Society Girls: Neveah (18 page)

I understand how she can give my father a
chance after all he’s done, but I’m not giving Dylan a chance? Even
if he did cheat on me, I should let him tell me himself. And what
if he didn’t? Ellie wouldn’t deny that he slept with the women, but
what if it’s not how it looks? Camari said things can be slanted in
a certain way, and I know it’s true, so why did I just blindly
believe what I saw on the news? I didn’t even look at the pictures.
I just let my insecurities get the best of me.

I don’t
want
to look at the pictures, but I
need to. I need to see it all, and then I need to call him. “I have
to go,” I tell them, getting up. “I have to give myself my own
chance at happiness.”

“With the ball player? Come on, Nev, it’s
all over the news. He was with those other women,” Sully says,
curling his lip in disgust.

“Yes, he probably was, but I’m not sure I
believe it was really while he was with me. I don’t believe he’d
cheat on me. I let myself get distracted, and thought I did, but in
my heart, I don’t believe it.”

“Go to him, my sweet girl.”

I walk to the door, but the sound of an
alarm going off stops me. I turn and see Reina put her phone to her
ear. “They breached the gate? When? How? Who was hurt? I’m on my
way.”

“What is it?” I ask, afraid that I know the
answer already.

“Some men have breached the security we have
in place at Dylan’s house. They took out three guards, and disabled
the rest. I need to go now.”

“I’m going with you.”

She looks conflicted, but nods. “Come
on.”

I race out the door with her, trying to keep
my thoughts positive. I can’t think that Dylan could be dead, I
just can’t. I need him to be okay, and then I need to tell him that
nothing matters but us. I don’t have time to get out my prayer rug,
so I pray without it, begging Allah to spare him. I pray for my
father as well, but as wrong as it may be, if only one of them can
be saved, I need it to be Dylan.

* * *

Dylan

I’m down in the gun range when the alarm
goes off. I wasn’t planning on shooting today, just reminiscing,
but I run to the safe, and pull out two guns. I load them and place
silencers on both, holstering one on my shoulder, and placing extra
ammo in my pockets. I don’t hear anything as I climb the stairs,
but I didn’t really expect to. After all, they’re not here for me.
I have no doubt they’ll take me down if I give them the chance, but
I’m not planning on letting that happen.

Once I make it to the main floor, I see two
men tossing my things around. I take them both out before they even
see me. I don’t know how many more are here, but I’m going to take
advantage of every minute of training Sadiq has given me over the
years, and do my best to hold them off until the Society gets here.
My sister and her friends will come—of that I have no doubt.

I don’t encounter anyone else as I make my
way through the kitchen, and look outside. What I see makes my
stomach roil. There are four more men outside, along with Sadiq.
They have him on his knees and I know that if I don’t do something,
he’s going to be dead in the next couple of minutes. I owe Sadiq so
much, and although he’s told me my debt is paid, I can’t let the
man who saved my life die without trying to do the same for
him.

I slip out unnoticed as everyone by my pool
is focused on the execution about to take place. As the man behind
Sadiq raises his gun, I raise mine as well. I’m faster than him
because he thinks he has all the time in the world. My bullet slams
into his forehead and his gun goes off. It’s doesn’t kill Sadiq,
but slams into his right shoulder, knocking him over. I manage to
take out one other man before the remaining two begin opening fire
on me.

I take cover behind the bar in my outdoor
kitchen, thankful that I chose steel and tile instead of wood when
it was being constructed. It won’t hold forever, but it may last
long enough. I hear a yell and then a curse. The gunfire stops long
enough for me to look up and see Sadiq with a gun in his hand, a
third man on the ground, and the fourth pointing his gun at him. I
take the shot, watching him fall beside my friend.

Running over to Sadiq, I hear yelling coming
from behind me, and realize my mistake. I never checked the second
floor of my house, and of course they would send more than six men
here. I think of Nev as I wait for the bullets to hit my back, but
instead, I hear rather than feel the shots that are fired.

