Dirty Secrets (The Heights #1)

Chapter 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

RAVEN

“ H er man needs to let her sleep more,” Beckett teased, and I jerked upright as she clapped my shoulder. I’d almost fallen asleep at her dining table. “Hey, I know dick’s good, but you do know you can turn it down sometimes, right? When did you sleep last?”

“Last night,” I yawned, glancing over to the chair beside mine to find her amused gaze on me.

“You obviously need more if you’re falling asleep at my table.”

“Told you,” Zavier chuckled, making me scowl.

“It’s not my fault he likes to wake me up through the night to fuck.”

Logan had been insatiable over the past month, seeming to get a kick out of having Zavier as an audience. Zavier hadn’t joined us too many times, but he was always happy to add a hand or mouth when I wanted to be a little more adventurous.

I really liked him watching.

“I’ll lock him out tonight if you want?” Zavier grinned. “I have no problem keeping you to myself.”

His phone rang, and he grumbled something about Reid before answering and walking off.

“Your guy sneaks in and out unnoticed? How the fuck are you managing that?” Beckett asked as she nudged me.

I blew out a breath, glancing towards the doorway that Zavier had vanished through. “He doesn’t have to sneak in when he lives there.”

“No fucking way. You’re banging Reid?” she laughed, earning a frown from me.

“No, Logan.”

“You chose Logan over Reid? Girl, what’s wrong with you? Reid has that angry alpha vibe, and he’d rail you through the floor and into the delicious pits of hell,” she joked, putting an elbow on the table and resting her cheek on her hand to watch me. “Zavier knows it’s him?”

“You see the playboy side to the guys, not the side that I know. Reid was my brother’s best friend, and he’s made it obvious that he wouldn’t touch me. Zavier didn’t seem that interested at the time either, so choosing who would be my first was easy. Logan has been my best friend forever, so I knew talking to him about it would be a little awkward, but I could trust him. It was supposed to just be for one night, but that obviously didn’t go to plan. Reid’s almost busted us a few times now.”

After a few late night conversations about what we were doing, Logan and I both decided to slap a label on it. I felt giddy every time he called me his girlfriend in front of Zavier.

“So, Lopez knows but Reid doesn’t?”

My cheeks heated and I crossed my arms tightly, trying to act like it wasn’t a big deal. “Zavier watches us a lot and sometimes joins in. That man has a sinful mouth.”

“Wait, you’re fucking Zav too? Man, I’m so glad you two stopped by today, this is entertaining as fuck.”

“I haven’t slept with Zavier. We just mess around.”

“Why do you look embarrassed by that? Own it. Is that why you haven’t gone all the way with Zav? You’re worried what people will think?”

“No,” I sighed, meeting her gaze. “I know a lot of people don’t care about things like that. It’s just that sex is intimate and a little daunting. When I sleep with Zav, I don’t want it to be in front of Logan for that first time. It’s something that we should share just between us.”

“You’re welcome to use the spare bedroom as long as you wash the sheets,” she said with a straight face, and I rolled my eyes.

“Thanks, but no thanks. We’ll figure it out when the time is right.”

“I thought sex wasn’t special to you? Logan’s okay with you running off to boink his buddy without him?”

“I changed my mind, and yes, Logan has made it clear that I can do what I want with Zav and Reid,” I mumbled, glancing up as Zavier walked back in. “Are the guys okay?”

“Yeah. Logan got in a fight with some asshole at the Pit, but they’re fine.”

“What were they fighting about?”

“You,” he said with a shrug. “Reid said the guy was taunting them about fucking you, but they’d been ignoring his bullshit. Then, the guy made it sound like you wouldn’t have a choice, so Logan started swinging.”

“What damage does Logan have?”

“He’s got a bruised cheek from the guy’s elbow, but that’s about it. The dumb fucker had no chance once Logan lost it,” Zavier chuckled, and Beckett raised an eyebrow.

“How the fuck doesn’t Reid know about Raven and Logan when he’s defending her like that?”

