Never His Girl: Chapter 39

BLUE

Apparently, I looked so stressed out after our talk, Ricky thought I needed a couple hours to myself. To relax, I guess.

It’s the reason Scar is currently chilling at the Ruiz’s place for a bit, giving me a chance to clear my head.

I feel super guilty she’s out again, especially seeing as how Ricky had gotten Scar from school when he picked up Shane, but I know he doesn’t mind even a little. This sense of being a burden is only a reflection on me. Not Ricky. Not his family.

I’ve been sitting in my driveway a few minutes now, staring at my front door with dread weighing down my heart. Things just feel so heavy. Even heavier than they were months ago when Mom first left. My only solace is that Scar’s probably having fun, not even thinking about any of it.

I groan and step out of the car, into the fresh layer of snow that’s fallen. Not more than a couple seconds later, there’s movement in my peripheral. I turn and spot a dark, shiny SUV creeping along at first, but then it stops near the foot of the driveway.

The conversation with Ricky has me on high-alert, feeling more paranoid than usual, but I try to dismiss the feeling that rests in the pit of my gut. It’s the one that’s telling me something’s not right, telling me to run despite there being no clear indication of danger.

Relax, Blue. Everyone’s not out to get you.

Stopping at the trunk, I grab my duffle bag from practice and my backpack, but before I can even slam it closed…

“A word, Ms. Riley?”

I turn and find that the driver of the SUV has rolled the passenger-side window down to speak to me. He’s young-ish, sporting a gold-toned goatee and bald head, but his eyes are hidden behind dark sunglasses and all sorts of alarms are going off inside my head.

My heart races and I don’t even consider answering when he calls out to me a second time. Instead, I slip both my bags back inside the trunk and slam it closed, deciding I’d prefer to be emptyhanded if I have to make a run for it. Speed-walking toward the house, I fumble with my keys. I have no clue who this guy is, or why he knows my name, but I do know I have to get inside and call 9-1-1.

“If you want what’s best for Scarlett, you’ll listen to what he has to say,” the voice calls out again.

I’ll want to hear what he has to say.

As if, the man speaking to me is speaking for someone else.

I turn only because this stranger mentioned my sister by name.

“I’m not coming over there,” I shout back, glancing around to see who might be witnessing this. Of course, the one time I need someone nearby, there’s no one.

“He doesn’t want any trouble, and he doesn’t want to hurt you,” the man says. “All he’s asking for is a conversation. Please, get inside the truck.”

Who the hell is this and what’s this about?

I’m a smart girl, wise enough to know a setup when I see one, and this has trap written all over it.

“I’m calling the police.”

That wasn’t a bluff. The next second, I have my phone in hand, but peer up just as the rear window lowers and I’m suddenly met by a pair of green eyes so striking I know who he is even before he tells me.

“I believe you know my son, West,” the man announces. “There’s something I’d like to discuss with you in private if you’ll only give me a moment to explain.”

He’s got that Golden charm, as well as the devilish good looks. But I’m reminded of all West has told me about him—how he’s not to be trusted, how not even his own sons want anything to do with him.

But Scarlett’s name was mentioned and… why was Scarlett’s name mentioned?

“I promise to make this quick,” he adds, beckoning me to come closer.

I’m shaken and no longer focused on the cold or even the things Ricky and I discussed a short time ago. All I can think about is what a horrible idea this is, and how I would kick Scarlett’s ass if she even considered doing what I’m about to do, but I feel cornered.

A wicked smile I’ve seen on West flashes toward me when I pull the door handle and climb into the vehicle beside him. Wearing a dark, wool coat, matching scarf, and black leather gloves, I’m reminded of all the mafia movies Hunter’s made me watch over the years. This is the part where I get whacked and no one hears from me again.

Good going, Blue.

The window raises and with how darkly it’s tinted, no way someone will see anything that goes on inside. I clutch both hands in my lap, feeling sick to my stomach as I sit here, face-to-face with a man I believe to be nothing less than a monster.

Yes, it’s our first time meeting, but I know who and what he is.

“You’re taller than I expected,” he says, eyeing me like a prized animal whose up for sale.

This man has seen me naked, keeps a picture of me in some weird, secret phone, and now he’s lured me into his car. This can only go badly.

“What do you want?” My voice is shaky when I ask, and I wish I’d been able to sound stronger, more secure. But truth is, I’m terrified.

He smiles dimly, looking so much like the triplets it’s as though I’ve stepped into a time machine and traveled to the future. Only, he’s soulless, like I used to believe West to be, but this is no mistake.

“My driver was telling you the truth. I don’t want to hurt you,” he says. “But it’s time you and I have a little chat about my son.”

I’m breathing faster than I should be. “What about him?”

He smiles again and it only makes me more uncomfortable.

“That boy is going places, has a bright future ahead of him,” he adds. “So, I’m sure you’ll understand why I need you to keep your distance. You Riley’s are a sinking ship, and I can’t have him associated with your kind of trash.”

His gaze snaps toward me then and it shakes me to my core. I have so many questions, but fear has my throat gripped so tightly I can hardly get air into my lungs.

