"Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured." — Mark Twain
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Chapter 6
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Luke

I couldn't breathe.

The longer I drove, the more my mind replayed the past fucking twenty-four hours, and the more my breath ceased in my chest. I didn't even have asthma, but fuck me, did it feel like it.

My bruised fingers tightened around the wheel as I swerved onto the exit. I didn't even know where the fuck I was going; I just knew I needed a minute or an hour, or an entire fucking lifetime to process this shit.

When I got the notification alert that my building had been broken into, I thought it'd be a stray dog or a homeless person trying to find a place to sleep for the night.

Never in my fucking life did I think it would be that annoying fucking little pest on my shoulder, Maggie Norris.

My jaw clenched so tightly, I thought the bone would pop. Even her name made me want to go back, and finish off her car. I should have done it while I was there, but I needed to get out of there before I lit her entire fucking house on fire.

I didn't hit women, but fuck me. That girl made me question what little restraint I did have against my temper. Then, she had the nerve to look at me with those big fucking green eyes to try and make me feel guilty.

If anything, she was lucky I hadn't called the cops the moment I saw her ass on the footage.

She destroyed the only thing I had going for me. The only thing that I had done on my own, the only thing that would link my mother and I when she was gone. The only thing that my father couldn't take from me. It was nearly gone because of her, and her stupid fucking animosity for me.

And, for the life of me, I couldn't figure it out. How the hell did she know about the building in the first place? Only Kade and Levi did.

Why had she done it?

We had traded many, many insults, arguments, and shared hateful looks over the past two years, but we never had any personal damn vendetta against one another. We didn't know each other well enough to have one.

We sure as hell did, now, though.

I scrubbed a hand across my face, attempting to loosen my jaw, but to no avail. Levi always told me that I had a natural resting bitch face, but right now, that wouldn't have shit to do with my expression for the next couple of days.

I didn't even know what to do with the damn girl. I had threatened her with the cops just to set her off, but I hadn't considered it. Prison was too good for the little devil; I needed to get back at her with such harrow that it'd nearly kill her.

I just didn't know how, yet; my mind was too fucked for this shit, right now. If I had it my way, she'd be six feet under.

My phone vibrated from its spot until I finally grew the strength to make a reach for it. I'd had enough scares with that damn thing, tonight.

With a huff, I pulled it from the charger, and turned it over. Kade's contact was on the screen. I'd called him earlier to tell him about the purchase, but he'd been at a meeting, which was basically code for him fucking his girl.

I was shaking with rage, I realized after a moment. I could barely even train my finger to press accept, but I finally managed. The video call connected a moment later.

Kade's face appeared soon after, but I noticed that he wasn't alone. "Missing me, already, Vaudest?"

"Shut the fuck up, man." I glanced to the road then back to the phone; at least his shit could distract me for a minute. A chuckle from his side made my lips twitch.

I pretended to squint my eyes in curiosity at the brown hair along his chest. I already knew who it was, but I loved to fuck with the bastard.

"Shit, you cheating, now?" I pretended to shake my head with scold. "Come on, Ryder."

Kade scowled, glaring back at me. "And, ruin this? Fuck no, you know better." He dropped the phone a bit to show me that Kimberly was asleep right on his chest, as comfortable as a caterpillar. One of his arms was tucked around her waist, holding her to him. "Don't talk too loud, though; I don't want to wake her up." Just as his gaze fell down to her sleeping form, I saw his expression melt like butter.

I rolled my eyes at his soft shit. "Did you read her a bedtime story, too?"

Kade chuckled, tucking one arm behind his head as he met my eyes. "Nah, but if she would've asked me to—"

"You're supposed to..." Huffing, I rolled my eyes, again. "You know what? Nevermind, you pussy." I decided to pull over for a minute, right into the nearest gas station.

Kade ran his eyes over me, carefully. "The fuck is wrong with you?" I knew he'd gotten my mood just by that. "Your dad?"

"Nah." I thumbed my temples; a migraine was coming on. "You won't fucking believe it."

"Try me."

I told him everything, in graphic detail of what had occurred from the moment I got back from Pennsylvania. He listened, his eyes watching over Kimberly the entire time until I was finished.

Kade ran a hand down his jaw, shaking his head. "Shit," he mumbled. "She really hates your ass, huh?"

"Yeah, well she can join the fucking fan club," I grumbled. "I can't even drive without wanting to go back to her house, and burning the shit down."

Kade nodded slowly, biting into his cheek. One hand dipped past the screen to touch Kimberly. I heard her hum against him before he leaned forward to kiss her head. When the silence came, again, I assumed she fell back asleep.

Finally, he met my attention, again. He was thinking about something.

I waited for him to speak, but nothing came. The nerves got to me until my agitation grew.

"Can you quit staring at me like you're Dr. Phil, or some shit?" I snapped at him. "Just say what the fuck you have to say."

Chuckling, he leaned back against the headboard. He stared ahead for a moment, before he met my eyes, again. "You said that you haven't called the cops, yet?"

"No, but my finger has just been itching to hit that shit just to see her smart-ass in handcuffs." That, and seeing her hauled off in a jumpsuit might be the perfect remedy to my anger, right now.

"Don't call them."

"What?" My eyes widened at him in shock for a moment before I let my expression go slack. "The fuck?"

Kade sighed. "You're not calling the cops, and you're not pressing charges against her."

"She damaged my goddamned property!" I snapped, my agitation flaring. "You and Levi know how hard I worked for that money, how much time I put into it, and just like that, she destroyed it. And, she wasn't even sorry for the shit!"

"I know." He shrugged. "You're still not pressing charges, though."

My shock only grew at him. I had to stop myself from just hanging up on his stupid ass, altogether. "You don't even like the damn girl, and you're telling me not to press charges?"

"It doesn't matter if I don't like her. She annoys the shit out of me, but she's one of Kimberlys' best friends and so, I tolerate her, since they're like sisters, or whatever that sweet shit is. I'm not taking her best friend away from her, regardless," he said, his expression entirely serious. "And you're not either, Luke. You're not pressing charges."

If I could reach through this phone, I'd smack the shit out of him.

My fingers tightened around the phone until the skin grew white. I shoved a hand through my hair with a curse as I let his words swivel around in my head.

I wasn't necessarily best friends with his girl, Kimberly, but I did like her, now. I thought it impossible, but when she decked me in my nose and when Kade did the same later on and explained their joint pasts better, I saw her in a new light, one away from the one I had thought of all along—soft, evil, and helpless. She made my best friend happy, and that was what I wanted most. She had proved how much she cared, and loved the man when she quite literally put her life at risk just to win a race for his freedom. I respected her, and I sure as hell respected Kade.

If I sent Maggie to jail, I knew that she wouldn't be the only one to hate me. She was Ravens' and Kimberly's' best friend, and they were dating my best friends. I'd have a whole damn army against me the moment she was booked.

I couldn't let this go unpunished, though. If I did, she'd think it was okay to do, again, and to do as she pleased, when that definitely wasn't true.

I needed to get her back. I just didn't know how.

Finally, I shoved out a rough sigh, glaring back at Kade. I shouldn't have picked up the phone. "Tell me how to handle it, then."