Dirty Secrets (The Heights #1)

Chapter 8

CHAPTER EIGHT

ZAVIER

“ W hat’s up with you?” Beckett asked, her words almost being drowned out by a scream as her knife slammed into her latest victim's thigh. She was on torture duty, apparently.

Reid had decided to hang out with Riley, not wanting to witness this shit, but I was used to it.

After all, I’d been the one in the torture chair before.

Beckett was an acquired taste for a friend, but she’d been loyal to me over the past year as I had been to her. My family killed her brother, and her family had killed my brother, cousin, and father.

It was a good balance, if you asked me. Three pieces of shit in exchange for one good man.

Maddox wasn’t exactly the biggest fan of our friendship, but he’d get over it. Finding out I was his cousin might have been the reason for his tolerance, but I doubted it.

The only family in his mind were those who’d adopted him as a kid. He was more of a Donovan than he ever would be a Lopez, and I loved that for him.

I almost wished they’d found and adopted me too.

“Raven’s acting weird and I don’t know what’s going on with her,” I answered, eyeing the guy and wondering what he’d done. The Donovans didn’t just torture people for fun, they had to have done something to earn it.

They weren’t complete psychopaths.

Beckett chuckled, giving me a grin. “Trouble in paradise? Something happened since you got home last night?”

“She’s just giving us emotional whiplash. The guys aren’t helping, she hasn’t been sleeping properly, thanks to them bringing girls home so damn much. She’s pissy.”

“I’m not surprised. You guys really need to let her find a boyfriend or something.”

“I’m trying to convince the guys to back off a little, but they won’t. I’d rather we help her find someone nice than her fucking a stranger for her first time and ending up with her heart broken.”

She gave me a sad smile, turning to face me. “She’s going to get her heart broken no matter what, Lopez. It’s rare for anyone's first time to end well.”

“We can try to make sure he at least respects her. Reid won’t listen though, and it’s making her push back and do dumb shit to spite us. I might be able to convince Logan to side with me and find someone for her, but Reid won’t budge,” I sighed, and she rolled her eyes.

“Reid will learn the fucking hard way when she walks out on you all and announces she’s gotten hitched to some random asshole. Why don’t you just sleep with her?”

“I offered and almost got my ass beat,” I muttered, amusement flashing across her face.

“You seriously like her, don’t you?”

“You fucking know I do.”

“Don’t get defensive with me. I’m usually just teasing but I’m genuinely asking you now,” she insisted, turning back to the guy in the chair. “Rain check. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He groaned but didn’t say much else, and I followed her into the main room at the Psychos’ shed. I waited for her to lock the old bathroom door so the man couldn’t escape, before we headed to the bar to talk.

It was quiet here today. No cage fights were on and no one was training. Most people were out on jobs, so it was only Beckett playing torture master, one of her fathers, Slash, who was the boss and was arguing with someone on the phone in his office, and one of her other fathers, Tyler, who was pacing on the phone outside.

I couldn’t imagine doing a family tree for a school project if I was Beckett. With nine dads, one mom, and multiple siblings, it made things confusing.

“Have you talked to Raven about liking her?” Beckett asked as she leaned over the bar to grab a pack of cigarettes, offering me one before taking one for herself. “Does she know?”

“It doesn’t matter if I tell her or not. Me and the guys made a pact so none of us could touch her. You know Logan and Reid want her too.”

“How old are you? Three? Who cares about some pact you made as teenagers. Unless you want to see her with someone else, make a move, idiot,” she grunted.

I sat on the stool and leaned an elbow on the bar, taking a long drag of my cigarette before replying. “Reid might actually shoot me.”

“Then tell him if he wants her so badly that he needs to make a move. Honestly, you three are ridiculous.” She checked her phone for a second before looking up at me, changing the subject. “Heard from Lavaro?”

That was another touchy subject.

Ander had become my best friend, the one person I could talk to about anything, including Raven, and knowing he was leaving the Heights had sucked, but he’d promised to stay in touch. He was hiding things, I knew that, but part of me had hoped that we’d become close enough that he’d eventually open up to me.

Instead, he left without a goodbye and refused to answer our calls.

That was what pissed me off the most. The silence.

“No. Has Riley?” I asked, kind of wishing he’d reach out to at least someone to let us all know he was fucking alive. His sudden disappearing act made me wonder if he’d gotten himself into some kind of trouble.

