Page 64 of Stutter

“If you get anything, get her tea. For her nerves.”

Jonas rolls his eyes. “Daddy Damon is putting his foot down.”

I giggle.

“Jonas…” Damon warns.

“I know, I know. Don’t call you daddy. Hey, are you the top or bottom? Maybe Maverick is daddy.” Damon huffs out an exasperated breath. “C’mon baby, let’s get you a tea for your nerves.” He winks.

I tilt my head back in silent laughter, wave goodbye to Damon since I can’t do more and pull my mask back over, buttoning it on the side of my face below my ear, let him take me by the hand and he leads me to the Koffee Kart, ordering for me. And as we wait around, he steps closer to me, my back against his chest, arms around my waist, chin on my head, and it feels so good to be in his embrace. He lets out a soft contented sigh as if just holding me is all he needed to feel alright. And I feel that so deeply in my soul, I relax against him just a little more.

“Are you ready for Thursday?” he asks and without getting away from his embrace I nod. Our order is called we shuffle together to get our drinks. “Simon Hoover is going to be there.”

I almost drop my macchiato in surprise and excitement. I haven’t seen him very much around Inferno and when I do, he doesn’t speak very often. He also leaves as soon as Stephen is done talking so I hardly have any new intel on him other than that he lives in D.C. with his wife, Clarissa. No children yet. Which is great – I’d hate taking a father away from his children, but at the same time…Meh.

“His grandfather, Walter, is still one of the biggest donors. He’s an Elder, and when Simon played rugby here, he won MVP two years in a row. He’s a big motherfucker, baby. He still plays rugby. I don’t want to say you aren’t strong enough, because you did carry Tyler and dump him all the way to bathroom, but I’m thinking we might need to think of a way to use a bit less physical force to do what it is you need to do to him.” He says, his voice a muffled whisper as we get to Maverick’s class.

Well, shit.

I want to ask him about Riordan’s funeral tomorrow night, but because I still don’t talk to anyone but my men in the comfort and safety of our home or vehicles. I let my thoughts wander to all the different ways I’ve learned to kill from taking Maverick’s class. The only reason I took this class.

You know what they say,“learn from their mistakes so you can do it better.”

Chapter Sixteen

Jonas.

“Are you really going to the funeral?”

I give him a sly smirk. “You worried about me, old man?” Maverick scowls and my lips lift higher in a wider smile but then it drops. “I know you wouldn’t understand, but this is business now. It’s not personal. Besides, there’s a meeting afterward I have to attend. I have to know what they know in case they think Raven is behind it, Mav. It’s not like I’m going to fucking shake hands with them all and kiss them. I’m still a legacy by surname.” I say, packing my cloak and mask, shoving them into my backpack haphazardly because I don’t give a fuck if they’re wrinkled.

“How far away is this meeting?” He asks, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

“It’s in Salem at the Prescott estate. Don’t worry. Raven put a tracker in me back in October. Her and Damon will be able to almost see every move I make.”

“A tracker? They what?”

“Don’t worry. You have one, too.”

“Iwhat?” he replies hoarsely.

I chuckle, zipping up my backpack and leaving it by the door. “That’s how we knew you were over the Atlantic before weeven left our hotel room in Paris. You have a lot of making up to do for that, by the way.”

“You’re going to have to backtrack everything you just said to me.” Maverick pales.

“So, when school first started, Damon put a bio-tracker in Raven-“

“The man is demented.”

“The man isproactive.” I retort. “Anyway, when shit started going down, more Syndicate members were showing up to attend funerals, and initiations. So, our pretty girl wanted to be able to keep her eye on me, make sure I was okay. And then, since we both had one, she wanted Damon to have one, too. Then she sucked us up in his office. It was great. I came so fucking hard all over her tits. I’m talkinggobsof cum-“

“Where do I fit into this?” he interrupts.

“Oh, duh. The first night you finally decided to talk to us at Inferno.”

“When you drugged me.”

I make a face because I didn’t reallydrughim. He was pretty wasted already. “It was just a baby drop of GHB. You werefine. Damon only put you on an IV because you were faded and he didn’t want you to have a hangover. See?Proactive.”

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