“Is everything okay?” Gunner asks, glancing over at me for the third time in the last ten minutes. His brows are drawn together, and I know he isn’t going to take no for an answer this time.
I’ve been here about two hours, but I’ve hardly said a word. I’m too lost in my own head, thinking about what the hell I’m going to say to James when I get him alone.
“Yeah, sorry,” I mumble. “Family shit.”
Gunner nods, as if he understands. I have no idea how close he is with Ellen, but I can only assume he knows at least the basics of our story.
“You enjoying life in the Bay?”
“After living in the Heights? Oh yeah, it’s like a dream come fucking true,” I mutter, making him laugh. “This No Man’s Land is much more up my street.”
“It doesn’t get better than this. It’s the perfect hiding place.” Something passes through his eyes, but I’ve got enough of my own drama right now to dive into anyone else’s.
The last thing I want to do is sit down with that asshole, but I made a promise to Remi, and I fully intend to keep all my promises to her.
Gunner leaves me be while he continues to work on an engine. I’m glad he’s not a talker. It’s enough having Remi wanting to know my deepest secrets and thoughts.
The shift comes to an end and I help Gunner tidy and lock up before climbing on to my bike to head home.
“Ace,” Gunner says just before I turn the engine. “Family can be hard. But at the end of the day, they’ll be the ones who are there in your darkest hour. Trust that they’re doing the right thing, whatever it may be.”
My brows pull together. “Uh… sure.”
With his words still ringing in my ears, I head home.
Sadly, when I pull the pool house door open tonight, I don’t find anyone waiting for me. I already know that Remi is spending the night trying to put things right with her mom. Cole’s been at practice so he could be anywhere, and Conner… well, no one knows what the hell he does with his spare time.
I shower, washing the grease and dirt from my hands before heading up to the kitchen to find some food, and, if I’m really unlucky, James.
“Hey, sweetie. How’re things with Gunner?” Ellen asks from her position at the stove.
“It’s great,” I say, a genuine smile spreading across my face. I never even considered getting a ‘real’ job when I was in the Heights. I turned to Donny because I didn’t have any other options. It’s only now I wonder how much he had to do with that. I was young, too fucking young to be working for a guy like him, but he made it so easy. I needed to support my family so I didn’t question it back then. But now I have to wonder if he had a hidden agenda there. Just like he does now that I’m no longer required. He’s not one to let his guys walk this easily.
“He only has good things to say about you too.”
“Have you been checking up on me?”
Her cheeks heat a little before she turns her focus back to whatever she’s stirring. I have no idea what she’s cooking, but it smells incredible. My mouth is watering, just sitting here.
“No, no. I check in with my brother every few days and your name just so happened to be mentioned.”
“Right.” I chuckle.
“I’ve made bolognese. You want some before Conner appears and clears the lot?”
“Yes, please.”
She plates me up a generous portion before dropping it in front of me and pulling out a chair.
“This is incredible. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Did you still want to do something nice for Remi?”
“Of course,” I mutter around a mouthful of dinner.
“Okay, so I spoke to my old boss. He’s got a beach house a couple of towns over. He owes me a favor, but if you want it, it’s yours this weekend.”
“This weekend?” I ask, my eyes wide in shock. “But I have to work.”
“Leave Gunner to me.” She winks.
“Is James here?” I ask once I clear my plate.
Ellen shoots me a puzzled look, and I chuckle. “Don’t worry, I only want to talk to him.”
“I believe he’s in his office, but he’s going out soon so you might want to be quick.”
The temptation to go back to the pool house and let him leave is strong, but I think of Remi’s begging yet compassionate eyes as she pushed me to find out the truth.
“Is everything okay, Ace?” Ellen asks, clearly seeing my turmoil.
“Yeah. I just need to ask him about a few things.”
Movement above our heads has me leaving the room before my brothers appear. I head up the main staircase and come to a stop at James’ office door. Reaching out, I wrap my fingers around the handle, but at the last minute I change my mind. Rapping my knuckles on the wooden door, I wait for two seconds.
“Come in,” he booms.
Blowing out a breath, I push the door open. I’ve never been in his office. I do as much as I can to stay out of his way, so when I come to a stop in the middle of the room, the last thing I expect to see on a sideboard is an array of photographs of Conner, Cole and me sitting in frames. I remember when most of them were taken. But I know for a fact that he wasn’t there.
“Where’d you…”
“What’s up, Ace?” He doesn’t look up. “I’m just heading out.”
“Oh… um… I was wondering if we could… talk.”
His chin drops as he registers what I’ve just said. “Uh… yeah, sure. Anything serious? Problem at school?”
“No, no. Everything is fine. I just need to—” His cell ringing cuts off my words.
“Shit, I’m sorry. I need to go,” he says, scanning the message. “Tomorrow after school, though? I’ll clear my schedule.”
Something glitters in his eyes. Is he… happy about this?
I watch as he collects up his laptop and cell before walking to the door. “Are you sure you’re okay?” he asks, pausing.
“Where did you get these?”
He glances at the photographs I’m staring at. “I might not have been there, Ace, but I was never far away.” With those words, he leaves me alone in his office.
I walk over and take a closer look. There must be images from every year of our lives here. Some are the three of us with Mom, others are us alone. The most recent is from the night of my eighteenth birthday. How did he get this?
I’m sitting on one of the couches in the field behind the trailer with a bottle of beer in one hand and a blunt in the other; it’s not exactly the kind of image most people proudly display of their nephew.
I’m more confused than ever as I leave his office.