He was always involved with bad people, he’d been the one to put me onto drug trade jobs for good money, and the jobs where families paid us to track down their missing friends and family who’d been snatched up by the skin trade, so someone could have gone after him.

He could’ve told me. I would’ve helped him.

Beckett snorted, giving me the side-eye. “Riley wouldn’t tell me if she had. Good riddance to the prick.” She winced when I narrowed my eyes. “Sorry, I know he’s your friend, but he almost got Riley killed, and I don’t fucking trust him. Men like him have secrets, Zav. He showed up and just slipped into everyone’s circles. I don’t believe in coincidences, and a lot of shit has gone down since he arrived.”

“You can’t point a finger at him for any of it. The issues with the Hell’s Demons was all my father, the shit with Penn was her own family and stalker, and your brother’s only demons are the ones in his head. What can you exactly try to blame Ander for?” I bit out, hating that she couldn’t see past her hate for him.

She was best friends with Zane Evans, whose father ran the Shadow Kings crew and was literally Satan in my eyes, but she couldn’t get along with Ander because of a few street races?

Some days, they’d gotten along a little which had given me hope. They’d finally started to build some kind of understanding for each other until Ander had run off and made her suspicious all over again.

“He loves dragging you into his bullshit, for starters. Both Reid and Riley almost died in his stupid fucking street races, and you need to face it, but good people don’t go into hiding,” she threw back, glaring at me. “He’s pissed someone off and I want to know who.”

“He was getting in hot water between the races and all the other shit. He wanted to go underground for a while until the heat died down. You know Blake broke his fucking heart when she left him, Donovan. He’s not a bad person. No more than you are, anyway.”

“She was smart to get the fuck out while she could. I don’t know everything he gets himself into, but he’s tied in with too many bad people, and it’s going to bite him in the ass one day. She’s raising her ten-year-old sister and needs to focus on that.”

“That doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt him. You don’t know him like I do, and as much as he acts fine, it destroyed him. He had so much hope that she’d stay every time she showed back up, but each time they’d fuck, talk, fight, then she’d walk out again.”

“He’s the one that kept letting her back into his bed.”

“Because he loves her,” I sighed, not being able to help but hate the woman a little. Blake was nice and I knew she stayed in touch with Riley since they were friends, but she needed to either choose Ander or let him go.

Maybe she finally had since I was pretty sure the last time he’d mentioned seeing her was six months ago. Who knew if they’d met up in the months that he’d been gone though.

“You’re better off without him, trust me. He was going to get you killed. I didn’t spare your life just for Lavaro to make you meet Jesus early,” she warned, her eyes flicking behind her as Slash walked out of the office, looking annoyed.

“Can you finish up with your human pi?ata? I’ve got to meet up with Hendricks in an hour and you’re coming with me.”

“Why do I need to go?”

“Because I’m the boss and I said so,” he grunted, giving me a nod. “Lopez. You want a job yet? I’m sick of having no one here who’s willing to work.”

I chuckled, shaking my head. “If I went home with one of those fancy gang jackets on, Raven would likely skin me alive. I promised her no more trouble, and you guys are trouble.”

“If you let that girl walk all over you now, she’ll only keep doing it.”

“Talking from experience?” I retorted, making Beckett laugh.

“Yeah, Dad. Mom walks all over you.”

“Your mother’s let me do a lot of things to her over the years, she earned it,” he smirked, making Beckett gag. I laughed, hoping one day I’d have the kind of love him and his friends shared with Rory.

They acted like teenagers half the time, still craving each other like the honeymoon faze never left.

They weren’t perfect, but they had the strongest love I’d ever seen, and I wanted that.

I finished my cigarette and stood, knowing I needed to leave before it caused problems. They didn’t mind me hanging around, but only if I stayed out of the way.

It might have seemed like Beckett was just stabbing someone for fun, but it was Psychos’ business of some kind. She was working.

“I’ll see myself out.”

“Didn’t Reid drop you off?” Beckett asked with a frown, and I shrugged.

“Yeah, but I can walk. Logan can probably come and get me since he’s got the Challenger.”

“Why did they switch cars today?”

“Raven had Reid’s and we dropped Logan off to her. She wanted some space,” I said dryly, knowing it was more than that.

