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Brady doesn’t blink. “As much as I need to know.”
He is enjoying the new position of authority way too much for my comfort.
I move to a shelf with a makeshift bar set up on it. “Yeah well, it’s always hard when you get put in charge of cleaning up someone else’s mess, but we do what we have to do.”
The dig isn’t exactly subtle.
I don’t need to see Brady’s face to know his gaze is narrowed on the back of my head.
One of the pledges filled the ice bucket and I take a few cubes, wondering who told them to do that. It wasn’t as if Brady called ahead to let me know there would be a meeting tonight.
Makes me wonder what else is happening that I don’t know about.
I uncork a bottle of bourbon and pour a generous amount into a glass. Before I’ve even put the liquor bottle down, Brady has already snagged the drink for himself.
“Thanks,” he says, loudly smacking his lips.
Asshole.
“No problem.” Instead of punching him in the face like I want to do, I just make myself another drink. “Cheers.”
We clink glasses like this whole thing is just some cordial social interaction and not the animal kingdom equivalent of two rams about to lock horns during mating season.
Brady drains his glass and gestures for me to make another.
His hand comes to rest on my shoulder before I can turn away, squeezing hard. “I know this year has been harder than you expected, man. But we all knew you could make it work.”
Brady knows that the situation gives him power over me. I might be president of Havoc House, but that won’t matter without the Initiation. His word would be enough to keep me out, and there isn’t anything I could do about it.
Havoc Boy one day and nothing the next.
So I keep quiet, even though I want to tell him to get his fucking hand off me.
Nolan chooses that moment to break into our conversation.
“It’s the fucking Initiation,” he whoops. “Goddamn am I psyched.”
“You’re not there yet,” Brady cautioned. “But soon everything that Havoc has to offer will be yours. I hope you’re ready for it.”
Nolan jerks his head at Brady’s expensive suit. “I’m ready for a paid internship at Goldman Sachs and a penthouse on Fifth Avenue like someone I know. You’re living the life, man.”
Brady waves that away, like he’s batting at a fly. He tries and fails not to seem pleased with Nolan’s obvious admiration. “Havoc is about more than references for good jobs and a few social clubs, but you’ll find out. The side perks are still pretty nice, though.”
“I’ll bet,” Nolan smirks. “I don’t even want to know much pussy juice has to get dry cleaned out of those suits.”
I take a long swig of my drink and pray for patience.
“It’s all about priorities,” Brady says with a chuckle before turning back to me. “Speaking of, we have business to discuss later, Mr. President. The Initiation won’t plan itself.”
A cold chill runs up my spine even as I give him a casual shrug. He can’t possibly know that I’m more interested in finding out what happened last year than anything to do with the Initiation.
I take another sip of my drink to cover my grimace. “If you say so.”
Nolan leans in, making a point of moving in between me and Brady. “I really didn’t think this asshole had it in him. I figured he was going to back down at the last minute, let his girly little feelings get the best of him. But you should have seen the way he had Olivia eating out of the palm of his hand. It was fucking epic.”
“I’m sorry I missed it,” Brady responds drily. “But I’m happy to hear you all got it done.”
“Are we ever going to hear the whole story about what happened to Olivia?” Cole asks as he ambles up beside us.
