Page 59 of F*ck Steal Kill

“What did the message say?” he asked, his voice soft.

“Joy?”

“On it.” She pulled out her phone but paused. “First. Exactly who are the Savages? We’ve only found basic info that doesn’t really tell us much.”

The guys relayed what they knew about the Savages and how he’d been the man who’d jumped me and not the child molester we’d expected. Who was actually the guy posing as a child molester, to begin with? What a messed up mindfuck.

“Okay then, that tracks with our Hopeless Savage.” Joy read off the two messages we’d received. I leaned into Quentin’s shoulder as she read, the fatigue of the day hitting me.

“It sounds like Ava,” Max mumbled, drawing my focus.

“Who the fuck is Ava?” Grady roared before I could ask more delicately.

Max rolled his eyes. “This is why I didn’t tell you yet. I didn’t want you to rush in without thinking about the consequences. I’m even more certain now she’s an innocent in all this. No more responsible for this than Camila.”

Grady’s nostrils flared, and he stood, his hands flying to the top of his head as he pulled the strands, pacing back and forth as he took in deep lungfuls of air.

“Is he going to be okay?” I whispered, leaving out the part I really wanted to know. Just who was Camila?

“Give him a minute. The Savages killed his fiancée, along with my mother, and Max’s uncle. Grady’s was the most recent, five years ago… today. Fuck, I forgot in the rush of you being stabbed.”

Quentin glanced over my head at Max, his face paling at the information.

“I can hear you, assholes.”

“You guys sure show your love in interesting ways,” Joy said, hopping up on the windowsill, crossing her legs, and swinging one.

“Not to interrupt your man meltdown, but can you please explain to the rest of us who Ava is?” Lacey asked, cutting into the quiet.

“I’m sorry my personal tragedy is interrupting your gab time,” Grady spat.

“Dude, from what I’ve gathered, everyone in this room has lost someone. It’s not unique. Break down on your own time. We all have baggage.”

Grady gave a dark chuckle but turned, looking at Max to continue. My nerdy, sweet guy swallowed but nodded.

“Right, she’s seventeen and the daughter of Viper, the leader of the Savages. From what I gathered, she’s been sheltered and allowed out only to do a few things. She volunteers at an animal shelter and has an interest in fashion. If your Hopeless Savage is Ava, then it sounds like things have escalated, and her normal life is about to expire.”

“We want to help but didn’t know how to broach something this big,” I admitted.

“You’re forgetting that her family knows about you and was able to follow you to that hotel room. We need to figure out how they identified you before we did,” Quentin said.

“Did you grab his phone?” Max and Joy asked at the same time. They smiled at one another, making my heart happy.

“Yeah. But it’s a burner,” Grady said, pulling it from his back pocket. He handed it to Max, who moved away to grab his laptop. Joy hopped down and sat next to him. Max didn’t seem to mind, and I smiled, liking they were getting along.

“What’s this app you use?” Grady asked, focusing back on me. Sighing, I sat back up, needing all my strength to take on the man in charge.

“Have you ever heard of the game Fuck, Marry, Kill?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Quentin answered. “You name three people and place them on which list you would fuck, marry, or kill them.”

“How the hell do you know about that?” Grady asked, peering at Q like he was an alien.

“I pay more attention than you.” He lifted his eyebrow in challenge, waiting for Grady to comment. The boss man rolled his eyes, turning back to me.

“Yes, well, since the three of us don’t believe in marriage, we changed it to steal. We used it to pass the time by picking out guests, tourists, townspeople, and the occasional celebrity to put on a list,” I explained. “After that night, it became more than just a game. We met a woman staying as a guest with an asshole husband who beat her and their daughter. I no longer wanted to stay on the sidelines, so we did something about it. She thanked us profusely, joking that we should create a business called ‘Asshole Dumpster’ because there were a lot of evil men out there who needed to be taken out like the trash they were. “

Lacey and Joy laughed with me as I recalled that first time.

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