Zavier glanced at me and I winced. “I told Beckett.”

“Yeah, so stop being a pansy and fuck her next time you remove your tongue from her cunt,” Beckett joked, getting to her feet. “Beer?”

Zavier nodded and I shook my head, wanting to gag at the thought. She eyed me before walking towards the fridge to grab one for herself and Zavier, glancing back over at me. “You want something else? I have whiskey and vodka. There’s coke, juice, and lemonade for mixers.”

“I’m good. I might slip out for a cigarette though,” I answered, getting to my feet and heading outside. Zavier followed a second later, worry in his eyes.

“Did she say something to upset you?”

“No. I can handle Beckett,” I said dryly, lighting a cigarette before handing the pack to him. “Am I being an ass for not letting you sleep with me?”

“You don’t owe me anything. Just because I’ve had the privilege of touching you, doesn’t mean I have the right to sleep with you. You only offer that if you genuinely want it,” he said seriously. “If you and Logan date forever and decide you want me to stop joining in, you just have to let me know. I can be promoted to best friend since Logan’s the boyfriend now.”

I smiled, loving how simple he made it sound. “I do want to sleep with you, I’m just not ready yet.”

“No rush. I want to take my time with you anyway,” he grinned. I went to cuddle into him, but I forced myself not to when Maddox’s black Charger rumbled into the driveway. Jett and Maddox climbed out just as Beckett stepped outside, scowling as Jett almost knocked her over with a kiss. The expression didn’t last long though, and I saw a glimpse of the side of her that only her closest friends and family probably saw.

Maddox walked over and gave us a nod of acknowledgement before shoving Jett out of the way to drop a kiss on Beckett’s lips too.

“I didn’t expect you home,” he murmured, flicking his eyes to us in question, making Beckett chuckle.

“I was done with Psychos’ business earlier than planned. Worked well since Lopez wanted to stop by for a visit,” she answered, giving me a wink. “And he thankfully brought Raven so we could gang up on him.”

I had no idea if she told her guys my secrets, and the thought made me nervous. Jett was definitely closer to Logan over Reid, so if he knew, he’d hopefully keep it to himself.

I went to reply, but Beckett suddenly frowned, her eyes on the road. “Anyone know that car? It’s driven past three times since Lopez and Raven showed up.”

We all glanced towards the car in question, but it wasn’t familiar to me. I looked at Zavier to find him shaking his head.

“No, but it can’t hurt to get the Night Thieves to find it on a street camera and get the license plate number,” he said as he pulled his phone out just as the car vanished from sight.

He sent a text as we all headed back into the house, Beckett, Maddox, and Zavier all turning their attention to a laptop as Beckett pulled it out to check their own security to see if the car had been past more times than we thought.

Jett and I stood back and let them deal with it, my eyes constantly flicking towards the window to see if the car came back. It could have been a coincidence, or it could have easily been someone coming after one of us.

Beckett’s house was already a target, due to all of them being tied in with the street crews and their parents’ empire, but Zavier also had his foot in the door with a lot of dodgy shit.

Despite him pulling away from it all, that didn’t mean the past wouldn’t come and bite him in the ass.

I doubted someone was following me, but I couldn’t assume I wasn’t a target without proof, especially with how big the skin trade was getting. Not to mention the prick’s who’d killed my brother could still be out there watching us, or my father might have racked up debt with someone bad.

It wouldn’t even surprise me if he’d used me as collateral for a loan, knowing he wasn’t going to pay them back.

“Got it,” Zavier announced as he held his phone up, showing us a picture of the license plate that one of the Thieves had sent through. “Cruz said it’s registered to a woman from Lake Rowland, but anything he digs up about her is weird.”

“Define weird,” Maddox grunted, crossing his arms and eyeing him.

“Like, the woman died eight years ago,” Zavier answered dryly.

“Maybe she has a husband or kid that drives it and they never switched it out of her name?”

