Deceit (Gallows Hill #1)

34. Chapter Thirty Three

Chapter Thirty Three

Ronan

W e’re finally driving down the road on our way back to the hotel. It’s been a long fucking day and I’m exhausted. Not more so than Asher and Liam, though. This isn’t their area of expertise, nor will it be. I think Christopher just gave them this job to test their mettle. Asher did better than I expected, honestly. Liam…not so much.

Turning in my seat, I glance to the back to see him staring out the window blankly, his face carrying a haunted look to it. I tap his knee with my hand, forcing him to look at me.

“You good, man?”

He nods, but doesn’t speak as he returns his gaze out the window. I give him a sympathetic grimace as I nod and turn back around. I remember my first kill. It never gets easier, and it’s something that will probably live with both of them for the rest of their lives.

Do I feel bad that I put a relatively innocent man on the chopping block to take the fall for my own meddling with the school cameras? Not really. I say that because being relatively innocent is a stretch. The man was a crook, who beat on his wife and kids and embezzled millions from a children’s charity in New York. The world is better off without him, My brother will be satiated that the boys did as they were told and took care of the camera ‘outages’. Three birds, one stone.

Since I know cutting the feed is no longer an option, I have to be smart about when and where I see or interact with Skyla. So will Liam.

Liam wasn’t able to get out of Skyla what the dinner at my brother’s was about. He said he asked her about it, and she shut down immediately, so he dropped it. I haven’t even attempted to try and pry with Asher because honestly, he’s had a bad fucking day. Maybe when we get back to the hotel I can bring it up in passing. Not knowing is driving me fucking batshit.

My phone buzzes in my pocket, shaking me out of my thoughts, and I can’t help but smile when Skyla’s name comes across my screen. She replied to the stupid group chat that Liam created for us. He asked what three things you would bring to a desert island.

Skyla: You, Ronan and a forever replenishing magic buffet. That way I could have my guys with me, and we would never run out of food. We could live fat and happy forever.

My smile grows as I read her text and type out my reply.

Me: Your guys, baby? I like that. I’d happily be stuck on an island with you for the rest of my life. Liam can come too, I guess.

As soon as I hit send my phone is snatched out of my hand. I go to grab it back as Asher holds it away from me, pressed up against his window as he begins reading the messages.

Oh fuck.

His eyes fly across the screen, scrolling up to the beginning of the chat where Liam announced that this was the official ‘Skyla’s boyfriends’ chat. Asher’s eyes are instantly wild and filled with fury.

“What the FUCK is this?!” he shouts, ripping the wheel in the middle of the street and heading in the opposite direction of the hotel. “You’re fucking shitting me, right? She got to you too?” Asher practically screams.

“Technically, he got to her first,” Liam provides, extremely unhelpfully. I liked it better when he was traumatized and silent.

Asher’s eyes fly to him in the rear view mirror as he lets out a hollow laugh.

“Un-fucking-believable. You know what, I could expect it from Liam, he will fuck anything that moves, but YOU!?” he snaps, his eyes colliding with mine, showing for just a second the betrayal deep within them.

He turns back to the road, shaking his head with a disparaging laugh.

“Out of all people, I never would have thought that you could do this to me.”

“What exactly have I done to you, Asher? You don’t care for Skyla. You can’t stand her. I’m sorry I fell in love with her, really. I am. How do you think I feel? I’m in love with a woman who I will never be able to fully have. I have this piece with her now, but she’s marrying my fucking nephew. I’ll lose her one day, we both will,” I say, as I glance back to Liam before continuing.

“How do you think we feel, knowing that we will have to stand there and watch you take the woman we love as your wife while we don’t get a goddamn say or choice in the matter?”

Asher fumes, as the car begins picking up speed.

“I don’t give a fuck! You could have had anyone but my fiancée. Do you know what will happen if my dad finds out? He’ll kill us all, your precious little fucking whore included.”

My jaw tenses immediately, and my fists clench.

“Don’t call her that, Asher. That’s your only warning.”

He scoffs and shakes his head.

“What would you call a woman dating two men at the same fucking time? Hell, I’m sure there are more. With you two out of town, I’m sure she has the next one on the roster warming her bed.”

“Fuck you,” Liam chimes in, with a shake of his head as he pulls out his phone, assumingly texting Skyla to give her a heads up that Asher knows.

“Where are you going?” I finally ask, as he weaves in and out of traffic.

“Salem. Should be there in a few hours. I need to have a little talk with my fiancée .”

We drive the rest of the way in heavy silence. Liam and I share a few worried glances here and there, as Asher seems to be a ticking fucking time bomb, but none of us say a word. When we get to campus, Asher doesn’t waste time with the parking lot. No, he drives straight up onto the sidewalk and down the walkway before parking literally in front of the Parris Dorm doors.