Turning, I see my sister and her best friend
standing behind me, and only one man left on his feet. “You will
pay for this, Dylan Gallagher. You don’t know who it is you killed,
but you will pay.”

The man sets off a smoke bomb, and although
the three of us race after him, he gets over the back wall of my
property and roars away on a four wheeler before any of us can get
a good shot off. I don’t know who I killed, but I believe him.
Sadiq may still be a target, but I’ve got an even bigger bullseye
on my back now as well. I thank Ellie and Jade, before running back
over to check on Sadiq.

It looks like he just has a flesh wound, but
we won’t know until he’s seen by a doctor. We all go inside, and
Jade starts to clean his wound while Ellie tries not to throw
up—she’s always hated the sight of blood.

“Thank you,” I tell her as everyone else
starts to arrive.

She shrugs. “Bros before…well pretty much
everyone else. Always.”

“Sisters, too,” I tell her, pulling her into
a hug.

We all move out of the way as Kendrick looks
over Sadiq. He determines that it is indeed just a flesh wound, and
stitches him up, right then and there. I keep Ellie’s head buried
in my shoulder until Aiden runs in and takes over. I look around at
everyone gathered here, but the one woman I want to see is missing.
I don’t even know if she knows what’s going on, and I think about
calling her, but that thought is put on hold when Reina calls us
all into the living room.

“I had to notify Elizabeth Mason about what
went down here. She’s sending a crew over, and I’m afraid that
Sadiq and Dylan will have to stay here until they’ve arrived. After
that, I’m taking you both to our apartment building. I should’ve
done that in the first place, but I thought this place was secure,
and I also foolishly thought we had a little more time. I’ve been
distracted, and I’m sorry that my inability to juggle everything
going on put you both at risk.”

“You did not put us at risk, Reina. The risk
has always been there. I don’t know how they found me, except that
maybe with all of Dylan’s publicity today, someone dug up his
friendship with a Muslim man. I tried to avoid as many photos as I
could, but I know there are a few floating around.”

“It was definitely Dylan,” Ainsley says,
looking at her tablet. “The stories about his five-some have been
overshadowed by exactly what you just said, his friendship with
you. There are some pretty nasty racial things being said, and
yeah, I don’t even know what to say about some of this stuff.”

The fuck? I’m not sitting by and letting
this happen. “Racial things? I need to make a statement. Now!”

“No, Dylan. You need to hide until we find
out who we’re dealing with,” Reina tells me.

“I’m not hiding from some racist
assholes.”

“She’s not talking about them. We heard that
man—he said you killed someone big, and that others will come for
you,” Ellie reminds me.

Could this day get any worse? I lost the
respect of a lot of people, I killed some bad men which may get me
killed in return, and oh yeah, I lost the woman I love. I don’t
care about the fans, because if they can’t deal with an active sex
life, or my friendship with someone from another culture, I didn’t
really want their respect anyway. What I do care about is Nev. I
said I wouldn’t chase her, but when I thought I was going to die,
she was who I thought of, and now I know that I’ll do anything and
everything I can to get her back.

Neveah

I stand in the hallway, pressing myself
against the wall so that no one sees me—so that Dylan doesn’t see
me. I came here afraid that he might die, and while I was relieved
to hear his voice when I walked in, what I just heard has done
something to me. I’ve been slowly changing since I met with Gavin,
but I wasn’t sure I would ever jump off the cliff into acceptance
of what I was feeling. I have now. Faith and I have had many talks
about her need for justice, and I can finally admit that I
understand it.

I not only understand it,
but I feel it deep in my bones. I don’t care who Dylan killed, but
I do care about the men who are going to come for him. I will not
let that happen. I
cannot
allow some bastards to kill the man I
love.

While everyone is still talking, I tiptoe
across the hall and down the stairs. I walk to the gun safe, and
use the combination Dylan told me. Opening it up, I grab my gun—the
gun he gave me. I’m going to need more than this gun, but I know
where to get what I need.

