Fallen Crest Forever (Fallen Crest Series Book 7)(80)

Falling silent, Nate and Logan followed me, and we found Adam outside on the patio. He lounged on a bench with a cigar in his hand. The smoke trailed up into the air as he exhaled. He was raising the cigar to his mouth again when he saw us.

He jerked up, and his eyes became panicked as he looked out into the darkness. I could see the whites rounding, and then he scrambled to his feet.

“What are you doing here?”

There was a quiver of fear in his voice.

I moved forward. “If you were to take a guess?”

His eyes narrowed, and he began to ease toward the door. “I’m not alone, you know.”

“You got some chick in there?” Logan craned his neck to see. “Because our intel says you’re here all alone.”

Nate added, “You’re hiding.”

“Yeah.” Adam growled at me. “Thanks for that press conference, by the way. It really helped my dad’s case.”

“You’re the fuckhead who broke into our house.”

I was seconds from grabbing him. I tried to remember why I shouldn’t. There was a voice in my head—was it Sam’s? She wouldn’t want me to hurt him, but he wouldn’t go away. We did the right thing at our house. We let him off. We didn’t hurt him, nothing. There might’ve been some humiliation, but he walked away from the house on two legs. And he would keep coming back.

“What am I going to do with you, Quinn?” I gave him a hard look as I stepped up on the patio.

“What are you doing?” He jumped in front of the door, still holding his cigar. He looked down at the cigar, then back to me, and put it down, laying it on the bench he’d been sitting on.

“Get out of my way.”

“Mas—”

Nate and Logan jerked into action. They grabbed him, but instead of pushing him behind us, Nate opened the door, and Logan pushed him inside. I stepped through last, circling the living room. Rap music played throughout the house, but it was low, and the smell of bourbon mixed with the cigar.

“Well, looky here.” Logan shoved Adam back one more time before going over to the liquor cabinet and reaching for the glass. An ugly smirk showed on his face as he picked up Adam’s glass. “You celebrating something, Quinn?” He lifted the glass to his nose, took a whiff, and tossed the liquid to the floor.

“Hey!” Adam started forward, but Nate moved in front of him now, shoving him back. Adam took a breath, staring at Nate for a second before looking past him to Logan. He turned to me. “What are you going to do?”

“I made you a promise a long time ago.”

Did he remember?

“I promised that if you fucked with me, Sam, or anyone I loved, I’d end you. I’d take away everything you hold close.” I gestured around the room. “I’d take your home. I’d take your girl. I’d take your money. And I’d take your reputation. Then I’d leave you alone, but not before I ruined you. We’ve decided it’s time to follow through.”

Adam started to laugh. “What? What can you do to me now?”

“You’re going to watch.” I nodded to Logan. He knew what to do, and he took off.

“Wha—” Adam pressed against Nate. “Is he looking for something?”

“What do you think? I just told you what we’re going to do. Think, Adam! Guess what we’re doing.” And as he frowned and pulled back from Nate, I looked to my best friend. “Mind taking one for the team? For a while anyway?”

Nate cocked his head to the side, then groaned. “Are you serious?”

He knew.

I nodded. “Sam said you liked Becky.”

He groaned again, letting his head fall back. “Seriously, Mason? I don’t want to date Becky Sallaway.”

“What?” Adam’s eyes locked on us. “What did you say?!”

He surged toward us, but Nate and I both lifted a lazy hand. We pushed him back, and he fell to a couch behind him.

I dropped my voice. “Just for a little bit. You want to date that other chick right now, anyway? This could get messy.”

“Sam’s going to know.”

“Sam doesn’t have to find out right away. And yes, Becky will know, but she’s not going to care.”

We turned as one toward Adam, who was shaking his head, his hands in his hair.

“I have a feeling she’ll take you up on a date,” I told Nate. “Maybe more than a couple times even.”

“Okay.” Nate pulled out his phone and dialed. “It’s late, but maybe she’s awake. I think Sam called her from my phone once. Let’s see if she still wants to talk to us.”

“Be—” Adam surged to his feet, yelling for Becky.