CHAPTER SIX

COLE

Fuck!

That’s the second time since she’s walked out here in the past hour that she has got me hard. I fist my hands down by my sides. I don’t have time for her. To be some teenage boy obsessed with a set of tits and ass. Especially Bruce Lowes’s daughter.

“Cole?”

At the sound of Celeste’s voice, I wrap the towel around my hips and turn to face her in the pool. Lilly’s still on her lap. “Yeah?”

She sighs heavily, her eyes dropping to my hard cock, letting me know she knows what I’m thinking. “Keep an eye on her.”

“I can’t—”

“Cole,” she interrupts my refusal. “You owe me.”

Running a hand through my wet hair, I growl. “Pick something else.”

She gives me a kind smile, but we both know it’s fake. “I’m picking her. And that’s not gonna change.”

Fuck!

I turn around and walk into the house, water still dripping from my hair and board shorts. I take the stairs two at a time, knowing where her room is. I watched her stand at her window after Deke and I finished with Jeff.

I don’t knock. I barge right into her room, and she squeals, jumping back from her dresser, a shirt in her hands but not on. She holds it up to cover her naked chest. And I wonder if her nipples are still hard. “What the hell, Cole …?”

“Get dressed, we’re leaving in ten.”

Her eyes narrow on me. “I’m not going anywhere with you,” she snaps.

I smile. I gotta say, I do love how challenging she is. The fight. The constant back and forth. She actually thinks she has a chance to stand up against me. Austin Lowes doesn’t have a choice. Her mother doesn’t want her, her father is just itching to send her back, and her stepmother just threw her to the sharks. I’m all she has, which sucks for her because I destroy everything I touch. And as much as I don’t want her around, I look forward to ripping her to shreds.

I shut the door, and she swallows nervously as her eyes go to it, then shoot back to mine. I advance on her with slow and confident strides as if I’m about to attack my prey. My hard cock reminds me that I could throw her on her bed and take her right now, and no one would stop me. But even I have limits.

“What are you doing in here?” Her voice shakes with fear.

I reach up and cup her soft face. She still has on the makeup from church this morning. Her dark green eyes lined with black. Her lashes long and thick, and her plump lips stained with a light pink. Her eyes widen, but she doesn’t pull away from me. I lean down, my lips inches from hers. “Do I need to remind you again?” Her chest rising and falling fast with each breath. My free hand itches to yank the shirt she’s using to shield her chest from me. To get a better look at her tits without the wet fabric she wore outside. To touch them. To suck on them. “That you don’t have a choice.”

She lifts her chin, and her green eyes simmer with rage. I like it. “You’re not my boss, Cole. You can’t tell me what to do.”

I let my hand on her face trail down over her delicate neck, where her pulse races, to her bare shoulder. Her body shudders. My fingers continue downward over her bare arm and bent elbow, and then I stop on the bandage covering her stitches. My eyes meet hers. “We both know that I can.” I take a step back before I go too far. “Now get dressed. We have somewhere to be.”

Her narrowed eyes stay on mine. Almost as if she’s challenging me. Her chin lifts, and nostrils flare. “Cole—”

“This is not up for discussion,” I snap, interrupting her. “I will drag you to my car by your hair, if need be.”

She lets out a growl, and I take that as her acceptance.

_________________________________

She sits next to me in my car as I drive down the curvy road, heading farther away from town.

I take the steep hills at a fast pace, speeding more than I normally would to keep her on her toes. I can taste her fear—smell it—and it’s intoxicating.

She places her hands out in front of her on the dash, and I chuckle. Her head snaps to the side to look at me. “You’re trying to scare me on purpose.”

“We both know you’re already scared of me.” She doesn’t comment.

I make my way down the last hill, and the road curves to the right. I take it, the rear end fishtailing, and I hear the intake of her breath.

“Where are we?” she asks, looking out her window.

“Does it matter?” I ask, and she rolls her eyes but doesn’t respond.

I come to a stop at a stoplight and make a left turn and remove my seat belt.

“What are you doing?” she asks, looking over at me.

I throw her a smile, and her eyes narrow on me. She hates when I ignore her questions. Too bad. She’ll find out soon enough.

We arrive at the warehouse and pull up to the curb. I look over at her. “Do you know how to drive a stick shift?”

“What?” she snaps. “Why would that matter, Cole?”

“Yes or no.”

“Yes!” She crosses her arms over her chest, and my eyes fall to it. The memory of seeing her tits still fresh in my mind. They had looked round, perky, and so fucking perfect. I need out of this car.

I nod my head and then turn around, reaching for my black bag and hoodie. “Keep your phone on you,” I tell her. “As soon as I call you, answer.”

“Cole …”

I get out and slam my door shut before I hear her say anything else. My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I pull it out, expecting it to be her, but Bennett flashes across my screen.

“Hello?” I answer it, throwing my bag over the metal gate.

“Hey, man. Thought we were on for tonight.”

I place my hands on the gate and climb it before jumping over it, landing on my feet. “I am.”

“What?” He pauses, and I look up at the sky. The sun almost done setting. “Well, what time?”

