Savage Little Lies by Eden O’Neill

Chapter Four

Dorian

Wolf climbed through my window later that night.

It was late as fuck.

He arrived around three, us climbing through each other’s windows not a thing. Wolf even had the key code into my neighborhood.

I got up, meeting him, and the first thing he did after he saw me was hug me.

Shit, I must have worried my friends. Wolf’s hug was strong, and we didn’t fucking hug a lot. I mean, we weren’t opposed to it in my friend group, but we really didn’t go around having a whole lot of reasons to do so.

“Hey,” I said, the guy pulling back. I slapped his shoulder, and he did the same to mine before pushing his hair out of his face. He normally wore it up, but it wasn’t today, all those big-ass curls wavy in his face.

“We thought you skipped town, bro,” he said, his jaw clamped up and tight. He braced his arms. “We thought you did after you heard about the murder, thought you were trying to play it safe after what we all did to her.”

That made sense, a lot of sense.

He pushed a hand over his hair. “What was worse was we couldn’t even tell our parents in good faith you had nothing to do with what ultimately went down.”

I twitched. “What?”

“We couldn’t until the press confirmed someone else had done it,” he said. “I mean, you had stayed behind. Behind with her?”

I had…

And I’d definitely given all my friends strong reasons to think the worst.

I had considering my history with my grandfather. I had tried to off him.

Tried and failed.

Wolf sat down on my bed, and I did with him, silent.

“How are the guys?” My parents had taken my phone away. I’d literally watched my dad shut it off and throw it in a box. Who knew when I’d get it back. “Parents took my phone.”

Wolf nodded. “Wells seems cool. You know how laid-back he is, but you pissed Thatch the hell off. The fucker got all up in his feelings, and you know how he doesn’t like to get into that shit.”

He was worse than all of us, closed off. He had a lot of emotional shit, stuff in his house and with his family specifically, so he never tried to be the burden for anyone else.

It all came out in rage when he was upset like he’d done today with me in the hall. Wells could be that way too, but not nearly as bad.

“You freaked everyone the hell out, D,” he said, shaking his head. He leaned in. “Why didn’t you call me? I called you. I… I have something to tell you.”

He stopped to take a breath, and though Wolf never dealt with feelings well either, he was generally better than this. Between the two of us, he was actually better at talking shit out.

He seemed ill-equipped today, his hands to his mouth. He ended up bracing his arms, and since I knew I had something I needed to share too, I had no idea where my buddy and I would be by the end of this conversation. I had opened a door I couldn’t easily close when I decided to pull my grandfather into this Mayberry shit last summer.

“I got something to tell you too.” I forced out a breath. “It’s bad, man. So bad.”

“What?”

I couldn’t even find the fucking words. I wet my lips. “My grandfather’s alive.”

His eyes expanded, like legit bulged out in front of me. “What are you fucking talking about?”

“Just as I said, man.” Even I couldn’t believe the words I was saying, but they were true. My throat tightened. “I don’t know how. We didn’t get that far—”

“What do you mean we?” He sat back, eyes in horror. “What are you talking about?”

And so I told him everything. It all came out, all the fucked-up details. I left no stone unturned, and the chilling truth brought the shakes back to my own fucking knees. My grandfather not only was here in this town,but he’d survived an attempt against his life. An attempt I had unsuccessfully made. My buddies all knew I’d gone upstate to take care of him. I’d kept it a secret at first, but I’d ended up telling them in the end. Wolf had taken the news the hardest. He hadn’t agreed with me initially going to see him.

But that didn’t mean he disagreed with how I’d chosen to handle it.

Once he found out, he’d put it to bed. All my friends had. We weren’t going to think about it again.

I guess my grandfather wasn’t giving us a choice.

“But how?” Wolf looked entirely haunted, slammed clearly in the same way the news hit me. This was impossible, my grandfather being alive. I’d poisoned him. He faced me. “You said you took care of it.”

I thought I had. I shook my head, and he got up.

He grabbed his legs. “D, what the fuck?”

“I know.” I got up too, my shoulders popping up. “I don’t know what happened or how he’s alive. Someone must have found him or something.” I raised a hand. “I didn’t stick around after I watched him go down.”

“So you didn’t check for a pulse?” My friend was angry now and understandably so. He combed his fingers through his hair. “I don’t know shit about this, but you always check for a goddamn pulse.”

