Nathaniel, Derek, Zylar and Remy all stood outside my door. My eyes shifted over all of them, stopping when they locked with Remy's.
"You alright?"
Nathaniel was the first to speak. I looked at him and he nodded at me in acknowledgement. It took me a moment to realise that he had his fist out. I formed a smile on my face and spudded him back, allowing them to all come in. Derek gave a small smile as he walked past, not one for much talking.
"Birthday girl." Zylar winked at me before pulling me in for a hug. I laughed lightly as I hugged him back, remembering our antics on my birthday.
Remy was the last to walk in and he leaned in to kiss my temple. When he pulled away, I noticed a deep, red scratch on his right cheek. The cut stuck out of his toffee complexion like a sore thumb. I grabbed his hand before he could walk away from me and inspected the cut which was now dry thin line. As I reach up to touch it, he grabbed my wrist. His eyes were narrowed as he looked at me.
"What's Joseph doing in your yard?" He mumbled quietly.
I watched him back silently, my words stuck in my throat which was quickly losing all moisture. In the distance, the boys could be heard greeting Joseph, Zylar being the loudest shouting "Man like!"
Remy turned to their direction briefly before looking back at me. "We'll talk later."
He let go of my wrist and followed the others, walking further into the house. I pressed my lips together and turned to lock the door, exhaling a deep breath to compose myself. Remy had entered my house in a bad mood and his behaviour was unpredictable when he got like this. I knew that his mood was mainly down to him and Samantha's fight but if I didn't play my cards right, he could easily take it out on me, using his ongoing suspicions on Joseph and I.
I retreated back into the living room as they all joined Joseph in my kitchen at the end of the passage. Terrence had a perplexed expression etched onto to his face as he watched me flop down on my sofa.
"More?" he said.
I raised my brows and nodded exasperatedly. Joseph wasn't helping my anxiety by keeping this close of an eye on me. This meeting, which had nothing to do with me, could have been done in his own apartment. The fact that they were holding it in my kitchen again only made me want to be a part of it. I knew that I should listen to Joseph and stay oblivious to the whole situation; the less I knew, the better it was for me. But I felt like I knew way too much to be kept in the dark any longer. Whether me knowing what was going on was going to change anything was still unknown, but it didn't kill my curiosity.
"That's all mad, Lola," Terrence said, holding Zay above him pretending to make him fly. "What exactly is your involvement with them lot anyway?"
"What do you know about them?" I asked, dodging his question.
Terrence lowered his lips and shrugged. "What everyone else knows. Fraud boys init. Drug dealers. 419. Them tings there..."
I bit the inside of my cheek as I contemplated what he was saying. Though I had no recollection of Joseph doing fraud. "Is this just hearsay?" I asked.
"Lola, look at the car you lot pulled up in. Unless my man has a first class graduate degree that I don't know of... I dunno how he could afford such car. Meanwhile I'm here with my 1 series." He chuckled shaking his head. "That fast life ain't for me."
