Midnight Memories

s i x

"Hell is empty and all the devils are here." - William Shakespeare

"Do you want me to take you home?" Derrick asked softly.

I shook my head. "No. Please don't take me home. I don't want to be alone right now."

"We could go back to my place then? Or if you have a friend or someone you'd like to talk to." He bit his lip.

"We can go back to your place." I said hastily, before my brain told me I was making an absolutely terrible decision.

"Okay." He smiled softly. "But would you absolutely hate me if we stopped off somewhere first?"

"Um, I guess not." I replied, a bit confused. But Derrick was being so kind, I wasn't about to interrogate him. He was the only person that I had right now.

We went back downstairs, me saying a hasty goodbye to Blaise before climbing back into the Ferrari. I lay my head back against the soft leather, putting my faith in the darkness to hide the tears streaming down my cheeks. I didn't even pay attention to where we were going, as a matter of fact, it took me about thirty seconds to even realize that Derrick had stopped the car.

I observed our surroundings. We were in a very badly lit, very shady looking back alley, in front of an apparently abandoned building.

"I just have to pick up a package from someone." Derrick explained, checking his watch. "They should be here any second."

Almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth, the grafitti covered, garage like metal door to the building opened, and a figure came out, carrying what appeared to be a manila envelope in their hand. It was until they sauntered up to the window of the driver's seat that I could really get a good look at them.

It was a young man, no older than 21 or 22, but with an intimidatingly large, built frame. He was dressed simply in jeans and a plain white t shirt with boots, but he was handsome, almost so much so that one wondered why he was in a seedy back alley in Manhattan and not on a catwalk in Paris. I couldn't help but think though that he looked familiar somehow, as if we had met before, especially when I took in his light blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. The intense feeling of deja vu made me extremely uncomfortable, because try as I might I couldn't place him.

"Tripp?" Derrick asked, as if this was not who he had been expecting. "What are you doing here? I thought you were working the Upper East nowadays."

"I was." The man, apparently named Tripp, answered bitterly. "But after what happened last year Sloane won't let me out of his sight."

"Hold on, when did Sloane get here?" Derrick asked, sounding alarmed. I didn't know who Sloane was, but they didn't sound like good news.

"A couple months back." Said Tripp. "He didn't want to come right after Avery died, I mean even though it was down south it still affected all of us up here."

My breath caught in my throat. Avery? These people knew John Avery? All of a sudden, I would have traded in my Hermes Birkin bag to get out of here. This was bad, very, very bad.

"I thought Sloane wanted him dead?" Derrick inquired.

Tripp nodded. "He did. That's the only reason me or my pathetic excuse for a brother are still alive. I knew I should have never left him in Miami to run things on his own."

I had to bite down on my fist to keep from screaming. This wasn't happening. Ryder Hartley didn't even have a brother! At least not one that I knew of anyway. Oh, god, no.

"Well, I don't know the details, but I do know he's got a warrant out for his arrest in at least twelve states." Derrick grimaced. "How are you keeping him hidden?"

"Sloane's keeping him underground. It's been difficult, you know how insane Ryder is. He wants revenge. We all do, Sloane especially. If things go as planned, there'll be no one standing inbetween us and running this town and Miami by the end of the year."

"What about that kid? The one Ryder wanted dead so badly last year?"

"Oh." Tripp laughed darkly. "He'll be the first to go."

It was taking all the self control I had not to have a full blown panic attack. Of course we all knew that Ryder was still at large, but he was here, in the city? As for Sloane, I suddenly realized who that was. Sloane Rooney, ruthless British Drug lord who had had Louis' best friend murdered. Now that John Avery was dead and Ryder was one of the FBI's most wanted, it made sense that he would have to come over to America to take control back into his own hands. As for Tripp, how had none of us known that Ryder has a brother? Sure, his past was shadier than him, but this seemed to be a vital piece of information I couldn't believe we had missed.

