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Chapter Sixteen

Kai

Jolie’s outburst was expected. I just figured it would have been in the morning once she had a decent night’s sleep.

Sitting with my back against the wall, I watch Chester and Boston throw punches at each other—I also saw that one coming. Brennan, the asshat, woke up early to take Jolie to breakfast. That damn ass kisser is always up before the rest of us; I wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t go back to sleep after Jolie woke us all up. I have no issues sharing her, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think me and her are ready to have sex yet—though god knows I want to.

Her declaration about us all being together last night was weird; she acts like it’s a choice, but really, it’s not. There will never be anyone else we could give our hearts to—our sole purpose of existence is her.

I know she hasn’t screwed Trace yet either. Maybe her decision is to avoid prolonging the inevitable.

Observing other teams that just came together, it’s easy to see their cracks. Usually, the alpha in the group gets the girl. There are a few teams who have figured out that being a team, and all having the girl, is the better option—making them stronger as a unit. Jolie isn’t stupid; she would have figured that out in the time she has spent with Summer’s team, or even with Colt and his unconventional team. Blayne likes chicks, so it takes the feelings out of it and they’re all stronger for it.

“You couldn’t even wait,” Boston spits, throwing a right hook connecting with Chester’s lip. The blood drips down his face, but he just licks his lip and smiles.

“So? We did what you all did when she first returned,” Chester throws back, charging for Boston and grappling him around the waist, taking him down to the ground.

“She was ours, always has been. You were her handler—you knew that.”

“No, that’s what you knew. We always knew it was more. We just never acted on it until now,” I add from my position against the wall, pushing myself up.

Though I might be shorter than them and smaller in frame, my skills match theirs. I have done the same training and have the same strengths. It is useless to fight about it because whatever she wants, she’s going to get, and I’ll make sure it happens.

“Shut up!” Boston snaps, getting to his feet.

“It’s pointless arguing about it. She made her choice, and it’s the most rational one she can think of. It’s what her biological makeup is telling her to do. You have to remember that we were created for her, each one of us in our own way, and her for us. You dipshits just have to figure out what part of you she needs, besides your cocks. Honestly, it really isn’t that hard to work out. Chester, she calms your beast, that fire deep in the pit of your stomach. And you, Boston, she makes you feel more than you ever have. I can see it in your eyes—you had a void look while doing the mundane shit that is expected of you and in she walks and fucks all that up and makes you actually live. But by all means, continue to punch the shit out of each other. By the way, it’s her birthday soon and I’m planning a masquerade party so everyone can be there. You’re welcome.”

I turn my back on the idiots and head inside. It’s really warming up again now, and my pale-ass skin isn’t equipped to deal with the sun. I need to figure out the best place with a large enough ballroom to hold her party and book it in. This wouldn’t be classed as keeping a secret, especially not if I ask Sinclair and Jimmie to take over. That way, I can tell her I have plans for her birthday and I wouldn’t be lying.

Brennan and Jolie walk into the kitchen, both laughing. It’s good to see Brennan is over his misconception that he took advantage of Jolie. Even with all of the intelligence in his brain, sometimes he can be so damn stupid, holding himself accountable for things he has no control over.

“I have to get to Olympia for a meeting with Mr Z. He wants an update on how we’re all getting along. But I will see you later.”

Jolie nods her head and throws her arms around his neck, her eyes sparkling as she looks into his. All that talk of not being jealous is thrown out the window—that green-eyed monster is sitting in the pit of my stomach, just waiting to scratch Brennan’s eyes out. Maybe Chester and Boston were on the right track with punching the shit out of each other after all. Her lips press against his and he hesitates for a split second before he reciprocates. I turn my head, not wanting to intrude on their moment.

Boston and Chester both choose that moment to walk inside. Chester is smiling, and Boston’s signature scowl is plastered on his face. I can almost bet he’s picturing all the ways he could hurt his brother. This whole reverse harem thing—which I had to google the name for—is going to be hard on an alpha male like Boston, who is weirdly protective of what is his. I know all about the first night Jolie spent in his house; he stripped her from his clothes because the thought of a random girl touching his shit sent him into a spiral.

“What the hell happened to you two?” Jolie asks, stepping back from Brennan. She marches through the kitchen until she’s standing right in front of them with her hands on her hips.

