The Price We Pay (14 page)

“I’m trying, Randy.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“What about you?” I asked stretching my legs out.

He slowly turned his head my way, making sure the cigarette smoke wasn’t in my face. “What about me?”

“Relationships. Have you had any?”

He looked back to the yard, pulling a drag from his cigarette. “I guess you could call it that.”

“Did she break your heart?”

“No.”

“Fuck buddies?” I guessed because I still didn’t know much about him.

“I guess you could call it that,” he repeated.

I smiled his way, but he didn’t see it. “Do you know what you’re doing after this?”

“No clue.”

“You want to be friends?”  I asked.

“We are.”

“I mean after we all leave the house.”

He smirked. “You inviting me to your wedding?”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” I said trying to hide my yawn but failed.

“Everyone’s leaving today but us, you should take a nap.”

He was right; a nap sounded good.

“Maybe I will,” I muttered while he lit another cigarette. The man smoked way too much but he didn’t care. He said it was the least of his worries.

“I’ll wait until you wake up to mow the lawn,” he stated.

I glanced around noticing the yard went all the way down the driveway, and who knows how far it stretched on each side. Not to mention the back yard.

“That’s a lot.”

“Takes all day,” he replied. “Sometimes two if it rains.”

“Please tell me he has a riding lawnmower.”

Randy chuckled and nodded his head.

“Then I guess it’s not too bad,” I said.

“Nope.”

“I’ll make lunch today,” I offered.

“Appreciated.”

“And lemonade,” I added.

“Sure.”

“Do we have lemonade?” I asked.

“No.”

We both laughed. “Water, beer, or milk,” I said standing from the step.

“Have a good nap, Harp.”

I smiled and walked into the house and saw Jaxon and Latch in the kitchen. They both turned to me. Jaxon of coursed grinned and winked at me, while Latch just did his chin jerk thing.

“Boys,” I said walking by and Jaxon yelled back, “You know damn well Harper, I’m not a boy!”

My cheeks felt hot and I rushed into the master room slamming the door behind me. Sofia turned around; her shiny black hair was in perfect curls. She had so much natural beauty and she never flaunted it or thought she was better than us. I’ve heard from Marvey how rich her parents were, and what her condo was like, but I still couldn’t picture it, or the two of them living there.

“Well, well, well…look at you,” she teased.

“What?” I said running my hand over my hair for no reason.

“You look all flushed. Hot and bothered maybe?”

The bathroom door flew open and Marvey rushed out. “How was it? Good? Bad? Did you cuddle all night or fuck? Because if you were fucking, you guys were really quiet. I heard nothing when I was in the kitchen last night.”

“Why were you in the kitchen?”

“I was thirsty,” she said like it was no big deal. “So get to it.”

“Get to what?” I asked going to the dresser and grabbing clean clothes.

“Details woman, don’t leave us hanging,” Sofia piped in.

I didn’t like talking about these kind of things, they always made me feel uncomfortable so I composed myself best I could and turned around. “I had fun. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to shower.”

“You showered last night,” Marvey said putting her arm out so I couldn’t pass her.

“So what.”

“She needs to clean the sex off,” Sofia joked.

“I sure do,” I said pushing passed her and I stopped at the door. These ladies were becoming my friends and this is what friends do, they talk. They share. And I hoped after all of this was over, we’d still be friends.

“I’m sore from the best sex I’ve ever had.” Then I slipped into the bathroom before they could reply.

By the time I got out of the shower, they were gone so I climbed in bed to nap.

Sofia

“We should probably go easy on her,” I told Marv after Harper shut the bathroom door.

“She’s getting used to us.”

“Yes, but you still scared her off.”

Marv shrugged a shoulder then started brushing her wet hair. “She’s shy and it's totally cute. No wonder Jaxon has the hots for her.”

I was happy she was giving Jaxon a chance and opening up more. Harper was nice, sweet, and everyone deserved to be happy.

Speaking of happy. I woke up happy. I was seeing Kennedy today after my finals. But first Marv and I were headed to the condo. As much as I liked being here and enjoying the break from my life, I was still me. I needed my clothes. I needed to get back to my life. I couldn’t wear these to school anyway and have my parents find out that I wore sweat pants out in public. I was surprised they stopped interrupting the investigation and quit threatening to bring lawyers into the middle of it but I’m sure Kennedy had something to do with it. I knew he’d do whatever it took to keep us safe.

“I’m curious to see what her hair looks like when she changes it back.” Marv kept talking out loud. “She’s an amazing blonde, but I think she could pull off any color.”

“She could.”

There was nothing to bring, no purse to hold or phone to make sure I had, so Marv and I made our way out to the living room after she pulled her hair up. It was already warm outside so I was trying to think of what to wear. I wanted something easy, not too heavy; I needed to be comfortable during my exam. I had two exams today and two tomorrow; then, I was done. I’d be graduating next week; my life was moving on despite the circumstances of the past week.

