Page 15 of Victorious: Part 3
“I had to move,” I state. “There wasn’t time—”
“Therewas time,”he shouts. “There was time to call me. I should have been there. I should have at least known.”
Clover giggles in my arms, her finger coming up to trace the frown lines on my face. “He sounds mad. He should take a chill pill.”
I glare at Clover as Maverick huffs down the line, “A chill pill?A fucking chill pill, Clover!How’s this for chill? You’re not safe in Las Vegas if the fucking Cartel is coming after you there. Phoenix, I want you to pack your shit and get your asses back home here to LA, whereIcan keep a fucking eye onmysister. Because Lord knows youclearlycan’t protect her.”
Gritting my teeth, I keep my cool because I understand he’s angry, and my guilt ofnotprotecting her is definitely kicking in right now. “All right. I’m bringing her home. We’ll pack up andhead out as soon as we can.”
Sin cuts in calmly, “Hey, Mav, it’s Sin. We’ll send an escort. Two brothers riding tail. They’ll be protected. You have my word, brother.”
Maverick goes quiet for a moment, but he’s distinctly still breathing hard. “Good,” he finally grumbles, voice cold. “Because if anything else happens on the drive home, I swear to God, Iwillkill you myself, Phoenix. And it’s not an idle threat this time. You hear me?I trusted you.”
“You can still trust me,” I tell him, meaning it with every part of me.
Clover, still curled against my chest, lifts her head slightly. “Hey, Mav, you’re my favorite brother,” she says dreamily. “Oh, and did I tell you? Phoenix and I totally got married by Elvis. I’m a wife, and Phoenix isreallygood in bed.”
My eyes widen, my breath catches as Clover giggles through her fucking delirium.
We haven’t told Maverick about us getting married.
He knew we were together, but definitely not about the marriage, and I’m sure he didnotwant to know about me fucking his sister.
Maverick doesn’t reply.
He just growls down the line and ends the call.
Oh fuck!
Sin whistles low under his breath. “You’re gonna need more than an apology when you get home.”
“Yeah.” I sigh, adjusting Clover again as she giggles, planting kisses against my neck. “Thanks for your help, Sin. But I need to get us the hell outta Vegas.”
Chapter Four
MAVERICK
As the sun sets on the clubhouse mere hours before we go to war with Javier and the Cartel, my rage over Phoenix’s inability to protect my sister only ignites further. The fact that they will be arriving as a married couple? I can’t even begin to wrap my head around that one. I know I won’t be able to control my temper when thatlittle prickwalks through those clubhouse doors.
I’ve been pacing the main room for the past three and a half hours, wearing a path in the concrete floor while Sadie watches me with concerned eyes from her perch on the sofa. “Mav, you need to sit down before you give yourself a heart attack,” she says softly, but I hear the worry threading through her voice.
I stop mid-stride and face her, running both hands through my hair. “My baby sister is married, Sadie.Married!To an incompetent fool I sent to protect her, and I didn’t even fucking know they were together until literally a day ago.”
Her lips purse, and a stern expression crosses her face. “Hey, careful. That incompetent fool ismybrother. And from what I heard, he did everything he could to get Clover back safely. He went to Vegas Defiance. He got help, the right help, the closest help to him, and he got her back.” She pats the cushion beside her. “I know you’re angry at them. I am too. They did this all wrong. But wearing a hole in the floorisn’tgoing to change anything.”
The truth is, the pacing is the only thing keeping me from losing my goddamn mind completely. Every time I stop moving, my brain starts churning through everything Phoenix told me during that disastrous phone call. The marriage revelation hit me like a sledgehammer to the chest, but underneath the shockand anger, there’s something else eating at me.
Fear.
Pure, gut-wrenching terror that I’ve failed to protect one of the most important people in my world.
“Sorry, Cupcake. I know he’s your brother, but she was high as a fucking kite when she told me,” I mutter, dropping onto the sofa beside Sadie and pulling her against my side. “The truth serum or whatever they gave her when they took her, made her blurt out that they got married by Elvis and that Phoenix is…” I pause, my jaw clenching. “I don’t need those particular details about my sister’s sex life.” Sadie tries to hide her smile, but I catch it anyway. “It’s not funny, Sadie!”
She can’t fight back her giggle this time. “It’s a little funny,” she admits. “The poor girl was drugged out of her mind and accidentally dropped the biggest bombshell of her life—”
“And Phoenix just let her fucking talk.”
“Phoenix was probably too shocked to stop her. I can assure you, my brother would have been shit scared to tell you they’re married. The guy is terrified of you, Mav, and besides, you would have found out eventually. Better to know now than walk in on them doing something that would permanently scar you.” The grin crossing her face somehow lightens my mood.
