Page 91 of A Knight’s Revenge: The Complete Series

CHAPTER EIGHT

JOLIE

I t was a familiar scene, except this time, I was also sitting stiffly on the couch next to the boys while we accepted the tongue lashing we probably deserved from a loved one.

Mari paced in front of us, her heeled boots clunking against the hardwood floor of our dorm apartment, her arms crossed and a serious look on her face as she mulled over the flood of information she’d gathered since her plane had touched down in the City this morning.

“I have been gone for one week,” she said, her tone deceptively light. “ One . Week .”

I’d known I was in trouble as soon as our door had flown open half an hour ago, and my best friend and roommate had stalked angrily inside, wheeling her Gucci carry-on beside her, her oversized sunglasses still on her face and her soft sweaterdress not even a little bit wrinkled from her transatlantic flight.

We’d been having a quiet Saturday morning, my three gorgeous boyfriends and I.

Zach had made everyone breakfast—testing me by wearing only an apron and his underwear—and we’d eaten together while we talked about anything that wasn’t the impending war we’d just declared together against the Families.

I’d been curled up in Noah’s lap on the couch, lazily making out with him while Bennett and Zach cleaned up the kitchen, when Mari had arrived. I felt terrible for not even remembering her flight back from Madrid, where she had spent the week with Carmen, was today.

But, to her point, a lot had happened while she was away.

“Imagine my surprise,” she went on, still pacing, “that when I’m making my way through the atrium downstairs, I have no less than five different people ambush me to confirm some very wild rumors.”

“Mari—” I began, but she held up a hand, cutting me off with an accusing look.

“And then I arrive home to have my alleged best friend not only confirm those rumors but calmly inform me that, actually, so much other crazy shit has happened?”

Zach chuckled next to me on the couch. Noah held my hand, his thumb rubbing soothing circles on my palm, though he also appeared amused. Bennett lounged in our oversized armchair, his long legs crossed as he scrolled through his phone, unperturbed by Mari’s ire.

She went on. “So, let’s recap, shall we?

While I was in Spain, you discovered your dad’s revolutionary research, then you were drugged and kidnapped by your uncle, who was apparently a secret villain and the major reason your parents were murdered.

He was then brutally killed by Bennett Spencer, who has now joined your harem of devoted boyfriends despite being a stubborn, broody bastard to you all these months?—”

“To be fair, he’s still a stubborn, broody bastard,” I said, only to receive a dark, threatening look from Bennett over the top of his phone—a thing that used to rile me up but now only made my panties wet.

Mari ignored me, now counting on her fingers.

“Then your other boyfriend was kidnapped, you rescued him with the help of a powerful, secret organization that no one in the City knew about that apparently you are the leader of , you decimated the Ferrero Enforcers, then you declared open warfare on the Families— again —on Academy grounds. Oh, and your newest boyfriend dumped his fiancée in front of the entire school. And not once, through any of this, did I receive even a text message, not to mention a phone call , apprising me of the situation. Do I have that right?”

I winced. “I didn’t want to… worry you.”

“Uh-huh.” She was unimpressed, and she held my apologetic stare with a look that dared me to make another excuse as she whipped her phone from her purse. She scrolled and tapped the screen to make a call, and we all sat silently as the call rang on speakerphone.

“Hey, babe,” Max’s voice purred through the phone. “You back on City soil?”

“Max, mi amor,” Mari cooed right back, and it scared the shit out of me. “?Qué pasa? How was your week, hmm?”

Max caught on that he was in danger. “Um, it was… alright.”

Mari still glared at the four of us as she spoke into her phone. “Was it, now?”

“Babe…,” Max began, but it was over for him as she decided to unload in colorful Spanish, rolling her eyes at me one last time before stomping off to her room, her suitcase rolling smoothly next to her as she barked into the phone.

She slammed her door a little harder than necessary, then I sagged back into my couch cushion.

“Fuck, I’m the worst friend,” I muttered.

Noah wrapped his hand around my thigh and gave me a reassuring squeeze while Zach tossed a muscled arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close.

“She’s just worried about you,” Noah said. “I think she knows that this week was… difficult for you and that the life you lead is dangerous.”

Bennett locked his phone and slid it into the pocket of his sweatpants before his eyes met mine, a soft and understanding look lurking there.

“Angel, I think you should let Mari decide how deep into this she wants to go with us. It’s understandable that you want to protect her, but she’s a big girl.