“If you want to wait, we can drop you off on the way to the docks?”

Slash gave her a dirty look, so I shook my head. “It’s fine. I’ll see you later.”

I headed outside, waving goodbye to Tyler, who was still pacing on the phone, and I pulled my phone out to call Logan. He answered, sounding annoyed. “Hey, man. What’s up?”

“You feel like picking me up from Ashburn?”

“I guess. Where’s Reid?”

“He’s with Riley somewhere. I’ve just left the Psychos’ shed. Are you still with Rae? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine. Glaring at me from across the car as we speak,” he grumbled, cursing after a second. “Hey! Watch the road, stop hitting me!”

“She’s driving?”

“Yeah. Driving me up the wall.” She obviously hit him again because he cursed at her just as the phone cut out.

Hopefully, they were coming to get me.

It wasn’t too long before I heard the Challenger, and Logan climbed out with a scowl. “You’re up front with her.”

“Okay,” I said slowly, watching him climb into the back before I got into his vacated seat, giving Raven a smile. “What did he do to you?”

“We’re just disagreeing on things,” she muttered, relaxing slightly as I dropped my hand to her thigh and gave her a reassuring squeeze.

“You can hang out with me for the rest of the day, if you want.”

Logan reached between the seats and swatted at my arm, trying to dislodge my hand from Raven’s leg. “Why do you have to touch her all the time?”

“Because I like touching her,” I said lightly, grinning when Raven’s cheeks flushed a little.

Would Logan and Reid beat my ass if I got with her? Absolutely.

Totally worth it though, and I wondered if her body would flush all over if I put my mouth on her.

Would she like light kisses on her neck? Maybe her inner thigh?

Would she squirm and beg me to take it further?

I’d never been with a virgin, and part of me wondered what that would be like.

Seeing someone experience those things for the first time would be hot as fuck. They’d make surprised little noises and most likely need their confidence built up over time.

Maybe she’d be a squirter?

I jerked out of my thoughts as Logan smacked the back of my head.

“Hey, whatever you’re thinking about, stop it,” he growled, and I glared back at him.

“How about you?—”

“Both of you shut the fuck up or I’m pulling over and kicking you out,” Raven snapped, removing my hand from her thigh and reaching for the radio to turn the music up, stopping us from arguing.

She gave me the stink eye when she noticed me watching her after a minute, and a small smile tugged at her lips as I mouthed that I was sorry.

Me and the guys would just have to fight about her when she wasn’t around.

Raven

Logan was going to be the reason we got busted because the second I walked into my bedroom to dump my bag, he followed and locked the door behind him.

“Logan—” I started to bite out as I spun around to face him, but his mouth crashed into mine and his arms pulled me closer, his fingers angling my chin up to kiss me deeper when I let out a gasp of surprise.

He only stopped kissing me when he pressed his forehead to mine, holding my gaze. “I’m not going to make it. I want to punch him in the face already.”

“You can’t tell him,” I warned, frustration lining his features as he leaned back with a sigh.

“I know. Why is he choosing now to make a fucking move?”

“He’s not?—”

“That shit in the car? That’s him testing the waters with you and trying to piss me off,” he cut in, making me frown.

“He’s always been like that though.”

“No, he hasn’t,” he insisted, my eyes going wide when he backed me against the wall and pressed himself against me. “That asshole has wanted you since day one, it’s why the creepy fucker stalked you all the time. If you’re fucking me, then don’t fuck him. Promise you won’t.”

“Jesus, Logan. I’m not going to sleep with him,” I hissed, trying to shove him back but failing. We paused as we heard a click, the door opening a second later.

We really needed better locks on the bedrooms.

“Stop interrogating her,” Zavier said flatly, thinking he was saving me. He turned his attention to me and ignored Logan who fumed silently. “Don’t let him bully you.”

“He’s not,” I said quickly, grateful when Logan finally took a step back. “What are we doing for the rest of the day?”

“We need to do a supply run soon, so we can do that if you want,” Zavier offered, and Logan huffed.

“I wanted to just hang out at home.”

“No one’s forcing you to come,” Zavier answered dryly. “Rae is welcome to come with me if she wishes though.”

I was torn. Snuggling with Logan was always nice, but the guys worked their asses off to provide for the house. All I could do was help steal shit, so if Zavier was going on a thieving run, I needed to go too.