“Doubtful. She’s legally registered as deceased so there’s no way the government has let someone continue registering the car under her name. Even if that was the case, the car was only registered under her name three weeks ago.”

“So, identity theft is what we’re working with,” Beckett shrugged, taking Zavier’s phone without asking, not that he seemed to give a shit. “I’ll send this to Mom so they can all keep an eye out for it too in case it’s a crew issue.”

“How do we track someone down who uses a fake identity?” I asked, looking straight at Beckett for an answer. “Do we just track the car and see who gets out of it?”

“I’ll throw some cash at Cruz and get him to monitor it, yes,” she answered as she gave Zavier his phone back. “I don’t particularly believe in coincidences, so keep your eyes open. Whoever’s driving that car is looking for something, whether it’s one of us or just information, I don’t know. Better to be safe than sorry.”

Zavier beckoned me closer, showing me his phone screen. “Cruz said the car seems to have left the area and is heading towards the Heights, which is kind of a bad thing because there’s less fancy street security, so they’ll lose them until they pop up somewhere else.”

“Should we call the guys to let them know? What if they’re heading to our house?” I asked, not hiding the slight panic in my voice. The guys could hold their own, but we had no idea what we were up against.

“Go ahead and call them. Even if it’s nothing, you’ll feel better. I’ll send you the photo so you can show the guys,” he murmured, ruffling my hair affectionately. Beckett motioned for me to use the spare room for privacy, and I headed along the hallway to shut myself in the room, trying to figure out who to call.

I wanted to call Logan, but we were trying to avoid suspicion, so I called Reid instead.

“Hey. Everything okay?” Reid asked the moment he answered, concern in his voice.

“We’re not too sure, to be honest. I wanted to call and let you know there’s been a car driving past Beckett’s, and we think it’s watching one of us. Cruz ran the license plate and it’s a stolen identity of someone who died. The car is heading towards the Heights, so I’ll send you a picture of it for you to keep an eye out for. We don’t know why it’s hanging around, it might be crew stuff and has nothing to do with us at all, but we wanted to be careful.”

“Cruz is watching it?”

I put the phone on speaker so I could send him the photo, replying as I did it. “Yeah. Beckett’s going to pay him to monitor it.”

“If it keeps appearing, maybe we should all carry again.”

I preferred my knife, but I didn’t want to get that close to someone to defend myself if the other person was carrying, so the gun was a smart idea if this person was following us.

“Maybe. We’ll talk more at home. I just wanted to let you know.”

“Stick by Zav, okay? I’m with Logan, so I’ll let him know to keep an eye out too. Stay safe,” he answered before hanging up, and I blew out a breath as I pocketed my phone.

I couldn’t handle more bullshit. Between my shitty parents, the death of my brother, and Reid’s accident last year, I was tired of fighting.

The door opened and Zavier stepped inside, closing it again behind him.

“Hey. You okay? Did you talk to the guys?”

“Yeah, they’re going to keep an eye out,” I mumbled, rubbing a hand over my face. His hand snagged the front of my hoodie, and he tugged me against his chest, sighing as he wrapped his arms around me to rest his chin on top of my head.

“We’ll be okay. We always are.”

“Or our luck will finally run out,” I answered, sliding my hands around his waist, not being able to help myself as I slipped them under his shirt. His warm skin on my fingertips was nice, and I buried my face in his chest.

My eyes closed as he slipped a hand up the back of my shirt too, trailing his fingers back and forth across my lower back to soothe me.

“I will do everything in my power to keep you and the guys safe. You guys are my family, and no one gets to fuck with that,” he said firmly.

I took a small step back so I could look up at him, finding his gaze on mine instantly.

“That’s what worries me the most. You guys would die for each other, and I don’t want it to come to that,” I whispered.

“Trust me, we don’t want to go anywhere,” he replied, cupping my cheek. “Would you feel better if we headed home so we were all together?” When I nodded, he smiled. “Let’s go then.”

He pulled away, but I grabbed his hand to stop him from leaving the room. Before I lost my nerve, I stood on tiptoe to give him a quick kiss, his expression softening more as I tried to escape.