And I think Zach may be able to help you make it up to her. ”

I beamed an appreciative smile at Bennett and received a heart-stopping, genuine smile from him in return. I sucked in a shaky breath, ignoring the knowing chuckles from the other two, before I shifted under Zach’s arm to look at him. “What’s he talking about?”

“Well,” Zach said, pulling his own phone from its perch on the end table.

“As you know, Anzaldua, as the City’s Tier One hotel giant, is affiliated with Ferrero.

But my mother’s woes are becoming public knowledge, as is my defection to Knight, so we’ve had a few of Ferrero’s remaining allies see the writing on the wall and come crawling. Mari’s parents are one of them.”

I perked up. “When? ”

He dropped a quick kiss on my lips before putting his phone to his ear. “Hey…. Oh, fuck you, Marcus. You can earn your giant paycheck and quit bitching…. I happen to think Silver is a very fair boss…. No…. Yes. Give me the latest from Anzaldua.”

As Zach listened to whatever this Marcus person was telling him, I shot a questioning look at Noah.

He grinned. “Marcus used to frequent the underground fighting rings unofficially sponsored by Ferrero. He was also a thorn in the side of the Families as a gray hat hacker that somehow hadn’t been snatched up by the Shadows.

Zach talked him into joining us and put him on Silver’s team, and I think they…

butt heads. He’s now Zach’s guy like Zepp is yours. ”

“Oh,” I replied, feeling pleased by my boyfriend’s initiative. “Does Bennett have a guy too?” I swung my inquisitive stare in his direction.

“No one I trust,” Bennett replied. “Silver’s in charge of the Spencer side of the Shadows.”

Zach finished up his call. “Thanks, man…. Oh, fuck off. I’ll kick your ass anytime. Come down to the Southside—that’s where I train now…. Yeah, later, dude.”

Then he filled me in.

When Mari emerged from her room an hour later, now wearing the finest silk palazzo pants and a matching crop top—her Saturday loungewear—I was ready to present our proposal to her.

Noah made her a cup of coffee, and Bennett abandoned his spot in the armchair and offered it to her before taking over the corner of the couch. He tucked me neatly into his side and clasped my hand in his.

Mari appeared relaxed and at least willing to hang out in our presence—score one for me—and she eyed Bennett’s and my intertwined hands with great interest.

“That,” she said before taking a delicate sip of her coffee, “is going to take some getting used to.”

“It was… quite a development,” I hedged. Mari knew the story now, though I’d left out the frenzied-fucking-in-my-prisoner-chair part of it all.

Zach, who was still shirtless but had put on some flannel pants since Mari’s return, cleared his throat from his spot where he was casually leaning up against our living room wall .

“Mari, Jojo and her harem of devoted boyfriends would like to have a chat with you, if that’s cool,” he said, deploying his sexy smirk.

Mari, unaffected by that move, narrowed her eyes at him before dragging that suspicious stare to me.

I pasted on my contrite face. “First of all, I’m sorry for the radio silence during everything that went down the past week. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you it was intense and draining and scary, but that’s not an excuse for my failure to check in.”

She hummed. “It’s not, but despite everything I said, I do understand.

You’re used to holding everything close to the vest, and I know what you’re doing is dangerous.

But I do want to be… involved.” She swallowed, now looking nervous.

“I talked to Carmen and did a lot of thinking this week. I think I do want to… join Knight. But I don’t really have much to offer. ”

“Untrue,” I replied with a huff. “But also, on that note, Zach just informed me that your parents have… reached out. They’ve requested a meeting with Knight, given the uncertainty surrounding Ferrero at the moment.”

Mari’s jaw dropped. “They did not ,” she hissed, indignant. “And they know the Knight Heir is my best friend! They’ve done nothing but bitch about your enabling my ‘rebellion.’ Joder , I cannot believe those two-faced opportunists!”

Her coffee abandoned on the end table, she hopped to her feet and began pacing again, her incensed muttering alternating between Spanish and English.

“Mari,” I said gently. “This is your first order of business as a member of Knight. You decide the fate of Anzaldua. Welcome your parents into the Knight fold if they promise to quit their bigoted bullshit. Toss them out to survive on the dregs of Ferrero if they don’t.

Take the meeting. Don’t take the meeting. This is your decision.”

She paused, looking first at me, then at each of the guys. “Really?”