The music grows closer, and the bass is so loud I can’t even make out the words to the heavy metal song. There are people everywhere, body to body. Some dancing, some trying to hold a conversation over the noise, and most of them holding a drink in their hands. All except for me. A couple of girls walk by and I snatch a cup out of the hands of a petite girl with blonde pigtails. “Thanks.” I smirk.
When she stands there looking at me with sheer confusion, I make a move, slamming my foot to the ground and acting like I’m going in for the kill. Shrieking, she backs away with her eyes glued to me. Her friends look like they might piss themselves.
Talon Porter may be a god around here, but I’m not too far beneath him on that totem pole. I have a pull in this town. Namely because of my dad and his influence on the community. Also, my older brother, Axel. He was a legend at Redwood High. Not for sports or honors, but for his “don’t fuck with me or my family” mantra. He instilled a level of respect and fear in the residents of this town when it comes to our family.
Talon might have money and connections, but we have them, too. We, Thorns do not cower to threats, and if it comes down to it, we will fight back.
That doesn’t matter, though—not yet. I still have time to put a stop to this.
Now that I have a drink in hand and I’m blending in, I spot Talon sitting on a chair with two chicks on his lap, and it makes my stomach turn.
Kill or be killed.
I just need to dump this drink on him and take his phone while I attempt to brush him off with an over dramatic apology. It can’t be that hard.
Stumbling over like I’m three sheets to the wind, I use my four years of drama class to my advantage. “Raging party, Talon.” Holding my cup up in cheers, he completely ignores me.
Lars comes up behind him, bends over with a look of agitation, and whispers something in his ear that sends a wash of anger over Talon’s face. Lars comes back up, looks me dead in the eye, sending shivers down my spine, and then turns away.
The girls on Talon’s lap turn inward, one slobbering all over his neck, while the other trails her index finger down his cheek. Both are wearing skintight dresses that leave nothing to the imagination. “Let’s take this party upstairs.” She leans closer, her face pressed against his as she cups his dick in her hand, giving it a firm squeeze.
My eyes move from her hand, up to his face, and I realize he’s watching me. “Can I help you?” His voice is stern, a thin layer of pink shading the whites of his eyes that tells me he’s high or has had too much to drink. It’s hard to tell with him.
I bring the cup up to my chest and look around to see if there is anyone else nearby that he’s addressing right now. “Me?”
Standing up, he lets the girls fall to the ground. They brush themselves off and watch his steps as he stalks toward me. His black combat boots hit the ground like a jack hammer with each step. His fingers rake through his disheveled dark brown hair, stray strands falling back into place as his hand drops to his side.
Talon holds this mystery about him that makes him sexy as hell. He’s at least six foot three, and although he might not have the body of an athlete, it’s obvious that he works out. His plain white t-shirt fits tightly around his biceps and the ridges of his abs are apparent through the thin fabric.
Being the end of summer, his skin is sun-kissed. And here I thought he was a vampire who only came out at night.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulls out a rectangular metal Zippo with his initials engraved on it. TJP. Talon Joseph Porter. I shouldn’t know that, but I do. I know a lot about Talon—now, even more than I care to.
“If it isn’t Axel Thorn’s little sister,” he says as he stops directly in front of me. The smell of weed rolling off of him, invading my space.
I hug the cup tighter to my chest. “Also known as Marni.” God, I am so tired of living in Axel’s shadow. “My name is Marni.”
“I know who you are. But your last name is more important than your first. You share blood with a man I hate; therefore, I wanna know what the hell you’re doing in my house.”
“Seriously,” I laugh, “Talon, we’ve gone to school together our entire lives. I’ve been to at least a dozen parties here. What’s the problem?” I throw my hands out, sloshing the contents of the cup around. Instinctively, I almost take a sip, before I remember that someone else was drinking this, and I have no idea whose dick she may have sucked tonight.
Cocking an eyebrow, he begins flicking the Zippo. Once a flame stills, he brings it closely to my face. The heat warms the side of my cheek, and I tilt my head away, out of fear of how far he may go with this game. “Did he send you here?”
“Send me here?” I question. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
Frozen in place, my mind says dump the cup, but my body doesn’t listen.
His eyes linger over the flame as he begins moving his hand back and forth in front of my face. Reaching into the pocket of his black jeans, he pulls out a joint. My eyes skim down his arm, noticing one small black tattoo on his forearm. Bringing the joint up, he sticks it into the flame. “You’re in no position to play dumb with me.” Using his forefinger and thumb, he draws in a long drag of the joint. His mouth forming the shape of an O as he blows it out into my face.
“What the hell?” I swing my hand back and forth in front of my face, sweeping away the smoke.
The flame diminishes as he leans forward, his lips almost touching my ear and his breath warm on my neck as the smoke still lingers in the small space between us. “Seems you’ve got something that belongs to me, Axel’s little sister.”
To my left, I notice Lars and Zed. Tommy stands to my right. All three of them take steps simultaneously as they close in on me.
Talon wraps his hand around my elbow. His calloused fingers feel like sandpaper on my smooth, bare skin. When I attempt to jerk away, he strengthens his grip. Gritting through my clenched teeth, I hiss, “It will do you well to remember that I am, in fact, Axel’s little sister.”
“From here on out, you have only one title that matters,” his mouth ghosts my ear as his fingertips dig deep into my arm, “ours.”
2
After Talon and his gang tried to claim me while puffing smoke in my face, I slithered from his reach and walked out of the house backwards, slowly, with my eyes on him to be sure he didn’t make a move. The house was full, too many witnesses. It’s what he planned to do to me in the darkness that had my knees knocking as I ran for my car. Fear doesn’t come easily, but they created enough in me with just one word that sent me running for the hills.
Each creak of the floorboards, and every slam of the door by our housekeeper Ruby, sends my heart into my throat. It’s only a matter of a time before they seek me out. I have something that I shouldn’t. A secret that could destroy their entire lives.
Pacing the bedroom, I graze my teeth over my freshly painted nails. I should just go for it. Lay it all out there, admit that I know, and use it to my advantage. After all, I’m the one who knows what they did. They should fear me, not vice versa.
I drop my ass down onto my bed and grab my cell phone off the bedside table. My thumb hovers over Talon’s name as I contemplate whether or not I should call him and tell him we need to talk. Leaning back, I notice something beneath the comforter on my bed. Digging my hand underneath it, I reach until my fingers find something hard and rectangular shaped, with a clasp on the front—maybe a box? I slide my hand out from under the comforter and look down at the wooden box. Feathered corner joints, a handcrafted engraving of a snake-like infinity symbol on the top, and a small clasp on the front give it a vintage and charming appeal. Dad must have picked this up for me on one of his trips. Smiling at the gesture, I click the clasp and push the top open.