Bad Wolf(17)

It's not like I have any reason to keep my dick in my pants. Any reason to behave, or be responsible, with no real family to hold me accountable and no girlfriend to wake up to in the mornings, no friends.

And yet I'm responsible for more people than I can handle. Isn't that a fucking joke? When I can barely look after my own damn self.





Chapter Eleven





Gigi





"You want to go out. On Saturday night. Really." I look across the small table at the coffee shop at Sydney who's fidgeting with the sleeves of her green sweater, avoiding my gaze.

She called me, said she wanted to meet up, and this is the first thing she has to ask me?

She gives me an uncertain smile. "Yes. It's another party. It will be fun."                       
       
           



       

Fun. When every time she leaves me alone to go buy drugs, like I assume she does, and I have to go looking for her.

"Please, Gigi. I need you there. You don't know … " She swallows hard. "Please. I promise we will have fun."

"Syd, look … "

And I stop.

I really look at her. She has dark circles under her eyes. She looks like crap. She looks desperate, and honestly, I don't know what to do about her.

She's scaring me. Worry is eating at my stomach like acid. I should talk to her parents, only they haven't been around in a long while.

I should talk to her friends.

She's been my friend for so long, the person I told everything. She knows about my fears, about my nightmares. Something's going on with her, and she's not ready to talk. And she puts herself in danger, and that really sucks, but if I don't go with her, I'm sure she'll still go. Without me.

Without anyone to have her back. If anything happens to her, it's on me.

Also going with her I may have a chance to figure out what's going on, and to get her to open up and talk to me. Plus, if her boy harem is around, I could talk to them as well. That'd be a bonus.

And if Jarett is around …

No. I have to stop expecting that. What are the odds that he'll be there every single time Syd and I go out? After all, I hadn't seen him in years, and it's not like I stayed at home and said my prayers at night until then.

Then again, a little voice points out in my mind, you only started seeing him the moment Sydney started taking you out to places where she met with drug dealers and gangsters.

Gangsters.

A gang.

Oh my God.

"Gigi? Will you go with me?" Sydney is staring at me, a pleading look in her eyes.

Pushing back my chair, I grab my jacket, and mutter something about having to go and calling her later.

She's distraught, and I barely notice because right now I'm kind of distraught, too.

I have to talk to my brother.



Merc doesn't answer his phone. The phone at home rings and rings, and nobody picks up.

On a hunch, I head to Mancave, the garage my brother-in-law and his brother have opened on the outskirts of town. Merc likes to hang out there and tinker with engines.

Not that he's a good mechanic. But I think he likes hanging out with the guys, Matt and Kaden, and shoot the shit with them. My brother-in-law, Matt, seems to be a good influence on him. Calm and measured, he's much older than my sister, and is like a cross between a father and a brother to me and Merc. At least that's how he acts, and my brother likes it.

As for me, sometimes I want to roll my eyes so hard. I don't need a father. I did fine without one all my life. But I do appreciate how Matt helped us move out of Destiny, helped Mom pay her debts and got us into college. I'll never forget his kindness when we most needed it, and how he did his best to take care of all of us.

And I'm glad Merc has someone older and trustworthy to talk to, since he won't talk to me about this girl trouble he's in. Hopefully Matt gives him good advice. God knows I'm no expert on matters of the heart.

I gave my heart away long ago, to Jarett, and I have little hope of ever getting it back.

Shaking off the morose thoughts, I climb off the bus and walk briskly across the street and into the dim interior of the workshop. It's a familiar place for me these days-the gutted cars, the shelves overflowing with car parts and tools, the smell of oil and gasoline.

I don't see anyone around, not even my sister who sometimes helps out with the paperwork. The small office is empty, the computer screen dark.

I enter the second bay, and there they are, huddled around an exposed car engine, three heads bent together, one dark and two blond. The dark one is Matt, the one with the ponytail is Kaden, his brother, and the other is Merc.

