Seth paced outside the house while the phone rang.
"Hello, boss."
"Don't you fucking boss me, Carlise!"
"Hey, Seth!" Zayden called.
"Hold on." He pressed the phone to his chest and looked over his shoulder at Zay where he stood in the doorway to the house. "Yeah, what is it?"
"Food is almost ready! Like two minutes."
"Okay, I'm almost done. It's the tow yard."
Zay waved and disappeared back inside. Seth waited until the door closed to lift the phone back to his ear. "The bitch is still alive, you fucked up asshole."
"I took all the brake fluid out of her car, there's no way she got out of that!"
"I've seen her, the bitch is alive!" Seth snarled into the phone.
"Don't worry, I'll handle it!"
"No, you won't! Right now the cops aren't suspicious, you throw another accident at her and that won't last! You are fucking lucky two of my guys were on duty or this would have slapped us in the ass! Stay the fuck away from her, got it?"
"Yeah, sure, got it. I swear I won't go near her."
"You better or I'll cut your dick off and feed to you then stand back and watch as you choke on it while you bleed to death. Are we clear?" He hung up before the moron could form an answer. After several deep, calming breaths he turned and went back into the house.
"Everything okay at the yard?" Zayden asked him.
"Yeah, they're idiots who can't find paperwork even if it's staring them in the face."
"I know you hate it when you're not there," Zay said with a chuckle. "Workaholic."
"I am not! It's just that the business is my uncle's life and he has no kids so the place goes to me when he decides to retire. I want to make certain it's still going strong when the time comes for me to take over."
Zay pecked a kiss on his cheek as he passed him on his way to the oven. "I know, I'm teasing."
Seth watched as he pulled a dish from the oven. "You made lasagna? Damn, that smells good."
"Yeah, my mom taught me." He paused, staring down at the lasagna.
"Hey, come on it's okay, Zay."
"I know. There are times I'll do something and reach for the phone to tell them about it before I realize I can't do that anymore. It sucks." He turned away and set the dish on the table. "I can't tell Alyssa or Josh either," he said quietly.
Seth moved over behind him and placed his hands on Zay's shoulder. "You can always tell me."
Zay placed one of his hands over one of Seth's. "I know. No offense, but it isn't the same."
"I understand," he replied and set his chin on Zay's shoulder. "I'm still here whenever you need me."
Zay turned and wrapped his arms around his waist. "Thank you."
"Always." He pushed Zay back slightly. "Let's eat before that lasagna gets cold. Is there garlic bread?"
Zay laughed and went back to the oven. "Yes there is."
"Awesome." Seth took a seat at the table and began serving the lasagna. He took a bite and groaned. "This is so good! I never ate this good before I started dating you."
Zay rolled his eyes. "Is that the only reason you continue to date me?"
"It's definitely part of it," he said with a wink.
"Idiot," Zay said as he took a seat at the table.
***
Alyssa shoved things into her suitcase while Josh stood in the doorway, a shoulder propped against the door frame. "I guess if I forget anything I can always come back and get it."
"Got your laptop?"
"Yeah, it's in my backpack." She stood beside her bed glancing around the room. "I think I got everything I need for now."
"Are you sure you're okay with this?"
She sighed. "You do have that state-of-the-art security system. I wish I could convince my parents to come with me. I spent all last night trying to talk them into staying at your place."
He shrugged and took her suitcase from her when she wheeled it over to the door. "I doubt Seth will go after them."
"If he wants to send me a message he will. The guy is smart, Josh, he knows how to fuck with people."
"I know, I was trying to make you feel better."
"Well don't unless it's legitimate information," she told him.
"Let's go, West is going to meet us at the house."
"West?"
"He's insisting on staying at the house too, he thinks it's better if both of us are there with you."
"I guess that makes sense." They exited her room and made their way downstairs. Her mother hugged her and her father smiled.
"I'm sorry about the camping trip, sweetheart."
