50. JJ #3
“No.” Her face completely falls when she says the word. “I don’t know. I’m looking into it. But I think…”
“It has Franco’s name written all over it,” I suggest without thought.
“Oh, I never thought I’d see the day when one of his precious sons turned on him. This is fascinating. I’ll add him to my kill list,” Malic says, pulling out his phone and quickly typing.
“You have a fucking kill list?” Wilder yelps, attempting to grab his phone, but fails when Malic pulls away with narrowed eyes.
“Now, now, Keeper. My list is private. Not for prying eyes.” He grins, shoving his phone into his pocket. “You’ll see one day.”
Wilder blinks. “I need more to drink. Anyone else?” he grumbles, standing quickly and marching to the bottle of Stagg on the countertop.
He grabs it, flicks the lid open, and guzzles down more with a satisfied sigh.
Slowly, he makes his way back to the island and plops into his chair.
“Anyone I should be concerned about on your kill list?”
Malic grins. “Don’t worry your pretty little head, Keeper. It’s all our enemies.”
“But Franco wasn’t on there before?” Olivia asks, rubbing her temples.
Malic side-eyes me. “He was, but I moved him up as a priority to number one. If he was the one to harm you, then I need to take him and his empire out. No offense, Enemy Number Three.”
I don’t offer him the words, but internally I think Franco does need to be taken out.
He’s trying to run for mayor, for God’s sake.
Maybe Malic and Wilder will be useful, after all.
If we can’t take out Franco ourselves without getting killed, maybe this newly founded friendship of sorts can be to our advantage.
“Or I could,” Olivia offers, squeezing her eyes shut with a heavy breath. “Fuck it.” Olivia sets a shiny, official-looking badge on the island and slides it to the middle. “I’m an agent of Veritas.” Quickly, she looks at me. “I would have told you, too, but…”
I swallow hard. An agent? Fuck. And what the hell is Veritas? I’ve never heard of an agency of that name.
“I know…” I trail off in a small voice and then clear my throat.
“I understand your reluctance.” She doesn’t trust me.
Not fully yet, but I’m working on that. I run a hand through my hair, understanding dawning on me.
Malic grins at me knowingly, understanding that I’m finally getting the blackmail. “What exactly is Veritas?”
Olivia blows out a breath while running her finger over the shiny badge.
“The day I died, everything died with me. My identity. My family. My sense of self-worth. It all smothered under the flames that consumed my home.” She shakes her head.
“That’s when Veritas stepped in. They were my saviors.
They took me in like I was a stray because I had nowhere else to go.
No one else knew I existed anymore. They treated my burns and injuries.
They trained me and made me into an agent of their organization.
” Slowly, Olivia lifts her gaze to each of us.
“Veritas is a ghost agency. They operate on the fringes of society while bringing down the bad guys. Anyone who has their fingers in something illegal, we get wind of it, and then we’re dispatched. ”
Silence hangs in the house as Wilder and Malic exchange glances. Malic doesn’t seem too worried about her. But Wilder? There’s fear sparking in his eyes when his deep groans fill the air.
“So, you’re like…a fucking spy for the government?” Wilder asks, toying with his cigarette again. “Fuck me,” he groans. “And you’re here? At this godforsaken place?” He mutters a few more words under his breath, looking at Liv with worry in his gaze.
I don’t blame him.
Being any sort of law enforcement in an environment like Greenwood is a recipe for disaster. One false move and Olivia’s dead where she stands. Fuck.
“Yes,” she says slowly. “I’m here for a reason.”
A reason I don’t think I want to know. Olivia’s agency, which is wild to think about, has sent her to this specific campus. If they’re a true agency working in the shadows, they have a specific reason to drop her off here undercover.
Fuck.
If Olivia’s identity were to get out to the wrong people, she’d be taken and killed.
Probably hung up like some sort of trophy for ridding the campus of law enforcement.
Fuck. This is a campus full of people up to no good.
They’re only here to make connections and get degrees.
They’ll go on to work for their Mafia fathers or gang leaders or whatever powerful entity they’ve come from.
Olivia doesn’t stand a chance if anyone finds out.
Her life is at stake.
“Oh, goody. Do I finally get to understand?” Malic asks, running his fingers over the badge. “Agent Seven, yes?”
“How the fuck do you even know this?” Wilder asks.
“Because I’m nosy.” Malic’s grin says it all as it slides across his face.
“You were hiding in the fucking brush again, weren’t you?
