Page 101 of Devil May Lie

Who was checking his multi-slate for the hundredth time since arriving at Friction less than an hour ago.

He’d come here hoping to distract himself while Berga was busy with work by getting a feel for the dynamics between the Retinue and the Satellite. Rumors about the two of them had been circulating for a while now, and while outsiders had approached and asked for them to confirm or deny, so far, none of their friends had bothered.

Which was…suspicious.

Though, it probably shouldn’t be. Everyone here was used to keeping and respecting secrets. Many were most likely waiting for Madden or Berga to come clean themselves. Even Baikal hadn’t brought it up when he and Madden had passed each other earlier.

What were the odds that no one actually cared?

All that time worrying, wasted.

Maybe they could make a public announcement after all, and—

“Fuck off,” a disgruntled Flix appeared behind where Ledger and Madden were seated at the bar.

Ah. There. That was more like it.

“Excuse me?” Ledger bristled, but the Runner of the Brumal didn’t back down.

“Remember how I helped you in here last month? Return the favor and get lost.”

Madden glanced between the two of them, thinking he might have an idea what they were talking about but too curious to see how Ledge would react to interfere.

Surprisingly, the Retinue member swore but stood, flipping Flix the bird before downing his drink and slamming the glass onto the counter. “Had to go pick up my Tiger anyway.”

“Just say boyfriend, you absolute weirdo,” Flix called after him.

“What’s got you in such a bad mood?” Madden could guess, but where would the fun be in that? The two of them had somehow avoided one another all these weeks, but he’d been able to pry from Berga that his best friend didn’t approve of them.

Okay, so they’d managed to avoid each other because Madden had purposefully skipped out on any places he thought he may run into the other man. Knowing how important Flix’s opinion was to his Butcher put him on edge, and he wasn’t a fan of that feeling. Didn’t like the idea of coming in second place to anyone in Berga’s eyes.

But there was only so long he could avoid this chat, and he’d woken up this morning and had thought, fuck it.

“You, asshole.” Flix took the vacant seat and turned to rest his elbows against the edge of the counter, staring off at the rest of the building. Several other members of both groups were in attendance, but none of them were close enough to overhear or care what the two of them may or may not be discussing.

“I was wondering when you were going to come around.” Madden pointedly set his glass down. “Let’s hear it.”

“Stay away from Berga.”

“No.” He chuckled when Flix glared. “What? Come on. You have to have expected that. Tell me you’ve at least come prepared for this talk. If not, feel free to go and try again later.”

“See,” he held up a finger in the air, “this is exactly what I’m warning Berga about. You’re too flippant to be taking this thing with him seriously.”

“Not true, but keep believing what you want to. No skin off of my back.”

“Wrong,” Flix stated. “Because if anything happens to him, I will be skinning you alive and lighting you on fire.”

“Kind of overprotective for a guy who’s supposedly just a friend.” That was the story and always had been, but Madden couldn’t shake the jealousy he felt whenever he thought of the two of them alone in Berga’s house having sleepovers on the couch.

Had the Butcher ever invited him into the bathroom with him because he was afraid of his own ghosts?

Had he—

“Why do you look like you’re about to punch me?” Flix scowled. “I’m the angry one here.”

“Have you ever fucked?”

His expression morphed into one of disgust. “Ew, what? No. Why would we do that? With each other? Plus, we’re both tops. Berga would never—” Something seemed to occur to him, and his eyes widened. “No way. No fucking way. Are you topping him? Is he letting you top him?!”

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