Page 69 of Disobedient Pawn

We’d thrown down a few times since I arrived here, and even though Devin had his own house on the property, I still locked my bedroom door at night with two padlocks and an emergency stopper when I was home. You also learned never to wander around in the dark. Thankfully Lip lived at his academy as well, or I’d be home every night making sure that sick fuck didn’t mess with our little brother. I had visions of him pushing Lip or me down the stairs and claiming it was an accident.

“Yeah, I agree.” Nash tapped his chin.

“I wish I could’ve seen what you saw, but I was on the other side of the truck,” Liam said, rubbing his eyes. “Is there any more coffee?” Blake nodded, and Liam disappeared.

“So are ya gonna tell us what happened, or are ya planning on keeping us in suspense for the night?”

“I’m just thinking.” Nash sat down, but the energy coming off his body was as jittery as when he’d been moving. “I was getting ready to leave the Order meeting when my father told Devin to come with me.”

“That’s weird. Do you think he suspects anything,” Theo asked.

“I don’t think so. It felt more like a pissing contest. Devin has been poking at me since I turned 18 and started attending the meetings, questioning my ability to lead or complete jobs. I think my father saw it and wanted to see…something. I’m not sure what. I never know for sure with him .”

“Okay, so then what happened?”

“Hammer showed up like normal but said he had cash and wouldn’t do a wire. It was all bullshit, and there was no money. Anyway, Devin got in his face, and they both went for guns. Then the other guy with Hammer opened the back of the truck, and a bunch of guys jumped out.”

“Oh shit. How did you guys survive at all,” Theo asked.

“You know, that is what I keep going over. Don’t get me wrong. Liam is a crack shot, and I’m no slouch, but it was just us and Devin, who disappeared into the walls like a fucking ghost when the shots started. We killed five, and Hammer shot Devin before he ordered his guys to retreat without the crates of guns.”

I screwed up my face as I thought. “You said Devin disappeared?”

“Yeah, but that’s not the craziest thing. Hammer was six, maybe seven feet away from Devin when he shot him in the leg. Why not just shoot him in the chest and run? Why leave him alive at all?”

“Ya think he has a deal with Hammer,” I asked, and Nash looked up at me.

“How would he even know who Hammer is?” Nash held my stare.

“Aye…who the feck knows.” I looked around the room at my friends. “Ya fucking better not be thinking I had anything to do with this.” My mouth fell open as Nash watched me. He was definitely questioning me but didn’t seem angry. Meanwhile, rage burned in my gut as I rose from the table. “Spit it out, what are ya not sayin?”

Liam chose that moment to walk back in and stopped as he spotted the two of us. “It just seems strange that I didn’t have any problems until a year ago. We’ve had one weird thing happen after the other. This is only the latest.”

“I see.” I peeled off the latex gloves I was using to handle the drugs and tossed them in the trashcan. “And it couldn’t have anything to do with the fact that my Da contacted Devin and brought his piece of shite ass into the Order. It couldn’t be that our group is growing, and we have more people to watch over and ensure they are keeping their mouths shut. And, of course, it couldn’t have anything to do with yer Father testing you or other groups wanting to fuck with yer Father. No, couldn’t be any of that, just me?”

“Where are you going,” Nash asked as I grabbed my jacket and shrugged it on.

I walked toward Nash as he stood, but if he planned on intimidating me, it wouldn’t work. “I have been nothing but loyal to ya. I’d go to my grave holding any secret or deed done by anyone in this room. I have been a fucking great member of this group, and I thought we were a family, building something different from our parents. Something based on more than money, mistrust, and threats, but I guess I was wrong. Yer just as mistrusting as yer father, and after what I saw yesterday morning in the library, I think yer turning into him more every day.”

Nash’s eyes widened and then narrowed into thin slits as he ground his teeth.

“Ya want to know where I’m going? I’m fucking going home to bed. Ya want to know why? Because ya just fucked up and hurt me.” I looked around the room. “I might be the newest member, but I’ve never disobeyed an order or narced on anything we’ve done. My belief in what we are doing is strong, and I would die for ya, and yet ya just made me feel like I never belonged.”

I marched for the door.

“Myles.”

Looking over my shoulder, I locked eyes with Nash as he said, “So you don’t want to know what I think happened?”

“Naw, I wouldn’t want ya to think that I’d go running to my Da. If ya need me to do a run, ya know where to find me.”

“What the fuck, Nash?” I heard Blake yell as I stomped up the stairs to the main floor of the cottage. “Myles, hold up.” Blake caught up to me just as I reached the front door. “Man, don’t mind Nash. He’s just under a lot of stress.”

“Ya don’t think I am? Look, it doesn’t matter. If Nash doesn’t trust me, then I can’t trust him. It’s that simple. Without trust, we have nothing. He needs to apologize for what he just insinuated. I’d never open me mouth, and ya know it.”

“Yeah, I know.” Blake crossed his arms, but there was no fight in the gesture. “You going to the party Saturday at Sacred Heart?”

I shrugged. After everything that happened with Ren last night, I wasn’t sure. She refused to talk to me on the way back to the academy and told me no to a date and goodnight kiss when we arrived. I sent her multiple texts saying sorry, but she left me on read. Even I was starting to think she was done with me for good.