And he would have had he been there. I’d been dumb.

I should have trusted him.

I should have trusted all of them, Wells and Thatcher too. They never would have agreed with what I’d done, but knowing the mindset I’d been in, I would have done it anyway. I would have, and I know my friends would have been there with me. They would’ve supported me.

I guess I wasn’t good at dealing with heavy shit either.

Like Thatch, I kept my shit to myself. I did that to protect others. I wanted to carry the burden, always, and that left stuff off my buddies’ back.

Wolf twitched my way. “But what about Sloane?”

I twitched myself after what he’d said, the last thought I’d ever thought would come out of his fucking mouth. “What—”

He came forward. “You said your grandfather went by Montgomery, right? As in the Callum Montgomery who took in Sloane and her brother?”

“Yeah.”

“So what’s that mean for them? What…” His mouth opened and closed, my buddy’s eyes flashing. “What is he doing to them? Sloane and her brother? What is he doing?”

Bruno Sloane had been in our friend group for a brief time, and Wolf had felt guilt after setting him up with that haze.

I also knew Wolf didn’t hate the kid. He’d wanted to in the beginning, like all of us. His sister had gotten in the way of things with Charlie.

Fuck… his sister.

They’d both played us, all of us. My jaw moved. “I’m sorry, man. But Bruno’s in on shit.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about his sister, bro.” I hated that my throat was fucking thick while talking about her. I forced that shit away, blinking. “Sloane is in deep with my grandfather. She helped him today. All of this was her and him.”

I didn’t know how much. I didn’t know the details, but a lot of fucking things were coincidental when it came to the two of them and my arrest this morning.

My buddy let go of me, and I realized he had his hands on me, my shoulders. “I don’t understand.”

“I’m saying four people knew where I was today. Four, bro, and none of you guys called my fucking grandfather.” Grandfather had been smart, I’d give him that. He definitely looked like the hero today. I raised my hands. “Next thing I know, I’m arrested, and my grandfather comes to get me out. He comes there with her, the only other person who knew where the fuck I was outside you guys.”

Wolf said nothing, his eyes blindly scanning the room. His irises darted left and right as if he were trying to solve the most intricate math problem.

And he appeared pale.

He visibly paled in front of me, sitting down slowly. I could imagine all this shocked him, and maybe, he wasn’t surprised. He hated Sloane.

Maybe he’d always known.

I joined him, my hands together. “Between the two of them, they made my grandfather basically look like a hero,” I cut, jaw tight. “Fucker comes in on his white horse to save my ass. You should have seen him. He was so fucking smug.”

He looked like he pulled one over on me, and he had. I’d been shocked to fucking hell when he showed up.

“Did he say that?”

“What?”

Wolf captured my attention. His swallow worked his throat. “Did he say that’s what he was trying to do? That Sloane and her brother were…”

“Working with him?”

Wolf nodded slow.

“He didn’t have to,” I admitted, all the facts there. “It was pretty goddamn obvious. I told you no one else knew where I was.”

It took all I had to say the words, and how I was so easily played. She’d wiggled her way in so easily.

Wolf stayed silent for quite a while beside me, his long fingers folding over his arms. “Maybe it’s not that simple.”

“What?”

His breath eased out. “Maybe they are working for him, but they don’t have a choice?” I was surprised he was saying this, his nod firm. “Maybe he has something over on them.”

I sat with that, my buddy tapping my arm.

“Right?” Wolf nearly had hope in his eyes, like he really cared about Sloane or her brother. He’d been the first to at least want Bru’s sister out of town. “What if they’re in trouble?”

He wanted to hope. My buddy was good at his core. I mean, we all were really. We were the good guys. Wolf didn’t want to see anyone hurt, regardless of how he felt about them, and maybe this was easier for him.

He hadn’t been as wrapped up as me.

I forced the breaths through my nose, my hands together. I said nothing, and Wolf got up. I frowned. “Where are you going?”

“I’m going to tell your parents,” he said, and I shot up off the bed. I cut him off right away, and he raised his hands. “What? Dude, they could be in trouble. Hell, you too. You went after the son of a bitch.”

“I can’t tell my parents my grandfather is back.”

“Why?”

“Besides the obvious?” How much my grandfather’s return would unsettle my mother? Enrage my father? I shot a hand toward the window. “There’s about a half a dozen news vans down my fucking street that tell me I’ve already put my parents through enough shit for a goddamn century. They don’t need anything else. Not right now.”

