Page 43 of The Penalty

“Victoria, I would never. You know that, right?”

I mustered all the strength I had not to storm over to Bennet and give him a piece of my mind. I don’t care if he’s a Dominant or not, this was a shitty thing to do. I’m all for playing games and pushing limits but it had to be consensual once other people were pulled in.

He was all high and mighty while lecturing me on discussing my limits with Xavier and yet here he is, going rogue.

“I know you wouldn’t,” I finally said. And I meant it. Hannah is a good person. She’s not conniving or manipulative or untrustworthy.

Neither is Bennet. He’s just a colossal pain in the ass.

“Want to know what I think?” I asked.

She nodded, glancing over at Bennet. I looked over as well. His face was void of all expression. I shot him a dirty look.

“I think we should get you some water and some food and then go talk to the boys.”

Before we could do any of that, Noah, Jax, and Dante surrounded us.

“We need a group photo,” Jax proclaimed, loosening his tie. “All the core people from our draft class. You never know if something like this will ever happen again.”

“What? You mean like last time?” Dante shook his head. “Weren’t we doing this very thing exactly one year ago?”

“Dude, you know what I mean.”

“What does any of this have to do with us?” I looked each one of them in the eye.

Hannah hiccuped and leaned into me. I started having flashbacks to frat parties.

“You,” Noah rounded on us and draped an arm over my shoulders, “taught us everything we know about dealing with the New York media. You’ve been there for us. And let’s face it, you put up with a lot of our bullshit.”

“You left out the on a daily basis part,” I said, trying to figure out a way to remove myself from his embrace.

“I’m an angel,” Dante proclaimed. “The only bullshit she puts up with is yours, Tate.”

“The fuck you are,” Noah retorted.

While the two of them bickered back and forth, Jax fidgeted with his phone and complained about the dim lighting. Hannah sagged into me even more.

This is a circus and I’m failing at being the ringmaster.

The back of my head prickled with anticipation. And it wasn’t the good kind.

“This must be where all the real fun is happening.” Xavier’s clipped tone sliced through me. Oh shit. “Hope I’m not interrupting.”

“Xavier Fucking Maddox,” Noah exclaimed, releasing me and turning around. “Where’ve you been all night? I want to hear about your back to back championships.” He looked at me. “You don’t brag enough about him.” Noah elbowed Xavier in the side and winked. “Company policy. No bragging allowed.”

Xavier’s brows lifted in amusement. “Interesting. Victoria’s been known to break policies when she feels like it.”

“She does seem to be the type, doesn’t she?” Noah joked. Xavier’s expression iced.

“Keep it up, Tate,” I warned. “I control the narrative for your career in this town.”

“Okay, okay.” He held up his hands. “You win.”

Hannah’s arm tightened around my waist. “I think I need to sit down,” she whispered.

“If you boys will excuse us.” I gave Xavier a look that said behave for real and gently led Hannah away.

Leaving him unsupervised with Noah could end in a number of ways.

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