Jagged Pill (Broken Lives Book 3) Read online

  Dante turned to me. “See, told’ja my cousins would be cool with us.” He slipped his arms around my waist, planting his hands on my butt.

  “Only because Bazza is half-blind.”

  “The others didn’t care either.”

  “I still don’t feel comfortable,” I said, Dante’s reassurances not easing my worries, especially with how many people were here, the suits concerning me the most.

  “Honestly, no one cares, otherwise they would’ve said sumpthin’, and before China came into the picture, Marino and I used to cruise for older chicks. It wuz easy as pie to get into their knickers.”

  I scowled at him, not liking the thought of him with anyone else.

  He smirked. “I love it when you get jealous. You screw your nose up.” He leaned forward and kissed it. “So fuckin’ cute.”

  A small smile prickled at my lips. “Not cute. According to Marino, I’m beautiful.”

  “Yeah, my cuz is the king of compliments when it comes to good-looking chicks.” He brushed his lips over my mouth. “And he won’t find anyone better looking than you. China isn’t even in the same hemisphere.”

  I pinched his cheek. “You’re such a sweet talker.”

  His grin widened. “While you have a sweet pussy. I wouldn’t mind giving it a—”

  I cut him off with a tired laugh. “Later. I’m ready to drop. I really need to sleep.”

  He stuck his bottom lip out, over exaggerating a pout. “Not even a blowy?”

  I slipped out of his arms and gave him a playful shove. “Not even a blowy,” I laughed.

  He harrumphed. “You’re not a very good girlfriend.”

  “Ha! I blew you before we left Auckland, so no complaints, you.”

  He smiled wide. “Yeah, and I expect loads more now we’re in the land of free love.”

  Shaking my head at him, I kicked my shoes off and climbed onto the bed, just wanting to sleep.

  He kicked off his shoes too and yanked off his shirt. “Then maybe I can lull you to sleep with a...” Flicking his tongue out, he crawled between my legs, the look on his face almost obscene.

  I snorted out a nervous laugh. “C’mon, Dante, not here.”

  “Why not? As I said, we’re in the land of free love.”

  “They could walk in on us.”

  He scooted off the bed and locked the door. “Not now,” he said, climbing back onto the bed.

  “I really am tired. Unlike you, I drove for miles.”

  “Then lie back and close your eyes, I’ll do all the work.”

  I did, unable to stop myself from grinning as his hands slid under my skirt.

  3

  Dante

  Jasper fell back, knocking us through the doorway. I yelled out as he landed on me, his weight crushing. I pushed him off, my eyes going wide at the blood on my hands. I looked down at Jasper’s stomach and screamed.

  “Dante!”

  I jolted violently at my name. My eyes shot open, my surroundings confusing me. My best friend wasn’t lying next to me, Clara was. Jasper wasn’t bleeding out on the club’s floor from a gunshot wound. Nor was there blood on my hands. Bullets weren’t flying, people weren’t shouting in fear, only Clara’s concerned voice reaching my ears.

  “Dante,” Clara said, cupping my face. “It’s just a nightmare, sweetie.”

  But it had felt so real. Had been real.

  I inhaled and exhaled, reassuring myself that Jasper was going to be okay. Although it was going to take him a long time to recover, he would live. Regardless, worry still wormed its way in, telling me that things could change, especially with the Devil’s Crew baying for his blood. He’d killed their president’s son and ex-wife, shot them down in their home.

  Clara started rubbing my chest in circles. “It was just a nightmare,” she repeated. “You’re safe.”

  “But Jasper isn’t.” I leaned over the side of the bed and picked up my pants, slipping my phone out of the pocket. I pressed the on-button, but nothing lit up. “Fuck, the battery’s dead.” My gaze shot to Clara. “You got a phone? I needa call my dad.”

  Need to find out that Jasper’s okay.

  He was like a brother to me, my best mate, someone I’d known for all of my life. I had to know he was safe.

  Clara leaned over the other side of the bed, flashing me her bare arse. We were both naked after I’d worked her up from licking her out too well. She’d basically jumped my bones, riding me until she’d screamed out my name, the both of us falling asleep within minutes of coming.

