Gone?

No!

Tipping my head back to the sky, I stared at the stars and ran my palms down my face. Fuck, he had all the money. All Mamma’s med money.

A hand slapped on my shoulder—Gio.

“He had all our f**kin’ money.” I voiced my concern out loud.

Gio nodded his head as though in sympathy, but I could see the spark of excitement in his eyes. “Then we get you more,” he said simply.

Staring off to my trailer, I saw Levi watching me from the window, his bruised face now more yellow. I met his eyes and saw the pleading in his gaze. But then I looked to Mamma’s bedroom window, and I knew what had to be done.

“You need a right-hand man until Axel comes back?”

Gio’s wide grin took up all his Sicilian face. “Time to make some green, Austin. You and me gonna clean up.”

A question that had been plaguing me for years came to mind. “Gio?”

“Yeah?”

“How did Axe get me out of the crew when I was seventeen? What did promise you?”

Gio pointed to Levi standing at the window and my heart sank. “Him. Axe promised me your baby bro as soon as he reached fourteen.”

Rage like never before surged through me. Why was Axel such a f**kin’ disappointment? And why did he always have to put this f**kin’ crew first?

“Let’s go, kid. We got business,” Gio said, waving me over. And with Gio’s hand around my shoulder, I let him walk me into his trailer.

I was now the Heighters’ number-two man.

Fuckin’ A.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lexi

One month later…

“So you’ll come to our housewarming tonight?” Molly asked over the phone. She sounded so excited, and my chest burned in happiness for her, but perhaps an element of jealously also.

“I’m… I’m not sure, Molls. I’m supposed to go to—”

Molly’s heavy sigh cut me off. “Lexi, we never see you anymore. You’re always at home with your folks or busy doing something else with the squad. I swear, you and Austin have almost completely disappeared from our lives.”

Daggers pierced my heart as she mentioned Austin. I hadn’t spoken to him in ages, hadn’t even seen him. And as for spending all my time with my folks? They were all wrong, my folks were still away. I was always at their house alone, Daisy’s grave or the gym. I didn’t even go to my classes. Now that cheerleading had stopped and the football season was at an end, I needed to exercise somehow. Hide away somewhere no one ever went.

I was down to seventy pounds flat. I was almost at perfection.

“Lexi? Are you there, sweetie?” Molly asked.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

“So will you come? We want to see you… We all do… We miss you. Since I moved in with Rome, I seem to see everyone but you. I hate not seeing your lovely bright smile.” Her voice was a whisper at the end, and I felt like the worst friend in the world.

“Okay, I’ll be there, Molls. What time?”

“Is seven okay?” she asked, and I could hear the relief in her voice.

“I’ll be there, Molls. I’m excited to see your new place.”

As Molly hung up the phone, I began planning what to wear. It had to be something that would disguise how much weight I’d lost, something where they wouldn’t suspect. I should double up on my jeans and shirts to add more pounds. If I bulked up my clothes they wouldn’t notice the weight loss.

Weight loss, Lexington? You have not lost enough for them to notice anything, the voice said in response to my thoughts. He was right. I hadn’t lost enough for them to notice anything. I wasn’t committing to my weight loss hard enough.

I ran my hand through my hair in panic, and as I pulled my hand down, a clump of hair came out in my hand. When this first happened, I recoiled in shock. Now it made me happy.

I was so close to reaching perfection.

I stood at the sprawling white apartment complex, and my eyes widened. This place was amazing. I knew Rome had lots of money, but this was something else.

Walking to the intercom, I pressed the button for number four, and the buzzer sounded, opening the gate.

As I entered the main doors, I looked up at the elevator but decided to take the stairs. Four flights of stairs would burn around twenty calories. But when I made it to the second floor, my vision blurred and I had to grab the handrail for support. I felt as though someone were squeezing my lungs as my breathing became labored and I struggled to get oxygen in my body.

“Lexi? Are you down there?”

My head snapped up at the sound of Molly’s voice, and I straightened, taking a deep breath, and set to climbing the rest of the stairs, finding a source of energy from somewhere deep within.

Molly’s smiling face was at the top. She looked beautiful dressed in a fitted pink dress and her brown hair down. But when her eyes met mine, that smile on her face seemed to falter.

As I reached the top, I avoided her hug by passing her a gift bag. “For your housewarming,” I said, and Molly took the bag without looking inside.

“Thanks, sweetie,” she said, still staring at me, and motioned for me to enter the apartment.

It was beautiful—all white, pristine walls and modern furnishings.

Hearing the murmur of voices from what I presumed was the living room, I made my way through to see Rome, Cass, Reece, Jimmy-Don, and Ally.

No Austin, though. I wasn’t sure if I was happy or sad about that fact.