“You did tell them to sort out their jealousy themselves, and voilà, they beat the crap out of each other. We all heard the wild monkey sex that was happening upstairs last night. Boston got a little bit jealous.”

She glances my way before turning her attention back to them with a frown. She places a hand on one side of each of their faces and runs her thumbs along their split lips. “Could you please refrain from marking these pretty faces?” she asks with a laugh.

“I’ll give you a pretty face,” Chester jokes, nodding at Boston.

They team up together, one taking her top half and the other grabbing her legs. She wiggles and screams as she kicks her legs. Neither one lets go but her shouts draw out the rest of the guys, all in a half panic thinking something’s wrong. Yet we all laugh as we watch them haul her out of the house and launch her into the pool, Chester diving in after her.

“Get the fuck inside,” Creed growls, making Boston’s eyes go wide. “Are you trying to get us killed? Marlow, go see if you can erase any footage of that dick leaving the house.”

“It’s not that simple,” he says, but Creed just gives him a look that says don’t fuck with me right now.

Boston mutters a curse and runs inside. Chester and Jolie get out of the pool and traipse through the house soaking wet, leaving puddles of water in their wake.

I leave before they throw demands at me to clean up Boston’s mess. I have better shit to do, like plan a party—which reminds me to text Sinclair.

Me

Can you meet me at the cafe on Second Ave in half an hour and bring Jimmie?

She texts back straight away.

Sinclair

Sure. Is Jolie coming with you?

Me

No, bring a notebook.

She doesn’t reply. I head off to search for Jolie and find her in the upstairs sitting room with my brother and the rest of Team Hades. Laughn has her pulled into his lap. She looks up at me when she notices I’m standing in the doorway.

“Hey, I um, just wanted to let you know that I’m going to meet up with a friend and I’ll be back in a few hours.”

She pushes up from Laughn’s lap and moves closer to me. “Okay, have fun.”

She bites her lip as uncertainty crosses her face. I know this is new for her, and it is for us as well. We’ve already seen one fallout, and I’m sure there will be many more. Sharing apparently isn’t our strong suit.

She leans in and places a kiss on my cheek. I would be lying if I said that didn’t sucker punch me in the gut. I know we’re not as close as some of the others, but it still stings.

Screw that. I’m going to woo the fuck out of her, so I add a mental note to buy her a gift. She wants gifts, and I’ll make it happen.

I look up and see my brother staring me down; he seriously isn’t over his hatred of me. I know he thought Jolie was dead, and he has blamed me for it ever since, as I was supposed to be on duty that day. But we’d decided Trace would be the one to take her; it had to be him so Mr Z couldn’t use his gift to help find her. Once he knew the truth, I thought we could start repairing our relationship. Clearly, he isn’t ready yet as he flips me off.

“Do you want to have dinner with me on Sunday night?” I ask, fully expecting her to tell me she already has plans, but she smiles up at me and nods her head.

“I would love to.”

My insides turn as giddy as a kid on Christmas. I smile and press a quick kiss to her nose before leaving the room. Who would have thought that I would do things the right way? Dating before sex, go figure.

I wonder how many of the guys told her they were virgins. Not all of us, of course. Well, I’m a girl virgin. Does that even count? But the last time I took count, it was just Trace and me. Case was also one before Jolie deflowered him. I always had a suspicion that Davis was saving himself for god knows what reason, considering he thought she was gone. I’m positive that’s why he’s a low-key dick to her—he’s afraid to get hurt again.

Creed, Chester, and Brennan fucked a few of the handlers. It was their way of denying they felt anything for her way back when she was innocent. It’s insanely fucked up when you think about the age gap, as none of us would have touched her back then. We were only ever told we were born with the sole purpose of protecting her with our last breath. We never questioned it at first because why would we?

That is, until Chester’s reaction when he was sixteen. He killed his first man over the way he picked Jolie–or Zircon back then–up after she was hurt in a training exercise. He lost it, stalked the man after he finished work, and followed him back to his home. The amount of blood we all witnessed surely shouldn’t have been possible. He wore the crimson colour as fucking war paint. Mr Z was not pleased, but made it all disappear by the next day. We realised then that the way he felt about her was more than protection. We also swore to never tell a soul because he was disgusted with himself. Over the years, we all started to feel the same way, except for Brennan, whose hatred of her only grew due to his belief that she was tearing us apart. A hatred he kindled to mask his true feelings. I wonder if we would have ever found out that truth if we hadn’t betrayed him, and via retaliation, he had to tell us.

