Page 15 of Cut Her Strings (Fractured Puppets #1)

Chapter 14

Player 174

Maverick

M averick sat on the couch in the living room; Enzo sat with him, their knees touching, even though there was plenty of space on it. Since they came to in this game, they had not left each other’s side. Maverick hadn’t seen Enzo before this in over a year. Waking up in this game was the best and only answer to their endless torment, over a year in a Government prison for those involved directly in the Nightingale attack. His brother had been captured, too, but part of their torture was to be held separately. He had not even known Enzo was alive until they reunited here. He knew for a fact their triplet George was not alive. George’s death was a public execution. Maverick clenched his hand at the thought, and Enzo turned to him.

“You good?” Enzo asked .

Maverick did a quick sweep and calculated the remaining time he had before Jayce and Levi were in here and brawling. “Enough. She is a complication.”

Enzo chuckled, “You are right. She is beautiful.”

Maverick ignored his brother’s jesting. “I knew she would be a problem the moment Levi saw her. She’s small like Violet was, but she is much stronger. You laugh now, but what happens when Levi chooses her life over his, over our lives? I won’t lose you, again. You’re all I have left.”

Enzo sobered up. “I know, brother,” he said as he squeezed Maverick’s knee and moved away a bit to better examine him.

The mask did nothing to hide the visible emotions storming through Maverick.

“Are you sure it’s just Levi we need to worry about that with, Mav?” Enzo murmured softly.

Maverick let out his breath in a hiss and thought back to the sight of Raven. She was magnificent, her face tipped in ecstasy as Levi filled her. Her supple curves and soft skin were on full display; it had been enough for him to almost come apart, and the evidence of his arousal was still present.

Enzo gave him a look, staring pointedly at the tent reforming. Maverick adjusted and tucked it, so it wasn’t as noticeable. He ignored Enzo’s look; he needed to release some of the tension forming before he snapped.

He could acknowledge that she was an exquisite specimen that he wanted to examine fully. But she was an unknown, and he did not deal in unknowns. He could not make predictions on unknowns, and he could not rely on or count on them. Unknowns were why he and Enzo were in this mess in the first place. The last one had been Levi.

“You will not need to worry about me,” Maverick finally grumbled, just as Levi reentered the room, fully dressed and his mask back in place.

He took his spot on the armchair. For all of the chaos that was about to undoubtedly occur, Levi appeared relaxed, happy even.

“You can’t choose a woman over our lives again,” Maverick got to the point.

Levi stiffened, sitting upright. He no longer seemed as comfortable as he had moments prior. “I made y’all a promise, and I know it doesn’t mean much, but I plan on keeping it this time.”

Maverick leveled Levi with a glare and jerked his head in a nod.

“Did they say anything else on the game?” Levi asked.

“No, just that there was a game in progress. Same as they stated before with the other interviews they did,” Enzo responded.

Jayce took that moment to storm into the room, stomping his feet until he landed right in front of Levi. “All I have to say to you is this. If when she wakes up, she says you did anything she didn’t want you to, I will kill you. Consequences be damned. Do you understand me?” Jayce practically spat the words down at Levi.

“I do,” Levi confirmed, no challenge in his voice. He cocked his head. “You going to tell me y’alls story or will I be hearing it from her?”

Jayce rumbled in warning and stepped back, sitting on the empty loveseat.

As soon as he sat, the TV flickered on, and once more, there was their benevolent Host.