"Who's this, Vanderbilt? You got a new flavor of the week?" Tripp's voice brought me out of my thoughts, and I thanked the heavens above it was dark and he couldn't see my face. No doubt Ryder had told his brother everything, and mercy was obviously not a trait that ran in this family.

Derrick smirked. "This is Stella, she's a friend of mine."

"Stella?" I could feel Tripp's eyes, so much like his brother's, travel over to me. "You got a last name?"

"What does it matter? You going to put the moves on her?" Derrick joked, and a wave of relief flooded my body. The last thing I needed was Tripp figuring out who I was.

"Well, I do have a way with the ladies." Said Tripp, finally averting his gaze back to Derrick.

"Yeah, the ones you pay for." Derrick scoffed.

"Watch yourself Vanderbilt. Let's not forget which one of us has the gun." Tripp said darkly.

"Let's not forget which one of us here has the money. Which one of us do you think can do more damage?" Derrick retorted.

Tripp frowned. "Well, it was a pleasure doing business with you, as always. I'm sure i'll be seeing you again soon."

"Oh, you will be. Take care Hartley." Derrick shook Tripp's hand before starting the engine and backing back out of the alley onto the main road.

"Sorry about that." He said suddenly. "Tripp can come on a little strong, but you definitely don't want to make him mad. I didn't even know that he was going to be here."

I was barely listening."Derrick, I need you to take me home."

"What? Why? Is it because of what happened back there? Look, Stella, I don't normally associate with people like that, but one of my costars and old friends is in a lot of trouble, and they can get him out of it."

"No, no, it's not like that. I'm just absolutely exhasuted, I hope that you don't mind." I lied.

"It's fine." He sighed. "I'll take you home."

He pulled a quick u turn and began to head in the direction of the Upper East Side. We drove in complete silence until he finally pulled up in front of my building.

"Thank you. For everything." I said earnestly. "I really appreciate it."

"You act as if spending time with you is a chore for me." He smiled softly.

I blushed. "Derrick, I-"

"Look." He interrupted. "That boy, the one from the party? He's a pretentious asshole. A kid with a lot of money, and no sense. I get that he hurt you, but honestly, you can do so much better."

"Derrick..." Now it was my turn to sigh. "Everything right now is really complicated."

"Complicated how? You're not dating that Niall guy right?"

"No." I shook my head.

"But you're fucking him?"

I gasped. "Derrick! That is none of your business!"

"I'm sorry. I just don't understand why you keep giving second chances to guys who treat you like shit." Derrick shrugged.

"Like I said, it's complicated. I have a lot to figure out, especially after what just happened with Louis. The last thing I need is another relationship, especially with someone I just met." My words were harsh, but they were true.

"Stella, i'm a billionaire. I have a BA from Oxford, a law degree from Yale, a Tony, and I just finished filming a movie with Stephen Spielberg. To top it all off, i'm a Vanderbilt, and i'm not sure if you know what that means around here, so let me explain it to you. It means I always get what I want." Derrick said, his gaze catching mine. The golden flecks in his eyes glimmered in the glow being emitted from the streetlamps, and I once again found myself speechless.

"What would that be? The thing that you want?" I asked bravely.

"Why don't you take a wild guess?" Was his reply.

I couldn't deal with this right now. Between my fight with Louis, my fucked up relationship with Niall, and the fact Ryder Hartley had a just as ruthless, just as powerful, and even more handsome and manipulatively charming brother, I couldn't even fathom having any sort of thing with Derrick right now, no matter how badly I wanted too in this moment.

"I'll see you soon." I gave him a weak smile, pushing open the door.

"Can't wait." He smirked, turning the key in the ignition. "When you're ready to stop playing games and start winning give me a call."

I watched him driving away, his words laying heavily in my mind.

When you're ready to stop playing games and start winning give me a call.

Poor Derrick, he honestly didn't know what he was getting into.

Because in our world, winning wasn't something that happened very often.