Latch and Jaxon didn’t share much with us but I knew Kennedy wanted me home, I knew he was doing his best to get me there. Marvey could technically go home, but I knew Latch liked her out here. Plus, she’d be alone and it wasn’t the best idea for any of us to be alone right now. My father owned my condo and I was going to make sure he’d let Marvey stay there until she was back on her feet. If not, then she’d be moving in with Kennedy and I. Things were going to be different when I got back and Kennedy knew that we had a lot to talk about.

“Let’s get this over with,” Latch muttered and Marv ran to catch up with him. She grabbed his hand and they walked out the door.

So cute.

“You gonna pass your finals?” Jaxon asked as we walked out of the house.

“Not to toot my own horn, but I’m going to pass.”

“You seem smart,” he replied.

“Thanks.”

“You got this,” Randy yelled after me from the steps.

“Thanks, Randy!” He saluted me, then went into the house and shut the door. I didn’t blame him; it was much cooler in there. The humidity clung to my body as I made my way to the van.

Latch and Marvey talked quietly in the seat behind me the entire drive to the condo. I had to stop at the special flower pot that held my spare key before I headed upstairs. My housekeeper was here every day even when I wasn’t. It was in the contract my parents set up with her. So when we got there and it was sparkly clean with fresh flowers on the table, I wasn’t surprised.

“No phone calls,” Latch reminded Marvey and she ran to her room.

“I’m calling work like we discussed,” she yelled before she slammed her door.

Marvey’s more than likely fired but she still needed to call and try to explain. She wasn’t too worried about it, though; she’s been in worse situations.

Latch and Jaxon stayed in the kitchen and I went to my room to figure out what to wear. Normally I had my outfits picked out for weeks, depending on what was happening so I didn’t have to worry about it when the time came. However, with the week off from all my duties of being the perfect daughter and fiancé, the outfits were all out of place. The walk in closet welcomed me home and I ran my hands over my clothes. This room was almost the size of my bedroom, was painted white just like my room and held hundreds of outfits and shoes. My mom was always getting new clothes shipped to me so some of them were still in the original bags.

I heard a noise that sounded like it came from the bathroom that was on the other side of the closet. I grabbed one of my heels and gripped it in my hands, just in case I needed to hit someone. I slowly walked out of the closet and peeked around the corner into the bathroom.

“What the hell?” I gasped dropping my shoe to the floor.

“Hey, babe,” Kenny said grabbing the towel to dry his hands off. I ran to him.

I kissed him.

I really missed him.

“What are you doing here?” I asked against his lips, arms around his neck. “You were shot Kenny; you should be home healing.”

“I missed you.” He stole a kiss and kept going. “You’re coming home today and I wanted to surprise you.” I gasped and he went on, “I’ve got it all worked out. Extra security on the outside and two on the inside. Not sure why someone wants me dead, but the police and my own personal security team are working on it. They’ll get it figured out and taken care of soon enough.”

“You have a special security team?” I asked in a soft whisper. He held my head in his hands and his intense green eyes sparkled at me.

“The day you came to see me in the hospital…”

“I remember.”

“There was something different about you.”

I gave him a sarcastic smile. “I was crying, upset, and had no makeup on besides dealing with the fact you had been shot.”

“It was more,” he went on.

“The sweats?” I joked.

He chuckled then got serious real fast. “You, Sofia. My sweet, beautiful soon-to-be wife. Something about you was different.”

“Oh.” I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

“You’ve never looked at me like you did the day at the hospital.”

“Of course not. You’ve never been shot.” He opened his mouth to say something but Marvey interrupted us.

“What are you doing here?” she asked Kennedy while we broke apart. “Oh my God, was this part of the plan? Why didn’t I know this was part of the plan!?”

“Marv, it wasn’t part of the plan,” I interjected.

“I knew Sofia was coming by this morning and I wanted to surprise her,” Kennedy said moving us into the middle of my room. “Babe, you got finals.”

“Right.” I ran back into the closet and started stripping while eyeing the clothes. In the back of the closet, bright as the sun, I saw the perfect thing to wear. A cute silky yellow sundress with tan sandals. I was finally able to carry a purse, so I double checked I had everything I needed for my exams plus some extra pencils, while Kennedy and Marvey continued to chat in the middle of my room.

After I got my things together we headed back out to the kitchen to surprise Latch and Jaxon.

Latch noticed him first and his face got hard. “What the fuck?”

“I have a key,” Kennedy informed him while he put his hand out to him. “It’s nice to officially meet you, without being shot at,” his voice had a nervous edge to it, “or laying in the hospital.”

They shook hands, then Kennedy shook hands with Jaxon. “Sofia’s coming home with me after her finals.”

