Paradox (Unearthly Paradox Series Book 1)

Chapter 7

When we pulled into my driveway, Lilly's eyes almost bugged out of her head. "You live on Hedges Avenue?"

"Yeah. Why?" I pressed the garage remote.

"Only because it's one of the most sought-after real estate on the Coast." She grinned.

"What?" I asked, with a smile on my face.

"Nothing much, only that Jett lives two houses down from you."

I almost drove my car through the back wall of the garage. No wonder I'd seen him hanging around on the beach. And I had actually entertained the idea that was because of me. Boy, did I have tickets on myself.

"Breathe, Zara."

I put the car in park, pressed the garage remote, and got out. "Come on."

Lilly followed me inside. "What time will your dad be coming home?"

I dumped my bag on the couch. "He's in China for a week or so."

Lilly dropped her bag beside mine and looked around the room. "You're staying here by yourself?"

"Yep. As usual." I headed into the kitchen, where I found a note on the counter that said that my father would be going on to Tokyo for a week after he was finished in China. I didn't recognise the writing and wondered who had left the note-probably one of my dad's minions. "Time to get the locks changed," I muttered.

Lilly came into the kitchen. "What?"

I shook my head. "Nothing." I slipped the note into the top drawer then opened the fridge. It was full of food that hadn't been there before I left for school. Maybe I shouldn't change the locks after all. "Want something?" I stood to the side so she could see.

Lilly hesitantly picked up a packet of Tim Tams. "Do you have coffee?"

I cocked my head toward the machine. "What do you want?"

"A coffee?" she said with a laugh.

I rolled my eyes as I closed the fridge door. "Flat white, cappuccino, latte, or macchiato?"

"Latte, thanks."

I turned on the machine and made two lattes. Once they were ready, we took our coffees out on the back deck. The sun was still up, and the beach was filled with the after-school crowd. I scanned the beach, looking for Jett.

Lilly sat down and put her Tim Tams on the table. "His house is two up to the right."

Was I that obvious? Well, I didn't want to be that girl. "Whose house?"

She threw her head back and laughed. "Don't pretend you weren't just looking for Jett."

My face heated as blood rushed to my cheeks. "I wasn't looking for him." When I felt my skin return to normal, I turned around and sat on the chair next to her, which just so happened to be facing toward Jett's house.

"Sure you weren't." She opened the Tim Tams and picked out a biscuit.

I put my elbows on the table and rested my chin on my hands. "Is he really in the mob?"

"I don't know about Jett, but his father definitely is. Or I should say he's the mob boss-only they don't call it 'the mob.'" She bit off one end of the Tim Tam, turned it over, and bit off the other end.

I looked over at his house. It didn't look like a mob boss's house, but then again, I didn't know exactly what a mob boss's house would look like. But I did expect the three-story house to be secured by big burly blokes dressed in suits and packing guns. All I saw was a house similar to mine. No guards-not even a dog. "How do you know all this?"

"Everyone knows." She put one end of the Tim Tam into the coffee and sucked the coffee through the biscuit.

"That is so disgusting."

Lilly stopped sucking and lifted her head. She looked as if she thought I was the one who was nuts. "Have you tried it?"

I chuckled. "No."

She shrugged. "Then don't knock it 'til you've tried it." She put the Tim Tam back in her drink and continued to suck the coffee through the biscuit.

I waited for her biscuit to melt into the coffee before I asked my next lot of questions. "So when you say the mob, do you mean like the ones on TV? Guns, drugs... killing people?"

Lilly nodded. "They did this report about his family on TV a couple of months ago where they said that all the police have on them is circumstantial evidence. Apparently, they've never been convicted of anything."

"How is that possible if everyone knows it was them?"

"I don't know. Evidence goes missing. Witnesses disappear."

My eyes practically popped out of their sockets. "Seriously?"

She nodded. "Of course, there's no proof, but somehow the witnesses always disappear before the trial. And that's if it even gets that far. I think most of the stuff they do just gets swept under the carpet." Lilly nodded toward Jett's house. "Speak of the devil."

I turned to see what she meant. Jett walked through the back gate of his yard, carrying a board under his arm. He had a white tattoo that ran from his neck, over his shoulder and down the side of his chest, disappearing into his board shorts, which were hanging off his hips. All I wanted to do was tug them down farther so I could see the rest of the tattoo. Oh, God. It seemed that my taste in bad guys hadn't changed. I tried to look away, but something about him wouldn't let me. I felt like a cliché. I was a compass, and he was my north. I wanted to bitch slap myself for just thinking that.

He looked over at us, and I stopped breathing. I could've sworn something flickered in his eyes before they glazed over as an easy smile appeared on his face. He waved at us then jogged down the sand and into the water.

Lilly hit my arm. "Breathe, girl."

I needed to suck in some air, but I didn't want to prove Lilly right. What kind of girl stopped breathing when a guy smiled at her? Not me, that was for sure, especially not for someone whose father was probably responsible for multiple murders. Trying to appear casual, I leaned back and put my feet up on the chair beside mine. I picked up my mug and looked out at the beach.

"He's over there." She pointed at Jett, who was paddling out to sea.

God, that girl was good. I had never suspected that shy, reserved Lilly could be so outgoing. It pissed me off to think that those boys and girls had destroyed that part of her, but at least there was still hope. We only had one week of school left, and I hoped that after that she would never have to see them again.

I sighed. "Is it bad that I think the mobs boss's son is hot?"

Lilly laughed. "No. It just means you're human."

Maybe not, but I wasn't going to tell her that.