His arm slid around my lower back to bring me close again, his free hand moving to rest high on my throat to tilt my face up. He gave me plenty of time to back away before dipping down to kiss me, my body practically melting from his touch as the arm around me slipped under my shirt to caress my skin again.

Zavier and I didn’t mess around a lot without Logan, but these kisses were becoming more frequent lately, and I was addicted to them.

When he finally stepped back, he gave me a warm smile. “C’mon, let’s get going before I get us in trouble.”

“I don’t mind. I like getting in trouble with you,” I said almost breathlessly, and he gave me a look of amusement.

“I think if I stripped you naked and ate you out, someone would come and investigate the noise.”

“Your mouth is definitely worth it,” I said without hesitation, making him chuckle.

“Maybe we can work something out later. For now, we need to leave. I’d bet money on Maddox being a prick and telling Reid all about it.”

He had a point.

Beckett gave us a knowing look when we said our goodbyes, but thankfully, Jett was occupied by a game, and Maddox was on the phone.

Zavier

“Stop pouting,” I teased as I drove through Ashburn Valley, glancing over at Raven. She was a little sex maniac, which I was totally into, but I didn’t want to mess around with her on the side of the road in the car.

“Can’t we just?—”

“No. If someone saw you naked, I’d have to kill them,” I said seriously, reaching over to take her hand. “Maybe tonight?”

Her wince was valid. We’d come close to being busted by Reid a million times now, and we really had to stop risking it. That wasn’t the way I wanted him to find out.

“You and Logan are too rough. I get too loud,” she grumbled, and I could feel her eyes burning into the side of my head as I tried to watch the road. “You’re good at it, it will only take a second.”

“Have you messed around in this car before? It’s not comfortable.” Her mouth curved into a small smile as I looked at her again, and I scoffed. “You and Logan have been fucking in here? Logan has his own damn car.”

“You guys have all been switching cars a lot lately.”

“Has he spread you out on the back seat? It’s too cramped.”

“Usually, I climb onto his lap and ride him,” she answered with amusement, and I groaned at the thought.

“Are you implying you want to fuck me? Rae, our first time isn’t going to be in Reid’s car. I’m more than happy to fuck you tonight in your bed if you’re sure it’s what you want.”

“But then Logan’s there. I want us to be alone for our first time,” she said quietly. “Please?”

I was more than happy to kick Logan out for the night, boyfriend status be damned. He’d understand, even if he pretended to be offended.

Raven was a tempting snack though, and I wasn’t going to make it home without tasting her.

“Fuck, you don’t need to beg me. I’d eat your damn shoe if you asked me to,” I huffed.

She laughed, leaning closer to nip my shoulder playfully. “Please don’t eat my shoes. This is the only pair I have.”

“We need to steal you a new pair,” I mumbled as I drove into the Heights, going straight to the old graveyard. It was mostly private here, and it was unlikely that Reid would show up.

I sent a quick text to Logan so he didn’t worry, hoping Reid couldn’t track his car or anything if we took too long, then I hauled Raven across the seat so she was straddling me.

She always tried to hide her nerves from me and Logan, but they were there.

“You’re going to come on my fingers first, then we can talk about taking it further,” I murmured, waiting for her to nod before claiming her lips and slipping a hand into her pants.

She squirmed as I teased her pussy with my fingers, sliding the wetness to her clit and making a content sigh leave her.

Her fingers tangled in my hair as I pushed one finger inside her, taking my time before adding a second.

Our kisses turned harder as I brought her closer to climax, my thumb working her clit as my fingers moved in and out of her. Her hips frantically moved to find release, and I let her ride it out as she clamped down around me and screamed into the crook of my neck.

My eyes flicked up to the rearview mirror just as she tried sliding her hand into my pants, and I grabbed her wrist to stop her.

“You said—” She started to pant, but I cut her off as I slipped my hand from her pants and licked my fingers clean, shoving her back towards her own seat. “Zavier! What the fuck?”

