Questions burned on my tongue. Assignments? What happened to Rae? Did Emily’s parents fuck her up too? How many children did he adopt? Who was he?
But they all died on my tongue. I was exhausted, and I was just a means to an end in this family. If I asked too many questions, I might end up the same way Steven did.
Although there was no guarantee that wasn’t already my future. My life was on borrowed time with the Kingsmen’s. I should probably sleep with two eyes open too, but what was the point? I would most likely die by their hands, there was no reason to waste what time I had left stressing about it.
25
Olivia
June 7th, 2022
Ittook them an hour to put everything in my house.
When I was done having the conversation with Malachi, Lucy and I quickly found ourselves standing under the tree, as far from the three of them as possible.
Malachi had gone inside to observe, and I wasn’t going back to sit on the porch alone.
I knew what was happening.
They were unpacking. They installed their cameras, definitely audio this time, and God knew what else.
I had my phone gripped in my hand, contemplating whether or not I should just stay at a hotel.
But what was the point? If Malachi had the money toloan4 million dollars to someone like my mom, then they had the money to waste it away on purchasing an entire hotel just to make sure I was still in their sights.
The box truck blocked my view, but I could still imagine where Wade was staying. I met him less than three hours ago and here I was, bringing the city chaos to their nice little paradise.I wondered what would happen if I actually told him the truth. That a psycho loan shark family was stalking me, using my body to pay off a debt my ex, whom they killed, had incurred with them. I wondered if I would get locked up alongside them. I wondered if Wade would live to tell his cop buddies what happened when he went after the Kingsmen’s or if Everett would kill him before he even gathered a single shred of evidence on them.
“Hey.”
I clenched my jaw tightly at Evelyn’s kind voice. I didn’t want to talk to any of them. Not one. She was nice, yes, but she was still Everett’s sister. She still helped install the cameras and replacemymovers. She worked for her father just like Everett did.
She was just as bad as they were, she had to be.
She joined my side, Lucy was relaxed and happy. “I know you’re upset—”
“Angry,” I interjected.
She was quiet a moment. “Olivia, this has nothing to do with you.”
My eyes shot over to hers in disbelief. “What are you actually saying to me right now? Because it sounds like you’re trying to tell me that the debt I have to pay off, for both my mom and my ex, doesn’t have to do with me?”
She pressed her lips together. “I mean the overall…” She sighed. “I can’t give you much information, okay? About any of it. But you need to understand something. My family, we aren’t just loan sharks. We are everything. All of it. You write those thrillers of yours, talking about serial killers and arms deals and drug busts. That’s us. We kill, we hunt, we run the criminal underworld. In fact, if you ask anyone, they all know who Malachi is. They know his name, his sons and daughters. Anyone you’ve ever seen arrested for the darkest kinds of things, besidestrafficking people and dealing in kids, that’s us. It’s all us.”
I searched her eyes and then rolled mine, turning away from her. I should have been recording this. It was the perfect evidence to give to Wade. He would be so happy. If they were as well-known as she said, then he would be put down in the history books as some sort of worldly hero.
“I’m serious,” she tried. “And I’m only coming to you out of courtesy for you. I live and die for my family, but I think…”
When her words trailed off, I glanced over to her, finding her eyes locked on the open door of my house.
She was quiet for a long time before shaking her head and turning back to me. “They have us ‘sisters’ for a reason. Not blood, but close enough. Everett and Azrael are the worst of us. Jack has his own thoughts about that, but we know the truth, Pops and I. Poppy,” she clarified, a smile touching her lips. “The one in charge of Azrael. Anyway, something snapped in them at a very young age. Greyson and Jack, we know what happened to them before they came to Malachi, our father, but Everett and Azrael?” She shook her head. “We don’t know anything about them or why they are the way they are, it’s just…it’s just how they do things.”
My eyes narrowed to slits. “So, he had a traumatic past, whipptie-do. Everyone has suffered from something once in their life, that doesn’t give him an excuse to treat anyone, let alonemelike shit. The only thing I did wrong was being born to shitty ass parents and choosing a shitty ass boyfriend. My mom and Steven tossed me on your doorstep, I shouldn’t be punished for something they did.”
A knowing smile touched her lips before she wiped it away. “I know. I’m not telling you to accept this, in fact, we make it a point to give them Hell all the time, but the thing is, I’ve never seen anyone get under his skin like you do, and I kinda dig that. I understand why you’re angry, you have every right to be, butdon’t let his actions get to you. If anything, this can give you an opportunity to have some fun.”
I grimaced. “Have fun? He transferred Steven’s debt from money into sex. And now I owe 4 million more. That’s notfun.”
She shrugged, bumping my shoulder. “He’s only done that a few times, used the girl up, and left her in a ditch, and only for small amounts. For the amount of money Steven owed, I was shocked Malachi ordered Everett to do it, but you have to look at the bright side.”
