Page 43 of The Venom We Bleed

“You should tell him,” I say, catching Lex’s gaze and nodding towards Nolan.

Nolan lowers the soda can. “Tell me what?”

Crossing my arms, I wait, but Lex remains curiously quiet. I sigh. Nolan watches the two of us but doesn’t say a word. A beat of silence slides through the room, then I throw my hands up in disgust.

“He’s working for Allen Donovan,” I offer up and sit back for the shitshow.

Nolan stares at Lex. “Tell me he’s joking.” His words are a low growl, a demand.

Lex shakes his head.

“Goddamn it, Lex.” Nolan crumples the aluminum can in his fist, the sound of sharp cracks resounding around the room. “I told you when you started that hacking shit that you shouldn’t accept work close to home.”

“Allen Donovan is being held in Hansgard Correctional Facility, three hours north.” Lex’s statement earns a hard glare from Nolan.

“He’s from Silverwood,” Nolan snaps. “You know what my stipulations meant; don’t get technical on me.”

“That’s kind of his job,” I say, reclining against the counter and crossing my arms again.

“Shut up, G.” Nolan doesn’t even look at me as he bites out the words. His sole attention is focused on Lex.It always fucking is.

I wince at that thought, but keep my mouth shut as Nolan lays into Lex about his dark web practices and taking jobs that won’t get him arrested or found out by local authorities. In the beginning, it used to be just Nolan and me. Lex was too quiet and reserved to really be of interest to a couple of five and six-year-olds. Since Lex’s dad was outed as an abuser, though, we’ve been ten times closer. The three of us realized that few people would actually care if our fathers killed us—at least they wouldn’t care until it was too late.

Unlike me, though, Lex hadn’t been able to manage normalcy for a long time. Nolan worried about him and constantly talked about keeping him under control. In some ways, it feels like Nolan and I are Lex’s keepers, and up until three years ago, it bugged the shit out of me.

Now, though … Lex is as much a part of me as Nolan is. There shouldn’t be any room for jealousy. Yet … their abusers are gone. Both are dead either by our hands or by their own. Mine remains in the same house as my mama and me. I can’t help but resent the fact that my monster still lives when theirs are long gone.

“—what I want when it comes to her, this involves her.” I withdraw from my thoughts and take in the last bit of Lex’s words.

I don’t have to hear what he said before to know what he’s talking about. Everything concerning Juliet Donovan is under Alexio Medicci’s purview. He knows all when it comes to her. He knows her favorite soda, her preferred music, and probably even down to the color of her thong on any given day. At least, she strikes me as a thong wearer. Maybe, along with all of the other things that have changed about her in the last several months, that has too.

“Helping her criminal father is not something I would be okay with. You knew that,” Turning, Nolan tosses the now-crumpled soda can into the trash bin before fixing Lex with his impenetrable gaze. It’s the same look he gives to some of my father’s men when they think they can fuck with the three of us just because we’re younger than them. “I want you out. I don’t care what you have to tell the bastard, you end the job.”

Lex is already shaking his head. “No.”

Nolan’s expression darkens further and before his top can blow, I step between the two of them. When I originally outed Lex’s little secret, it hadn’t been to cause a fight between them, but because for our group to work, we can’t keep secrets like that from each other.

“Alright, that’s enough,” I say, pressing a hand against Lex’s chest when he leans forward. “You two need to take a fucking pill. She’s just a girl.”

“Not to him.” Nolan jerks his chin in Lex’s direction. He’s right. To Lex, Juliet Donovan is an idol, his savior, his perfect woman.

I blow out a breath. “Regardless, the fact of the matter is that if you want shit to continue smoothly with Darrio and after we graduate, then we need money.” And no doubt if Lex manages to find out that Allen Donovan is innocent of the charges against him, the payday from that will set the three of us up for a good long while after we get the fuck out of Silverwood.

“We don’t need the money that badly,” Nolan argues. “I’ve been pulling more shifts at the shop and with the income Darrio generates?—”

“That income won’t last forever.” I cut him off, letting my hand drop from Lex’s chest as I turn to face one of the two men I’d both kill and die for. “You didn’t just make a deal with Lex when you decided that we’re out after graduation,” I remind him. “You made one with me too.”

At the end of this year, it’ll all be over. No more Darrio. No more constantly looking over our shoulders to see what bullshit my psycho of a father has dragged down on all of our heads. He’ll be gone. Mama will be safe and we’ll be on the road straight out of town.

Nolan doesn’t say anything for a long moment, his gaze switching from mine to Lex’s as the big man stands behind myshoulder. It’s rare for us to form a front against Nolan. More than that, though, this is the first time it’s ever been about a damn girl.

She’s beautiful, I’ll give Lex that much. Hot as hell and stronger than I would’ve given a prep girl credit for. She’s a fighter. When I first learned that she hadn’t skipped town like her mother, I assumed she’d be out before the end of the year. I was wrong.

Juliet Donovan is not the same girl from years past. I don’t know if that girl had been a facade or if this one is, but I’m rapidly growing curious about her.Fuck. To think I’d given Lex shit about her over the last thirteen years and then end up just as interested in her as the lovesick idiot. Is crazy a disease you can catch?

Nolan finally straightens away from the counter at his back. He tilts his head, first at me and then Lex. Something passes between the two of them, a silent conversation. I try not to let the fact that I’m being left out of whatever is being said get to me again. I really fucking do, but the longer the silence reigns, the tighter my muscles wind.

With a sigh, Nolan shakes his head. “You’re right,” he finally says, his gaze returning to me. “I made a promise to both of you and I’ll keep it, but Juliet Donovan is a distraction none of us need.” Despite his words, when he says her name, there’s a glimmer of something in his eyes. I know what it is.

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