  She handed me her phone, the time on it surprising me. We’d slept for just over five hours.

  I quickly keyed in my dad’s number, getting a gruff, “Who’s this?” He rarely said, Hello. It was usually Who’s this?, What do ya want? or Yeah, speak, and on the rare occasion Kia ora—the Māori version of Hello.

  “It’s me,” I said.

  “Dante!”

  “Yeah, just callin’ to tell ya I’m all right and to see how Jasper’s doin’. I wuz worried ’bout—”

  “Where are you?”

  “Up north.”

  “Where up north?”

  “I’m with—”

  Clara snatched the phone out of my hand.

  “Hey!” I yelled. “Give it back.”

  She placed a finger to my lips, whispering, “Don’t tell him you’re with me.”

  “I wuzn’t gonna. I wuz just gonna tell him I’m with my—”

  She cut me off with her finger again. “He’ll hear.”

  “So?”

  “He could come up here and catch us together,” she whispered.

  “Fine, I won’t say shit,” I said, too worked up to have thought of that. “Just gimme the phone back.”

  She held it out, concern furrowing her brow.

  I took it off her and placed the phone to my ear, removing it a second later. My dad was practically screaming my name. “Stop bloody yelling,” I said, putting the phone back to my ear.

  “Are you with that teacher?!” he rushed out. “Is she holding you against your will? Tell me where you are, I’ll come get ya.”

  “Calm yo shit down, Dad. I went with her—”

  He cut my willingly off. “Don’t you fuckin’ tell me to calm down! I’ve been worried outta my skull after the cops told me she abducted you.”

  “What the fuck?! She didn’t abduct me. I went with her willingly.”

  “Just get your arse back home.”

  “I can’t, the pigs will throw me into juvie or foster care.”

  “No, they won’t. They know that bitch assaulted you, not the other way around.”

  My eyes widened. “She didn’t assault me!”

  “She’s twenty-four and you’re fifteen! That’s statutory rape!”

  “It’s not rape! I love Clara, so don’t you dare say that shit to me ever again.”

  “Has that bitch brainwashed you?”

  “Stop callin’ her a bitch!”

  “Yeah, bitch is too good for that paedo.”

  “She’s not a paedo,” I said, whispering the last word.

  “She is. She’s a sick fuckin’ paedo, and everyone knows it. That pathetic excuse of a principal, those bloody useless cops, and soon all of New Zealand will too. They’re gonna plaster your faces all over the papers and the news.”

  “What?” I gasped.

  “Yeah, the cops are after her, wanting to question her. And when they catch her, she’s goin’ to prison.”

  “No! I won’t let that happen.”

  “You can’t stop it, boy. She’s done for. So, you might as well cut your losses. You can’t hide with her forever, she will eventually be caught.”

  “No! Tell the cops nuthin’ happened, that it wuz just one kiss.”

  “I ain’t tellin’ them jack shit, and they know it wuz more than a kiss.”

  “They can’t, no one saw us fuck.”

  “So, you’re confirming you did her.”

  “No.”

  “B
ullshit. And I bet you did her more than once.”

  “That’s none of your bloody business.”

  “It is my business! I’m your goddamned father!”

  “You know I fuck a lot. She isn’t even the oldest bird I’ve done.”

  “I know. And as soon as I find Ngaire, she’s dead,” he growled, mentioning Jasper’s auntie, the bitch having blackmailed me into having sex with her. “And you better hope the cops get to your paedo teacher before I do, cos she’ll be joining Ngaire in a shallow grave.”

  My eyes widened. “No, Dad, I don’t give a shit what you do to Ngaire, but Clara’s my chick. Please, I love her. You can’t do that to her. Can’t do that to me.”

  “You loved that bitch who dumped you when you were thirteen and look what happened after that? You ended up in the psych ward for two months when she took off with her stepbrother.”

  “This is different.”

  “It’s always different. You hafta stop letting bitches walk all over you, Dante. You’re an easy target for them.”

  “I chased Clara, not the other way around, so it’s not the same with her. I want her. So, back the fuck off.”

