Page 42 of Drop His Mask

“Levi…I really don’t know if you want to hear it,” I argued, attempting to escape Jayce’s arms, but he held on tight. I could have broken free, but I took it as the warning he intended it to be.

While I cared for Levi and enjoyed our time together, I could feel how much he cherished me, but I hadn't known him for that long.

What if this causes him to snap?

“I’m sure I would be best off going a lifetime without knowin’, but unfortunately, I’m a hard-headed man. I won’t ever be able to let it rest. I need to know. For too long I have suffered with the guilt of my transgressions. I need something,anythin’,to help shoulder some of this weight.”

Enzo stood up and began pacing the room. “Levi, look I’m going to tell you, but I need you to make me a promise. If you decide you can’t forgive me, you have to kill me. Wait until after this game,please. My brother is innocent in this, he doesn’t even know what I’m about to tell you.”

All I could do was wearily watch as this unfolded. A festering wound that had been infected foryears. Nobody was innocent, nobody was guilty.

Everybody was innocent.Everybody was guilty.

All forced to do what was needed to survive.

The pads of Jayce’s thumbs found the skin on my wrists. He stroked the scars soothingly, and slowly, I melted further into the safety of his arms.

“I agree.” Levi’s attention was stuck on Enzo. His gaze danced as the latter continued to pace across the room. “Now tell me. It’s been long enough.”

“I—Fuck! Your wife wasn’t who you thought she was! She was a spy for our Government.”

Levi froze. “Bullshit,” he spat.

“Why do you think the men in the Factions slowly started going missing? All across our town they vanished one after another.” Enzo didn’t even look in Levi’s direction.

“So, what has that got to do with her? How would she know what the men in the town were doing?”

“Levi,” I cut in. “Surely you noticed something was off. Surely something didn’t feelexactly rightwhen you came home. Maybe she was becoming more distant with you? Maybe she was asking too many pointed questions?”

“I—” Levi’s face darkened, his gaze directed downwards. He folded his arms across his broad chest. “She didn’t want me to keep leaving. She was angry with me. She wanted to know everything I was doing so she could make sure I wasn’t putting myself in too much danger.”

“Levi, I’m sorry. I had my suspicions. I had to find out what she was doing. I followed her. When you were gone, she went around to our neighbors and then shortly after most of them ended up disappearing.”

“You could have told me your suspicions.” Levi was practically vibrating now. He clearly wanted to jump up, to shake Enzo, but he was restraining himself.

I wasn’t sure how the rest of this would go. “Maverick, come here please?” I asked, gesturing to the empty seat next to Jayce and I.

To my surprise, he didn’t argue. He wasn’t stupid. He could clearly tell this wasn’t going to end well. He got up slowly, carefully, as if to not startle a frightened beast and walked across the space before sitting down in the empty spot.

To my further disbelief, his hand made its way to my thigh. His long slender fingers pressing into my skin there.

Jayce didn’t comment or react, a stark contrast to the beginning of this game.

“I did tell you! We had all grown up together for years, but you didn’t trust me!” Enzo shouted, gesturing wildly as he spoke. “I told you she was fucking the neighbors! Told you she wasn’t any good for you! That she was cheating on you! But you didn’t fucking care, youlovedher!”

Levi snarled, “You were lying! She wasn’t cheating on me.”

“I fucked her!” Enzo expelled. “She has a fucking birthmark on her left—"

Levi roared, jumping to his feet. His face was red, a vein pulsating in his temple.

I had never seen him this angry before, and for a beat, it caused my body to tense up.

But then Maverick’s nails dug down, not breaking skin, but just on the edge of doing so.

The pain grounded me.

“No, you fucking didn’t!” Levi advanced on Enzo.

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