Chapter 1
Kade
Kelton, Hunt, and I sat in the bleachers in Gary’s Gym, waiting for Kross’s boxing match to begin. My gut twisted into a big knot as though someone had pried open my stomach, stuck in their hand, and squeezed like a motherfucker. Lacey had flown to California for the weekend with her old man. Something about her trip had me on edge. The apprehension was almost as strong as the feeling that had rolled through me when I’d come home to the blue-and-red flashing lights of a cop car and an ambulance parked in the driveway and two medics wheeling away my younger sister’s dead body. I gripped my phone hard as I tried to conjure up images of life rather than death.
Lacey.
She was the only one who could take me to a place where the world was perfect, where nothing else mattered. A place where there was no pain, no hate, no nightmares—just her and me and the sanctity of our world. I pictured her naked with my fingers tangled in her long wavy brown hair, her legs wrapped around me, our bodies pressed together in a heated passion, getting lost in each other. Yeah, that image usually erased the bad. God, I loved that girl. I needed her. She was sunshine. She was my future.
People started to fill the gym, a spacious facility in Boston that hosted amateur night on Fridays. The place reminded me of a high school gym with bleachers, hoops, and mats stacked neatly in a corner. Even the air had a hint of sweat.
“You alive?” My brother Kelton nudged me in the ribs. “Is your dick hard thinking of Lacey? She’s only been gone a day, man. That’s one of the reasons why I won’t do love. I hate seeing the pain on your ugly mug when you’re away from her.”
One day was far too long. Even when I couldn’t see her on weekends for one reason or another, it drove me crazy. She was like a drug for me. The image of her naked body fell away, and with it the high I usually got when I thought of her.
Lacey hadn’t been back to California since she buried her sister and her mom, and I was worried about how she was going to react when she visited their gravesite. I was afraid her PTSD would relapse. Her symptoms had diminished over the last six months, thanks to her psychiatrist. But more importantly, the cops still hadn’t found the perp who murdered her family.
I eyed Kelton, who sat on my left. “Fuck off, man.”
He was shaking his shaggy black head of hair back and forth, and I wanted to slap the disgusting expression off his face. He was the cockiest of the triplets with a strong infallibility complex. I worried constantly that he’d be the first of us to die. Fear never resonated in him. At times I envied him. He approached situations with strength and purpose—something I tried to do, except with a little more caution.
I checked my phone again, waiting for Lacey to return my calls. I’d gotten a text from her when she landed early this morning, but that was it.
“She’ll call, dude,” Hunt said from my right. “She’s probably catching up on sleep after her red-eye.”
I rubbed my temple with my free hand. A headache was beginning to make an ugly appearance.
“Your headaches back?” Hunt asked in a voice so low I barely heard him.
I checked on Kelton to make sure he hadn’t heard the question. Thankfully, he was fiddling with his phone. I didn’t want any of my brothers or my father to know my migraines were back. They’d worry, and then I’d be in the hospital getting my brain scanned again.
“Later.” I narrowed my eyes as I zeroed in on the scar over his left eye. The one he’d gotten sparring with Kross. Maybe he wanted another one to match.
Kelton cocked his head toward Hunt and me. “What are you two talking about?”
“Hunt is making predictions. He thinks you’re going to break your vow of not falling in love.” I was quick on the draw.
“I’ll be in the pits of hell before I say those three words,” Kelton said with a serious expression. “And even then I’ll be telling the devil I love him before some chick.”
“Man, I’d pay big money to see that.” Hunt chuckled, his deep voice breaking through the soft hum of voices around us.
“Is your heart still broken from Lizzie leaving?” I couldn’t resist. At thirteen years old, the boy had pouted for weeks that one summer in Texas when Lizzie Reardon moved away.
“Blow me. Both of you.” He shifted his gaze forward as he growled.
Hunt and I cracked up. It felt good to release some of my anxiety.
“Laugh it up, big bro. And when that sexy girl of yours drives a stake through your heart, I’ll—”
I slapped the back of his head. “Don’t use Lacey and ‘stake’ in the same sentence.” Could we break up? Sure. Would we? Hell, no.
“What the fuck are they doing here?” Kelton snarled.
I followed his line of sight to the bleachers on the other side of the ring and saw Sullivan and Seever. My body immediately tensed again. I couldn’t catch a fucking break. I almost jumped off the top row of the bleachers, stalked across the gym, plucked Greg Sullivan down from his high horse, and rammed my fist into his face to end the feud we had going on. But I had two problems. One, Hunt had a tight grip on my arm, holding me back, and two, if I did end it, that meant someone would get hurt or die. I couldn’t handle any more death, not even my enemy’s.
“Easy, man. In due time,” Hunt said then released his hold.
