Page 97 of Brandishing Betrayals

IwalkedintoMaya’sbedroomfirst thing Saturday morning, after letting myself into the house. I kept quiet, as not to disturb anyone as it was barely seven in the morning. I hadn’t slept the night before and needed to reassure myself that Jason was ok. I had been spending the night at Maya’s since Jason’s attack, but I hadn’t been sleeping all that great in the chair.

Now that Jason was conscious, I thought I’d go home and try to get some real sleep. It hadn’t worked. I slipped into Maya’s room silently and stopped dead at the end of the mattress. Mayawas tucked into the bed beside Jason, her curvy body curled around Jason’s arm that was propped up on the throw pillows between them. Her face was pressed against his arm, while both her arms were wrapped around his, holding him close.

It wasn’t just the reverent way she grasped his arm, but the way Jason allowed it. He was currently awake, leaning back against the several pillowed piled up behind him, and scrolled lazily on his cell phone. Jason glanced up at me and raised an eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.

“How long have you been up?” I asked quietly. I walked over to the recliner in the corner of the room and picked up Maya’s blanket and tossed it over the back of the chair before I sat down.

“We woke up around two, had to pee. Then we started talking and I dunno, it was close to four when we dozed back off. I woke up about twenty minutes ago.”

I nodded, watching Maya’s face as she slept on peacefully. She was beautiful—as usual—but there was something serene about her. “You guys get everything figured out?”

Jason grunted softly. “Not really.”

I rolled my eyes. “Why am I not surprised?”

Jason ignored me and kept scrolling on his phone.

“Nico said he’s back together with her. Said he’s all in.”

Jason huffed a quiet laugh. “Why amI, not surprised?”

I smirked. “He’s been waiting for this moment for a long time.”

Jason let his phone fall against his chest, nodding absently. He glanced over at Maya, as if lost in thought. “Where do you stand in all of this?”

I ran both my hands over my face. “I don’t know man. This is a lot.”

“While we were talking last night, she told me that she came down here about two years after she left. She was going to move back, even went as far as looking at apartments. She was at the bank to pull out money for the deposit when Hillcrest basicallysent her flowers and told her that what was about to happen was her fault, and that she should’ve stayed away. She watched us get arrested for those battery charges.”

“What?” I snapped, my eyes narrowing.

Jason nodded solemnly, watching Maya. Her breathing was still even; she hadn’t moved yet. She still looked like she was out cold, but I would have to keep my voice down otherwise we risked waking her.

“Yeah. He threatened her again and told her that if she didn’t leave, we’d get ten years, and if she left, he would get the charges reduced.”

I shook my head. I leaned forward in the chair and rested my elbows on my knees.

“She watched us get arrested, man. She stood across the street and watched it, and was told it was happening because she came back.”

“I’m going to fucking murder him.” I growled, deep in my chest.

“That exactly how I feel. And the more we talked about the past and I explained what’s going on with Carmichael and Buckley and Hillcrest…it made me wonder how much did fucking Hillcrest play a part of our club life, and if he’s been dealing with Buckley for years? Did Buckley help Hillcrest get us locked up? Did he play a part in pushing Maya away? I mean, Buckley killed Trish before the three of us could even question her directly.”

Again, I growled deep in my chest. How the fuck did this go on for so long and we didn’t know? Was Buckley that utterly corrupted? “We need to kill Hillcrest. Now.”

“What’d the club decide? You guys didn’t call last night.”

“Never voted. Never got close. They immediately started arguing abouthow,and the far-reaching implications that we don’t know yet. Basically, it’s clear that he’s well connected andprotected. Half the club wants to do recon; the other half wants to go in guns blazing.”

Jason shook his head. “I need to talk to my dad.”

“Probably a good idea. I think we should bring this up to Bear too. He was there the night Trish died. We need to know more about what they heard.”

“Exactly. What happened BEFORE Buckley pulled the trigger.”

I stared at the floor in horror as the past became crystal clear in my mind. We had been played by our God damn club president. “We need to get the answers out of Hillcrest. We need him alive.”

“Yep.”

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