Getting off the estate is easier than I
thought it would be, but that’s only because law enforcement hasn’t
made it here yet. I’m guessing there’s a fight going on over
jurisdiction, but I don’t really care about any of that. I rode
here with Reina, but I walk out on my own, calling an Uber to pick
me up at the entrance to Dylan’s gated community. The guard at the
gate saw me come in, and waves as I walk past him. I’m thankful
because my ride pulls up less than five minutes later, where a cab
may have taken an hour to get to me.

I exchange small talk with my driver, but
don’t say much else on the short drive to the C&C building. I
smile at the security guards, and use the retina and hand scan to
take me down into Ainsley’s lair. No one gives me a second glance
as I walk into the hub of technology—after all, I am in training,
and all of us have come inside to do a project or two.

After settling in to one of the stations, I
pretend to bring up some homework. In reality, I’m looking at the
screens in front of me, and listening to what they’re all saying. I
know they’re using facial recognition on the dead men in Dylan’s
yard, and working to find out who’s behind the attack. I need this
information, and while I feel a twinge of remorse for going behind
everyone’s back, it doesn’t stop me. All I can focus on is keeping
him safe.

Ainsley’s team is the best of the best, and
it doesn’t take long to come up with names of the men Dylan killed.
Ainsley is also a great teacher, so it doesn’t take me more than a
few minutes to access the information I need from the terminal I’m
on. Combined with Tegan’s research classes, Audrey’s physics
lessons, and Stella’s style sessions, I’m more prepared when I walk
out of the building an hour later. I have two bags with me, and I
hope to God that what I have inside of them is enough. It has to
be, or I may die right along with Dylan.

I call Matt as I wait for another Uber
pickup. He answers on the second ring. “Where are you, Nev? Reina
said you disappeared from Dylan’s place.”

“I had to get away. That’s why I’m calling,
actually. I was hoping you’d let me borrow a jet.”

“Where are you going?”

“Somewhere that has a beach,” I say, telling
him the truth about that, at least.

“Have you told Reina?”

“I was waiting to see if you’d let me borrow
one before I texted her.”

“You could always fly commercial if I don’t
have a jet available. Unless there’s a reason you need my jet.”

Dammit! He knows I’m up to something. The
Corrigan jets are covered by the Society’s power, and there is no
TSA check on them. I probably couldn’t take a nuclear warhead on
one, but a gun and some high tech explosive charges should be
okay.

“Just yes or no, Matt.”

“You know it’s a yes. Go to the North Las
Vegas airfield instead of McCarran. I’ll have a pilot and a jet
waiting there for you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Don’t forget to text
Reina.”

I promise him that I’ll text her before we
hang up. I fire off the text as my Uber pulls up, but I turn off my
phone before she responds. I don’t need her to track me, especially
if someone notices what I’ve taken before I get back. I apologize
to the Uber driver for having to change my destination, but I
promise a nice tip to compensate for the shorter drive.

When we pull onto the private airstrip, I
realize that Matt gave in too easily. I don’t know how they all
beat me here, but Matt, Aiden, Nate, Jake, and Theo are all
standing in front of the stairs leading up to the plane. I’m going
to talk my way onto that plane, no matter what. I have to.

“What are you all doing here?” I ask,
getting out of the car with my duffle bags.

“We’ve been planning to go on a fishing
trip, and when you mentioned the beach, we thought deep sea fishing
would be fun,” Matt says.

“How convenient.”

“Isn’t it, though?” Theo asks with a
smirk.

“I don’t need your help.” That’s a lie, and
we all know it.

“We’ll only step in if it’s
absolutely necessary, but we
are
going with you,” Nate tells me.

“I can’t put you at risk, or ask you to kill
someone because of me.”

“Honey, has no one told you about me?” Aiden
asks.

“Not really.”

“Let me give you the short
version. You know how Faith likes to kill for justice? I
love
to kill for the
kill. Letting me off my leash makes me so happy. So very, very
happy.”

“Knock it off, Cujo. You’re scaring her,”
Jake tells him. He kind of is.