A breath hitches in my throat when he reaches beside him, pulling up a briefcase from the floor. He opens it unhurriedly, and then removes a folder from inside it. I stare as he pulls out a stack of papers, a mixture of pictures and documents.

I study them from afar at first, before they’re placed in my lap, one-by-one.

A copy of my father’s admittance paperwork for the facility Uncle Dusty checked him into. A copy of my probation write-up at Cypress Prep, breaking down the details surrounding the leaked sex tape. And the nail in the coffin—an image of a blonde whose face I will never forget, but haven’t seen in so many months now.

She’s thinner than the last time I laid eyes on her, and with what little she’s wearing, I can easily see the weight loss is all over—her arms, legs, and face. And I’m not so naïve that I think the car she’s being photographed getting into doesn’t belong to some guy who’s just paid her for some sort of sexual favor. Either in cash, or a quick fix to get her through the day. My mother looks desperate, broken.

She looks like my worst nightmare, everything I never want to become.

“What do you want?” I repeat, struggling to keep my emotions in check after seeing her like this.

“I need your word that you’ll end it,” he reasons. “No more PDA. No more fucking around. It all ends. Right here. Right now.”

My head is spinning.

“This can’t just be about you thinking I’m a danger to West’s future. You know too much about me, about my family. It has to be more than that.”

I don’t bring up the pic West shared with me, for fear of turning his father’s wrath toward him. I also keep to myself what Ricky shared tonight. There’s an entire web of secrets we’ve all only begun to see the beginning of, but something tells me Mr. Golden is right at the center of it.

“You haven’t answered my question,” I remind him.

Before he says another word, that smile flashes toward me again. The one that makes my skin crawl.

“All I want from you is what I’ve already shared. Just your word that you’ll stay away from my son. Simple,” he adds.

“And if I don’t? What’ll happen?”

My defiance clearly rubs him the wrong way. I can tell as much when the grin slides off his face and the interior of this truck seems a little bit colder.

“If you don’t, I have low friends in high places,” he grimaces. “One phone call and I’ll have Child Protective Services at your door so fast, your ass won’t even know what hit it.”

My heart’s racing a mile a minute, making me dizzy.

“I’d hate to see where Scarlett ends up if that happens. I might have a friend or two willing to take her in. Hell, both of you,” he adds with a laugh. “I’ve got some very efficient means of making pretty little girls like you and your sister disappear without a trace. And thanks to a certain risqué photo I have in my possession, I’ve already gotten several impressive bids for you, sweetheart.”

His finger taps me just beneath my chin and I’m shaking now, thoroughly convinced his threat is far from empty. This man’s dark side is black as coal.

“There’s a silver lining,” he chimes in with a wicked grin. “Heed this warning and there won’t be any need for you and me to have another conversation. Understood?”

Gritting my teeth, I’m flooded with emotion, but at the top of that list, grappling with fear for the number one spot, is rage.

“Understood,” I force out with a furious growl, feeling so violated by this man.

He knows all there is to know about my family, about me, and he’s using it all against me as a tool for manipulation.

My trembling hand is on the door handle, but he reaches for my arm, holding it tight enough to stop me from making a clean exit.

“One last thing. In case you haven’t noticed, West has a hard head. Boy doesn’t know how to cut ties, even if something’s bad for him, weighing him down,” he explains.

“I can’t make him let go,” I snap, feeling the heat of fresh tears streaming down my face.

“Ohhh, but you can,” he croons, that grin of his widening with those words. “If you’re going to stay on my good side, and if you want to keep your sister safe, you’d better do a damn good job of convincing him to move the fuck on without you.”

My brow tenses when I finally dare to face him head on. “How? How the hell am I supposed to do that?”

The nonchalant shrug he gives contrasts the acutely wicked response that follows.

“Get creative! You have his heart, don’t you? So, break it. Crush it if you have to,” he offers casually. “It’s on you to make him believe you don’t want him. Either that, or might I suggest that you make peace with the idea of watching your sister being ripped from your arms. Then, after you’ve lost everything, I’ll see to it that you disappear so deep within my abyss it’ll be like you never… even… existed.”

I can hardly breathe, and he feeds on my fear. It’s exactly what he wanted, exactly what he knew it would take for me to comply.

“My son is inherently strong-willed,” he points out, “so I’m giving you a couple months. If you fail, or if I so much as hear a whisper about the two of you still fucking around, you know what’s coming for you.”

His stare stays trained on me a moment longer, then he releases me. I don’t waste any time, sprinting toward the house as fast as I can, slamming and locking the door behind me. As my body slumps against the wall, my thoughts are in an uncontrolled freefall.

My first encounter with Vin Golden was a disastrous one, resulting in me being torn between two impossible options. He’s asked me to break the son he’s already broken so many times, the one I want so badly to heal. But with what I stand to lose if I don’t, the choice is terrifyingly clear.

To protect my sister, I’ll be forced to do something I swore I never would. If I can’t come up with another option in two short months, not only will I have to break West’s heart, I’ll have to grind it to dust.

So fine he’s guaranteed to hate me forever.

In hindsight, it seems we were doomed from the start, destined to cause one another unspeakable pain, even when we don’t mean to.

All because, maybe… I was never meant to be his girl.