Page 26 of Provocation (Den of Deception #3)

And then something had happened. She came home one day with a smile on her face.

She bought me new clothes and shoes that fit.

She started wearing brighter colors and doing her makeup and hair.

She brought a man to meet me. She’d spoken about him like a friend, and I hadn’t known enough to understand that they were more than that.

It wasn’t until the day they got married that I realized.

Their wedding was a quick affair in an office. We moved to the Novelle house right after, and she promised me that everything would be great. She said that John was a severe man, but she’d known him for a long time and there was a side to him that not many people saw.

I didn’t try to like him, but I didn’t try to not like him either. He made me hate him all on his own. And then Larson happened, and I was gone from her and the Novelle family’s lives like a pulled weed.

‘Daisy?’

‘Huh?’ I focus my eyes and realize that Mav’s been trying to talk to me.

‘Are you okay?’

I nod. ‘Yeah, sorry. I was just thinking.’

He puts his arm around me. ‘I was asking you about dinner.’

‘Tacos,’ I say immediately, and he laughs.

‘As you wish, Princess Buttercup.’

I frown at him. ‘You like calling me flower names, don’t you?’

He chuckles. ‘Movie reference. We can watch it later.’

He takes out his phone. ‘Okay. Tacos. Check.’

We get to the parking lot, and I see the guys’ truck parked nearby. The door opens and Shade gets out.

‘Hey,’ he murmurs, gives me a hug, and opens the back so I can get in.

Mav climbs up next to me and I notice Blake is driving.

He meets my eyes in the mirror and gives me a wink.

That’s when I notice a familiar duffel bag in the footwell.

I pretend I don’t see it, but my fingers twitch a little.

I’d love to open it and see what else is inside.

My body starts to heat just thinking about the things they brought out of it the other night. Will Mav stretch me again?

I side eye him, but he’s not paying attention. He’s staring out the window looking like he’s a million miles away.

I take his hand, and he glances back at me, his face softening as he interlaces our fingers together gently.

We stop at the taco van that Blake told me about, and I watch as he gets out of the truck and goes over to some men in dark clothes and bandanas. He does some convoluted handshakes and receives a bag, hopefully full of tacos.

My mouth is already beginning to water as he says goodbye by raising his head a little at them, and I feel myself emulating the motion to see how it feels.

He gets in the car and hands the bag back to my outstretched hand, but Shade grabs it before I can.

‘Hey!’

‘Nice try,’ he says with a scoff. ‘Like I’d ever trust you with the whole bag. The club is only like five minutes away and those tacos would still be long gone by the time we got there!’

‘I’d never eat all the food!’ I gasp. ‘How dare you?’

He lets out a sound of derision. ‘You always ate all the fries when your mom took us for fast food. Always .’

I huff. ‘Nu uh.’

‘Every time,’ he growls. ‘You’re going to be a good girl and wait.’

The way he demands it. The good girl part.

I try to hide my body’s visceral reaction, but by his lingering smirk when he turns back around, I’ve failed.

‘You all right over there, Daisy?’ Mav drawls.

‘Of course,’ I say, sitting up straighter.

‘Not uncomfortable? Not too hot?’

‘Nope.’

He turns back to the window, and I could swear that his shoulders are shaking with laughter, but I’m not sure.

We get to the club and find the DJ messing around with the sound so there’s a lot of weird music and beats. I eat my tacos at the bar, sitting on a stool next to Mav who strokes my left knee, and Shade who’s running his hands up and down the top of my thigh firmly.

By the time I’m finished, and Mav has made me a fruity mocktail, I’m feeling antsy and wanting more touching.

But they don’t seem to realize what they’re doing because both Shade and Blake pretty much ignore me after that.

They go up to their office and leave me alone with Mav who finishes up the rest of his tacos, throws the bag in the trash, and ushers me down to the cellar.

He pulls open the lab door for me, and I find more Envy supplies on the counters.

‘We should make more than one batch if we can,’ I say as I comb through all the ingredients that have appeared, including a couple of green dye options, and putting the guys from my mind.

‘Agreed,’ Mav murmurs, donning one of the lab coats that has appeared.

I put one on as well, an idea flashing through my mind that makes me blush a little, but I focus on the task at hand. I don’t want to mess up because my head wasn’t in the game.

‘Shall we cover the pills with a pigmented sugar coating or add a food coloring dye to the recipe itself to get the green brighter?’ I ask.