I’m so lost that I don’t even notice when I run into Conner on his way to his room. “Whoa, bro.” He whistles. “Your eyes not working or something?”
“Huh, yeah. I’m good.”
“Glad to hear it. There’s a surprise in the pool house for you.”
“Oh?”
“You might not want to wait.” He disappears into his room with a knowing smirk on his face.
Shaking my head, I make my way back to the kitchen. Ellen catches my arm and hands me a note with an address scribbled on it. “You’re going to owe me for that,” she says.
“Thank you.” I offer her an appreciative nod before moving to the door and slipping outside.
When I reach the pool house, I open the door and poke my head inside. Surely there can only be one thing, or person, waiting for me? But to my disappointment, the living area is empty. Assuming Conner was just messing with me, I grab myself a soda from the refrigerator and go to fall down onto the couch. Only, a noise from the bedroom catches my attention.
Excitement explodes in my veins as I put the soda down and go in search of my visitor. “Well, well, well, there seems to be a girl in my bed.”
“I thought this kind of thing was an everyday occurrence for a bad boy like you.” Her brow rises.
I push down thoughts of my past, although I can say with total honesty that I’ve never found someone quite as appealing as Remi in my bed waiting for me before.
“I thought you were spending the night with your mom?”
She shrugs. “So did I until she announced she was going for dinner with James, so I thought I’d sneak over and surprise you.”
“Well,” I say, pushing from the doorframe and stalking toward the bed. “I’m certainly surprised.” I run my eyes up the length of her bare legs until I find the hem of her short skirt. It’s lifted so high that I get a hint of the lace that’s covering her.
“Did you have a good night at work?”
“I don’t remember.”
She squeals as I dive on the bed, pulling her beneath me and fastening my lips over hers. As I sweep my tongue into her mouth, I realize I am grateful to James for something. If he weren’t seeing Sarah, then I wouldn’t get this time with Remi.
Knowing we have plans this weekend makes it a little easier to refuse Remi’s many offers of relieving me. Although I don’t tell her about Ellen’s gift.
I fully intend on it being a surprise, which means I need to sweet talk Sarah into allowing me to whisk her daughter off for a not-so-innocent weekend in a hired beach house. I might refrain from mentioning my plans, though.
“I’m meeting James after school,” I admit to Remi as we walk toward her locker the next morning.
“You want me there?”
“I thought you wanted to be.”
“I do. I want to support you, but I understand if you’d rather I wait in the pool house or something.”
Squeezing her hand, I turn to her. “I want you there.”
“Okay, so we’ll head straight there and, depending on what he has to say, maybe you can stay for dinner.”
“Let’s just worry about talking to him and finding out the truth. We can plan whatever comes next after that.”
I can see the worry in her eyes. She knows as well as I do that James might have things to say that I’m not going to want to hear. But she’s right. It’s time for all the truths to be exposed. The hatred I’ve had for him isn’t doing me any good. There’s a reason things happened the way they did, and I need to know the truth.
“James has photographs of the three of us in his office,” I admit, much to Remi’s surprise. “Yeah, I was shocked too.”
“See, I told you he wasn’t a bad guy.” She reaches up and brushes her lips down my jawline. My fingers clench, my need for her all-consuming once again.
My cock stirs. Fucking hell, this weekend can’t come soon enough.
For the first time since I started at Sterling Prep, I want the day to slow down. I might agree that it’s time to lay all the truths out on the table, but I can’t convince myself that I’m ready to hear them.
“You ready for this?” Remi asks, slipping her hand into mine and threading our fingers together.
“Nope.” She chuckles lightly but doesn’t stop walking toward James’ front door. It’s the first time I’ve used it in weeks, usually preferring to slip in the side door or avoid the house completely. It feels weird walking in like it’s actually my home.
We stop by the kitchen and let Ellen make us both a drink.
“James is in the living room waiting for you,” she says softly, making my stomach twist uncomfortably.
I nod, and Remi squeezes my hand in support. “You’ve got this. And if you need to leave at any time, all you need to do is say,” she whispers in my ear.
“Ace,” James greets as I step into the room. “Remi.” His eyes brighten the second he sees her, and I hate the anger that still stirs within me at seeing his adoration. “I wasn’t expecting you.”
I don’t believe for a second that’s true. He’s fully aware of the situation between us; there’s no way Sarah hasn’t filled him in on everything she knows.
“Hey,” she says lightly. “I hope you don’t mind, Ace wanted me to…”
“Remi, you’re always welcome in this house, you know that.”
She smiles at him before lowering to the couch when I do, tucking herself into my side.
“Okay then Ace, what’s this little meeting about?” His voice is all business, nothing like the man who found me in that motel room and threatened me until I told him what kind of man I thought he was.
That was the last proper conversation we had. It feels like a million years ago.
I suck in a harsh breath. “I want to know the truth. Why did you arrange for our dad to be… killed?” The word almost chokes me. “Why didn’t you help us after, yet you took us in when we had nowhere else to go?”
His eyes flit between mine and Remi’s.
“It’s okay. She’s knows everything I do.”
“Okay.” He takes a breath before reaching forward for his glass of scotch on the coffee table. He drains the lot before sitting back and resting his ankle over his knee.
“Your dad wasn’t a good man, Ace. He was abusive. The way he treated your mother. Fuck. It still haunts me.” His face pales. “But she loved him. No matter what he did, she had an excuse.”
“You were… friends?”
“We all were. The three of us were friends since school. But she chose him.”
Remi gasps beside me, like she’s just discovered something, but I don’t turn to ask. I need to hear what my uncle has to say first.