He’s out of the car in a flash and Liam and I are hot on his heels. We barely make it inside the elevator with him and when he gets to her door he holds out his hand, assumingly waiting for a keycard. I go to reach for my own when Liam passes one to him. I give him a sideways look to which he shakes his head.

I wish we could have warned her, given her a heads up that we would be ambushing her at two in the morning. Unfortunately, she’s no doubt asleep and any chance of a good night’s rest is officially over when Asher swipes the card against the reader, forcing the lock to give free.

When we step inside, my brain takes a moment to understand what I’m looking at. Skyla is in her bed but she’s not alone. There is someone beneath her. A man. And she’s asleep on his chest.

“Oh fuck,” Liam whispers under his breath.

In the next moment, the man beneath Skyla grabs a gun from the bedside table and aims it at us. In a surprisingly quick draw, Asher has his own gun pulled and pointed at the man, a gun that is freshly worn in by now.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Liam says, as he steps around me, waking Skyla in the process.

The room is dark, but the moonlight streaming in and the hallway light allows us to see just enough. Her eyes blink open softly, shock and fear splashing across her face as she first sees Asher, or more precisely, Asher’s gun. She whips her head down to see who I now can tell is Vincent Griggs holding a gun to us, his arm around her tightening in protection.

Skyla and Griggs?

What the fuck.

“What’s going on?” she asks shakily.

“What’s going on is I’m engaged to a stupid fucking whore!” Asher spits out, refusing to lower the gun.

I hear the flick of the safety from Vincent’s gun before he speaks.

“Say that again, Putnam. I dare you.”

Asher lets out a hollow laugh as he shakes his head.

“Fucking hell. I was just joking in the car about her having another man on the side. I didn’t think she actually would. You get around pretty well for a little virgin, Princess. Though, I’m sure after a night with Griggs, you’re the furthest thing from one now.”

She pushes out of his hold and surprisingly, he lets her. She stands to her feet, as her eyes come to me and Liam. Regret splashes across her features while this led ball that has dropped into my gut only seems to sink lower.

“It’s not what you’re thinking. He’s only trying to protect me.”

“Oh, he looked like he was guarding your pussy real well from where I’m standing,” Asher snarks.

“Baby…” I trail off with a shake of my head, as I try to give her the benefit of the doubt.

“Did he touch you, babygirl?” Liam asks in a tone that doesn’t sound all that upset. More so curious.

“No!” she says quickly. “Of course not. Well, he did kiss me, but it ended there. I swear.”

Asher lets out an annoying as fuck laugh as he shakes his head.

“Aw, did you hear that guys? She swears,” he says, imitating her voice.

She ignores him, looking straight at me as she takes several steps to me.

“Ronan, please. He’s just been watching over me for a little while, that’s it.”

“Why?” I ask, doing my best to reign in my temper and allow her a chance to explain.

She hesitates, sharing a look with Griggs that pisses me the fuck off before he stands, coming too close to her. He isn’t touching her, but he might as well be with the way he seems to wrap himself around her.

“She has a stalker. They’ve been leaving her poems and gifts since her first day here. I’ve been watching her for weeks and I haven’t been able to track them down.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Asher scoffs, as he tosses his hands out at his sides. “There is your fucking stalker!” he says, pointing to Griggs with the gun. “Can I just kill him and be done with it?”

Liam steps beside Asher, forcing the gun down and sharing a look that clearly says, ‘no more bloodshed tonight’. Surprisingly, Asher concedes and tucks his gun into his waistband as I turn to face Skyla.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

She shrugs. “I didn’t want to worry you guys. At first I thought it was Asher being a prick, nothing out of the norm,” she says with a sneer, to which he flips her off before she continues. “Then I thought maybe it was Vincent. He’s always…watching me,” she trails off, stealing a look at him. He stares down at her…I don’t want to say adoringly, because that’s not it. More like, possessively. Like she is property. Like she is his property.

“When it wasn’t him I guess I got a little scared and I wanted to pretend it wasn’t happening,” she says as she runs a hand through her hair. “I haven’t gotten anything since Vincent started watching my room. It’s probably just someone trying to mess with me, right?”

My feelings about walking in to find my girlfriend laying on top of another man are pushed to the side, my sole focus of her safety is at the forefront of my mind as it begins racing.

“So, yesterday morning, he was outside watching over you? That’s why he heard your nightmare?” Liam asks.

“You slept with her last night?” Asher scoffs in disbelief.

Liam rolls his eyes as I turn to him.

“You knew about this?” I say, gesturing to Griggs.