Sullivan nodded at me as he sat down. The harsh gym lights made his dark hair look even greasier than normal. Next to him, his psychologically unstable cousin, Aaron Seever, narrowed his green eyes as he rested his back against the empty row behind him. What were they doing here?
“I’m beginning to believe that fucker is all talk,” Kelton mumbled.
“How soon you forget.” I bit the inside of my mouth. “Just because he hasn’t followed through on his revenge against us doesn’t mean he’s given up.” Sullivan’s MO was to threaten then walk away, only to surprise us months later. When he thought we’d gotten complacent, he’d hit us with the element of surprise. I had to give it to him. It did work the first time when he and his buddies put Kody in the hospital. However, Kody was ready the second time around when Sullivan had shown up after one of the football games back in September. He and Sullivan fought then, and even though Kody ended up in the emergency room with a broken nose, that was all that had broken. Plus, he wasn’t ambushed. My brother had help from Tyler Langley, the quarterback of our high school team.
Whatever he was scheming, we were all on full alert. Where ever we went, we always checked our surroundings. Before we got in our vehicles, we checked the area. When we got out, we checked the area. We always kept our senses open, just like our old man taught us. We also sparred a lot with Kross, which helped keep all of us in shape.
“It’s not Sullivan we should be worried about,” Hunt said as he rested booted feet on the empty row in front of him. “Seever is the crazy one.”
He was right. Seever got off on getting into people’s heads and fucking with them. It still pissed me off how he tried to worm his way into Lacey’s head, hoping he would scare her enough so she wouldn’t try out for the baseball team. There’d been some bad feelings about the idea of a girl on the team, and he’d had his girl, Tammy Reese, break into Lacey’s locker and steal her gear right before one of the tryouts then stick it back when Lacey reported the incident to Coach Dean so Lacey would come off as crazy. My girl pushed through all her demons and made the team despite Aaron’s threats and games. Still, baseball season was ramping up, and I was holding my breath to see what Aaron had up his sleeve.
“Let’s just get this over with and put them in the hospital,” Kelton said. “I’m tired of waiting to see if Sullivan will follow through on his revenge.”
The triplets, Hunt, and I had a pact. We wouldn’t initiate the first punch. But we would damn sure protect ourselves if the moment presented itself.
“We put them in the hospital. Then what? The vicious cycle continues. Do you want to go back to the academy with only three months till graduation?” I leaned back against the wall. I sure didn’t want to go back to jail, but every fiber in me wanted to wipe that smug grin off Sullivan’s face.
“Fuck no.” Kelton rested against the wall. “But by the time I got done with him he wouldn’t be able to rat us out again.”
“Kel, use that Mensa brain of yours before you let your ego get in the way.” I ground my teeth together.
Our conversation died when the doors creaked open and all heads turned to watch a beautiful blond girl, who appeared to be eighteen or nineteen, sway in, her ass wiggling in skinny jeans, her hair flowing down her back, and her heeled ankle boots clicking against the hardwood floor. Behind her, a middle-aged man with black hair and graying sideburns strutted in with two large muscled men who appeared they’d taken a year’s supply of steroids in one shot. Both were bald, same build, although one had a scar that traveled from his temple to his right ear.
Kelton said, “Well, damn me to hell.”
Hunt said, “I can’t believe Pitt is here.”
I smirked at Kelton’s remark. The blonde had long legs, perfect breasts, and a smile that would render any guy speechless. Not that I was one of those men. No way. I had my girl. But I wasn’t blind.
Everyone seemed to be staring at the girl as she sashayed over to the opposite side of the gym and sat directly in front of Sullivan and Seever. Pitt and the steroid twins settled next to her.
“Maybe he owns this gym.” I braced my elbows on my knees while still holding onto my phone.
Pitt owned several businesses in Boston. I knew he’d built a gym for the Big Brothers Big Sisters organization. Maybe this was the place. Or maybe he liked boxing. Whatever the case, it wasn’t any of my business. What I had to do was reel in my horny brother. Normally, I wouldn’t get involved, but he wasn’t getting anywhere near that blonde. Not when the media speculated that all the businesses Pitt owned were just cover-ups for his ties to the Russian mafia.
I angled my head to find Kelton’s blue eyes. They were filled with lust. “Stay away from her,” I said firmly. “Or you may be declaring your dying love to the devil sooner rather than later.”
“I can eye fuck her if I want. The devil would be proud of me. Besides, she seems to be doing the same to me.”
I shot a quick glance over that way as Hunt cracked up. Sure enough, blondie was leering at Kelton. Then she waved, and my idiot brother waved back. Pitt leaned into her and said something. Then he glared our way. I wanted to bang my head against the wall, but not before I knocked that lusty grin off Kelton’s face. We were either going to end up in jail for fighting with Sullivan or we were going to end up dead in some alley.
That knot in my stomach had tightened as my brain pounded against my skull. It was going to be a long night.
