I slump my shoulders, my head bowed to the ground so that I don’t have to face Colt’s disapproving glare. Shame, guilt, and an array of feelings start to drown me, making it hard to keep them all straight in my head.
“You know what? Fuck you, Finn Walker!” Colt yells, straightening up and taking two steps away from me. “If you do this, I’ll never fucking forgive you,” he vows, turning around and walking toward the door. He stops at its threshold, and as his hand reaches the knob, he turns his head over his shoulder to look at his cousin one more time and affirms, “I always looked up to you, Linc. You’ve always had my back. I just wish you trusted us enough to have yours. But I guess with friends like Finn, I can’t blame you for quitting on us.”
And with those words falling from his lips, he gives us all a scathing look and leaves us to stew in our misery.
“Don’t listen to him,” Easton says, knowing that Linc is the only one willing to place his head on the butcher block.
“It’s okay, East. Colt’s angry. He’s been angry for a while now. I understand, and I don’t blame him for it.”
“Are you serious, though? About handing yourself to the cops, I mean?”
“That depends on you, Finn. Is that what you want me to do?” he questions, his expression sincere and without an ounce of hesitation in it.
I read everything in his ocean blue eyes. I could tell him I can’t do this, and he will go to the cops, no questions asked. That’s just the kind of man he is.
But Colt is right. I am being selfish. Why should Linc go down for all of it? Why should I live my life knowing he’ll be rotting in some jail cell while the rest of us go scot-free? We’re just as guilty as he is. We’ve all got blood on our hands. I won’t be able to live with myself, and worse, Stone will see right through my lies eventually. I’d change into something bitter and cruel if I let my best friend take the fall for something I, too, had a hand in doing. That’s not the man I want her to be in love with. It’s not the man I want to become.
And as I stare into Lincoln’s eyes, I know exactly who my role model has always been.
“I’ll do whatever they want, Linc. You won’t go down for this.”
I hear Easton let out long exhale, relief filling the air around us. It’s obvious he was just as pent-up as Colt, even if hid it better.
“I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to,” Lincoln counters sincerely, making sure I’m good with my decision.
“I won’t. Colt is right. We are family, and family protects one another.”
“What about Stone?”
“I’ll protect her the best way I can. Even if it’s dealing with the aftermath of whatever The Society has in store for her.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive,” I deadpan, firm in my decision.
“Okay, then. Where’s this box The Society sent you?” East questions as he goes to the bathroom to flush his cigarette butt.
“I’ll grab it. It’s in my closet,” I explain, getting up from the bed to go fetch the damn thing.
I need to find a way of giving this to Stone tonight without looking conspicuous or fucking desperate. I already gave her a pair of diamond earrings, so perhaps giving her a new phone won’t seem too far-fetched. I’m just not sure how Stone will react to another surprise gift.
“I’ve been thinking, maybe we’ve been looking for dirt on The Society in the wrong places.” I hear Easton say from behind me.
“What do you mean?” Linc asks.
“Well, no offense to you or Colt, but maybe you two aren’t looking in the right places. I can get down in the dirt if I need to. We’ve all seen how The Society likes to play dirty, so they must resort to some unsavory characters from time to time, if you get my drift.”
“I never thought of it that way,” Linc mumbles in deep thought.
“Of course you wouldn’t know the first thing about being sleazy and underhanded. That’s because you’re the good guy in our quartet,” East tries to joke, hoping to lighten the tense atmosphere.
“Oh, I think these past months have taught me a few things,” Linc laments.
I don’t hear any more of their conversation because I’m too busy looking for a box that seems to have gone missing. My head begins to get dizzy, my stomach churning on end with each passing second that I can’t locate it. I’m deep in my freak-out, throwing stuff over my shoulder while trying to find the damn thing, when Easton and Lincoln join me in my meltdown.
“It’s not here! It’s not fucking here!” I shout, losing my goddamn mind.
“Are you sure this is where you stashed it?” Easton interrogates harshly as he joins in throwing things left and right, looking for The Society’s time bomb.
“Yes, I’m sure! It’s gone. It’s fucking gone!”
“Easy, Finn. Just breathe, brother,” Lincoln pulls me back out of the closet and onto my feet.
He grabs my trembling shoulders, trying to calm me down, but his composed voice and steady touch aren’t enough.
“They must have taken it when they left me that fucking message in the bathroom. Fuck! What does this mean, Linc? What’s does this fucking mean?!” I spit out, clinging to Lincoln’s shirt to prevent me from falling to the floor.
“It means we’re shit out of luck, Finn. The ball is in their court now. We just have to sit back and wait for their next move,” Easton explains beside us, looking way too cool, considering we are all royally fucked.
“East is right,” Lincoln agrees stoically. “If they took the box, it means they know you had no intention of giving it to Stone. We just have to wait and see how they’ll react. There’s nothing we can do now, Finn. No sense in you getting all worked up. Whatever they end up doing, we’ll figure a way out of it. Together.”
I stare at my two best friends with my mouth agape, as they both pretend to act prepared—just so they can ease my anxious, frantic state—for the shitstorm that is about to come. Even as they try their best to comfort me without losing their own shit, it still does nothing to lighten my weary heart. I feel the walls continue to close in on me, making me realize that my time has run out.
‘We warned you.’
I recollect the words written in black lettering on my bathroom mirror, left there for all to see. And it’s true. They did warn me. I simply didn’t follow through as they expected, which means they are now coming for us.
But most terrifyingly, it also means they are going after Stone themselves, which is the real reason why I feel my world is suddenly coming undone.
What are those fuckers going to do with you?
And how can I fucking stop it?
Chapter 24
Stone
“You’ve been more in your head than usual, quarterback. Want to talk about it?” I ask, running my fingers through his silky blond hair as he clings to my hips.