Page 58 of F*ck Steal Kill

“No, Hols. The three of us decided to become the XOXO killer together, so the three of us will go down together. Ride-or-die, bitch, so stop trying to steal our moment.”

Holland’s eyes watered, a tear falling down her cheek as she stared at her two friends. After a few seconds, she nodded, opening her arms for them. While the three of them hugged, I assessed my teammates and how they were processing the information disclosed.

Max frowned, his brows creased as he watched them, solving a complicated math equation in his head. Grady’s eyebrows were lifted, his jaw slack as he absorbed the news. His arms had fallen to his sides. Gripping Max, I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, pulling him into me. I needed the comfort of my friend, reminding myself I had people in my life who would do the same.

“There’s three of them,” Max muttered. “It’s brilliant, actually. It changes everything, though. All the profile databases don’t take it into account.”

“Shh, Max. Leave the nerding out for later.”

“Right.” Max nodded, pulling himself together. His cheeks flushed when he realized my arm was around him; his body pressed tightly to mine in a show of possession. Grady moved around them, taking up his mantle on the dresser. All the fight had left him, all his assumptions about Holland were now proven wrong.

She wasn’t only deadly but loyal. She was the perfect candidate for the Shadows, and he knew it.

The girls pulled back, and Holland wiped her face. “Sorry, I tried to protect these two, but apparently, I forgot the first rule of murdering with your friends.”

“Damn straight you did, bish.”

“What’s the rule?” Max asked, wrinkling his nose.

“Those who stab together go down together.”

“But not in a sexual way. Unless you’re Joy, she swings both ways,” the tall one said.

“I’m not sure I can handle all three of you together,” Grady said, rubbing his temples.

“You wish, grumpy. You just better hope our girl here forgives you for being a twatwaffle. I was on Team Grumpy Ass until you pulled that shit. Holland barely stopped me from stabbing you.”

“Okay, okay,” Holland said, grinning. “Guys, the angry one is Lacey.” She pointed to the taller one with dark hair and light blue eyes. Out of the three of them, she was the only one I would’ve pegged for a serial killer. Lacey nodded, lifting one eyebrow in question. She was crazy protective of my girl, and I instantly liked her.

“Hi, I’m Max, and this is Quentin. And Grumpy is Grady.” He waved, laughing at the end. Both girls softened toward Max. It was hard not to. He just had that effect on people.

“Hi, Max,” Lacey said, her voice softer.

“And our sweetheart is Joy. The brains behind our app.”

“Hi. Sorry about busting in. We knew Holland wouldn’t share everything, so we had to rush to save the day.”

“Wait, app?” Max asked, ignoring what she’d said.

“Yeah, so about that.” Holland cringed. “There’s just a bit more I didn’t tell you. Could we sit? Again, stab wound over here. Not that anyone seems to remember since I just got thrown into the wall,” she grumbled under her breath.

I instantly moved into action, extracting her from their arms and sitting her between Max and me on the bed. The girls laughed, taking the table and chair, and Grady stayed where he was.

“You guys are cute. I approve, Hols,” Joy said, smiling.

Holland rolled her eyes but smiled. “Okay, to start, we have an app where we get our hits, and a few days ago, we got one from a hopeless Savage.”

“What?” the three of us shouted. Fear returned, and my stomach sank as I tried to stay calm.

CHAPTER 21

HOLLAND

Two hands squeezed my thighs, one near the stab wound, and I winced in pain. Max’s hand flew off in horror, and he immediately scooted back like his presence might harm me. Reaching out, I tugged his hand, bringing him back toward me.

“Don’t go. I’m fine.”

Max nodded, his eyes worried as he trailed them over me. Grady moved closer, kneeling on the floor in front of me.

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