The Devil's Game (Rhodes to Hell Book 1) Page 9

  But, even though they don’t talk to me much Hollis and Elijah seem to be the closest things to friendship I’ve come to aside from Ruby and my sister.

  I get to the corner store and the pale blue hue of the store lights illuminating takes some getting used to once I step in from the dark sidewalk. I nod to the big guy behind the counter, Marcus, and he smiles.

  “Hey man, how ya been?” he asks.

  “I’ve been okay, Marcus, haven’t seen you up here in a while,” I say trying to remember the last time I saw him here. It’s been a while.

  “Yeah I broke my foot in April,” he tells me with a heavy sigh. “It was a slow recovery because this big ole gut!”

  He pats his belly as I walk to the candy aisle and I laugh. “Glad you’re back, man. It wasn’t the same without you.”

  He grunts a laugh as a response, and I bend down to pick up three packs of the sweet tart ropes but before I come back up I hear the bell above the door. I frown because I know it’s late and the streets were mostly empty when I was walking here. I don’t remember seeing anyone close by. For the person to be here now, they must have been hiding because I didn’t see them before I came in.

  I shake my head as I stand back up, turning around to grab a peach tea from the refrigerated shelves behind me. I reach for the bottle, but another hand beats me to it. I look at the guy standing next to me with grimace on my face and realize immediately why I didn’t see him on my way here. He’s been watching me.

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, my frown deepening.

  “I was sent to get you, but you came to me instead,” Elijah says with a shrug, looking down at the tea in his hand. “These any good?”

  “I was about to buy it,” I say to him flatly.

  “Right,” he says, a smirk almost pulling across his face. It doesn’t, because he’s just fucking with me, like he’s done since the night I met them … the night I killed for them. He doesn't do it as much when Hollis is around, but when he gets me alone—like now—he likes to lay it on thick. “You would like this sweet shit.”

  “You’d probably like being nice if you fucking tried it,” I tell him and a dry laugh rips from his lips.

  “Nah, I tried once. It didn’t end well for me,” he admits, holding the tea out to me. “Go pay for your shit, you have to come with me.”

  I start walking and head to the register and he walks with me. I look at him and ask, “Why?”

  “I guess you’ve done something right over the last few weeks,” he tells me as I get to the counter, “because Preston wants to meet you.”

  Chapter Twelve

  RUBY—PRESENT

  I cling to Elijah’s back as he carries me over the gravel and when I look over to Hollis I find him already looking in my direction. He won’t meet my eyes, but he knows I’m looking at him. All he’s focused on is the hand on the back of my thigh. He doesn’t say anything.

  When we get to the smooth pavement in front of the clinic Elijah puts me down and I walk the rest of the way to the door with them.

  Elijah looks down at me as we move through the sliding glass door and says, “They have those sticky socks here if you want a pair.”

  “It would be better than walking around a hospital barefoot,” I tell him, looking around before mumbling as I continue to walk, “even if it’s a not very busy private hospital.”

  “I’ll get her the socks,” Hollis says from behind us, “just put her on your back again since you enjoyed yourself so fucking much.”

  Elijah freezes beside me and turns his head to look in Hollis’s direction but he’s already walking away, I assume to go get the socks. I study Elijah’s handsome face as his expression turns angry and his eyebrows are dark and intimidating when he looks back to me. His eyes meet mine and they are dark and accusing, as if I am to blame for Hollis being upset.

  “I can walk,” I tell him.

  I don’t say anything else to him and continue on down the hall, leaving Elijah behind. I have no idea what their issue is, but what it looks like is jealousy and if I’m being completely honest, I hadn’t pegged Hollis for the jealous type.

  I get to the room I found Lucky in last night, but after peeking inside and finding it empty I continue on down the hall. I have no idea which room Tasha was put in last night because I’d only been able to see Lucky, but there are only five rooms in this hall, so I don’t have to look far.