“So you’re just going to keep this from them?” He got in my face, like actually chest to chest. Fire laced his dark eyes, his finger in my face. “Put yourself and innocent people in danger. I told you, bro. Sloane and her brother could be trapped. Your parents need to know your grandpa is back. Fuck, all our parents, so they can help.”

I didn’t believe I was in immediate danger. My grandfather did let me go today. As far as Sloane and her brother, he didn’t see her today, see the act. She’d lied so easily, and there was no guilt there.

She didn’t look like a victim. Nah, it was so easy for her today. Too easy for her to play me. She could be getting just as much out of whatever she had going with my grandfather. Money and only God knew what else.

The possibility enraged me, how I had really been played. “You don’t know Sloane and her brother are innocent. You didn’t see her today. She lied to my fucking face and didn’t think twice about it. Grandpa Prinze could be making this deal awfully sweet for her. She and her brother could be getting just as much out of it.”

“What deal?”

“I don’t know, but they could have one. I don’t know what she’s getting out of it, but I told you how smug my grandpa had been. He wanted to look like the fucking hero today. Had to have. And I don’t think he’s coming after me. At least, not right away. He made it seem like he was leaving town soon.” I folded my arms. “He might have stopped back here to just throw me off. He let me go and everything.”

“Or he’s just fucking playing with you.” He raised and dropped his hands. “You did try to kill him. He could definitely be back here to settle the goddamn score.”

It wouldn’t matter if he was. I wouldn’t be here. “My parents and I are leaving town in the morning. You heard LJ.”

“Yeah, but you’re going to come back, D.” His eyes narrowed. “And you don’t know Sloane and her brother aren’t innocent.”

“Since when do you stand up for Noa Sloane anyway? Her brother?”

His Adam’s apple flicked. “I don’t, but if she and her brother have nothing to do with this or are trapped, I don’t want them hurt. I have a fucking soul.” His dark eyebrows descended like storm clouds. “Where’s yours?”

I already told Sloane that it’d died, and it had the day I thought I killed my grandpa.

Her deceit only made sure it wasn’t resurrected.

I wasn’t going to be the victim. I wasn’t going to let someone play me or my family. We’d all been through enough here, and there’d be no more.

“My family comes first,” I said, in my buddy’s face. “And I won’t put my mom and dad through any more hell. Especially if my grandfather is just rolling through town and trying to make a fucking statement. He had an opportunity to take a shot at me. He chose not to.” I’d place strong bets he wanted to shake me, and he’d definitely done that. “If he is just playing around and trying to scare me, there’s no sense in bringing that shit in for my parents to think about. I’m not letting him win there.”

“Letting you go could have just been another game. Something to throw you off before he actually strikes,” Wolf said, and I supposed he was right. Again, I wasn’t going to take that chance. My grandfather being around would fuck with my family like nobody’s business, and I wasn’t just talking about my mother.

My grandfather really was the one person who could break my dad, and I wasn’t going to do that to him. Not if my grandfather really was just playing games.

“I’m just asking for time,” I asked my friend. “Time to look into what he may or may not be doing while my family is out of town.”

I could have Thatcher peel apart his new identity. We hadn’t looked into it long enough when Sloane first came into town.

We hadn’t had a reason.

“And what about when you come back?”

“We’ll know by then,” I stated. “At least, have an idea of what he’s up to. I’ll do what I can from where I’m at, but I bet Thatch can uncover some shit. We didn’t look into my grandpa’s pseudonym enough. He made it sound like I should know it.” He said a lot of things that could have been bullshit, but I definitely wasn’t overlooking anything this time. “My grandpa also made it sound like he’d only be in town for a few days. Said he was just checking on the Sloane kids. I could have Thatch look into that too. See what the link there is. Gramps said Sloane’s dad used to work for him.”

Wolf panned in my direction. “In what way?”

“No idea.” I leaned back against the door. “I just need time, Ares. Time to see what may or may not be true. It might not result in anything, but that time is so valuable. My family is already ripping apart, man. I can’t upheave their world again. Not so soon.”

All this fucking shit was killing me and ripping me apart. So much of the drama was stuff I’d unleashed.

I just needed time before more happened.

