ringer and taught a lesson. They’re a problem from the minute their parents let them out of the house, and they never grow up to amount to anything but a burden on society.”

Ta

“Tell me how you really feel,” Ta

The man doesn’t take the hint. “I will.”

He starts on another lengthy tirade about the issues with spoiled children. I ignore it, and Ta

“Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

“I’m fine,” I promise him. “It was just an accident.”

He steps away from me to look at the car, his green eyes narrowing on the damage.

When his stare snaps back to my face, Ta

Who the hell does he think he is?

“Like hell I am. You can’t ground me, Ta

His voice drops to a dangerous tone, not the hot tempered one or even the mildly amused, arrogant one, but the cold tone of voice he gets when he’s about to turn your world on end and teach you why it’s best not to mess with him. It’s the same tone he used on me when he was about to drop those photos in my lap back at Yale.

The only difference is, I’m not afraid of it anymore.

“I will tie you down if I have to. Lock you up. Bend you over a fucking-“

Reaching up, I cover his mouth, only for his eyes to widen and narrow again. But he stops talking, and I wish I’d known it was this easy to shut him up a long time ago.

“You’ll do none of those things. Not unless I let you.”

Who am I kidding? Two of the three sound fun.

When I pull my hand away, he leans down to me, his voice quiet so that nobody can overhear us. “Clayton is the person who sent that car to run you over at your apartment. And he’s still trying to hurt you as we speak.”

Shock tears through me. “How do you know that?”

“I have my sources, but that’s not the point. He needs to be dealt with before you run around the city like nothing can get to you.”

Stepping back, I eye him. “Are you saying I have your fathers and Clayton trying to murder me?”

What kind of horror show has my life become? This is a bit ridiculous. Fate is a seriously fucked up bitch.

He shakes his head. “I’m not so sure about our fathers anymore. But definitely Clayton, which means I need to deal with him to end this. And until then, you’re under permanent watch. If I can’t be there, one of the other guys will.”