"Steele," Kody barked, his voice brokering no arguments. "Go away."
I half-expected him to refuse, but after a tense moment, he stalked off in the direction Archer had gone, cursing under his breath.
I waited as Kody turned his attention back to me, curious to see what was so important he needed to send the other two stooges away before telling me.
He sucked in a deep breath, studying my face as he released it. Sweat still glistened on his muscles, and there was a towel tossed over his shoulders like he'd been on his way to the shower. Not that I was looking.
"Madison Kate, how..." He trailed off, shaking his head like he was trying to rearrange his thoughts. "That shit with Steele last night—"
"Was nothing," I interrupted before he could, I don't even know, warn me off his friend or something? "I just wanted to piss Archer off for that bullshit comment about training me. That's all."
Kody arched a brow, his gaze dropping to my neck and pausing there. Shit. I’d thought I'd done a good enough job of hiding the marks Steele had left. Apparently not.
"Uh-huh. Sure. How the hell do you know Dallas Moore? And why is he in your bedroom right now? Is this today's plan to piss us all off enough that we move out? Because you'll need to try a hell of a lot harder to make that happen."
A flicker of satisfaction warmed my belly. "Dallas and I are old friends," I told him with total honesty. "He's here to help me on a project. Not everything has to do with you three assholes, you know?" Okay, that part wasn't so true. Whatever.
Kody's brow dropped, and he ran a hand over his damp blond hair. Fuck, even with his hair all messed up, he was still heart-stopping level gorgeous. Those green eyes that had haunted my dreams for eleven months were almost too much in real life. Too freaking observant.
"Madison Kate, you don't get it. Dallas is—"
"A gangster? Yeah, I'm aware. I'm also aware that the tattoo you, Archer, and Steele all share isn't just ‘cause you're BFFs. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones, Kodiak Jones." I mean, not that I was admitting to having spent way too long checking out their ink when they didn't think I was looking. But if I had, I might have noticed all three of them had matching grim reaper tattoos woven into their other ink. I'd lived in Shadow Grove all my life and wasn't ignorant enough not to recognize that as the symbol of Zane's gang—the Shadow Grove Reapers.
Kody's nostrils flared as his green gaze hardened. "Then you damn well know you just invited a fox into the hen house. What the fuck were you thinking?" He stepped closer, invading my personal space as he towered over me, and his hand grabbed my upper arm like he wanted to shake some sense into me and barely suppressed the urge.
I refused to step back, though. I refused to give ground and let Kody think he intimidated me because he didn't. At least... not in the traditional sense.
"I was thinking that I just got back from a year in exile, and I'd love to catch up with an old friend," I half lied, tilting my head back to meet his furious gaze. "And I was thinking that I don't give two shits whether you three have a problem with it. Better yet, if it bothers you that much... leave."
I wasn't actually as reckless as I was making out. The reaper tattoos on their skin had all been modified in some way—something that Zane would never allow if they were actually still part of the Shadow Grove Reapers. Not that I'd ever heard of anyone leaving a Shadow Grove gang before, but there were exceptions for everything and I was hardly the expert authority.
Kody's jaw clenched so hard I could almost hear his teeth creaking. "The more you try to make us leave, the longer we're going to stay."
I scoffed. "Don't be childish, Kody. If that's all you had to say, I think I'll go and join my friends now."
His grip on my arm tightened, and my breath hitched as he leaned down and hovered his lips near my ear. "Don't push us, Madison Kate. You won't like it if we retaliate."
It was a threat, and it should have pissed me off. Or worried me. It definitely shouldn't have excited me, but there it was, that spark of exhilaration burning inside my chest.
I really should have taken Aunt Marie's offer of professional therapy.
Oh well.
"Do your worst, Kody," I whispered in response before brushing a feather light kiss over his cheek. "I know I will."
I stepped away and he released my arm, but I could feel the weight of his stare on me the whole way up the stairs. It wasn't until I reached my bedroom door that I let out a breath and scrubbed my hands over my face.
Everything was getting tangled and distorted. It should have been a clear-cut war on my enemies, merciless and brutal. Instead there was all this tension and hurt all mixed up into the cold hate, and it was starting to mess with my head.
Maybe it was because they hadn't really retaliated yet? Aside from Archer's stupid stunt with the juice on Monday, they'd not given me anything to work with. All I had was the lingering resentment from a year ago, and even that was starting to fade with every sexually-charged interaction.
It was time to force their hands. Once they fought back, things would be clearer again.
Surely.
Resolute, I opened my bedroom door and grinned at my two friends waiting on my bed. "I hope you brought your A game, Dallas. We've got some work to do."
19
Hours later, within which time Bree and I mostly lay on my bed talking shit and catching up on gossip while Dallas sat in front of my computer, the job was done.
"I'll leave this in your hands, Kate," he announced, spinning around in my desk chair and stretching those massive arms over his head. To anyone who didn't know Dallas, all they'd see was a thug. He was covered in ink all the way up to his jawline and down to his fingertips and held the physique of someone who spent half his life lifting weights. They wouldn't see what was under the surface: a full-fledged tech geek and digital artist. I'd never met anyone quite so talented at photo manipulation.
"It's all queued up from an untraceable email; just hit send if you decide to go ahead." He raised his brows at me like he was advising me against that move.
"Thanks, Dallas," I replied with a wide grin. "You rock, you know that?"
He smiled back at me, standing up to accept my appreciative hug. "I do know that. Now, I better go or I'll be late for work. Breezie, we good?"
Bree yawned and clambered off my bed, where she'd made herself cozy with a book about an hour ago. "Yep, let's roll. You going to be okay here if you hit send?" She gave me a concerned frown, and I waved her off.
"Of course," I replied with a casual laugh, ignoring the anxiety building in my gut. "This is just the first in what I expect to be many blows traded. It'll take more than this to send them packing."
Dallas sighed, sharing a look with Bree before turning back to me. "I'm worried about you now, Katie. If I'd known who you were mixed up with..." He shook his head. "Girl, those boys are dangerous as fuck. Even I'd be cautious messing with them, and you know I've got no sense of self-preservation."
My smile dropped. "Yeah, well, they didn't try to frame you. They thought I was an easy mark that night, some prissy rich girl to take the fall for the whole Laughing Clown event." The familiar acid of hate and resentment burned through me, and I welcomed it with open arms. "I probably could have let it go—eventually—but then I come home and find them living in my house? Acting like they have some right to control my life? Nope. No way. Nobody tells me what to do."