Page 174 of The Unravelings

“He’s not wrong,” I add with a smirk when Mack flips me off.

“Not helping, dick,” he mutters to me. “But they’re our rules, Hux. We’re supposed to be able to break them. Duh,” Mack retorts, reaching for more grapes.

“It is strange he walked away,” I quickly acknowledge again, earning a nod from Hux. “He’s not known for giving everything up. In fact, he usually happily fights. Especially against Hux.”

A strange awareness bubbles in my stomach. At the last second, Malic did what he never does. He bailed on the fight without a second glance. Hux was already dressed and ready to go when Wilder told us Malic had left and wouldn’t be back.

And then I saw her.

Leaving with him.

My blood fucking boiled, and my heart squeezed.

Seeing what’s mine, walking out the front door with someone else, looking at her like I look at her. Like she’s the fucking sun in the sky and he revolves around her. Makes me want to claim her all over again so he can’t touch her. Get in line, asshole. She was mine first and will be my last. Her warnings did nothing to quell the incessant need to charge after them, rip her out of his arms, and take her back to my room. I want to tie her to my bed and show her the error of our ways. Grovel. Apologize. Whatever it takes to get her back in my arms. Forever. Olivia can keep running all she wants and making excuses as to why she’s here.

But I’ll figure it out. Even if it ruins whatever she has up her sleeve. Because I know there was more to the story than her needing a hookup. Ugh. My stomach turns at the thought of them touching or fucking.

Nope.

Can’t think about it.

Can’t imagine it.

Or I’ll vomit right here in the kitchen.

I know in my heart that Olivia is up to something more than what she’s saying. There’s something there that I can’t put my finger on. I’ve been racking my brain, trying to understand why she’d come back here dressed as Oliver if she was free from this life once and for all. Because that’s what her death did. It freed her from Franco. Her missing father. From the Viotto Crime Family.

It wiped her slate clean.

It’s everything Olivia had always ached to have when she stared at the ceiling of our treehouse and vowed we’d all be free one day.

She has what we want.

So that begs the question that’s been eating me from the inside out. Why now? Why come back at all? Why not live her life and write us all off for good? She stayed away from us for over five years and built something for herself. So, she’s obviously after something here. And you know what? I’m going to help her achieve it. Fuck Franco. Fuck this Syndicate.

I want my girl.

“Fucking weird, bro,” Mack mumbles through more grapes. “I’m telling you, do the rematch then. But that dickbag needs major stipulations. We can’t let others think they can back out like he did.” He narrows his eyes at Hux, who mindlessly blinks at him.

“For fuck’s sake, dude. At least make him tie his hands behind his back or something,” he cackles. “That would be entertaining. Can you imagine?” He snorts to himself, weaving his head back and forth like he’s lost in the fantasy of Malic fighting with his hands tied behind his back.

Hux takes a deep breath, lifts his coffee cup to his lips, and takes a long sip. Setting it down, he leans against the island. “Are we prepared for tonight?” he asks, looking between us and ignoring Mack’s words.

“So, you’re going to ignore that brilliant suggestion?” Mack grumbles, earning an eye roll.

“I’ll think about it. Are you happy?” he grits out, sipping his coffee again. “Are we fucking ready or not? This shit has to start tonight.”

Mack instantly perks up with a grin, rubbing his hands together. “Very happy! Now, back to the fun stuff. If you mean kidnapping our newest recruits in the middle of the night with black hoods over their heads and leading them into the deepest part of the caves under Greenwood, then I’m fucking prepared.” He whoops, throwing his fist in the air with excitement. “I call Davenport. He’s mine.” He points at the two of us for confirmation, but is met with silence.

“No,” Hux and I say at the same time.

I side-eye Hux again when he glares at me. A pained expression passes over him, and my brows furrow.

“You’re assigned to Simon,” Hux reminds him, taking another sip of his coffee. “And you have to follow the rules like a good fucking boy. You can’t hurt them or bruise them or what-fucking-ever. Are we clear? If you get us into shit again, I’ll throttle your ass. We can’t go to fucking prison because of you.” He gives Mack a pointed look. “You’re messing with highly connected kids whose parents don’t take fucking kindly to injuries. Their precious babies can’t report back that they got a fucking bruise. Capiche?”

“Throttle? Sounds sexy.” Mack winks, stepping back from the punch Hux throws. “Missed me, asshole. You wake up on the wrong side of the bed, Huxey? You need to cheer up! It’s our big day of scaring the shit out of our newest recruits. Only the strong survive.” He grins again, and this time something malicious sparks in his eyes.

Great. He has a sneaky plan that he knows we won’t approve of.