“If we were, you’d be in jail already,” Rogue growled.
“I don’t respond well to threats, kid.”
“You don’t run shit, O’Banion, and don’t try to pretend otherwise,” Luis spat, making the southern mobster glare at him.
By now, the entire student body had disappeared into their expensive cars and were already leaving the parking lot. Only a few cars belonging to faculty remained. One of O’Banion’s lackeys grabbed a metal baton from his pocket and expanded it. He clutched it in his palm before swinging at Rogue’s driver side window, making the glass shatter on impact.
“Johnny Jack is done waitin’,” O’Banion said, as the lackey moved to the rear passenger side and smashed that window, too. Rogue kept an expressionless look on his face, but his arm tensed beneath my hands. The man let out a steroid-sounding huff as glass fell on top of his black boots.
“I don’t like being threatened,” Rogue answered evenly.
“This?” the guy chuckled, looking over his shoulder. “This ain’t a threat, kid. This is us tellin’ you, Johnny Jack is done playin’ nice. Y’all need to hand over the photos. Tonight. Or your girl here, your mamas, and every fuckin’ bitch in this prep school of yours here will be gone come Monday mornin.’ And that’s a fuckin’ promise, kid.”
One of the other men made a move like he was going to punch Godfrey, laughing when he flinched. I saw the change in him immediately, knowing that he was regressing to the state his father put him in when he became abusive. His shoulders slumped, his eyes went to the ground, and he looked immediately defeated. Rogue stepped in front of him, now shielding both me and Godfrey. The gesture made my heart squeeze.
O’Banion and his buddies chuckled. “Just a bunch of rich kids playin’ at the big boys game,” he said, as the four of them started to walk backwards to their car. “Tonight, Rich Kids. Or I’ll make sure I get this one first,” he threatened, pointing to me. “I’ll play with her nice and long before I sell her to the highest bidder. I’m sure the boss could fetch a real pretty price for her.”
Rogue growled and went to move forward, but I yanked on his arm to hold him back. The four men got into their SUV and pealed out of the parking lot, leaving us alone.
A panicky breath shook out of my chest, realizing that the danger was closing in on us.
Bonham shook out his hands, which had been curled into fists. “What do you want to do?” he asked, looking at Rogue.
It struck me right then how terrible it must be sometimes to carry all the weight. Rogue was their leader, for all intents and purposes, and that meant that he had to make the tough decisions and shoulder the responsibility. I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes. Not now, when it was a matter of life and death.
Rogue ran his hands through his dark hair, pulling at the strands in frustration. “We set up the meeting. Tonight. Johnny Jack’s men aren’t going to wait, and I won’t risk her,” he said, tilting his head in my direction. “Call Rocco, tell him if he wants the evidence, he’ll need to show up and be prepared to fight.”
Godfrey already had his phone out. “Good. Let’s get to Stephanie’s and finally fucking be done with this shit.”
We piled into two cars, Luis and Bonham heading to Rogue’s with the plans to contact Rocco’s men with the meet point, while Rogue, Godfrey, and I headed to Stephanie’s.
Everything was coming to a head. I just hoped I still had one by the time this was over.
Chapter Thirty-Five
The ride to Stephanie’s was quiet, mostly because Rogue was too pissed to talk. Godfrey was busy on his phone, making arrangements about where to meet with Johnny Jack’s contact so we could bring him the evidence.
We were playing a dangerous game by trying to set up Johnny Jack with an ambush from Rocco’s people. For all we knew, Rocco could fuck us over and not even show up. Then there was nothing stopping Johnny Jack from killing us all. Once we handed over their evidence, they didn’t need us anymore, and we’d be nothing but loose ends that they’d want to get rid of.
“Rocco better show up,” I muttered from the passenger seat.
Rogue’s only response was to tighten his grip on the steering wheel.
I gently placed my hand on his thigh and ran my thumb up and down, trying to offer a small dose of comfort. It didn’t relax him, but he did look over at me. “If anything happens to you—”
“Don’t,” I said, shaking my head. “Don’t go borrowing trouble. All we can do is play this as smart as we can and show up.”
He nodded and turned his attention back to the road as he brought us into Stephanie’s neighborhood. “Yeah. But I’ll kill every last one of them if you so much as get a scratch on you.”
I smiled sadly and laid my head on his shoulder. When he pulled up to Stephanie’s house, he shared a look with Godfrey. I turned around, catching the resigned flash on Godfrey’s face. “Fucking Stephanie,” he muttered under his breath before yanking open the door. It was incredibly sad to me that he’d basically been forced to sleep with her when he didn’t want to, all so that they could keep up this facade. For someone like Godfrey, who already had a fucked up family life, this wasn’t a good situation.
“Don’t let her rile you up,” Rogue warned me before pushing his own door open.
I shot him a mischievous grin. “Don’t worry. I plan on doing the riling this time.”
Once at her front door, Rogue went to reach for the doorbell, but I clasped his wrist to stop him. “Allow me,” I said with a grin while balling my hand into a fist and pounding on the door.
Loud dogs started barking in high pitched yelps while Stephanie’s shrill voice called out. “Honey! Stop barkin’ this instant. You know it’s just Godfrey.”
“I hate those damn yuppy dogs. They always chew up my shit,” Godfrey muttered under his breath while she wrestled with her four legged entourage before opening the door. The door was pulled back, revealing her ridiculous outfit—a mesh top and high waisted shorts that practically showed off her vagina flaps—while a wave of her sweet perfume slapped me in the face, making my nose wrinkle in disgust.
“God, did you bathe in cotton candy before we got here?” I asked while choking back a sneeze.
Her mouth dropped open in surprise as I pushed past her and looked around her house. Judge Palmisano made damn good money. I wondered if he was as crooked as the guys implied. Her ranch style home had wood beams lining the ceiling and a sitting room decorated with deer heads and antlers mounted on every available space. Gross.
The moment my feet hit the tile, a tiny dog started biting at my ankles, growling in a sound that mimicked Stephanie’s sneer. I bent over to pet the dog but snapped my hand back when he bared his teeth. “Well. You’re about as friendly as Stephanie,” I cooed in a sweet tone before turning to greet her once more.
“What are you doing here?” she asked while eying me with scrutiny. Godfrey slung his arm over her shoulders and grinned at me, like he couldn’t wait to hear my answer. But I wasn’t worried. I knew exactly how I wanted to run this. I was thankful that he’d taught me how to play a person. It was starting to come in handy.