Sleepless Nights(9)

“Well he stole a vintage Camaro I bought from you last year. You’re not in the market of stealing your sold cars back are you?” I tap my fingers against the hood, as the room grows quiet.

“You know her Pop?” Damien asks, disbelief in his voice.

“She’s a friend of the family.” He steps closer to me and leans down. “I don’t know what my boy was thinkin’, but he didn’t know I sold you this car, Ashley.”

I smile real big at him and jump down. “I know. He seemed real surprised to see me in the car.” I wrap my arms around Blades waist and let him squeeze me for a second. “If you don’t mind, I gotta get out of here. My mom has me on a curfew still.” I wrinkle my nose like this annoys me but really it’s never been a problem before.

“Sure thing girl. Sorry about the confusion,” Blade answers on a chuckle.

I look over at Damien who wears a scowl on his face. “You should really check and see if anyone is in the car first. Might save you a lot of hassle.” Then I wink at him before climbing into my car and driving away.

I didn’t look to see the hatred written across Damien’s face or see the revenge in his eyes.



Damien



“What the fuckin’ hell were you thinkin’?” Pop yells at me while pacin’ back and forth in front of me.

I roll my eyes. Yeah it’s disrespectful but he doesn’t see me so I figure it’s like it never happened. “I saw a nice car that I wanted so I fuckin’ took it, just like I been doin’ for the past five months, Pop.”

Pop stops pacin’ and glares at me. His deep blue eyes have sparks flyin’ out of his sockets. “I know I should let you off the hook because you didn’t know that I fixed that car up for Ashley, but it’s really hard. I want to strangle you until you pass out and then smack some sense back into you.”

I widen my eyes at that. “Little extreme. You said to pop cars that would make us money so that’s what I fuckin’ did. That car is worth a lot of money and now I’m kinda pissed you just gave it away.”

“That girl is like another daughter to me. Her dad was a lifelong friend of mine. She deserved somethin’ good for herself after the life she’s lived. You look at ‘er and you think she’s happy and livin’ life her way but she’s not. She’s the most miserable teenager I ever been around.” Then he turns to face the window, lookin’ outside of the shop. “I didn’t just give it away, I sold it to her. Yeah, the price mighta been cheap but I still sold it to her.”

His words make a pain appear in my chest. Not about the car but about Ashley. I never thought the chick looked happy. She always looks like the world is about to fall on her shoulders. Makes a man want to fix all her problems so they can get in her pants. I rub a spot over my heart hopin’ the pain will go away. I don’t wanna start feelin’ that way about Ashley. I’m super pissed with the bitch right now.

“If you’re so damn close with her, why haven’t I ever met her before?” I question, squintin’ my eyes at him. His long blonde hair falls around his shoulders and not for the first time in my life, he reminds me of a vikin’. And if he was actually a vikin’, he’d be at the bow of the ship directin’ everyone around before destroyin’ some poor village.

Pop sighs and leans against the wall. “Because you would be all over her and she’s been fuckin’ some douchebag since she was fifteen. I love all my kids just the same, even the ones that aren’t my blood, but that doesn’t mean I’m gonna fuck with their lives. She makes her own choices, just the way you do. I don’t like her boyfriend but he ain’t abusive and he mostly treats her right. I ain’t lettin’ you go off in there changin’ her mind. Her momma would have my head.”

“I ain’t ever seen her with a boyfriend,” I mutter, steppin’ backwards until I hit a nice cherry red mustang I popped a week ago. I lean against the red beast and cross my arms over my chest.

Pop scrubs a hand down his face and meets my eyes. “You wouldn’t. He left for Iraq shortly before she transferred to your school. He’s best friends with the Governor’s son.” He says that like it explains it all, and he wouldn’t be wrong.

Victor fuckin’ Gage. I know the name, though I don’t know the face. I’ve only seen Talon in passin’ when Pop had meetin’s with the Governor and I tagged along. But Pop bein’ who Pop is, I know lots of things about Victor and Talon. Those two think they are smart and stayin’ out of the limelight but they got a lot of people in a tizzy.