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I sigh. “Whatever happened to the girl that wasgrossed out by men?”
She tilts her head to the side and sadly stutters, “Sh-she d-died. I b-b-buried her.”
That’s exactly how I feel. Like I died, a corporeal ghost going through the motions on autopilot.
She lifts her hands again.But my men, getting revenge… it brought me back to life. I got a second chance at life, and I’m not letting it or them go.
I think about that.
Revenge.
Itsounds sooo fucking good.
Chapter Eighteen
Parker.
"Did you know that about Raven?" I ask, just as the door to Sabrina's room opens. Both Maksim and I are listening at the door like children, and we step back as Mav sticks his hand back inside, finds the little nub on the doorknob, flicks the lock, and shuts the door behind him.
I feel like an asshole. I knew something terrible had happened to her to make her lose her voice, given that’s the entire reason I had been hired. There were rumors while I was Brina’s guard, standing outside of the gates at Rayne-Moore, since we weren’t technically allowed inside of the gates. Why would we be? Rayne-Moore and its surrounding small towns, save for Raven’s incident, was and is, considered one of the safest universities on the East Coast.
"Gentlemen," Mav growls, striding forward in Maksim's penthouse like he's been here a hundred times and knows his way around. Lips taut, he makes a motion with his head for us to follow him down the stairs.
"Please tell meexactlywhy I was pulled out of bed before my woman's cum finished drying on my lips," he says, so cool, calm, and collected I'm almost jealous.I think he’s only a year older than me, but you can tell he’s lived a harsh life – it’s there, behind his eyes. I’ve only ever seen him smile when he’s around Raven, like all his worries melt away in her presence.
Can’t lie and say I’m not jealous – I want that for myself.
"Maksim kissed Sabrina." I tattle, again, like a child.
"She's mywife." He defends as we reach the bottom step.
"By my calculations, Raven is ovulating and instead of getting her big and swollen with my child, I'm dealing with toddlers that aren’t even mine." He fumes understandably, but he looks at me as we get to the kitchen. "What do you know about what happened to Sabrina?"
I shake my head. "I don't knowexactlywhat happened to her. All I know is, almost three years ago, she sent me on a wild goose chase to buy her minty feminine products because she started her period. I got back to the Barclay’s McMansion, and she was gone. Three hours later she was being dropped off by some douche, drunk as a fucking skunk. She hasn't touched alcohol since that day. Won't listen to loud music, and if she does, she has to mentally prepare herself. She stopped running, started baking, gained a few delicious pounds, and she prefers to stay inside. Like a type of agoraphobia. She has to hype herself up to leave the house, and the entire way to anywhere we go, she's reciting something in her head a mile a minute.
"Sometimes she looks at the doorknob like it's diseased. Large crowds freak her out. My girl was a whore for a good concert, and now she wears gloves and can't stand anyone touching her too long or at all. She says it feels like an imprint on her skin. She used to fuck the night away, and after that night, I found all of her vibrators in the trash."
"The guy that dropped her off, what's he like?" Mav questions like he’s gathering intel, leaning forward on the island, on his forearms, clasping his hands together, keeping his voice low.
I shake my head again. "Never liked him. Spoiled little rich kid with too much money. But he never gave me a weird vibe. Kept to himself in their friend group. He was usually as aware of her as I was when she’d go out and drag me to these god-awful places. I know he was friends with her brother, Charlie. I know he was on the yacht the night he passed. I was grateful to him when he brought her back from wherever they were because she was piss drunk."
Mav eyes me up and down, eyes like clear peridots behind his frames. "You trust him?"
I scoff. "I don't trust a goddamn person besides the woman upstairs, if I'm honest."
Maksim grunts in agreement.
"I'm sure you heard everything Raven had to say, even though that was averyprivate conversation."
Maksim shakes his head. "Whatever the Wish version of Wednesday Addams had to say, isn't my issue. My issue is that my wife freezes every time I try totouchher."
Maverick chuckles, but it's deep and it doesn't feel very funny– It feels dangerous. It's so fucking fast, I hardly have time to react before Maverick's hand comes up, pinning Maks' forehead to the island and twisting his arm behind his back. "Disrespect the mother of my future children again, Maksim, and you'll find yourself buried alive. I'm sure you heard, but in case you didn't, we know how to get away with murder." Heleans down over Maksim's ear and whispers, "I don't give a fuck if you’re a big bad mafia man. I don't give a fuck if the bratva will come for me. I don't even care that you're Sabrina's husband. I haven't disrespected yours, do noteverdisrespect mine. Are we clear?"
You know, I really like the guy.
I stop the grin from forming on my face.
"Crystal," Maksim fumes, and Maverick lets him go, flexing his hands and then stepping away as if nothing ever happened.