“No. I mean, I woke up and they were snuggling on the couch. She said she had a nightmare. I don’t know, I didn’t think much of it.”

“You didn’t think much about your girlfriend sliding out of bed with you and crawling on top of another man? Fuck, Liam. How pathetic is that dick you’re laying down,” Asher jabs.

“Do us all a favor and shut the fuck up for once,” Liam sneers, spinning on his heel until he’s nose to nose with Asher. A fire that I’ve never quite seen from Liam consumes his typical go with the flow personality. Asher doesn’t move an inch, their foreheads practically glued to each other as they proceed to have some kind of dick measuring contest. I don’t have time for this shit, though.

“What do you think, Griggs?” I ask, choosing my words carefully.

He glances down at Skyla, before looking at me.

“I think the exact same thing that you’re thinking.”

“Fuck,” Liam whispers under his breath, now several feet away from Asher.

Skyla’s eyes bounce around the room, concern heavy in her features, as she seems to be searching for an answer.

“What? What are you guys thinking?”

No one says anything before Asher laughs and takes a step towards her.

“You know what we are thinking? That one piece of ass is not worth all this fucking drama. You’re a waste of goddamn space!” he barks, closing the distance between them as he raises one of his hands.

In an instant, Griggs pushes her behind him and holds Asher back with a forearm to his chest.

“Jesus, I wasn’t gonna fucking hit her,” Asher grouches.

“Don’t really know what you Putnam men are capable of,” Vincent shoots back.

Asher’s eyes narrow at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Okay, can we just keep our shit together for five seconds?” I ask. Vincent and Asher keep glaring at each other before I continue. “Griggs?”

His eyes come to mine, a short nod following.

“It’s the only reasonable conclusion. If it was anyone else but her, maybe not, but she is too valuable to not be a target.”

I nod my agreement as Skyla tosses her hands in the air.

“Is someone going to tell me what the fuck is going on?”

Taking a step towards her, I cup the side of her face as I shake my head.

“There are other…societies out there. Other…groups. Ones that may want to get to you.”

She frowns. “Why?”

“Because you’re marrying me, Princess,” Asher gnashes.

I ignore him, focusing on my beautiful, terrified girl.

“Because you’re important to the Brethren. Your marriage to Asher is the start of the next generation. Your pure bloodline makes you the perfect bride, and the perfect target to those wishing to weaken our bonds and traditions.”

She frowns at that. “I thought the Brethren weren't a cult, this is feeling very cultish.”

“It’s not,” Asher, Liam and I say simultaneously, while Griggs says, “It is.”

We all shoot a look at him, at which he doesn’t even flinch. I turn back to her and shake my head.

“It’s complicated.”

“And you can’t uncomplicate it,” she guesses.

I nod in agreement, and she shakes her head.

“Okay, so what do I do? Who is doing this? It doesn’t seem so bad right now, they are acting like they are in love with me. Right, Vincent?”

He nods, pulling out his wallet and unfolding a piece of paper. He hands it to me and my eyes skim over it, stomach turning at the clear infatuation of the letter.

“I dusted for fingerprints. Couldn’t pull anything but hers. He also left…remnants on her panties,” he grits through clenched teeth before shaking his head. “She threw them into the pool, though and I wasn’t able to pull a viable DNA sample from it.”

Skyla looks at him like he has two heads as Asher and Liam read the letter in my hands.

“Dusted for fingerprints? DNA samples? Who are you?”

He doesn’t answer, looking to me for my response or reaction, maybe.

“What the fuck?” Asher grumbles under his breath. If he’s pissed about Liam and I…and apparently Griggs having a romantic interest in his fiancé, he will be downright furious if one of them has an interest in her.

We’ve been trained to despise them from birth, literally. For over three-hundred-years. No matter how much he hates Skyla, he hates them more. We all do.

“You’re never to be alone again, one of us will be with you at all times,” I say, as I look at her before looking at the other guys.

“I can protect her,” Vincent argues.

I turn my narrowed eyes on him.

“I’m not risking her safety for your ego. You can’t be everywhere at once. You have…responsibilities,” I say, casting a wary look to Liam and Asher who look puzzled by that piece of information. Legacies don’t typically have dedicated positions within the Brethren until after graduation. Griggs is a special case, and that’s a fact that no one outside the Elders and himself know.

His jaw tenses several times, before he gives a terse nod.

“Agreed? Everyone takes a shift from now on.”

They all nod, even Asher.

“And then what?” she asks.

“And then…we wait for them to make a move,” I say, as I scratch the back of my head.

I hope we’re wrong. I hope it is just some punk kid fucking with her. I hope it’s as simple as someone having a crush and being too shy to come forward. Though, there is a sinking feeling in my stomach that screams otherwise.