  I crack the door furthest from the entrance and smile at my best friends laying together in the hospital bed, sleeping. As I get closer to them, I notice Tasha is a little swollen and Lucky still has dried tears all over her face. I stop when I get to the sink in the corner of the room and I take in my appearance in the mirror above the sink.

  I look like trash and not in the effortlessly hot grungy way some girls manage to pull off. My dark hair is matted in the loose ponytail I have it in and hairs fallen from my ponytail frame my face and fall down my back. My face is swollen and already bruising from where Benzo punched me. I am covered in dried blood and my scalp aches.

  I look like straight shit.

  Lucky stirs behind me and I turn to find her waking up. She looks around the room a little confused, but I see the exact moment when last night’s events come crashing back into her awareness. She eyes me from across the room and then a smile breaks across her face.

  “You look like shit.”

  “Fuck you,” I laugh quietly. “Last night was shit.”

  “Girl, what,” she says softly, getting out of bed slowly so she doesn’t wake Tasha. “I’ve never been more tired I don’t think.”

  “I can’t believe he shot her,” I say when she gets to my side.

  We both look back at Tasha as she sleeps peacefully, and I can’t believe we’d almost lost her. Her life is far from over and I knew in the moment he’d shot her I’d do anything to protect her and Lucky. I’ve known for a long time they were my family but being willing to kill for someone is another feeling entirely.

  “I can’t believe he’s dead. You fought him like a wild animal, Ruby,” Lucky tells me, glancing down at me again. Eyeing my bloody dress I’m sure. “I’d definitely rather have you on my side than as an enemy.”

  I chuckle and shake my head. Adrenaline is a crazy drug and over the last ten hours I’ve had more than enough of it thumping through my body. I’m so drained and running on fumes but until I know the cops aren’t going to send me to jail for murder and there won’t be another attempt on Tasha’s life, I know sleep won’t help anything I’m feeling. Even if it’s longer than the quick nap I took earlier.

  “I’m glad he’s dead.”

  Lucky doesn’t respond but I know she sees death a lot differently than I do. It isn’t easy for her like it is for me. I’m not afraid of death like she is, but I don’t want to die. Not anymore, at least.

  I walk over to Tasha and let my hand fall to hers where it is on the bed. I let my fingers walk up hers slowly and my touch alone makes her stir telling me she wasn’t sleeping very hard to begin with. When her eyes open slowly, she blinks a couple of times before opening her eyes and looking at me fully. She seems a little confused and her eyes widen when she truly sees me. I know she’s thinking the same thing Lucky said just a few minutes before.

  “I know I look like shit,” I chuckle. “I bet you feel worse.”

  She nods, but keeps her eyes on me. Guilt riddles her features and I see the tears building in her eyes. “I’m so sorry Ruby,” she tells me slowly, like it’s painful to even breathe.

  “I’d do it a hundred times over. I want to be mad at you for hiding your relationship from us, Tash, but honestly I don’t even care. I’m just glad you’re alive,” I tell her, wrapping my fingers around hers and squeezing. “Where you were hit didn’t do damage you can’t heal from. Somehow his dumb ass missed every vital organ when he shot you.”

  “He never could do anything right,” a voice from behind me says and I turn to see Elijah. “I guess in this case, his fuck up wa
s a good thing.”

  Hollis comes in behind him and looks completely unamused with Elijah but continues past him to me. He holds his hand out and I take the bright yellow socks from his hand.

  “Oh.” I laugh pulling them apart. “With this dress, these are about to catapult my fashion career to the top. Call Vogue.”

  I hear Lucky and Tasha snicker behind me, but the guys don’t laugh at all. Tough crowd. I sit on the edge of the hospital bed and slip the socks over my feet before standing again.

  “Thank you,” I tell Hollis and he nods before looking to Tasha over my head.

  “Thank you for everything,” Tasha echos, but the look on Hollis’ face remains impassive, making me wonder if he regrets helping us in the first place.