“Now.” I pick up my bag.

“Cole, how the fuck are you doing it right now? I’m with Deke and Shane. I spoke to Kellan earlier, and he said he hasn’t spoken to you all day.”

“I’ve got it covered. Disable the alarm system now and then head to the clubhouse. I’ll meet you in an hour.” I hang up, placing my phone back in my pocket.

I pull my hood up and over my head and throw the bag over my shoulder. I run around to the back. The dim light buzzing above my head, I keep my eyes down, staring at the ground, knowing where all the cameras are. I helped place them, after all. Then walk up to the back door. Seconds later, my phone vibrates, and I check it.

 

Deke: You’ve got two minutes.

 

Grabbing the tools of out my pocket, I place them in the lock and twist them. A pop sounds seconds later.

Walking in, I smile at the car that sits before me. A bright fucking red Ferrari 250 GTO. My favorite color. Only thirty-nine were produced, and I’m about to make this one mine. A few other cars are in the warehouse, but I ignore them. They’re not why I’m here.

I grab the key off the hook that hangs on the wall and then jump into the car, throwing my bag in the passenger seat. I take out my phone and call Austin.

“Cole, what the hell are you doing?”

“Turn the car around,” I order her.

“What? I don’t have time for this. What are you—”

“Turn the fucking car around, Austin,” I snap, interrupting her. She’s right; we don’t have time for this.

I sit in the silent, dark warehouse and can hear the engine of my car outside in the street as she pulls forward and turns around to face the right direction now. “Follow me,” I tell her.

“Follow you?” she asks, her voice rising in panic. “You’re not coming back?”

“Nope,” I say and hit the door opener on the visor. “Don’t lose me, Austin. You stay on my ass. Do you understand me?”

Silence.

“Fucking answer me, Austin!”

“Yeah.” I finally hear her answer in her small voice.

“Let’s go.” I hang up, start the car, and take off.

AUSTIN

I hang up the phone and toss it into the passenger seat. You stay on my ass! What the hell does that mean?

My hands shake, and my knees bounce as I sit in his driver’s seat, waiting for I don’t know what to happen. I don’t know where we are or what he has planned.

I hear an engine, and then a red car pulls out of a driveway to the gate I had watched him jump just minutes before.

He turns onto the road and takes off. I shove the car into gear and follow him.

He’s gone before I can even figure out how to shift his car. It’s been a long time since I’ve driven a standard. And I didn’t wanna tell him, but I suck at it. My ex, Martin, had yelled at me for hours when he tried to teach me. I let off the clutch, and it jumps.

Shit!

I get it into second. And then third. I make it to fourth a lot better and press on the gas. He’s long gone. I can’t even see the taillights ahead of me. But I remembered what direction we came from. I hope that was the same one he took out of this town. It’s officially dark, and the town is quiet. We must be on the outskirts because I haven’t seen another car or person since we pulled in.

I hear sirens behind me, and I start to panic. What the hell was he doing? Does he want me to get caught? Is that his plan? Another game he wants me to lose? Well, I’d much rather it be robbery than murder, if I had to choose.

I see a tire repair shop at the end of the road with their garage open. I pull into it and get out quickly, pulling their bay door shut and lean up against it. Thankful it was open. I yank my ponytail out and run a hand through my hair. Frustrated and pissed that he has done this to me. Again!

Then I hear my phone ringing in the car. I run back to it and jump in, answering it when I see shark light up my screen.

“Hello?” My voice shakes with nervousness.

“Where the fuck did you go?” he demands.

“I could be asking you the same question,” I snap.

He growls. “Where are you?”

“Hiding in a garage.”

“Goddammit.”

“Maybe if you had given me a heads-up, I would have had some time to prepare to help you steal a fucking car,” I yell. My hand squeezing the phone a little too hard.

“Calm down,” he snaps. “Take a deep breath.” He lowers his voice.

My throat tightens as my heart pounds.

“I’ll send someone to come get you,” he says calmly.

“What?” Come get me? “Who?”

“Deke …”

“Are you crazy?” My voice squeaks. “He wanted to shoot me!” I all but yell. “I’ll drive myself.”

“I’m not coming back to get you,” he says matter-of-factly.

Translation—I’m on my own. If I get caught and arrested, I’ll take the fall. But I’d rather take my chances with the cops than with Deke. Or any of those other guys who were with Cole the other night.

I fucking hate him!

“Where am I going?” I ask, running a hand through my hair. My nerves shot.

“I’ll send you the address,” he says. “And Austin …?”

I hang up. I don’t have time to talk to him. I’m wanted by the police at the moment. I have got to get myself out of here.

The sad part is that this isn’t the first time I’ve run from the cops.

I get out, yank up the bay doors, and look both ways but find no cop cars in sight. I get back into his car and take off, leaving black marks on the floor of the garage.

I hear my phone go off and take a quick look down at it and notice that he has me going back to Collins, so I toss the phone. I’ll make my way there, then once I’m in town, I’ll look at the exact address.

My shoulders start to relax once I hit the curves, climbing the mountains, the city lights behind me, and finally able to drive his car better.