“I don’t think-”

“I’ve got my own security detail,” he said firmly.

“Where are they?” Jaxon asked crossing his arms on his chest.

“You didn’t see them?” Kenny asked.

“No,” Jaxon replied.

“Good, then they’re doing their job. I’ve got two men on me and one on Sofia.”

“I do?” I asked coming to Kennedy’s side.

“Yeah babe, no chances.”

“You always take care of me,” I said leaning up while he leaned down to kiss me.

“Finals,” Marvey said interrupting what could have been a really good kiss.

“Finals,” I whispered against Kennedy's lips, then he whispered against mine, “I’ll see you in a few hours. Good luck, sweetheart.”

I nodded, he left to take care of something and said he’d be there to pick me up after I was done with my finals.

I double checked to make sure I had what I needed to take my finals and we headed back down

I sat in the seat with Marv this time, the guys up front.

“Marv honey, you okay?” I asked and she kept staring at the driver’s seat because there was no window on that side of the van.

She sighed, “I’m tired.”

I knew she was lying; she slept like a rock last night. I could only wonder if she was thinking the same thing I was. She only had me and I was leaving her in a few hours.

Jaxon started up the van. “We’ll wait until you’re done, Sofia.”

“You don’t have to,” I replied.

“Make sure you get with Kennedy and everything is good on his end,” Jaxon continued as he pulled out of the parking spot, “then we can part ways.”

I laid my head back, resting it on the back of the seat, and closed my eyes. I needed to clear my mind. Focus. I knew I would pass, I just needed to get myself centered and push away all the drama and activities that I’ve been through this past week. This was the only thing that I ever had that I felt was mine. I fought for it and enjoyed my college years even though I didn’t live in the dorms or attend any college parties. It was mine, and it was almost over.

I glanced at my ring finger. We decided I wouldn’t wear the ring because all our lives we knew we’d be married, plus Kennedy wanted the perfect ring and hadn’t found one yet.

The van stopped at the door and they said they’d find a spot and see me in a few hours.

I smiled, Marvey wished me good luck and I went to take my finals.

Kennedy

I was standing outside the black town car, leaning against it while I waited for Sofia to finish her finals. Jaxon and Latch were in the spot next to me. I thanked them for what they did for her and Marvey this past week. Marvey said
Hi
to me but then laid back down on the seat. The door was open for airflow because it was extremely hot today, and I knew she heard our conversation unless she had actually been able to sleep in this heat.

Sofia didn’t know Marvey that well, but they’ve bonded the last six months and I knew Sofia cared for her. She also felt like she had to take care of Marvey and I loved that about her. She never let the money get to her or change her. Her parents were worse than mine were, but she turned out to be an amazing, strong woman—the complete opposite of them.

She was her own person.

Our best memories were when it was just the two of us and we could both just be ourselves.

My phone rang. “Gabe,” I greeted, taking a step away from the car when I saw a couple of people walk out of the south end of the brick building.

He wasted no time. “Got the security camera feed from the night you were shot.”

“And?”

“Not the best quality, but one of my guys got a partial plate. Running it now. I’ll let you know what we get when it’s done.”

“Good.”

“It could be if the plates aren’t fake.”

“Shit, I hadn’t thought about that,” I muttered keeping my eye on the entrance of the building but I wasn’t the only one. Latch was on the phone not paying attention but Jaxon was watching the door. He glanced at me, then back to the door, and I swung my head back to the entrance. The doors busted open, and students started hustling out in a crazy fashion. There were more students than I expected to see. Sofia was short but I saw a flash of yellow among the crowd. A second burst of students came running out, whooping, hollering, and was that a scream I just heard…It was hard to tell and my eyes darted back and forth, searching for Sofia. The crowd was impossibly thick, that wasn’t the worst part. They were naked. Naked men and women running around like they were at a rave.

I lost the yellow dress and my worst fears smacked me like a train.

Something was wrong.

“Shit.” I took off running towards the crazy crowd and still had the phone to my ear.

“What’s wrong?”

“Sofia!” I yelled out, running up the sidewalk, shoving people out of my way.

“Where are you?” Gabe asked.

“The college.” I hung up, shoved the phone in my pocket while yelling her name. The crowd was thick and they weren’t moving. I shoved my way around naked bodies, looking for a yellow dress.

I couldn’t find the yellow dress.

I made my way to the entrance and slipped into the building.

Where the fuck was her detail?

There were a few girls walking towards me and a few guys came running out of one of the rooms, naked.

“Sofia!” I yelled, listening to my words echo down the hallway.

The herd of students rushed through the doors and the hallway grew louder.

“I lost her.”

I spun around and charged at him, slamming him into the wall.

“How the fuck did you lose her!?”

“All the kids,” he choked.