  “Not happening. And when I find her—”

  “I’m the only one in the family who’s forgiven you for all the shit you’ve put us through, yet you threaten my woman?!” I yelled, finally losing my shit.

  “Son—”

  “No! I could’ve turned my back on you after you hurt Mum and Ash—”

  He cut me off. “You know that wuzn’t me. I wuz a different person on meth.”

  “No, that is you. You hurt whoever the fuck gets in your way. You rush in with fists flying, not even considering the consequences. You know Ash can’t forgive you for hurting him and Mum, and I won’t be able to forgive you if you hurt Clara.”

  He went silent.

  “So, if you fuckin’ lay one hand on her, I’m done. You will see me even less than you see Ash.”

  “Dante, you don’t understand, she’s bad for you.”

  “And you’re fuckin’ not?!” I barrelled forward, the words falling from my mouth without censor.

  “You don’t mean that.”

  “Yeah, I’m imagining that I had to sell drugs just to pay the bills, bills that had your name on them.”

  “You sold drugs without my knowledge! And I pay the bills too.”

  “Like Nanna paid the bills?”

  “Oh God, don’t say that. I’m not like her. I contribute.”

  “You’re exactly like her. You not only fuck for money like she did, you leave your own kid to pay for shit.”

  He went silent again. I knew I was hurting him by saying these things. I also knew that he was nowhere near as bad as what his mother had been. The woman had neglected him and his sisters. But I couldn’t stop myself, what he’d said about Clara terrifying me.

  “So, look at yourself before you judge others,” I said. “Not only that, Clara helped, not hurt me. She wuz there for me, while you were off whoring.”

  He didn’t say a word, only his harsh breathing telling me he was still on the line.

  “So, tell me how the fuck Jasper’s doin’?”

  He didn’t reply.

  “Dad!”

  “He’s fine, gotta go.” He hung up, leaving me clutching the phone. I looked at Clara, who was staring at me with wide eyes, her face pale.

  “Do the police know everything?” she asked, obviously having heard enough.

  I nodded.

  Her hand flew to her mouth, her eyes widening with fear.

  I pulled her hand down. “Don’t worry, they won’t find us here.”

  “We can’t hide forever.”

  “We only needa hide until I’m sixteen.”

  “They can still prosecute me.”

  “On what? One kiss? They won’t send you to jail for that.”

  “What about—”

  I cut her off. “They can only prove we kissed, nuthin’ else, so stop stressing. Everything’ll be all right.”

  4

  Tane

  Everything was turning to shit. Utter shit! No one was more important to me than Dante. Not my dead wife. Not my oldest. Dante was fucking everything to me. And now he’d turned on me like the other two had, telling me his love wasn’t unconditional. I squeezed my eyes shut, not sure if I could fucking do this anymore. Hemi was gone and now Dante was cutting me off.

  I was alone.

  Completely alone.

  I opened my eyes and looked up at the ceiling, not sure what to do next. Not sure of anything anymore. I still couldn’t believe Dante had said those things to me. Yeah, I’d been harsh, but to cut me off when I wasn’t even the one in the wrong was a hundred times harsher. I was doing what any father would. Trying to protect my son.

  ‘You’re a useless fuckin’ father! I hate you, I fuckin’ hate you!’

  Dante hadn’t said those words, his older brother had. Although Dante’s words were nowhere near as cruel as Ash’s, they might as well have been.

  He’d hate me if I killed that paedo teacher.

  And I couldn’t do a damn thing to bring him back either, because if I did, again, he would hate me.

  I had a choice of hate or loss, either way I was screwed.

  I pushed up off the couch and headed for Killer’s liquor cabinet. There was quite a selection, from Smirnoff to Menthol. But I didn’t want alcohol. Despite what everyone said about me, I wasn’t a drunk. I only drank occasionally or when others did, as well as to make unattractive chicks look more enticing. Otherwise my cock wouldn’t rise to the occasion, which meant they wouldn’t pay me.