With a few minutes to spare, I’m walking into the café. Sinclair and Jimmie are already seated, and I make my way to them, taking the last remaining chair. I look over at Jimmie and see he has brought along his girl. What’s her name again? Brittany? Bianca? Fuck, I don’t remember. Oh well. We haven’t interacted much, but I don’t like the way she watches Jolie every time she’s wandering the halls at school, seeking out Jimmie instead of doing her damn job.

“Why is she here?” I demand, wanting to know why, when I called them here, they didn’t follow an order. The funny part of Olympia is that there is a pecking order, and we take it seriously. Mr Z’s enhanced teams, aka me, are up fairly high, while Jimmie’s team is very low on that list, and I doubt Sinclair is even on it.

“Kai,” Sinclair snaps. “If this was a G.O.D.S thing, you should have said so, but there is zero reason to be mean.”

“I think our friendship has started to confuse you of your place. I’m not a nice guy, maybe nicer than the rest of my team, but when I ask you to do something, I expect it to be done. The only time that’s void is if I was to ask to meet with your girl. Then you—or, well, in your team’s case, I’d personally send the guy with the huge muscles and small brain—would be permitted to come, no questions asked.”

“Drake does not have a small brain,” Becky or whatever her name is defends her guy.

“I beg to differ. I bet he has a small pecker too. All those steroids are not good for a person.”

“Is there a point to why we are here, Kai? Because you’re acting like a dick right now,” Sinclair snaps again, clearly pissed. It might be time to ask Mr Z to add her to the roster for fight night. It may even be fun to see her get her ass kicked. Damn, that green-eyed monster has really pissed me off.

“Yes, it’s Jolie’s birthday in a week.”

“We know when her birthday is,” Jimmie adds.

“I’m thinking we should throw her a party—a masquerade party, to be more precise. That’s not negotiable, and I’m not classified to tell you why.”

“Okay, I can work with that. Though a week isn’t long enough to get everything I would want,” Sinclair mumbles while she starts to write in the notebook I asked her to bring. “And I take it we are making it a surprise?”

“Yes, so I’m trusting you to find her the perfect dress and mask. I want jaws to drop, and spare no expense,” I say, sliding a card across the table.

We all get paid to be part of Olympia, earning a wage, and once teams take on jobs, they get a good commission from those too. I’ll give Mr Z one thing: he pays us well. It’s why he expects so much from all his teams. I know for a fact my team is paid more than, say, Jimmie’s team. The wages are based on your team’s skill set and once you graduate high school, you negotiate your payments. Let’s just say having Brennan on our team has really worked in our favour. I’m sure Jimmie is being well paid for his stint back in high school, but Sinclair, on the other hand, would be paid next to nothing. She isn’t on a team and might not ever be, plus she hasn’t graduated from high school yet.

“Any other requests?”

“Just that you two make this perfect.”

“What do we get paid to do this?” Betty asks.

“You don’t get shit. You were not invited and news flash, girlie, Jimmie is friends with Jolie. Friends do nice things for each other. I don’t trust you, nor do I even like you. You’re lucky that I even let you stay. If you know what’s good for you, I would keep your mouth shut and sit there looking pretty.”

She slumps back in her chair and doesn’t say anything else. I can already tell that she and Jimmie are in for a fun drive home. She clearly doesn’t like Jolie, and he does.

Sinclair stops writing and looks up at me.

“We’ll make it perfect. What about the guest list?”

“Her friends, their teams, and anyone else you think should be invited. I don’t really care as long as you warn them that if they step out of line, they have us to deal with. Chester will not take lightly to anyone messing up her birthday. Nor will Creed, for that matter, if someone makes her cry.”

“Done. I will update you once I have all the details.”

With that, I get up and leave, my mood still sour. The image of her kissing Brennan so easily yet only kissing my cheek as a goodbye keeps replaying in my head. I have to go gift hunting before I head home. I want our date to be perfect since it’ll be the first. Operation “Woo my princess” is a go.