DECEIT (B723) by Hazel Grace (ebook reader for surface pro .TXT) 📕

late nights when I was planning Alexander’s brother’s demise with Bishop hovering over my couch with snacks to feed me.

Turns out Warren was planning on running for President. And the campaign money he was receiving came from drug lords and prostitution rings.

You see, the apple ended up not falling far from the tree. Warren had his own problems, but it was raping young girls, and if they opened their mouths to accuse him, they disappeared.

He’s currently serving time for his crimes, and I got him a cellmate that hates rapists.

“I think I did it correctly.” Kyson carefully sits across from me with Atlas in hand. “If she shits all over me, I guess I’ll know, right?”

I laugh and watch him pluck her bottle off the table. Behind him is the start of our new house, literally within forty yards of this one. Scarlett has helped me pick out colors and windows. She has an extremely good eye while Bishop tells me whatever I want.  

“You really didn’t have to go change her,” I reply. “I could’ve—“

“Gotta learn sometime.” He shrugs. “I have a feeling I’m going to have a lot of babysitting hours in my near future.”

“Only if you want.”

“The kids are gonna need a break from your man. I’m doing them more of a favor than I am you.”

I lean back, shaking my head at the reality of how we’re actually here. Marty and Stormi are playing a game of horseshoes with Bishop and Hardy. Mills is talking to Scarlett while he BBQs dinner.

He didn’t start the conversation, Scarlett did, but Bishop is going to give him hell probably because he’s already eyeballing them with disgusted interest.

“Can you believe this?” I ask. “Me with twins. Bishop a father? I never thought I’d be a parent.”

“Why, you’re one to the boys. And it’s the best thing that’s happened to Bishop,” Ky replies. “This is what he was always meant to do. His dad was a really good man.”

“You remember him?”

“Only a little. He used to give us money for the ghetto ass ice cream truck or to run up to the party store for snacks. He was the coolest guy in the trailer park. Always willing to lend a helping hand. Took out people’s garage bins and shoveled sidewalks.”

“What was his name?”

“Jett. Bishop is a lot like him when he’s not being a douchebag. He has a soft spot for idiots and a faithful heart for the ones he loves.”

“Then he better leave Mills alone. He’s speaking to his sister.”

Kyson doesn’t falter a bit. “Eh, Mills wouldn’t date her.”

“Why not?”

“Bro code.”

My eyes narrow. “Seriously? That’s really a thing?”

“Hell yeah, it’s a thing. Besides, it’s respect. Mills knows he’d hate it.”

“But they’re cute together.”

“Emmy,” Kyson warns. “Don’t be—“

“I’m not, I swear.” I hold up a defensive hand. “I just…don’t want Mills to miss out because of some silly ass guy thing.”

“It’s not silly, it’s code.”

“You said that,” I mutter. “Dumb.”

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Blue plops down next to me, smelling of watermelon and citrus, and flicks her hair to the side. “I lost track of time.” She leans over Alaric’s head. “Hey, little man, what’s up?”

It’s amazing how I could loathe her so much, and she still loves my children. That she still wants to come around to be with them after I shunned her over a zillion times since we’ve known each other and always pulled out my petty ass bitch.

“Blue tell Ems about bro code,” Kyson digresses.

“What about it?” She lightly touches Alaric’s nose and opens her mouth in a goofy smile. “You’re gonna be such a heartbreaker. Don’t bring any of those hoes around.”

My eyes widen. That’s exactly what I think all the time.

“That it’s really a thing,” Kyson quips, only further placing Blue in with one of the guys. I wonder if it bothers her. Her and I treated so differently here at B723. I know we’d all do for her what they did for me—even me—but sometimes it’s nice not to be handled so harshly like the guys do to each other. “When men don’t—“

“You mean boys,” she retorts through her nose. “And it’s bullshit. What are you in a fraternity?”

Kyson releases a heavy sigh. “Nevermind.”

“Why are you guys even talking about boy code anyway?”

“Because Mills is talking to Scarlett,” I fill in. “And Bishop’s gonna have his ass.”

Blue shakes her head. “Mills won’t touch that.” Kyson and I both look over at her as if she knows a secret. “Just a feeling. Ems, why don’t you go relieve your man. He’s staring at you like he’s gonna come in his pants if you don’t—“

“Dude,” Kyson censures with slitted eyes. “The fuck?”

I look over his shoulder to find Bishop stealing a glance at me. His blue eyes melting me right to my chair.

In nothing but jeans and a red plaid shirt, he’s the poster for rough and an unpolished man who just got done chopping wood or some shit like any normal day. Not the killer who resides underneath his skin. And if he wasn’t mine already, I’d be figuring out a way how he could be right now.

“Wanna hold Alaric?” I ask Blue, surprising the shit out of her because she just stares at me like I told her we were related or something. “Before they can walk?”

Blue snaps out of it. “Yeah, yeah.” She holds out her arms, and I cradle my son, still sucking on his bottle into hers.

“Be back.”

I round Kyson’s chair and make my way over to the rugged male who watches my every move in his direction.

His gaze shamelessly falls down the length of my white floral dress and sandals, creating my body to flush pink and up a few temps.

I feel utterly beautiful and powerful in his eyes. The most compelling creature in the world that only he wants all the time. He makes it his singular job to make up for the years that I didn’t believe he loved me. I hear it at least twice a day, his hands are on me all the time, and his