The Original Crowd by Tijan Read Free Book Online Page A

we were greeted with the sight of a shirtless Jace, with his pants unbuttoned, hanging low on his lean hips. Raking a hand through his tousled hair, he grinned ruefully at me, his abdominal muscles starkly highlighted against the neon lighting inside.
    “Heya, Terry,” he murmured, buttoning his jeans as he moved to give me a hug.
    Jace was the only one who could get away with calling me that. Brian had tried once and I’d kneed him in the balls. He’d never done it again, although he always sneered every time Jace said it, so of course it made Jace say it anytime he could.
    “Jace,” I greeted. “You and Cammy back on?”
    “For the night,” he said easily, raking his eyes over Tray who had stayed by the door, leaning lazily against the wall. “Who’s he?”
    “Not important,” I said smoothly, but Jace was frowning staring intently at Tray. “Wait—” he murmured.
    A light of recognition sparked in his eyes and he stated, “Evans.”
    Tray straightened and moved to stand beside me.
    As he looked at me, I blurted out, “Oh my God, you can talk.”
    He grinned lazily before turning to Jace. “Yeah. I’m Evans. You’re Lanser.”
    I glanced between the two, feeling uneasy.
    Jace was regarding him cautiously while Tray informed me, “We had a business meeting a while back.”
    “Business?” I didn’t like that, but then again, I didn’t know Tray all that well.
    “Yeah. Rawley controls the highway intersection on the state line. Panthers really like to use that highway.” It was all Tray would say and looking at Jace, he wasn’t going to expand on that at all.
    Fine. This wasn’t why I was here.
    “I can give you the codes to Corrigan’s safe,” I stated bluntly.
    Jace looked startled, but he recovered instantly. “What do you want in return?”
    “I want Brian to know that I’m the one who gave them to you.”
    It was enough said—Jace got the message. Knowing that I had given that information to him and not Brian, would burn Brian. It had been the focus of a crap load of arguments between us. Both brothers wanted to know the information because both wanted what was inside. They’d both asked me to get the information and I had, but I had yet to choose who would get them. At first I’d refused to give them to Brian, just because I didn’t want him to get caught trying to get to the safe and because I knew the contents were probably drugs. I didn’t want Brian getting in any deeper than he had to. If anyone could handle the codes, it was Jace. He’d get around the security, somehow, he always did—he was already immersed in the business. It would force a wedge between Brian and me if I gave the codes over to Jace.
    I was forcing it now.
    “You’re a cold bitch, Taryn,” Jace stated, tilting his head to one side. “Probably why you’re family.”
    “Yeah,” I said quietly.
    “Brian hasn’t been leaving you alone, has he?”
    “You mean he was supposed to be?” I scoffed.
    “Yeah, well…my little brother’s always been obsessed when it came to you. Give him time, he’ll come around.”
    “Yeah, well…that’s not good enough for me.”
    Jace nudged me slightly, rocking back on his heels. “Wanna tell me the sudden change of heart?”
    “Brian called me his property.”
    Jace burst out laughing. “My little brother can be an idiot, that’s for damn sure.”
    “I know,” I said dryly.
    Glancing between me and Tray, Jace asked, “There a reason you couldn’t have done this over the phone? Or did you just want to see my handsome face? I’m favoring there’s another reason, because you’re not one to look back.”
    There was another reason, but I wasn’t going to tell him. I grinned easily. “Just keep Brian away, okay?”
    When Tray and I got back into his SUV, I said briskly, “Drive around the corner.” With only a quick look, he did as I said. When he stopped, I murmured, “I’ll be right back. Keep the engine running.”
    Tray didn’t say anything as I