Page 99 of House Rules
“She had plenty of opportunities to come clean,” Maverick agrees. “But we need to consider why she didn’t.”
Look at Mav, the voice of reason.My knuckles crack. I don’t need my friends’ approval. I want Phoenix on her knees, confessing to me—not them. They can debate punishments. I already know mine will leave a mark.
Everyone has a role they’ve slipped into. Maverick the mediator. Atticus plays judge. Storm plays fucking protector. And me? I’m the weapon that hasn’t been fired yet.
“But what punishment could possibly be worth what she did?” I ask, like she’s not in the fucking room.
She flinches. Just slightly. But I catch it. That tiny hitch in her breath, the way her shoulders round in Storm’s arms like she’s bracing for a blow she’s already given herself. I don’t need her to speak to hear the apology in her silence—it’s written in the way she won’t meet my eyes.
That’s actually not the real question. The real question is—what the fuck do we do now?
Do we pursue this, possibly going against our parents and whatever shady shit they’re up to?
Do we try to uncover it and stop it?
Or are we supposed to be on their side—and we stopped the potential blackmail before it happens, dealing with the mob and eradicating it completely?
It’s not like any of us have any love lost for our parents.
I curl my fists. Maybe the better option is to get rid of Phoenix, then just let the rest of it play out. Put our heads in the sand and turn our backs on this future problem for our parents to deal with.
I look at her, curled up in Storm’s lap like she belongs to him, and all I see is a liability I can’t let go of. Not because she deserves mercy, but because she already belongs to me. To all of us. And I haven’t decided if that’s a gift… or our doom.
31
Phoenix
“Kitten,”Atticus says, setting his computer on a side table. “We need to talk. Sit right there. Hands flat on the table. Do not move.”
“What?”
“Now.”
His barked command slices through the air, and Storm helps me sit up. He leaves me in the chair alone, and I instantly miss the warmth of his body. I flatten my palms on the tabletop and wait.
“If you move, I’ll know,” Atticus warns, his voice dark and final. The others file out of the room one by one, leaving me alone with nothing but silence and my racing thoughts.
They’re gone for maybe ten minutes, though it feels like hours. My gaze keeps drifting toward the doorway that leads out of the suite. I wonder if running is actually an option.
It’s not.
The thought tempts me only for a few seconds, but I can still see the men who were waiting outside the resort. They weren’t working alone. There could be more. And even if they don’t find me, the Titans will.
At this point, it might be better to just give in—let them decide my fate.
When the door opens, they come back in together, a wall of heat and power. Storm moves behind me, his hands gripping the back of my chair as he pulls it away from the table. Maverick stands to my left. Atticus to my right. And Con positions himself directly in front of me.
“You’ve been a very bad girl,” Atticus begins, tone clipped, “but we’ve agreed some of the circumstances may have been out of your control.”
Con’s jaw tightens, and Storm’s grip on the chair doesn’t loosen.
“If you want to stay here,” Atticus continues, “we’ll give you the chance. But you will be punished first. Do you accept?”
“What’s the punishment?” My fingers tighten around the arms of the chair until my knuckles turn white.
“You don’t get to know the punishment,” Atticus replies coldly. “Yes or no. No questions. No second chances. If the answer is no, you’re out. You lose the money. You lose our protection. You deal with the mob alone.”
“And if I say yes?”
