“Jesus Christ. I thought you said this would be easy. No complications. The fucking mayor’s daughter is a complication,” the man holding back Jett’s right arm said before he dropped it and threw his hands in the air. Jett’s arm was wrapped around me in an instant.
“She doesn’t have to be. We could send a message to the mayor while we’re at it that his piece of shit town has nothing on us.”
“Not a battle I’m interested in.” The man who’d dropped Jett’s arm crossed his own over his chest and stared at the others.
The most ear-piercing sound cut through the air, like a missile heading for destruction. Everyone’s hands moved on instinct to their ears, as Ivy came around the corner with her rape whistle in her mouth and I stared at her with my jaw on the ground.
“Yeah. I have my father on speed dial. He happens to be the chief of police, so you’ve just opened a can of worms, bitches.” She blew the whistle one more time before holding up her car keys and setting off her car alarm. The man holding Jett’s other arm let go and backed away. They all stood there staring at one another.
“Not worth it. For fifty fucking bucks. I’m out.” The first guy took off jogging as the other three looked at one another.
“It wasn’t personal, man. Just business,” an oversized man said to Jett before walking off. He chuckled as he passed me and Ivy.
“Jesus. What the fuck are you two thinking?” Jett asked.
Shaw, Jax, Coco, Gigi, and Maura came around the corner with Wren in tow.
“Can we turn off the car alarm now?” Wren asked, his voice calm and steady, but his gaze searched Jett to make sure he was okay.
Ivy hit her key fob and the horrific noise stopped. My ears were still ringing, but a calm settled over all of us when the loud noise came to an end.
I glanced up at Jett and wiped away the blood on his cheek with my fingers. He looked down at me and swiped away the falling tears that I hadn’t even realized were still streaming down my face.
“All right, let’s all get the hell out of here. Just got a tip that the cops were called. We’re getting raided in less than an hour.” Wren never took his eyes from Jett as he spoke.
“Fights are canceled?” Jett asked.
Wren laughed. “We’re getting raided. Fights are definitely canceled. And I warned you these guys weren’t happy with you. Probably predicted you were going to kick their guy’s ass tonight and thought they’d rough you up first. We can talk about it later. You all need to get the hell out of here.”
“I’ll call you in a little bit.” Jett leaned down and kissed me.
“No way. I’m leaving with you.” I hugged my girlfriends, and we all shook our heads with disbelief over what had just happened.
“Well, we’re definitely filling the book with adventures. I nearly peed my pants when I came around that corner,” Ivy said.
She wasn’t the only one.
We were definitely going out in a blast for our senior year. More had happened to me over the past few months than had happened in my entire lifetime.
And I was okay with all of it.
Because it had led me to Jett.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Jett
Jax and Shaw gave me those half-bro hugs and apologized another dozen times before heading out. Hell, they couldn’t have predicted I’d be jumped when I came out of the locker room. And I’d been outnumbered. For the first time in my life, I’d had no exit strategy, so I’d prepared for the beating.
What I hadn’t prepared for was Adelaide coming to my rescue, jumping right into the fire and putting herself in harm’s way. For me. What the fuck was that about?
And then Ivy jumped in, as all the Magic Musketeers had gone balls to the walls to try to stop what was going down. If I hadn’t been so terrified at the time that they’d be hurt, it would have been laughable. My girl was small, but she was fierce. She showed no fear, which shocked the shit out of me.
“Jett, you got a minute?” Wren asked after everyone walked away and it was just me and Adelaide standing there still processing the shitshow that had gone down.
“Yeah. She can stay. You can trust her.”
“Looks like the mayor’s daughter is a bit of a badass,” Wren said with a brow raised when he smiled at her.
She laughed. “Not normally. But I knew I needed to do something. Thank you for coming so quickly.”
He nodded. “All right, so what I’m going to tell you goes no further than right here. Got it? People’s jobs are on the line.”
“No problem.”
“I have someone on the inside. The call I got about the raid, it’s personal. You were specifically named,” Wren said.
I sucked in a long breath. Could this day get any worse? “What the fuck? Why?”
“My guy told me that Alec Taulson placed the call. Apparently, he has a personal beef with you. Said you’d be fighting and that your girlfriend was to be left out of it. He wants to see you go down, Jett.”
“That motherfucker.” I shook my head and my hands fisted at my side. Adelaide reached for my hand and mouthed the words “I’m sorry” to me.
“Don’t retaliate. Listen, you’re so close to leaving for school. Get the hell out of here and make something of yourself. Don’t let this punk take you down. He’s got a rich daddy to cover his ass. You don’t. We’re going to shut things down here for a few weeks anyway. If you want to make some cash, you can work for me down at the auto shop. It’s decent money and I’ll work around your schedule.”
People were hustling to their cars in the parking lot as Clyde and his men were emptying the warehouse before the cops arrived. And this was all on me.
“Yeah, thanks. I’m sorry for the mess I’ve caused. I’m sure you’ll lose a shit ton of money.”
“Nah. Just glad you didn’t go down in the mess. We’ve been taking some heat ‘cause we’ve grown so fast—everyone in this shit town is looking for something to do. People are talking about the fights. I’ll have to look into a new location down the road. Now get your badass girl home and get out of here. Stop by tomorrow and see me, and we’ll figure out the job.”
I nodded and shook his hand as he pulled me in for a shoulder bump. He turned toward Adelaide. “Go home. No more ass kicking tonight, girl.”
She chuckled. But I saw all the worry on her face. This had taken a toll on her, which is exactly why I’d told her to stay away. But I was learning pretty quickly that she rarely listened to me. And she had my back at all costs. Aside from Jax and Shaw, I wasn’t used to that kind of loyalty. That kind of trust.