I thought my buddy would argue with me more. I mean, he’d been going up and down with me, but he stayed silent for a bit.

This was a good thing.

That meant he was thinking about things, his hands sliding in his pockets. His head lifted. “How much time?”

That I didn’t know. “Let’s just start with my folks and me being out of town. We’ll talk more when we come back.”

This didn’t seem to settle well on my friend’s face. He obviously thought I was in danger, and for whatever reason, he wanted to go to bat for Sloane and her brother too. He didn’t know all the facts, though. He didn’t see the evidence with his very eyes like I had. I’d watched Sloane go along with my grandfather’s ruse, and it’d been too good.

She’d been perfect.

Not an ounce of a lie could be read on her face, so fluid with my grandpa’s script. The girl was incredibly dangerous, and besides the visual evidence of her making out like a bandit in regards to my grandpa being her and her brother’s “guardian,” she no doubt had lots more she was pocketing. This was going beyond a nice house, a fancy school, and her brother’s and her sweet ride.

The shit about her dad dying in a fire could have been bullshit too.

It was the unknown that scared me the most because, if someone could lie that well, they didn’t have a soul. They were just as much of a monster as me and the shit I’d gotten wrapped up in recently.

Maybe even worse.

I needed my buddy on this. I needed his and my other friends’ help.

“Please, Ares,” I pleaded. “Just give me time.”

He remained silent, his hand cuffing his arm. He seemed really at war about this decision.

“We’ll need an eye on your grandfather,” he said, making me blink. “We’ll watch him while you’re gone. See where he goes, stalk the hell out of him. Hopefully he leaves town in a few days like you said. That’ll at least save us from worrying about him here. You could be right he’s just trying to scare you. That’d be the best-case scenario for obvious reasons.”

He was going to help. I acknowledged what he said, nodding too. “Sloane and her brother will need a detail too.”

“I’ll take care of it,” he said, sitting on the bed again. I joined him. He huffed. “And don’t worry about looking into all this mess while you’re gone. I mean, you can, but your priority should be taking care of your mom and dad. I’ll have Thatch look into your grandpa. We all will, and we’ll leave no stone unturned.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll get to the bottom of this. Just watch out for your parents. Just worry about that, yeah?”

I wasn’t sure how much help I could be anyway. I mean my parents took my phone, and I didn’t know if and when they’d give it back. I might not have any technology where I’m going.

And I could hug my friend for not letting me worry about anything else but my family, my buddy, ride or die. He obviously didn’t agree with all this, but he was going to help me move the pieces.

I thought about the fact that I didn’t have any biological brothers or sisters. Hell, my father hadn’t either, but he’d found close bonds with his friends. They were stronger than blood ties, unable to be broken, and anyone from the outside might not understand that. You had to live it.

I was happy to say I had that with my friends. These boys were truly my brothers. Bow was in our circle too, but we’d have to keep our knowledge of at least my grandpa away from her. We couldn’t risk her wanting to alert the parents, and that’d been the only reason we kept the Mayberry stuff from her.

Rainbow Reed was ride or die as well, but if she thought anyone, i.e., any of us, were in danger of anything, whether physically or mentally, she went for the greater good. She could often be jaded by that, but I didn’t consider that a flaw. It just meant she cared and kept her pure. She should never lose that.

It wasn’t so easy to get back.

“You’re going to have to let Bow know to stay away from Sloane,” I growled. “She can’t be trusted. Tell her that and everything with the arrest, but don’t let her know my grandpa is back in town or his place in it. She’ll just worry.”

“Yeah, she will,” he said, but his voice sounded hollow. It was in that moment I remembered he’d wanted to tell me something too before I unleashed all this shit.

“What did you want to tell me before?” I nudged his leg. “You said you had something.”

The way he blinked, it seemed like he’d forgotten. “It was nothing really.” He opened his hand, smirking. “I was just being a little bitch. Was going to tell you how worried I was about you.”

“Worried about me?”

He eyed the room, probably easier than looking at me. He shrugged. “You going off the grid, I guess, freaked me out.”

He said that with his hug before.

Wolf got up, his smile soft but tense. He was definitely putting it on. I didn’t know if it was for me or what, but I didn’t say anything about it when he pounded my fist. His next move was to give me a hug again before he left the way he came. Nah, my buddies and I weren’t good with emotions.

Our actions, our bonds, always spoke far louder.