Anger starts to set in. Just what the hell did he think he was doing? Was this just another situation he wanted me to be involved in that could possibly get me in trouble?

I laugh at myself. Of course, it is. The guy is hell-bent on getting my ass thrown in jail.

I take the curves just as fast as he did earlier. Not worried if I fall off the cliffs to my right. At least that wouldn’t end in jail. Just death.

I take the next curve and then it dips down to a steep hill. I reach the top and see lights. “Shit!” I hiss when I see three cop cars. They must have tried to follow Cole, but he lost them. One is sitting on the right side, its ass almost falling off the cliff. The second, parked in the oncoming lane, faces me since the road is only two lanes. And the third is driving straight for me.

He comes to a quick stop on his side, and I have a moment of panic. Do I stop? Just pretend like I was speeding? Or do I gun it and try to outrun them? Maybe they don’t know I’m involved in whatever Cole did.

I get my answer when the cop who is stopped on the cliff gets out and throws something in the road. A spike strip. Fuck! They know I’m involved. Even if I stop, they’ll question me. Then I’ll have four other guys on my ass for turning Cole in.

I gun it. I get right up to the spikes and swerve to the left. The driver’s side of the car barely misses the cop car that sits there, but it doesn’t miss the side of the mountain, and it rips off the mirror.

I laugh. Cole will not be happy about that. I look in the rearview mirror to see them jumping in their cars, but they’re never gonna catch me. They had all their eggs in one basket, hoping I’d hit those spikes. Too bad for them.

_________________________________

I pull into town and punch in the address that Cole gave me. He’s called me four times, and I’ve ignored them all. Let him sweat it if I got caught and turned him in.

I pull down a gravel road and look around seeing nothing but darkness. I shut off my headlights, not wanting to bring attention to me and the car even though he has a loud exhaust on this thing. It’s not easy to hide.

I squint as I drive two miles an hour, not wanting to hit a tree or a person, until I see lights up ahead.

I speed up. As I get closer, I see a metal barn-like structure. The door swings open and out walks Cole followed by four others.

Of course! This night just keeps getting better and better. I gun it, then pull the e-brake, bringing the rear end around to stop in front of them. Dust from the gravel flies and all but Cole lift their hands to wave it away.

I open the door and jump out, slamming it shut behind me. “What in the fuck was that, Cole?” I demand.

He stands there, his blue eyes narrowed on me. His legs wide and hands in the front pockets of his black jeans. He still wears his black hoodie, but the hood is back.

“What the fuck?” I look to my right to see Deke, staring down at me with wide eyes and mouth opened. “You let cemetery girl help you?” he asks in surprise.

The other three look back and forth between Cole and me, trying to figure out what the hell is going on and who the hell I am.

My chest rises and falls fast, my heart racing. “You almost got me arrested,” I snap.

“You should have kept up,” he says.

My eyes bug out. “Kept up? I didn’t know you were going to steal a car,” I snap. He just stares at me. That look of hatred on his face. He should be thanking me for not turning him in. “Take me home,” I demand.

“Deke.” He looks at him. “Give her a ride home.”

What? “No!” I say, taking a step toward Cole. “You take me—”

“Gladly,” Deke says, interrupting me and takes a step toward me. I shut my mouth and take three back. He stares down at me with a smile on his handsome face, but the light shining down on us from the side of the barn makes him look crooked. Or maybe it’s the fact that I know just how truly twisted he is.

“I’ll just take your car,” I say with a smile, and he stops walking away. His back still toward me. Then I look down at it and smile. “I knocked off the mirror.”

“You what?” he snaps, turning to face me.

I give him the biggest fuck you smile I can. “I ran into the cops, and they threw a spike strip out.” His brows rise. “I was able to dodge it but hit the side of the mountain. It knocked off your mirror.”

He fists his hands down by his sides while Deke laughs. The other three still stand around, not knowing what is happening.

“Who is this girl?” I think it’s Kellan who asks softly. I can’t remember who Shelby said was who.

“I’m Austin.” I answer his question when neither Deke nor Cole makes a move to do so. “Austin Lowes.”

All their heads snap to look at Cole. And Deke looks down at his feet, but I don’t miss his jaw hardening. Cole stares at me for a long moment as silence falls around us. And I feel like I’m back in the cemetery with him and Deke. Like he’s trying to think of his next move.

Is he gonna stab me this time? Let Deke shoot me?

Finally, he looks away from me and to Deke. “Take her home,” he orders and then turns, giving us all his back. He walks into the barn, letting the door shut behind him.

“Let’s go home, baby,” Deke says, walking over to me.

“No …”

He grabs my upper arm and squeezes, making me cry out as his fingers dig into my skin. The other guys turn their backs on me and walk into the same door as Cole. Deke drags me across the gravel and over to the side of the building where a black Range Rover sits. He tosses me in the passenger seat and then climbs in. I press my body against the door.

He chuckles. “I’m not the one you should be afraid of, baby.”

“What does that mean?” I demand, pissed off over what Cole put me through tonight.

“It means …” He starts his SUV. “That Cole is the only one who decides if you live or die. Not me.”