Page 99 of Hate Mates

The distance between Layla’s murmured orders and the resulting actions left her hands clean. Not that I ever complained to anyone. By then, the death knell to my reputation had been delivered by my father’s expulsion from the church and the ensuing whisper campaign that camouflaged the wider cover-up at play. I was persona non grata. A figure of ridicule. The easiest target the people of Inadale had for their own bitterness at the blame they shared.

Layla’s bullying eventually slowed when Lysander Mayberry took me under his wing.

We’d been peripheral acquaintances since his family moved to Inadale from Perth. Members of the same sports team who had the same subjects. Fellow gamers who spent too many nights conquering online universes together. It was when my only ally in Inadale, a fellow outcast, Nadia Appleton, became fast friends with Sander’s twin that the abuse I endured at home, in school, and online was exposed. With Sander and Anna, and the notoriety of their father’s motorcycle club at my back, the rest of the students began to keep a wide berth from me. It also helped that I’d basically moved in with the Mayberrys bythe time I was thirteen, and that change coincided with Layla leaving Inadale.

Overnight, my life changed again.

A new nemesis.

A new scar to bear.

Somehow, I made it through high school in one piece, slightly dented but unbroken, to find my forever family within the ranks of the Black Shamrocks. The last five years have been the best of my life. I have purpose. I have hope. I have respect. I have too much to lose for a painful walk down memory lane with a girl who’s wrapped up in the torture that was my childhood.

“Lucas Hayes?” The pounding bassline of the song reverberating off the walls of the nightclub makes it hard to hear the sincerity behind Layla’s question. Her perfume, a flowery walk down memory lane that conjures innocence and resurrects historical yearnings, overwhelms my senses. Frozen in my chair, I close my eyes to block out the strobe lights and the stunning woman leaning too close to me. Stiffening when she touches my tattooed forearm, I hold my breath as she shouts over the music. “I’m right... it is you? Lucas Hayes from Inadale. We went to school together.”

“Yeah.” I shoot a pleading look at Sander. My best friend isn’t paying attention to me. His narrowed gaze is firmly fixed on the dance floor where his twin sister and her best friend are grinding on each other. The sensation of Layla running a fingernail over the dandelion tattoo etched on the inside of my wrist snaps me out of my stupor. Shoving against the table, my barstool screeches along the concrete floor. It teeters back and forth as I splutter, “Fuck this. Fuck you. I’m out.”

In my peripheral vision, I see my stool fall over a second after I push past Layla.

I’m the designated sober driver tonight, so I can’t go far.

Not that it matters, I just need enough space between me and the bitch feigning ignorance to gain my attention to decide if I want to wrap my hands around her neck so I can snap it... or if it’s to hold her still and force my kiss on her.

TWO

Layla

Iknew it wasn’t going to be easy to get close to Luke, but I never expected him to curse me out. The boy I remember was timid. He would flinch at the slightest noise. Cringe in the face of hostility. Scuttle around in the shadows to avoid everyone.

Seems he’s grown a backbone since I saw him last.

Lysander Mayberry tears his eyes from Nadia Appleton and his twin sister, Lilianna, long enough to comment, “You look familiar.”

“Not to you, I don’t.”

My dismissal piques his interest. His eyebrows draw together, and he tips his head to the side. I’m grateful for the distortion provided by the coloured lights bouncing off the walls when Sander drawls, “If you’re lookin’ for Cub, he’ll be in the alley at the back’a the buildin’... that’s where he prefers to lick his wounds durin’ a night out.”

“Thanks.”

I turn away from him, assessing the best route to hunt down my target without exposing my presence to anyone else from my hometown. Rounding the table in the blink of an eye, Perth’sfavourite basketballer circles my bicep with his long fingers and pulls me to a stop before I can take a third step. Sander’s speed was documented in my brief, but it seems the intelligence team understated exactly how quick on his feet he is.

“Don’t fuck with my friend,Layla.” The suspicion in his vivid blue gaze brightens when I deny him the fearful reaction he seeks with his use of my given name. An ache radiates up my arm when his fingers bite into my flesh. He gives me a little shake, the side-to-side motion matches the cadence of his escalating threat. “Don’t think a’one of us has forgotten the shit you pulled back in the day. For some reason, you’re still under his skin.” I run my tongue over my top teeth and fight back a smile when he adds. “Not me... so much as breathe wrong in his direction, I’ll fuckin’ bury you.”

“You and whose army?” When I wrench my arm free of Sander’s grip, he sneers. My next statement wipes the smugness from his face. “Way I hear it, the Shamrocks are imploding. Brutus hates Venom, and he’ll blow up the entire club if it keeps his precious little Cherub out of his enemy’s bed.” Fear ripples through Sander’s features. His Adam’s apple bobs. “While it was smart to banish Venom to Sydney, his presence in the city hasn’t gone unnoticed—by your father or by the Maddison clan.”

My intel is world-class.

Despite that, I didn’t expect it to engender such a visceral response from the MC’s golden boy. With an audible gasp, Sander turns away from me to search the crowded dancefloor. Curious to establish all of his weaknesses, I follow his attention. We watch Anna—the aforementioned little Cherub—and Nadia dancing for a few moments. It’s easy to see that both women are high. Understanding the hierarchy of trustworthiness within the Shamrocks means the drugs were supplied by only one man, I seek out Hunter Hudson. The teenage genius has been on myradar since I was recruited into the Adjudicator’s curia, so I find him easily.

Hidden in the shadows.

His back is protected by the corner he commands.

The gun he wears in a shoulder holster is visible to my trained eye from beneath his leather cut. Noting that he sports a full patch on his left lapel, despite only being nineteen, I shift my focus to examine his face. There’s surprising shrewdness in the assessing way Hunter scrutinises the people squashed into the Shamrocks’ nightclub.

As if he feels my gaze on him, he shoots a glance my way. The clarity that rounds his eyes, despite being positioned on the other side of the room, sends a ripple of awareness up my spine. My training allows me to hide my reaction to Hunter’s perusal from the tall man standing next to me. Outwardly bemused, inwardly calculating, I quickly identify the younger Hudson sibling as my most formidable opponent tonight.

With the mission the Adjudicator has set for me at the forefront of my thoughts, I throw Sander a bone. “I won’t hurt Luke as long as none of you try to get between us if he’s open to re-connecting with me.”

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