As if knowing my thoughts, Logan sighed. “I guess we’ll do that first then. I need cigarettes anyway.”

A lot of people in the Heights traded stolen goods to survive. We’d steal a bunch of shit at the store for home, and a few extra things like meat to trade for things like cigarettes. It worked well.

I never realized how much money Reid and Logan had brought home from the illegal street races until our bills were back in the red and our freezer remained empty, only being filled when the Donovans put stuff in there for us.

I should’ve questioned it more when we were ahead of things back then.

I was grateful for them bringing money home, but we’d learned the hard way that dodgy jobs could lead to things that weren’t worth it.

Between Josh’s murder over drugs and Reid’s near-death experience due to the car crash, I refused to let them do risky shit for money now.

I’d rather starve beside them than eat while visiting their graves.

Stealing some food wasn’t that risky though.

We quickly got ready and headed towards the grocery store, parking out the back for the easiest escape. We all had things we needed to look for, we’d done this a thousand times before, so we wandered off inside in different directions.

If anyone got caught, the others had to run. We couldn’t all get hauled in for stealing.

I headed straight to the shampoo and conditioner, managing to stuff them into my pants easily before making my way to one of the dairy refrigerators to grab some cheese. We needed butter too, so I pocketed a block of that on my way out.

The guys were on meat duty, and nerves hit me when the speaker asked for security. I tried to look busy browsing through the drinks by the registers to see where they were going, but I was slammed into from behind and my hands yanked behind my back, my mouth almost connecting with the damn shelf.

“What the fuck?” I bit out, trying to struggle but failing to break free, finding a cop behind me. The guy barely looked older than me, a snarl on his face as he restrained me. “Don’t resist!”

“I didn’t do anything!”

I stumbled as he pulled me away from the shelf to force me to the ground, the shampoo bottle falling down my pants and appearing by my ankle.

“I’ve been watching you shove shit down your pants since you arrived,” he gritted out, making me curse as he tightened his hold on me more as I fought him, his fist smacking into the side of my head. “I told you to stop resisting!”

Cops didn't tend to have a good reputation here, so the violence wasn’t exactly a surprise. I was more surprised that there was actually a cop here in the first place. Ashburn Valley’s department was either doing their rounds, or someone had called them when we’d walked in.

I kept fighting him, his hits not doing much to deter me. I’d grown up fighting, I was pretty resilient.

The hit to my mouth hurt a little though, the taste of blood coating my tongue.

“Hey!” someone snapped, the cop being shoved away from me as Zavier appeared, and I groaned as he dove at the cop. We were both getting arrested now.

I took the time to peer over my shoulder to try and spot Logan, but if he was smart, he was long gone. We needed the meat, so hopefully he’d grabbed what we needed and run.

A bit of cheese and shampoo wasn’t going to be missed.

Security joined the cop, and before long, both Zavier and I were handcuffed and being hauled into the cruiser.

“Good one,” I grumbled, earning a dirty look in return.

“You thought I was going to run off while that prick was hitting you?”

“Yes. We needed that food, Zav.”

“We got it all. Logan and I got out and unloaded it into the car. I came back inside to see where you were,” he answered, the cop sliding into the driver's seat and slamming the door.

“You two little shits are so fucked. Beating up a cop? Not smart, kid.”

“Kid? I’m older than you, asshole,” Zavier spat, making me frown. It seemed he knew the guy.

“Watch your fucking mouth!” the cop demanded, slamming the car into reverse and almost making us fall off the damn seat, my eyes catching on Logan’s when I noticed him sitting in the car.

His phone was pressed to his ear and he was talking a mile a minute, so hopefully he was begging Beckett for bail money or something. We couldn’t afford to pay it back right now, but I didn’t particularly want to stay locked up.

Zavier shuffled close, letting me lean into him as we headed towards Ashburn Valley, and I closed my eyes with a sigh.

We’d have to do our thieving elsewhere for a while now, which was difficult since so many other places had really good security.

The cop was way too cocky, humming to himself the entire drive, and he was rough as he dragged both of us into the station and shoved us into a room to wait to be processed, pretending the elbow Zavier copped to the face was an accident.

“Now what?” I asked once we were alone, his eyes flicking to the camera in the corner.

“We wait.”