Score.

I wander closer, peek at the engine. It looks …  perfectly engine-like to me. "What's wrong with it?" I ask, and have the satisfaction of seeing them all jump.

Nothing like some good old boy torture, especially when it comes to family members. I mean, who can you play pranks on if not your own brother?

"Gigi," said brother mutters.

"In the flesh."

"What are you doing here?"

"I thought you might need help fixing this engine? No? I was just checking." I wink at Kaden who's pretty hot, but sadly married and also sort of like a brother to me, too. "Then I guess you're all fine."

Kaden laughs.

Matt looks confused. "Did you need something? Octavia is at home with the kids, she didn't come in today."

"I just wanted to talk to my brother."                       
       
           



       

Merc's attention is back on the engine, so I kick at him. He looks up, startled. "What? Me?"

"I only have the one brother. Well, apart from our douche half-brother."

Yeah, we have a half-brother back in Destiny. Ross, the bully. My sister wants to save him, but I doubt that's possible, or desirable. Let him rot there.

Merc gives a long-suffering sigh, but then shoots me a grin. "What's up?"

"I want to talk to you alone." I grab his hand and tug. "Come on."

"But … "

"Just for five minutes, Mercury."

"Go on," Matt says, his gaze amused. "The engine will still be here after five minutes."

This time Merc's sigh is heavier, but he lets me pull him away and into the small, stuffy office. "What do you want, Gigi?"

I let go of his bigger hand and close the door, then start pacing up and down the scant five feet between the desk and the wall, chewing on the end of my ponytail.

Where to start?

"Gigi." Merc parks his ass on the desk and folds his arms over his chest. "What is the matter? You okay?"

"I'm fine." I wave an impatient hand at him. "It's just …  something you said the other night. About Jarett."

"Shit, again with that guy?" Merc growls a curse. "He's bad news, sis."

"About that." I turn toward him and fold my arms under my breasts, mirroring his pose. "Tell me what you know. You said something about a gang."

"Yeah, well." He drops his arms at his sides, then lifts a hand to rub the back of his neck. "What about it?"

"Tell me more. About this gang, and how he's involved."

"What's to tell?" Merc grumbles. "It's a gang. They hang around trying to look cool, and sometimes steal things and sell drugs. They're bad guys, Gigi. You should stay away from them." He frowns. "Away from Jarett."

I turn away and take a deep breath. He's right, of course. It's exactly what I've been telling myself.

But I'm here to understand something, and I think maybe I got it.

Drugs. Sydney is looking for drugs. Jarett may be a member of a gang dealing drugs.

Is that the connection I've been missing? The reason why Jarett is always around when Sydney gets into trouble?

"You don't even know if it's true that he's in a gang," I say, trying to keep my voice neutral. "It's all hearsay."

"Look … " He gets up and comes to stand beside me. "His brother is in a gang, I know that for sure. A small gang, sure, relatively new, but word on the street is that they're trying to move on to bigger things. Worse things."

"Like what?"

"Bigger drug deals? Selling guns? I dunno for sure. But I heard that they're at every rave party and every bar and club where drug lords hang out. And Jarett goes wherever his brother goes, and that alone, sis, is fucking bad news. Those are dangerous people. I don't want you hurt."

"I won't be. Don't worry." So here, then is the connection. Drugs, like I thought. I slump against the wall. But God, why would Jarett go wherever his brother goes? His brother's an asshole, and I just can't …

Can't accept Jarett's the same.

And that's exactly my problem. I like Jarett way too much, so I can't accept he's bad news. I equate good looks with kindness, and integrity, apparently.

Awesome. It's a common mistake. One Merc is trying to make me see, and avoid.

But what he doesn't know is that it's too late. I made that mistake three years ago, and I still haven't found a way to break away.



At the car honk from outside, I step out of the house and quickly close the door behind me. I run down the porch steps and around Sydney's car.