Lurking in the shadows and spying on people.
You know, one day you’re going to get yourself killed by someone.
This is why I had a tracker on your phone so I could see where your body was.
” Wilder huffs in annoyance. “Too bad you ruined that, too. I swear to God, I am locking you in your room from now on.”
Malic swiftly rolls his eyes. “You underestimate me, Keeper. Besides, the information I find is quite juicy. No one ever suspects someone in the trees listening to them. Like yesterday, a Mafia princess and her enemy’s prince were canoodling in her dorm room. Quite scandalous, if you ask me.”
“You climb trees?” I question, furrowing my brows.
Great. Exactly what we need on campus. A psycho in the trees listening to all the gossip happening below him. What if he’s heard us and our conversations? My hackles rise when Malic’s gaze slides to me, gleaming with mischief that I can’t place.
“That’s all you took from my statement? No one wants the tea?” He frowns and crosses his arms.
“No one wants the goddamn tea, Mal. Zip your lips before you accidentally get yourself killed or go missing. You’re spying on…
” Wilder’s gaze snaps to me and then back to Malic.
“And that’s exactly what I would need in this fucking economy,” Wilder lashes out, shaking his head at Malic, who grins at him again.
“So, you were hiding out and happened to discover I was an agent?” Olivia crosses her arms over her chest and narrows her eyes. “When and where?”
“Oh, I was hanging out by the woods after following…” He trails off and waggles his finger at me.
I stiffen. “When your poor cousin was being sent away and begged to be devoured by lions because he fucked something up. He also mentioned snipers. He seemed nice.” Malic grins.
“Maybe he and I could also be friends? Any friend of yours is mine. Especially friends with snipers.”
“The last thing you need is friends with sniper rifles,” Wilder says.
“Fucking Jordy,” she grumbles, tossing her hands in the air.
“Hold up.” I put up a hand. “You were following me?” I narrow my eyes. “How often do you follow us around?”
Malic innocently shrugs. “I mean, I did break into your house, befriend your ferocious guard dog, and then kidnap Huxley. It’s not that hard to follow the three of you and not be noticed.”
“You need a collar and a leash,” Wilder murmurs.
“Kinky. Should we try that?” He looks directly at Olivia with big eyes and bats his eyelashes.
Thankfully, she ignores him as I process the other part of his sentence.
“Wait. The fucker who was hanging off Simon?” I ask. “He’s your cousin?” I don’t remember any of her cousins being named Jordy. In fact, I’ve always known her cousin as Jericho. Not to mention, she’s supposed to be dead, so how would her family be in her life at all?
“Not by blood. He’s my work partner,” she says. “I shouldn’t even be telling you guys this,” she groans, putting her forehead on the island and slightly tapping it against the marble a few times.
Reaching over, I gently rub her back, hoping to melt away the tension running through her. Despite wanting answers from her, I’m overjoyed to still have her here within reach and that she’s allowing me to continue to touch her.
I’m one step forward and continuing to prove to her that we had nothing to do with her family’s death. And hers.
“Oh, but you should. I love show and tell,” Malic quips. “But do tell us why you came back after all these years, Little Ghost. You know, I hoped you would one day.”
Wait. “You knew she was still alive?” I ask breathlessly.
It’s like Malic reached over the counter, punched through my chest, and grabbed my heart. He knew? He fucking knew she still existed. He didn’t have to go through the grief. The nightmares. The guilt of not being there for her.
And we did.
We went through it all. Through the funeral. Through the burial. Through the gravestone placement months after she was gone, which kick-started our grief all over again. Grief has never died within us. It’s something that we’ve lived with for five years and continue to dwell in.
Even now, with her breathing beside me. I still remember that day like it happened yesterday. It’s a scar on my soul that will never leave.
Even if she’s alive. The panic of losing her all over again has my chest heaving. And this situation is doing nothing to calm the fears rising up inside me.
I sneak a peek at Olivia as she keeps her forehead planted against the countertop. A heavy sigh rocks through her again.
“I know a lot of things, Enemy Number Three.” He taps his temple a few times. “A lot of things people don’t want me to know.”
His statement should concern me, but I’m more focused on Olivia as she silently stews, banging her forehead off the countertop and refusing to look at the three of us.
“I was sent here to infiltrate Franco’s gang,” she mumbles as she sits up with a frown. “I didn’t want to come back. But I was made to. Okay? Are we happy now that you know my secrets? Because I’m fucking not okay.”