Fuckface didn’t understand at all, as he started violently shaking his head back and forth. “Whatever happened with Dad’s business, I had nothing to do with it. This company should take it up with him. Not me.” His voice shook. “What do you all have to do with this anyway?”
“Let’s just say we have personal ties with Infinity Holdings. Now, I’m sorry to say, from their experience, it never makes a strong enough impression to battle out their grievances in the boardroom. It will be much more powerful if you carry back the message.”
None of us were grinning now. The next part was never fun, but we had to do it. The more jobs we did, the more information we collected. Some might view it as getting deeper and deeper in the criminal world, but we saw it as securing our way out.
Zack tried to bolt, clumsily twisting out of our circle. He never stood a chance. Both Jules and I caught an arm and slammed him to the ground. I braced a knee over his thigh, and Jules did the same. Milo stood over us, studying his body. The jobs came with a name and the reason behind the punishment. After almost four years of this, they left the actual punishment up to Milo. Supposedly, some kind of sign of respect.
“Alright, Zack. Before we do this, I want your agreement that you will not go to the cops, you will not tell your frat brothers, but you will deliver this message to your dad. And let him know, if anything like this happens again, well…let’s just say, we aren’t going to be the ones that find you.” Milo waited. And waited.
“Zack, we need your agreement, then you won’t have to speak to us anymore.” I shook his shoulder, where I had him pinned. Nasty water soaked through my jeans. This was fucking disgusting. We should find a better place to carry out these jobs. But it was hard to beat, because Freddie protected this alley for us. Dumpsters and random trash blocked each end of the alley so cars wouldn’t drive through. His employees also had a strict no visit policy during night hours. They threw the trash away during the day only. A convenient way to say thank you for running the books, even if he despised fraternities.
Zack’s wide eyes rolled around in his head at the sound of my words. No one made a move. Finally, he calmed down enough to give Milo a jerky nod.
“I need the words.” Milo’s voice softened. He hated this more than the rest of us.
“I understand.” The words tumbled out like broken glass through a rusty pipe.
Milo nodded. He lifted his foot, positioning it over the kneecap. Fuck, those were the worst, and didn’t always heal right. Good thing this guy didn’t play sports, otherwise his career might be over. At the last minute, he shifted down to the shin. That would break cleaner, heal much quicker.
Jules shoved a rag in Zack’s mouth when the crack rang through the alley. It barely muffled the scream, but we were far enough away from the parking lot for anyone to be suspicious. The doors were always opened at the front, with music blaring, making it hard for people in line to hear each other.
Then some bad fucking luck happened.
The door to the alley opened, and Pin-up stepped out, with a sweet as hell giggle. Until she saw us. With Fuckface on the ground, screaming.
Chapter Three
Jules
Pin-up, as Emmett had coined her, stepped into the alley, giggling her ass off and letting the door slam shut behind her. The door automatically locked. She wasn’t getting back in.
And she just walked out onto a fucking scene that couldn’t be explained any other way than what it was. An assault.
Countless jobs we’d carried out. If the police ever got a hold of us, I was sure the felony charges would be a mile long, with assault, blackmail, and extortion at the top. In all this time, we’ve never had a witness prance onto the scene. And this girl, a half-drunk college girl, was not the first person I’d pick to start.
At least Fuckface passed out from the pain. I lifted my leg from his, but I couldn’t waste the opportunity to fist his pressed collar and slam his head into the pavement. Pin-up gasped, her hand flying to cover her blood red lips.
“Really?” Milo nearly shouted.
I looked up at him with no remorse. She walked out to see us pinning Fuckface down and him screaming like a little bitch. No matter how smart she was, or drunk, she had to know we were fucking him up. So what did it matter if I cracked his head?
Not like she could think any worse of us.
Emmett stood and sauntered up to her. Even with his back to me, I knew the fucker was laying on the charm, flashing the smirk he liked to toss out like candy.
Standing slowly, I approached the left side of Emmett’s back. Milo took the right. I did my best to look nonthreatening, at least until we had her contained and knew what we were going to do about her.
She swallowed, her gaze darting between the three of us like she wandered upon three sadistic antichrists with no escape. She was not wrong. After all the shit we’d been through, there isn’t a lot of good left in us, if any at all.
We never had a fighting chance, not with who our families were. The only one that was even a tiny bit sheltered was Emmett, and that stopped at age twelve. By the time we were fifteen, we were already scheming ways to separate ourselves permanently. The only thing was, you had to dance with the devil to find the details. And the details were going to be our salvation.
Maybe after that, once we went our own way, we’d find a small piece of good. Until then, morals and consciences were a memory.
“Babe—” Emmett didn’t even get more than a word out before she pushed him so hard, he fell into us. He nearly took Milo out. I reached out a hand to steady him. In those two seconds, Pin-up was gone. She was a fast thing, and on crazy spike heels.
Color me impressed. Both with her strength, and her fucking agility.
She didn’t head the obvious way toward the parking lot. We would have caught her in seconds. Her quick plan was to take us on a merry chase through the maze of back alleys. We all ran after her, because letting her go wasn’t an option. Milo motioned with his hand for us to split up. We separated without a word and each ran a different direction. I took the right side, looping around the old bakery. It hadn’t been in business for years, offering no light at all as I stretched my legs to make up the distance.
Not even thirty seconds later, Emmett shouted her location. Cutting around the corner, I joined the chase, following right on Emmett’s heels. I saw her. Fuck. She was almost out of the alleys. Another block and she’d be back in the college district where anyone could see her. Help her.
How the fuck—
Milo appeared out of thin air, right in front of her, just in time for her to bounce right off his chest. He was not happy. None of us ever were after we fucked someone up. But now, our future could be on the line. We’d never had to worry about our targets. If they weren’t in it yet, they would be. They also understood the dire consequences of speaking out.
This bitch, she had no fucking idea who she was messing with. Milo let all of his anger and worry about the situation hang out for anyone to see. Ever the ladies’ man, Emmett tackled the feat of calming her down.
“What’s your name, babe?” Dear God, he was using his sex voice. Low and smooth, he was convinced all women loved it.
“If I gave a fuck, I’d tell you.” She smoothed her hands down her curvy waist, then patted her dress where pockets would have been. “Guess what? I don’t. Fresh out.” She ended on a sneer, and I could have kissed her. I didn’t think Emmett had ever been so crassly rejected.