I watch Mav bite the inside of his cheek, something I’ve noticed him do a lot when he’s thinking. ‘If it doesn’t change the texture of the pills, I think we just add it to the mixture. Then we don’t have to add steps. It’ll save us time.’

‘Okay.’

I start weighing ingredients, adding the green dye in the middle of the process so that it binds together properly, and I can gauge the final consistency in case the dye makes a difference and I have to change the excipient ratios for the pill press.

Mav excuses himself when there’s nothing much left for him to do and, once he leaves the lab, I implement my little plan.

Heart racing, I tear off my lab coat and take off all my clothes, bar my purple bra and underwear, and then I put the coat back on and button it up. I throw my shoes back on too, and then I hide my clothes in the cupboard in the hopes that he doesn’t notice anything different when he comes back.

I continue with my work, and when all I have left to do is wait and check at regular intervals, I crack open my textbook and sit at the high table in the middle of the small room facing the door. I start typing up the paper I need to write.

Mav rejoins me a little later and we work in silence. I’m also able to completely finish the partner project and I’m glad that I’ll be able to square that away tomorrow by turning it in. Hopefully, I won’t need to speak with Bennet again.

Did all that really happen only a few hours ago? It already feels like ages in the past. Though, I guess it has been a crazy long day, I rationalize. A lot has happened.

I check the clock. It’s almost eight at night already.

Because I’m sitting on the other side of the room with my bare legs under the table, Mav has no idea I’m basically naked and it gives me a giddy thrill that he has no clue at all.

I get up to check that Batch Two is progressing well a few minutes later and he never looks up, too engrossed in what he’s working on.

‘I’m going to run to the bathroom,’ I say, and he nods absently, his eyes not leaving his screen.

I leave the room and go across the dark basement to the other corridor, shivering a little from my lack of clothes as well as being alone in the dark, creepy space.

I go into the Dark Lounge, turning on the lights and marching across the room, trying not to wonder how many girls the guys have brought here in the past.

In the small bathroom, I do my business, but when I open the door to leave, the light isn’t on anymore.

I frown into the darkness and feel on the wall beside the door for another switch, but there’s nothing.

‘That’s weird,’ I mutter to myself, hesitating. I can only just make out some of the pieces of furniture and most of the room is shrouded in shadow.

I’m being ridiculous.

I shut off the bathroom light with a sound of annoyance and begin to walk through the room slowly, but before I’ve gone more than two steps, I hear a chuckle in the dark that makes me freeze.

‘What do we have here?’ a voice says, cutting through the black.

Shade.

‘Looks like a dirty little whore who should have stayed in the lab where it’s safe.’

Blake.

My relieved sigh turns into a shiver at his words.

Is Mav here, too?

My breath hitches as I’m pulled against a large body, and I know immediately that he is. I’d know his muscles anywhere. Hands find my legs and run up them, pausing then they feel my bare skin.

‘Get the light,’ Mav grates out, letting me go.

It turns on, momentarily blinding me.

When I can see, I find the three of them right in front of me.

They’re shirtless and my eyes travel over their torsos greedily, taking in Mav’s large muscles, the small tattoo on Shade’s chest, and the larger geometric ones that span Blake’s neck and shoulder.

I sigh a little at how beautiful they are.

‘Tulip,’ Mav says low, fingers playing with the hem of my lab coat. ‘Where are your clothes?’

I glance up into his eyes. ‘I took them off,’ I whisper.

Blake is suddenly next to me, eyes boring into me. ‘Dirty. Little. Whore.’

He punctuates each word with a tap to my ass, making me shudder with want.

‘Show us,’ Shade commands.

I take a step away from them, toe off my shoes, and undo the first button. I can’t even raise my eyes to their faces. My heart is humming in my chest, and I feel a little dizzy as I pull the second one out of its hole, revealing the tops of my breasts.

I chance a look up and find all three pairs of eyes riveted to my chest. Blake’s Adam’s apple bobs and I undo the third button.

Shade lets out a shaky breath, but none of them say a word. I pause my movements, and their faces turn almost tortured.

It occurs to me that this is power. I’ve never felt anything like it.

I might be theirs. But they’re mine.

My lips curl up into a wide grin that I don’t even try to hide. My fingers trace the next button with one finger, and I watch their reactions as I very slowly push it through, letting the white coat gape open.

Mav swallows hard, his eyes flicking up to mine. He smiles when he sees my face, and then his gaze returns to my tantalizing game.