"Don't worry about it, Dad, we'll make it up somehow." She hugged him and stepped back. "Are you sure you guys won't come with me?"
Her mother shook her head. "No, we're going to go visit your Aunt Grace for a day or two, we both have vacation days that have been piling up, we figured now is a good time to use them. Call us if you need anything."
"I will, promise." She hugged them both one more time before she and Josh left.
When they arrived at the house, West was sitting in the driveway. He got out of his car as Josh came to a stop in the driveway. "Took you long enough."
Josh grinned. "Hey, she's a girl you know how they pack."
Alyssa shoved him. "Shut up asshole."
West laughed. "I'm not going to make any comments on that remark."
"See, he's the smart one," she told Josh.
"Great, I'm outnumbered," he muttered as he led the way into the house.
"Yes, you are, I suggest you remember that," Alyssa told him. She grinned at West. "Glad to you have you on my side.
West shook his head. "I do not want to be involved in your domestic squabbles, thanks."
"Domestic squabbles? Come on, they're more like socially engaging disagreements," Alyssa told him with a smirk.
"Whatever they are, I don't want to be involved. I'm not a referee."
Josh laughed. "Come on, I'll show you to your five-star accommodations."
"This is five-star compared to our little middle-class home," West told him.
Josh walked backward up the stairs. "What did your mom say about you staying here?"
"That it's practice for when I go away to college. I told her your house is nothing like a dorm."
Josh laughed. "No, it isn't."
"She replied that it was practice for her not having me in the house."
"Ah, well I guess that makes sense. Here's your room, make yourself at home. I'll go search out a spare key for you."
"Thanks, Josh."
"No, thank you for staying here to help me keep Lyssa safe."
"It's the least I can do." He sighed. "I wish Zay would listen to reason."
"Would you have back when you and Seth got together?"
His shoulder slumped slightly. "No, probably not. Seth accepted me and at the time I thought he was the only one. I completely missed the fact that my mother never deserted me. I was an idiot."
"We all act like idiots at one point or another in our lives, sometimes more than once."
"Hey, dipshit, why is the house full of people?"
Josh turned to face his brother. "Because someone tried to kill Alyssa by draining the brake fluid from her car, she's going to be staying here for a bit."
"And why is he here?" Zack asked him and pointed at West.
"Because we thought it would be better to have more of us here to protect Alyssa."
"Yeah, well, don't expect me to jump in front of any bullets. Not my style," Zack said before he meandered his way down the hallway and disappeared into his room.
"I'm so lucky to have such an awesome big brother like him," Josh said with an eye roll.
"Hey, come one you know Zack is full of shit, he'd do anything for you."
Josh grinned. "I know."
Alyssa poked her head out of her room. "What are we doing for dinner? I kinda want tacos."
"Tacos sound like a good plan to me," West said.
"Tacos it is!" Josh thrust a hand into the air. "I shall go place an order. Do we want Tres Pollo or Felipe's?"
"Felipe's!" Alyssa told him.
"I'll second that," West told him.
"All right, tacos will be on their way soon!" He left them to go downstairs and find his phone.
West looked at Alyssa. "How are you doing?"
"As good as I can be considering someone tried to kill me yesterday."
He nodded. "Yeah, stupid question."
"Do you think he'll try again?"
"I wish I knew. I'd like to believe he isn't stupid enough to try something else because it would only make the thing with the brakes look more suspicious, but he's also not exactly sane so who can say what he'll do." He shrugged.
"So we play it safe and don't leave me alone."
"And we make certain the brakes on all the cars are good to go."
She laughed. "Even I don't think he's stupid enough to try the same thing twice."
"Good point. We check for bombs instead."
She rolled her eyes. "I'm glad you can joke about this."
"Who was joking?"
"Let's go make sure Josh is ordering enough food. We should probably feed Zack too, we wouldn't want to create a cranky Zack."
He chuckled. "No, we wouldn't. If we do then Josh's next party will be very dry."