  Before anyone can say anything else, Messiah walks in the room only acknowledging the guys. “Preston said he wants us all in his office in ten minutes.”

  “All of us?” Elijah questions looking back at me and my friends.

  “Not her,” Messiah gripes his blue eyes stormy before turning and leaving again, probably heading back to the house then just to get away from me faster.

  I look up at Hollis and he’s watching the space Messiah left from and without another glance in my direction both of them leave the hospital room, leaving Tasha and Lucky alone with me again and I know the questions are coming now. When I turn around, both of them are looking at me with their mouths hanging open.

  “Was the guy who just walked out of here Messiah Clarke?” Lucky asks when she recovers from the shock of seeing him again. “Like from back in the day, Messiah? Like Cece’s brother, Messiah?”

  “Seems like he’s done well for himself since graduation,” I tell her flatly, not wanting to discuss him or our past at all. Or Cece.

  “Yeah and he’s even finer than before, what the fuck Rue?” Lucky asks, sitting on the chair next to Tasha’s bed. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m okay and I don’t want to talk about him. Or Cece. He’s been an even bigger shit head than he was back then today, so we are not going to go there. Yes he’s fine as fuck with the bright blue eyes and the perfectly tanned skin year round but I have bigger problems to deal with,” I admit to them and the worry is back on their faces in a flash.

  “Are Benzo’s people going to kill you?” Lucky asks and all I can do is laugh.

  “I don’t know. I hope not? But at the rate things are moving through the streets, I doubt going back to our life is ever going to be possible,” I say, my acceptance already settling in.

  “What do you mean?” Tasha asks, still talking soft like she’s too scared to see what will happen if she raises her voice above a whisper.

  “Apparently someone saw me with the gun pointed at him last night and me killing his is spreading like wildfire, according to one of the guys that just left. I don’t know if they have my name, but I mean they have my description.”

  “So, the cops?” Lucky asks, and I look over at her.

  “I’m going to assume they’ll come at some point if things don’t change,” I tell her honestly. “And then I have to think about retaliation from Benzo’s people.”

  “I might be able to help with them,” Tasha says, making me snap my gaze back to her. “I don’t have the energy to explain everything, but I wasn’t with Benzo because of his charm. He had a lot of people who didn’t agree with how he was doing things, but they couldn’t kill him yet.”

  “Why? What were they waiting on? What was your part in all of it?” I ask her. I know she doesn't want to talk about it, but I need something, anything to help me feel more confident in the position we’re all in.

  “I swear I’ll explain everything later, but just trust me when I say Benzo’s men won’t be a problem for you.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  HOLLIS—PRESENT

  “I assume you got what I asked you for?” Preston asks Messiah.

  “The guy's name is Trent and he isn’t spreading the name he’s just describing the girl. Little dark hard girl with a banging body … The streets are going wild over this shit,” Messiah tells us all. I figured it would happen this way but I’m glad no one knows her name. It’s only a matter of time before they figure it out because people talk and even though the world is a better place without his piece of shit ass isn’t in it, Ruby is still in danger.

  “When this meeting is over I want you and Elijah to go and get this Trent character and take him to the house on Lombardy,” Preston tells Messiah and he nods.

  Messiah may have been a dick to Ruby before, but he doesn’t care who he’s being asked to kill or who it helps, he’s just happy to be the finger behind the trigger or the fist behind the punch.

  “We can take my car,” Elijah offers but Messiah just shrugs, not caring either way.

  “Hollis, I’ll want to see the girl again before dinner. I want an answer from her by the end of dinner and I am putting it in your hands to get her to accept what we’re offering her.” Preston eyes me but he already knows what I’m thinking. He knows I don’t want this for her and it’s why he was making me be the one to convince her.

  He just wants to have another anchor to keep me with him. I really hate him sometimes.

  What Preston doesn’t know is I’ll never go anywhere because no matter how tired I get of doing what I do for Preston, he would always be home to me.

  “I’ll convince her,” I assure him, with a shrug. “I don’t think she needs much convincing though.”

