3. Maddox #2
My gaze drifted to Kaylor. Her icy blue eyes were affixed to the list. She had every reason to hate this. Every reason to want nothing to do with revenge or justice or whatever the hell we were calling this crusade. And yet here she was, helping us dismantle them piece by piece.
I didn’t have to like it, having her involved, but I also understood her reasons.
She wasn’t the only one who wanted to hurt them.
“If Silvia’s alive, she’ll surface eventually.
People like her always do. They won’t stop.
The money will draw them out again. It might not be in Elmwood this time, but they will start again,” I said.
“I’m not known for my patience,” Kreed grumbled.
I leaned back in my chair, my fingers drumming against the armrest as my mind raced. It had been a frustrating few months, but we were bound to hit a break soon. Rusty had been the rot that everyone could see, the obvious infection you could point to and say, “There. That’s the problem.”
But the rest of them? They were the disease that had spread quietly while everyone was distracted by the visible symptoms. Hidden. Insidious. Spreading.
Raine grabbed his phone from the table, pocketing it. “I’ll keep digging. Fynn and I came up with a tracking program. If Silvia surfaces anywhere—even a hint—we’ll know.”
Raine was a bit of a computer whiz, and when you paired him with Fynn Dupree, one of the Elite, the two of them were basically digital warlords capable of hacking into damn near anything with Wi-Fi.
“And the others?” I asked. “Do we have a lead on them? The guards? The missing girls?”
Kreed’s expression didn’t change, but danger glimmered in his eyes. “We will. We’re getting closer. I can feel it.”
I wasn’t sure Kreed’s hunch alone was going to be enough. We needed a break before my sanity broke.
My gaze tracked Kaylor as she got up and walked to the other room with Kreed right behind her. I couldn’t stop from watching her whenever she was near. Hell, half the fucking time, I didn’t even know my eyes were on her.
Mason reached over and whacked me on the chest, drawing my attention away from the girl I had no business wanting. “You need to get over her.”
I wanted to get under her, not over her, but I figured it was best I didn’t voice that out loud in the present company. I didn’t particularly want my ass beaten by three of my brothers and one of their friends. Nope. Not on my agenda today. “And why is that?”
“Let me rephrase. We need to help you get over her.”
“And how,” I said slowly, suspicion crawling up my spine, “are you planning to do that?”
His grin widened. “We find you another fucking girl, brother. A replacement.”
I scrubbed a hand down my face, exhaling hard. “That sounds…horrible. I mean, I’m all for being a dick, but using a girl for purely self-serving purposes…?”
Mason raised an eyebrow, leaning back with his arms spread across the top of the sofa. “Didn’t stop you last year.”
The reminder hit exactly where he’d aimed it. It was true last year we’d all done some fucked-up shit to Kaylor, and perhaps I had some unresolved emotions that tied me to her. Guilt? Remorse? Maybe just the lingering ache of wanting something I could never have. “That was different,” I muttered.
“How?” he prompted, calling out my shit.
I didn’t have an answer for that. Because it wasn’t different. Not really.
Raine shifted. “He’s right, though. We do need to get your head out of the past.”
I didn’t have a comeback for that either, which was becoming a pattern I didn’t like.
Mason leaned forward. “You’ve got to let her go, Mad. She loves Kreed. There’s no scenario where this ends well for you.”
“For now,” I muttered even though I knew how pathetic it sounded.
Mason shook his head. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“There’s still plenty of time,” I said, the words hollow even as I spoke them, “for her to realize she chose the wrong Corvo.”
“You’re exhausting, you know that?” Mason grumbled, shaking his head.
“What’s wrong with knowing what I want? Besides, how about you butt out of my fucking business.”
Our father had raised killers and strategists. Not quitters. But he also hadn’t raised idiots, and clinging to someone that was never mine to begin with was starting to feel like the stupidest thing I’d ever done.
Mason lounged deeper into the couch. “Nothing, if the other person returns those feelings, but she doesn’t. Not in the way you want her to.”
