I swallowed thickly.

He gentled his voice. “We’ll talk later.”

It was all I needed. I needed to know he was safe, they were both safe.

As I made my way back outside, exhaustion had settled in. Everything in me wanted to fall to the ground. I wanted to curl in a fetal position, have Mason carry me home, and tuck us both into bed. But when I saw Ethan by his garage, I figured he’d do. He stood with a group of guys, but all of them moved away when I approached.

“No cops?” I glanced around.

Ethan’s frowned as he took in my sweaty state. “No,” he clipped out. “The main attraction is inside. I just own the property.”

I was a bit more wary now. “Could you give me a ride home? Mason—”

He lifted a hand. “No need. I’ll give you a ride.” Then he gestured for his buddies to leave and they did. One of them tossed a pair of keys to him and he caught it in a swift motion. He nodded towards the red Ferrari behind us, and I slid into the front seat with even more relief.

The engine purred to life and he drove frontwards instead of backwards. There was another driveway that rounded to the edge of his place. He was able to bypass a lot of the extra traffic and any that lingered on the premises. As we turned at the end of his street, he murmured, “You might want to duck down.”

“Why?”

He eyed a group on my side. I caught the orange and black and slid to the floor. There was no explanation needed. When we went past, I heard a few curses yelled at the car, but Ethan drove past with a bored expression on his face.

“You can come back up.”

I glanced in the rear view mirror. A few of their guys stood in the street now. It was obvious they still watched us.

And then I asked him, “Who’s Broudou?”

He grimaced, but he didn’t hesitate. “Budd Broudou.”

“Who is he?”

“Their ring leader. He hates Mason.”

He grunted and rolled his eyes. The car slid smoothly down the street. “Because his little sister is obsessed with Mason, that’s why.”

“Are you kidding me? This is all because of his sister.”

He lifted an easy shoulder. “More or less. Broudou was unstoppable in football and pretty much every sport he played, but that ended when Mason and Logan came to town. They moved here two years ago, you know. When they did, the first football game we had against Roussou took the cake. They always dominated us before that, but we killed ‘em. We massacred them. They got pissed and Budd took it personally. Then his little sister propositioned Mason after a game. You can figure how well that went over.”

“He turned her down?”

“He laughed in her face.” At my lack of shock, he grinned. “Mason doesn’t laugh in girls’ faces anymore, but he did then. He was a bigger jerk back then.”

It was hard to believe, but moving along.

He chuckled at my face. “Broudou lost a scholarship to Mason. He tell you that? He’s got a golden ticket to most schools he wants, but he also got the one that Broudou wanted. Mason turned it down ‘cause he wants to stick close next year, but they never offered Broudou the alternate. They learned of the rivalry and threw his application out of the prospects. Another reason to hate Mason.”

When he was about to pull into the mansion, I pointed up. “Two more houses. I’m staying at my dad’s.”

He glanced at the house when he pulled into the driveway. “Don’t look like anyone’s here.”

Garrett’s car was gone, but when wasn’t it? I had grown used to having the house to myself. I shrugged. “His wife’s in town. Pretty sure he’s at her hotel, or that’s what I’m guessing. I don’t know. I don’t care.”

When I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the car, Ethan’s window slid down. He called out, “Mason’s worried about you, you know. If Broudou learned who you are, how much they both care about you…” He whistled and shook his head. “Not good, girl. Not good.”

A sense of unease fluttered in my stomach.

Then he flashed me a cocky smirk. “See ya, Kade’s bitch.”

I sighed as the car roared away. In his world, that was considered a compliment.

When I went inside, there was a note from Garrett. I’d been right in my guess. Bella was at a hotel and he was with her, but then I got another shock. She was moving in the next day, when I moved out. My fingers went numb at that moment and the note fluttered to the floor. I sighed. Should I have been surprised? I was out and she was in. I swallowed over a knot in my throat and turned for my room. Instead of bed, I changed into a tank and shorts and grabbed my iPod. Off to the treadmill I went, and I remained there for another three hours.

When I limped back to my room, I showered before I checked my phone. There was no message from Mason. I was too numb to feel anything more so I crawled into my bed.

I woke when my door opened. Light from the hallway blinded me for a moment before it was turned off and then Mason slid into bed with me. I glanced at the clock and saw it was six in the morning, but I was too tired to ask any questions. He bundled me against him and tucked his body around mine. With a big yawn, I felt him start to relax. His breathing evened out a couple seconds later and then I closed my own eyes again.

My hand slid over and I linked my tiny finger around his.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

When I woke the next morning, it was late. Mason had gone. He whispered his reason, but I only remembered something about basketball. My legs still ached from the late-night run so I took my time as I packed everything together. Two hours later I had it all back in my old bedroom. There was no sign of Analise, which I was grateful about and no sign of anyone else. I didn’t doubt that Logan was wherever Mason had gone, but I didn’t text either of them to see when they would return.

I was back in the mansion. I would see both of them more often, though I still saw Mason quite a bit when he slept over.

Becky texted me in the afternoon and asked if I would go to a movie with her. I did. Her mindless chatter about Rex kept me entertained throughout the movie. The money I spent hadn’t been to see the cinema; it was to get my mind off my mother and Budd Broudou. I shuddered at the thought of him. A bad feeling had taken root in my gut after Ethan’s warning the previous night. It had spread since and I couldn’t shake it.

“And then Rex touched my boob!”