  I headed for Killer’s bathroom, checking through the cupboard above the sink. A line of bottles filled the top shelf, with condoms and lube underneath. I pulled out one bottle at a time, checking what each one was, none of them of any fucking use. Angry, I threw them at the wall above the bath, yelling out in frustration. I needed drugs not Killer’s useless fucking vitamins, anything to make this pain stop. And it did hurt, hurt so fucking bad.

  I stormed out of the bathroom, making a beeline for my phone. I ripped it out of my leather jacket and was calling Fabian within seconds, my gang’s dealer. As soon as he answered, I barked, “I need meth.”

  “Tane,” he said, giving me that patronising bloody tone of his, as though I was a child, asking for something I knew I wasn’t allowed. “You know I can’t give you any. Hemi has banned—”

  “Hemi’s dead!” I yelled, my words adding to my pain. Can’t you fucking understand that his death is one of the reasons I need the meth? But I didn’t say it, couldn’t say it, my mind racing too fast for me to get more than a few words out at a time.

  Fabian went silent for a moment, then exhaled loudly. I clutched the phone in anticipation, hoping his exhale meant he was going to cave in.

  “I realise you’re suffering,” he finally said, “but you’ll suffer worse if you hook into meth again. You know what it did to you the last time. Do you honestly want that shit to happen all over again? Do you want to lose Dante as well as Ash?”

  “I’ve already lost him!”

  “What?” Fabian said, his voice fearful. “Did the Devil’s Crew get to him?”

  “No, a fuckin’ paedo did. His teacher has taken him.”

  “Shit! You got the coppers onto it?”

  “Those fuckers are the ones who told me.”

  “You need the guys to go out lookin’ for him? Most of us are at the temporary pad. I can round them up—”

  “It’s no fuckin’ use, Dante went with the paedo willingly. He’s s’posedly in love with the cunt. That’s what he just told me over the phone. He’s refusing to come back.”

  “Shit, bro, I’m sorry. Still, I can make some calls, you can too. We’ll find him, then drag the little bugger back home.”

  “He basically told me I’d lose him if I even tried.”

  “Fuckin’ kids! They don’t think what they do to us when they open their selfish godd
amned mouths. They think the world revolves around them. I know. My oldest drives me insane.”

  “So, can I have that meth?”

  “You can beg until you’re blue in the face, my answer won’t change.”

  “Then, I’ll fuckin’ get it from someone else!”

  I hung up and grabbed my leather jacket, yanking it on. My hands were shaking badly, my craving not having let up, even after three years of being clean. I snatched up my keys and wallet, knowing I had fuck all in it. Which meant I had to find a female dealer, so I could pay with sex.

  I grabbed my motorbike helmet, stopping at the sound of movement coming from behind Killer’s door. He emerged from his room, practically naked, the briefs he was wearing barely covering his junk. He ran a hand through his mussed up brown hair, looking like he’d been sleeping, his eyes half open. They were a touch bloodshot, probably from crying. He’d gone straight to his room after we’d returned from visiting Jasper in the hospital, too upset to talk. To say that Killer’s nephew wasn’t in good nick was the understatement of the century. Although Jasper had survived being shot in the stomach, he was going to be in the hospital for a very long time. The doctors had been forced to remove part of his intestines, the bullet having damaged them beyond repair. But it was his state of mind that worried me more. The boy had woken up while we’d been there and had gone ballistic, trying to rip out tubes, screaming that we should’ve let him die. Killer and I had to hold him down while a nurse sedated him. It had hurt beyond words seeing Jasper like that, the raw pain he was in...

  My hands continued shaking, the need for meth growing. I gripped onto my helmet tighter and stuffed my other hand in my pocket so Killer wouldn’t notice. But he did. His hooded gaze dropped to the helmet, his expression going from half-asleep to wide awake within the blink of an eye.

  “You’re leaving?” he said, looking upset.

  I didn’t answer, his amazing body short-circuiting my brain. Fuck! He was hot. Lean, all muscle, not one ounce of fat on him. I didn’t even fucking care he had a massive package in his briefs, because that body could tempt the straightest guy, and I was fucking straight as an arrow.

  “Answer me!” he yelled, red blazing across his bronzed cheeks.