“What the fuck?” Carl stumbled into the wall, his speech slurred as he rambled. Carl flipped the light switch, and the single yellow bulb flickered on. “Who the fuck are you?” Carl didn’t wait for an answer; he merely continued to babble incoherently. “I have the right to defend myself in my own goddamn house. I’ll kill you, too.”
“Put the bat down,” Max commanded, his voice harder than Leyton had ever heard it. The next thing Leyton heard was the telltale sound of a gun being cocked, followed by, “Now.”
“Fuck you” Carl spat. “Get outta my goddamn house!”
“Put. It. Down,” Max insisted, stepping backward to get closer to Leyton.
As he got to his feet, unable to use his arm because the pain was too intense, Leyton glared at his father. Carl’s face was ruddy, spittle trailed from his lower lip, and his greying hair was greasy and standing on end. But there was something else, something Leyton had never seen on his father’s face before.
Pure, unadulterated fear.
Leyton looked at Max, and then he understood why his father was cowering. Max had a lethal-looking gun—equipped with a silencer—aimed at Carl, his face cold and hard.
“Put the bat down,” Max said calmly, his eyes on Carl. “Leyton?”
“Yeah?” he rasped, his head pounding.
“You okay?” Max asked.
He wasn’t sure what the answer to that was. The shards of pain in his head had caused his vision to dim. His arm and shoulder throbbed. He stumbled but managed to use the wall to steady himself.
“I’ll kill you,” Carl said, hatred flashing in his red-rimmed eyes as he glared at Leyton. “Don’t think I won’t. You won’t have him to save you next time, I promise you that.”
It was in that moment that Leyton realized what Max’s destiny truly was. Leyton was aware of what the Southern Boy Mafia was, what it entailed, thanks to his friendship with Max, but part of him had always thought it was a myth. Mafia. Sure, Leyton admired the structure and the lack of fear they had, was even envious of the way people treated them, as though they should be feared. Looking at Max as he steadily held the gun on Leyton’s father, he understood everything clearly. He knew that this moment, depending on what happened next, would forever change his life. And yes, possibly Max’s as well.
“Leyton,” Max said, drawing his attention once again.
“Yeah?”
“I’m offerin’ you another way out. Right here. Right now.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” Carl asked, drooling as he stumbled and grabbed the wall.
“Say the word,” Max intoned, ignoring Carl. “That’s all you have to do. You’ll never have to worry about this piece of shit again.”
“I’m the only family the shithead has,” Carl snapped.
Max’s hardened gaze slid back to Carl once again. “Not true,” Max stated, the words enhanced by his deadly calm demeanor. “You’re not his family. I am.” Max cocked his head slightly toward Leyton. “What do you want, Leyton? Because taking your own life isn’t the only way out. Not anymore.”
Leyton understood what Max was offering him. He’d never had anyone stand up for him before, and he knew if it weren’t for Max, he would probably be dead already—whether it was by his own hand or his father’s. For that, he was grateful.
And that was the reason he felt no remorse whatsoever when he told Max, “Kill him.”
One shot.
That was all it took.
Ashlynn was lying on her bed, playing on her laptop when she heard Max come in. Her bedroom door was open, so she stared out into the hall, waiting to see him pass by her room on the way to his. Something had happened, she’d realized that earlier when the phone had rung and her father had gone apeshit, yelling at Max. Eventually, he’d calmed down and told Max that he’d get it taken care of.
She didn’t know what it was, but she was glad to see Max had come back in one piece.
Closing her laptop, Ashlynn was about to run to him, ask if he was okay when she saw Leyton. He briefly turned to look at her, and her breath lodged in her chest.
His face…
God. It was…
“Are you okay?” she whispered, unable to keep from getting to her feet and walking toward him.
As usual, Leyton shook his head and then started down the hall. Ashlynn followed.
When he went into the guestroom he’d used on occasion, she followed him inside and shut the door behind her.
“What happened? Do you need a doctor?”
“No,” he snapped, his eyes sliding back to the door as he sat on the edge of the bed. “I’m fine, Ash. You need to go back to your room.”
Ashlynn knew that her father would go crazy if he caught her in there with Leyton, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. So, rather than leave the way Leyton wanted her to, she closed the distance between them. She came to stand directly in front of him, her hands coming up to his face, her fingers lightly grazing the bruised and swollen skin.
He hissed lightly, his eyes locked with hers.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“You didn’t,” he replied, his voice low.
With that knowledge, she gently cupped his jaw and turned his head so she could inspect his face more closely. “Looks like your nose is broken.”
“I know.”
“You should see a doctor.”
Another head shake was all she got in response.
When he turned back to look at her, Ashlynn felt something strange deep inside herself. She’d known for a long time that she liked Leyton, that he was cute and she’d started wanting him to talk to her. She had tried to make sure she was around when he came over, but lately, he’d hadn’t been there. When she asked Max where he was, her brother told her not to worry about it.
But she was worried.
She liked Leyton. A lot.
Her friend Amanda had told her she had a crush on him. Ashlynn knew what that meant because her best friend had a crush on a boy and they’d started “going together.” That part was a little more confusing to Ashlynn because they never seemed to go anywhere together, but they said they liked each other.
“Ash,” Leyton whispered, drawing her attention once again. “You need to go back to your room.”
She had the sudden urge to kiss him, and she couldn’t seem to resist it. Leaning forward, she pressed her lips to his softly. He hissed again but didn’t pull away until she did.
With her lips tingling and something strange stirring deep in her belly, Ashlynn met his gaze.