I tossed him a look. “I can’t just turn off my feelings.”
Across the room, Nash glanced up from where he’d been half-paying attention, sprawled in an armchair with his phone in hand. One dark brow lifted slightly before he glanced back down, though not before catching every word.
Mason pressed on. “Which is why you need a distraction, and I think I got just the girl.”
“No. Absolutely not,” I shot down, frowning.
A look I knew well shone in his eyes. Troublesome. “What better way to get over someone than to get under someone new.”
Raine and Nash snorted in unison. “Your logic defies reason. It’s no wonder no one takes you seriously,” Nash said.
Unbothered, Mason bulldozed ahead as if he’d just come up with the most brilliant plan of the century.
“She’s perfect. She’s new, which makes her a hot commodity, and it helps that she is actually hot.
Don’t tell me you didn’t notice, because I know you better than anyone else, hell, better than yourself, and she intrigues you. ”
“Who?” Kreed interrupted as he walked back in with Kaylor and Poppy trailing behind him.
The two girls were smiling, chatting among themselves, and I wasn’t the only one who couldn’t seem to keep their eyes to themselves.
Nash’s gaze went straight to Poppy and stayed.
They’d had a thing on and off again all last year, but as far as I knew, it was off.
With Poppy going to college in the fall, perhaps she’d finally realized she could do better than Nash Hart, but by the looks of it, he wasn’t ready to let her go.
I sympathized, but also, I didn’t. If Nash really cared for her, he would have gotten serious while he had the chance instead of stringing her along for an entire year.
Or perhaps it was Poppy who hadn’t wanted to be serious.
I didn’t know. Nash rarely talked about his sex life.
And I honestly couldn’t have given two shits.
Unlike Mason, who liked to announce every girl he’d ever hooked up with to the world.
I shouldn’t have been surprised when Poppy’s gold eyes went to Mason first, but I was. Had I missed something? She couldn’t possibly be interested in my twin, could she? And yet, unless I was mistaken, her cheeks pinkened when Mason flashed her his damn dimples my brother used like a weapon.
Nash noticed, his lips carving into a scowl. Well, this could be complicated. Hopefully, it was nothing and I had no reason to be concerned. I had my own shit to deal with. I couldn’t handle Mason’s love life, not when mine was so fucked up.
“Just some new girl,” Raine informed.
“Mallory,” I supplied, having absolutely no idea why I felt the need to say her name.
Mason grinned. “You got her name. You’re already a step ahead in the game.”
“Who’s Mallory?” Kaylor asked as she hopped up on the pool table beside Poppy.
“No one,” I mumbled, wanting this conversation to end already.
“No one yet. She’s some girl Maddox met at Daily Dose,” Mason clarified, filling Kaylor in.
I’m going to fucking kill him.
“Oh.” Kaylor’s lips parted, her brows lifting.
I needed a different tactic to shut Mason up. “She turned you down,” I pointed out to him. “What makes you think she’d be interested in me?”
“Because you’re not me,” he stated simply, as if it were obvious. “I’m the fun one. You’re the serious one. Some girls want fun. Some girls want...” He gestured vaguely at me. “Whatever intense brooding thing you’ve got going on.”
Nash laughed. “He’s not wrong.”
I ran a hand through my hair, frustrated with all of them but mostly with myself. “This is insane. I don’t even know her.”
“That’s the point,” Raine said. “Get to know her. See what happens. Worst-case scenario, you get laid.”
“I’m not sleeping with her,” I growled.
Mason propped his hands behind his head. “And that’s your problem. You need to hook up more, have fun while we’re still young.”
I sighed out of my nose, annoyed. “When did this become a discussion about my sex life?”
My dickhead twin tilted his head, smirking like a complete shithead. “Lack of sex life.”
“I’m going to fucking hit you.” It was a very real threat, and I would have if the fucker wasn’t so quick, darting off the couch before I reached him.
The prick chuckled.