“Seat belt,” I said firmly as I started the car, my eyes still on the rearview. “We have company.”

She buckled up and glanced back, her body stiffening slightly when she noticed the car parked close by.

The same one that had just been scoping out Beckett’s house.

My phone rang, and I answered when I saw Cruz’s name on the screen. “Yeah?”

“Whatever sneaky fucking you two are doing needs to wait. That car?—”

“I just spotted him, we’re leaving. I didn’t think there were cameras here? How can you see us?” I scowled, not really giving a shit about him knowing about Raven, but not wanting him to be an ass and tell Reid.

We really had to tell him ourselves, but Raven kept saying she wasn’t ready.

She might not get a choice if the wrong person found out.

“I have eyes everywhere, bro. Which is why I know Logan’s also fucking her, and that Reid doesn’t know or you’d be using a bed and not your cars,” he grunted, Raven’s eyes going wide. “It’s none of my business, don’t worry. Head back to your place, you’re safer there than the graveyard.”

“Then they’ll know where we live!” Raven exclaimed as I started driving towards the main gate, the car following.

“They already know. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that I spotted it leaving your street multiple times this week. I checked back on some footage, and it’s been hanging around for a while,” Cruz replied, typing away on his keyboard. “You guys really need your own security, dude.”

“And who’s going to pay for that? We can barely keep the lights on as it is,” I said dryly, glancing at the rearview to keep an eye on the car as I drove towards our street.

“Did you lose all your jobs when Lavaro left? I can front you some money if you need it.”

Raven glared at me, and it was hard not to snap at her for it. I knew how much she hated Ander and blamed him for everything, but he wasn’t a bad person.

The money I’d made from moving his drugs and random other things had saved the damn house at one point, not that I could tell her that. She didn't even know how behind we’d been on the mortgage, but we were finally making some progress with it.

We’d have the house paid off in a year if we kept on top of it.

“Something like that. Can you do me a favor and keep an eye on the car so I can hang up and call Beckett? I’d better let her know she’s not the target,” I stated.

“No need, I’m texting her right now. You focus on getting home. I think they’re just trying to get information, so they shouldn’t try to follow you into the house. Stay on the phone with me so you can keep me updated since I won’t have direct footage.”

Raven’s phone started ringing, and she flashed the screen at me. “It’s Logan.”

“Answer it,” I encouraged, Logan’s voice reaching us a second later as she put it on speaker.

“Drake messaged me saying you guys are being followed,” he blurted out, the sound of keys in the background. “I’ll come to you.”

“Don’t, we’re on the way to the house,” I replied, a frustrated growl leaving him.

“You’re leading them here?”

“They already know where you live,” Cruz piped up, clicking away at his keyboard again. “I’ve got a lot of footage of them in and out of your street, anyway. They know the Challenger now, so they’ll definitely know which house is yours when they drive past and see it parked out front.”

Cruz explained what he knew to Logan, meaning I could focus on the road.

Then, I noticed there was no one driving behind us anymore.

“The car’s gone,” I said, cutting off their conversation and making Raven turn in her seat to look.

We were almost at the house, so I was relieved to know I could get Raven from the car and into the house without worrying about the car doing a drive-by or something.

“It’s turned around and heading back the other way. Just spotted it on someone’s home camera system about three blocks back,” Cruz confirmed, blowing out a breath. “I’ll keep trying to locate their devices so I can hack into them for answers. I looked into the person whose ID is being used, and she doesn’t have any living relatives that I can find, so I doubt it’s connected to her in any way. Her identity was just luck of the draw.”

“They’ll dump the car soon, they know we’re onto them,” I replied as I turned onto our street, hearing Logan opening and closing doors. I wasn’t surprised when we drove into the driveway that he was already out front. “We’re home, so call me if you find out anything else, Cruz.”

“Will do,” he answered before hanging up, leaving us to get Raven inside where it was safe.

The next question was, were they after me, or her?