What’s that all about?
“Everything is fine, Mrs. W. Just saw Colt go upstairs with Betty Lee, Ma’am. I’m not sure the sheriff will appreciate Colt giving his lovely young bride a private tour of the house.”
“Oh, for crying out loud. Can’t that boy keep it in his pants for just one night?” my mother whisper-yells in aggravation. “You boys do damage control before that fool ruins my whole party. Scoot! Go on, now!” my mother insists, but my feet are still frozen to the floor, not ready to leave Stone alone with my mother just yet.
“Come on, asshole. You heard, your ma,” East growls at me, pulling on my arm again, but I still don’t move an inch.
“You’ll be alright on your own for a few minutes, brat?”
“I’ll be fine, pretty boy. Go on before someone gets shot.” She snickers.
“Remind me never to introduce you to Colt,” I kid lightheartedly, bending down to give her a quick peck on the cheek.
“Jesus, Romeo. Get on with it,” East hollers, pulling my lips away from hers.
“You’re a real jerk, you know that, East?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell me something I don’t know, sweetheart,” he snaps back at Stone, succeeding in pulling me away from her once and for all.
“What the fuck was that about,” I bark at him.
“I’ll explain later. We got bigger shit to worry about.”
Not from where I’m standing. I couldn’t give two flying fucks who Colt sticks his dick into. Serves him right if he got a beat down from the sheriff for messing with his woman. Although, if she were mine, I’d send her packing just as fast as I’d rearrange Colt’s handsome face.
A woman who is so easily seduced, means she wasn’t his to begin with. A wedding ring means fucking nothing if the heart is that fickle. Even though Stone might not be one hundred percent in love with me, I know for a fact she would never two-time me. My girl has more integrity and dignity than most of these southern belles profess to have.
As we both rush out of the room, my attention is grabbed by Kennedy’s blonde curls as she stands near one of the floor-to-ceiling windows. I sway off course for a second to make sure that Stone is ok in my absence.
“Ken, do me a solid. I left Stone with my mom. Rescue her for me, will you?”
“On it,” Kennedy replies steadfastly, already heading toward the two women on the other side of the room.
Knowing Stone is in good hands, I run after East, who is dashing madly up the foyer to the second floor.
“You’re making a mountain out of a molehill, East. Colt knows how to cover his ass. I’m sure Sherriff Travis is already falling down drunk on compliments and champagne, none the wiser to his wife’s infidelities.”
But instead of Easton slowing his step, he continues to haul ass as if someone set fire on his butt.
“East!”
“East!”
He doesn’t waver and only stops when he’s reached my bedroom door.
“That fucker better not be screwing on my bed!” I growl, pushing East away from the door, ready to kick Colt’s ass.
But when I get inside my room, there is no live-action porn happening on my duvet. I let out a long, relieved breath, only to hear hushed voices coming out of the bathroom. I walk over to it with Easton on my heel, and when I open the door, Lincoln and a half-dressed Colt are staring at my mirror with worried faces.
I walk in closer, my feet suddenly sluggish, and when I lock eyes on the message written in black ink on the vanity mirror, my heart stops.
We warned you.
All four of us stare at those horrific words like a bad omen of what’s about to come.
“They’re getting more restless,” Lincoln states gravely.
“You mean, dangerous,” Easton interjects behind me. “Did anyone besides us see this shit?”
Colt shakes his head profusely, tucking his white collared shirt back into his tuxedo pants.
“No. I came into the bathroom to get a condom when I stumbled on it. I sent Betty packing after that, but I don’t think she caught my sudden mood swing. Just gave her the runaround that there were too many people in the house, so I think she bought it.”
I’m too fucked in the head to even give Colt a hard time for wanting to screw the sheriff’s wife in my room.
“There has to be a reason why they have upped the ante. Why would they leave such a message for anyone to see?” Lincoln continues, trying to decipher The Society’s inner workings.
“All I know is they’re here, probably mingling with the guests downstairs as we speak. Who knows what they’ll do next?!” East hollers, throwing his arms behind his head, grabbing at the short ends of his hair in frustration.
“Settle the fuck down, East. We don’t know if they’re downstairs or not. They could have just easily slipped in and out, leaving this little threat without being noticed.”
East shakes his head, unconvinced with Lincoln’s explanation, and retorts, “These assholes are a big deal. You said so yourself, Lincoln. They are the elite of the fucking elite. Of course those fuckers are downstairs. Probably gorging on caviar and champagne, laughing themselves into a frenzy about how they’ve got us over a barrel.”
“Just give me a minute, East, before you do something stupid like go downstairs searching for the boogieman. They have been cautious up until now. They value discretion, so what changed?”
“Not when it came to Finn’s car. When they painted it with pig’s blood, right in the middle of our school’s parking lot, they didn’t seem to be worried about discretion.”
“True,” Lincoln agrees, rubbing his chin in thought. “They did go off the rails there, too. There has to be a connection, though. Why were those two messages so in your face, while the other three were discreet?”
My stomach starts to twist and turn, making me nauseous.
Fuck.
I know exactly why these fuckers went all DEFCON five on us.
“I know what the connection is,” I huff out, returning to my room, immediately sitting on the edge of my bed to keep my bearings.
“What is it, Finn?” Lincoln questions, taking a seat next to me on the bed.
I struggle to get the words out as Lincoln patiently waits for a reply.
“I fucked up,” I tell him truthfully. “I did this. It’s because of me they went all psycho on us.”
“The fuck did you do, Walker?!” Colt barks, towering over me.
Lincoln gives him such a scathing glare that it’s enough to shut him up, making him take a few steps back away from me.
“When they fucked my Porsche, I wasn’t exactly making progress with Stone. They must be following me or some shit because they know my every move. When they saw I wasn’t making any leeway, they got creative to persuade me into getting my shit together.”
“Okay, but that was weeks ago. Since you started spending time with Stone, we haven’t heard from them,” East interjects, his face pinched with confusion.