He nods, looks to Maddoc, then back to me.

“We checked with the registry department and found out the paperwork for the birth certificate was filed thirty-seven days after delivery. It only takes five days to file when done at the hospital.”

“She lied.”

“She fucking lied. She did put my name on it, and Collins Graven was the one hiding the original.” Cap leans forward. “Whether he hid it to clean up after someone else or not, he knew, and I almost lost my daughter because of it.”

Son of a bitch.

I push to my feet and move for the cabinet, pulling out a bottle of some fucking dark whiskey I can’t pronounce, and take a swig from the bottle.

I cough, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand and slam the bottle against the counter.

My hands start shaking so I clench my fists to stop it.

I let them think I betrayed them with a guy who literally had some kind of hand in fucking their entire world in one way or another. Not to mention I floated around their school with him while everyone sat back to watch the train wreck that was me force their hands still. Somehow, Collins fucking knew their dad would ask them to play it cool. Or shit, as cool as three hotheads can play it.

Collins knows something they don’t and he’s proving to be a reckless bastard.

I look back to the guys, finding all their eyes on me.

I take another drink, carrying the bottle with me out the back door to the patio.

It only takes a few seconds before they’re out there with me.

Maddoc moves behind me, caging me in against the railing while Cap shifts to one side, and Royce the other.

I lean back, closing my eyes when his arms wrap around me.

The bottle is passed down the line without a word spoken.

Collins, the piece of shit, he had a hand in taking Zoey away.

He did what he needed to make them think he took me.

And he wants to take their place and power.

“We should take his life.”

“We will.”

It’s Saturday night, and the boys are having one of their bigger parties, so like the one I first came to with Vienna, it’s at some random house they found, and only those who got the cards, then followed the driver from school came. There’s a solid fifty people here, all Brayshaw and a few I even recognize from the warehouses.

Speaking of the warehouses...

I lean back in my seat when Bass walks up with two unopened beer bottles as a peace offering.

“What do you say, Carver?” he holds one out for me. “Can the help sit with the queen?” he teases, but there’s a softness in his stare he chooses to share, letting me know he’s standing here with genuine intent.

With a playful roll of my eyes, I snatch one from him and he grins, dropping his onto the coffee table in front of me.

He pulls out his lighter, popping the tops off both of our drinks. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees he speaks low, “I fucked up. I’m sorry.”

I eye him. “For what exactly?”

“For putting the video shit on you and you alone. I should have come to you all, as a group.” His eyes bounce between mine, and I frown.

“Why do I feel like you’ve got more to say?”

He chuckles. “Because you’re smart and can read people.”

I smirk, taking a quick drink of my beer. “So out with it, Bishop.”

He nods, considering his next words carefully. “I’ve been around a minute now. I’ve seen what these people call Bray Girls – senseless girls who want a piece of power, even if it’s only on a bed for an hour once or twice. Those girls?” His brows jump. “They come and go, most of the time every few days. It was always expected. They knew they were on a temporary schedule. There was no respect, they were never included. They were just around so when it was time to hit the sack, they were near.”

My nose scrunches, and he smirks.

“Don’t like hearing that, huh?”

“I’m aware of how each of them plays.” I glance at Maddoc, who openly watches us from his spot against the wall on the opposite side of the room, arms crossed, biceps bulging, glare intact.

Heat spreads through my abdomen and as if he senses it, his lip twitches. “He’s mine now, so I don’t give a shit about what he used to do.”

I look back to Bass.

“Just him?” he asks bluntly.

“Just him, though, the other two are real close to catching up,” I joke and he knocks my knee with his, making me laugh. “Nah, Maddoc is...”

“You,” he says. “Maybe a little crazier.”

“Only a little?” I lift a brow.

He chuckles. “I’d bet you’re pretty fucking even.”

“He likes my crazy, and I want his madness. It’s pretty fucking simple.”

Bass nods. “Looks simple, natural-like, from the outside, too. I think that’s why people are trippin’.”

“What do you mean?”

He lets his tongue touch his lip ring before continuing. “The guys haven’t had a single Bray Girl since you came in. Not even the two free Brayshaws.”

“They fuck all the time.”

“Yeah,” he nods. “They fuck, but they don’t allow anyone extra time around. Not since you got here.”

“They would if there was someone they wanted to keep.” I grow protective.

“They want to keep you.” He dips his head. “They don’t want you to think you’re like the others. They’ve been trying to show you what you mean to them, the only way they know how.”

“This isn’t some big gang bang, Bass.”

He gives me a pointed look. “Trust me, I know. Maddoc is real fucking clear on who belongs to who, feel me?” He lifts a brow and I laugh. “All right, look. Everyone around here knows, without a doubt, nobody could stand with them, so nobody has dared to try. Behind, yeah. In the same circle, sure, but never beside.” He licks his lips and looks off. “You, though, Rae. You might just be able to stand a solid foot in front.” He meets my stare. “I think I saw that before they did. Maybe I even acted like a bitch about it.”

“What are you trying to say, Bass?”

“I’m telling you there is no one like you, Raven Carver, and we all know it. We see it and feel it and that’s some powerful shit, girl.”

I try to look away, but he shifts, keeping me in his line of sight.

“What, you thought not?” he asks.

“I’m tired of people saying that like it’s what I was looking for here. I mean, who fucking cares—”

“I care,” he cuts me off. “I care because you doubt your power over this place and I want you to find it.”

I eye him a minute and he frowns, his lips pinching together.

Huh.

Pulling my feet up, I sit Indian style on the couch and lean my forearms on my knees, dropping closer to him. “Why?”

He starts to sit back, but I tilt my head and lift a brow in challenge.

“Why do you want that for me? Why’s it so important?”

He curses under his breath, running a hand over his face quickly. “Because I need to know a girl who lived like me, fucked up mentally and cut off emotionally – to most, anyway – can fight her way from the bottom and come out with sharper claws, not broken ones.”