  “She seemed happy enough to join just to piss Si off,” Elijah says, eyeing Messiah. “Maybe tell her he threw a tantrum during the meeting and she’ll probably wet herself with excitement.”

  Elijah is taunting Messiah, but he sits on my other side stone faced and I’m proud. He’d been mine to convince too, all of those years ago.

  “What is it with you and the girl, Messiah,” Preston questions. “It’s clear you know her, but from where and why all of the hate?”

  Messiah looks up at Preston but holds his lips together as he thinks about what to say. He looks like a kid again when he does it, but he’s far from the kid who joined us ten years ago.

  “She knew my sister,” Messiah tells him, but I know it’s more than what he’s saying. His sister died before he came to be with us and it’s a touchy subject for him. Some of his anger makes more sense but I know there’s definitely more to the story.

  Preston knows too.

  “Did she have something to do with her death?” Preston asks, and Messiah shakes his head. “Is she a bad person?”

  Messiah hesitates for a few seconds before his shoulders fall some and he shrugs his shoulders.

  “Is your anger even with her?” Preston asks, seeing right through Messiah just like I do. “And don’t shrug your shoulders at me again. You have words, so use them.”

  “It’s not,” he admits, but skips the explanation.

  “Then it stops. Ruby did us all a favor last night and I’m hoping there will be many more favors from the tiny she-devil. We wouldn’t want you to run her off.” Preston’s word is all we need.

  We don’t always agree with what he decides, but it never matters. We always do what he says, and everything always turns out exactly how he plans.

  Preston is powerful, and we all know it.

  “I won’t run her off,” Messiah tells Preston who seems to accept the white flag and goes on to the next topic.

  With what happened to Elijah’s product and me being able to fully recover not only all of the money, but the product too, which means not only is our biggest enemy out of the way, we have our money and the product to sell again when we find the right buyer. We are doing good and it makes Preston happy which means the end of the meeting goes smoothly.

  When Elijah, Messiah, and I get to the steps, Messiah slows his pace but I’m the only one to notice. Elijah continues to walk to the door once he gets to the bottom of the steps and when we hear him open the door to the garage and close it, Messiah turns to me.

&nb
sp; “You lied to me,” I say to him, a deadly warning in my tone.

  “I don’t know her anymore Hollis. It’s been an entire decade,” he defends, but I know there’s more to it or the attitude he still has about her wouldn’t be how it is. Messiah is the jokester. He does this shit where he hides his trauma behind comedy or whatever and when he isn’t being his goofy ass self, there’s always trouble around the corner.

  He’s standing right in front of me, only a couple inches shorter than me, and the way he’s looking at me is all I need to see to know he’s about to go try and be reckless. He needs me to check him, actually his shallow breaths tell me everything. He craves for me to check him.

  I snatch his collar in my hand and grip hard, making it tighten around his neck and I get right in his face. “Don’t mistake me for someone who doesn’t know you, Si.”

  “I don’t know her anymore,” he repeats, softer this time, but I’m not talking about her anymore and he knows it.

  “You know I’m not referring to her,” I snap. “Don’t leave this house in a reckless mood.”

  He glares at me for calling him out about being in a reckless, but he grabs my arm, breaking my grip of his shirt and kisses me instead of punching me like he would rather do. It’s angry and hungry and I push away from him and glare at him sternly.

  “I mean it, Messiah,” I growl out, pushing him.

  “Yeah whatever,” he tells me, stepping back more and throwing his hands up. “But reckless is so fun.”

  He walks backwards a few more steps and the look I shoot him makes him drop his hands. “Not making a bigger mess would be ideal, Si.”

  “I got it,” he assures me. “I’ve got my head on.”

  He doesn’t say anything else before turning around and following in the direction Elijah had gone. I go the other direction to the back of the house and head for the hospital. The girls need food and probably a shower and clothes, but until Ruby gives Preston an answer I don’t think anything past the food from the clinic is going to be given.