Page 107 of X's and O's

But tell me, boys, who holds her heart?”

I let out a long breath. “So that’s definitely directed at me. At least the first part.”

“And the second is about Violet,” X said, voice as cold as ice for the first time that day.

“Violet and the three of us would be my interpretation.” Whip passed him the letter.

I shoved my hands deep in my pockets. “Do you think this whole thing could actually be targeted at me? I was in prison with so many of those guys on the list.”

Whip shook his head. “We got the first couple letters before you were a part of the group, so my gut instinct would be it wasn’t initially about you, but clearlywhoever it is, is watching us. And now that you’re part of the group, you’re one of their targets too.”

But something about that didn’t sit right with me. And clearly it didn’t sit right with Whip either. He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck, his agitation clear in the jerky movement. “If we’re the targets, why are they now bringing Violet into it?”

X ground his teeth. “Because we’ve all made it pretty clear we’re into her. Fuck, even some random peeper can see that. And what hurts a target more than hurting them directly?”

“Hurting someone they care about,” Whip filled in for him.

A sinking feeling came over me. “Where’s Violet right now?”

X’s tone had lost all hints of humor. “She’s probably on her way to her first job of the day.” He paced back and forth over the scrubby grass. “Shit, we can’t leave her alone, can we? Someone needs to be with her at all times. This letter makes it clear she’s just as much a target as we are.”

I agreed. “She needs to come stay here at the clubhouse. Grayson has his family here, surrounded by security. His girl and his kids don’t leave without an escort.”

Whip frowned at that. “You want to lock her up in here, like a prisoner? That might seem normal to you, and Grayson has little kids to consider, but you think Violet’s going to let you keep her behind a fence? She’s got a job, friends, a life. She’s not just going to give that up and move in with you.”

Irritation flickered inside me. “Are you saying thatbecause you truly believe it or because you’re jealous she’d be here with me?”

Whip’s gaze narrowed. “I’m the one who had her clit on my tongue last night. I’ve got nothing to be jealous about. I don’t know if you’ve forgotten, but you aren’t even on speaking terms with her. You really think she’s going to willingly move in here, where she has to be reminded every day that you made her feel so fucking shit about herself she came to me, begging me to take her virginity so she didn’t feel like such a loser?”

It was like being punched in the stomach. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s what I was doing that night you saw us at Sinners. People pay me to teach them new things in the bedroom, how to please their partners or to understand how they like to be pleasured. They come to me with no confidence, and I send them away feeling like goddesses. She came to me after you rejected her. She has it in her head that you took one look at her, thought she was too fat to be worth a screw, let alone a relationship, and so she came to me, begging me to make her feel good about herself.” He glared at me. “Which I plan on fucking doing, because she deserves to feel like a fucking queen after what you put her through.”

I blinked at the dressing-down I knew I deserved. “I…I didn’t know that…” I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “Fuck! That’s not what happened at all! It’s me who doesn’t deserve her—”

X put a hand up in a stop motion, anger stiffening his stance. “No point telling it to us. Go tell it to her.” He sighed heavily. “I’m not going to try locking her up, but her being out there, unprotected, when she hasn’t done athing wrong, isn’t okay with me, and I doubt it’s okay with any of you either. We created this mess, so it’s our responsibility to keep her safe from it. We already said we were all going to spend some time with her, so she could choose which of us she wants to be with.” He glanced at me. “I doubt Levi has any hope in hell, but three of us watching out for her has gotta be better than two.”

Whip nodded. “So we trade off. So she’s never alone.”

“I don’t want her scared,” I said flatly.

Whip uncrossed his arms. “Me neither.”

“At least we all agree on something,” X muttered. “So are we saying we aren’t going to tell her about this?”

Whip sighed out a long breath. “At least not yet. As long as one of us is with her at all times, she stays safe. She’s already fucking traumatized from everything she saw over in that house on Olympic Drive, I don’t want to reopen those wounds when they’ve only just begun healing. We just need to buy enough time for us, or the other team, to figure out who’s targeting us and take care of the problem.”

X shoved his hands in his pockets. “I can’t forget the fear on her face after she watched me kill that guy. I don’t ever want to see that again.”

“So we’re all in agreement then?” Whip asked. “Violet’s never alone. And we don’t say a word of this to her until we absolutely have to. Which will hopefully be never, because whoever it is that’s watching us will mess up soon.”

“And when they do…” X made a silent, tiny stabbing motion with his hand.

“That a new yoga move?” Whip asked.

“I call it, ‘knife pose.’”

“Or shiv stretch?” I added, then screwed up my face. “Okay, I’ve clearly been hanging out with the two of you too long.” I rolled my head from side to side, cracking my neck. “Listen. I know I’m public enemy number one, but I care about Violet. A lot. Probably more than either of you do—”