Page 45 of Mr. Match

I grab West by the shirt collar and pull his face right up next to mine. “I really do, Corporate. I really fucking do.”

West shoves me in the chest, making me let go of his shirt. “What the fuck, asshole? Don’t kill the messenger, you dick. It’s not my fault her parents were scum.”

“If her parents were scum, why were they at your house?” Pax asks.

“Because—” Tori is leaning on the side of the garage only a few feet away. “They tried to arrange a marriage. Didn’t they, Weston?”

“What?” Pax asks.

“I recognize her too,” Tori says. “And not just from the bar. She was one of us.”

“Us?” I ask.

“Gori’s girls.”

I might be sick. How did we get here?

“I asked you straight up,” Nolan says, coming around the corner like he’s gonna kick my ass. “Straight the fuck up if you had anyone back from the past and you lied, you motherfucking dick. I left my home and came here, with my pregnant wife, because you assholes said it was safe. And now what do I find out? You delivered me to the fucking devil. Like a goddamned gift.”

“Just hold on,” Mac says, suddenly between me and Nolan. “Come on, OK?” He’s looking at Nolan.

“Did you leave my wife in there alone with that Silver bitch?” Nolan asks Mac.

“Ariel’s in there,” Tori says. “She’s fine.”

“Just hold up, you guys,” I say, trying to calm everyone down. “She’s not part of the Silver Society.”

“How the fuck do you know?” Tori asks. “I mean, really, Oliver. How the fuck do you know that?”

I take a deep breath and let it out. “I just do.” I really want to tell them the rest. All of it. But I haven’t even told Katya yet and shouldn’t she be the first to know what I’ve been doing? What my part is in all this?

“Great,” Nolan says, throwing up his hand. “He just does. I’m so glad we got that sorted. Mr. Match says it’s true, so it must be true.”

“Oliver,” Pax says calmly. “I get it. You must like this girl or you wouldn’t keep her a secret. But we have to be practical here. She’s your… your ghost.”

“Ghost?” I laugh.

“Ariel made the word up last week. Whatever you want to call her, she’s it.”

“So Ellie’s your ghost?” I ask Mac. “And Ivy is yours? And Tori is yours? And Cindy?” I laugh as I look at Pax. “They’re not the enemy, you assholes. None of the girls are the enemy. And besides, only Tori and Katya were girls from the past.”

“Exactly, Oliver,” Victoria says. “God, you are so stupid. I was one of those Gori girls, but I escaped. She didn’t escape.”

“She did,” I say. “You don’t know anything about her.”

“Neither do you,” Tori snaps back.

“I know a helluva lot more than you do. Which makes me the expert.”

“I want your story,” Nolan says.

“What—”

“Don’t play with me, Shrike,” Nolan says. “I’m not in the mood. I want to know what you were doing that night all the shit hit the fan back in college ten years ago, and I want to know it right now.”

“I’d like to know that myself,” Mac adds. “I’d like to know why you took the heat for Allen-slash-Brutus that night, Oliver. Because you and I both know he was there when that girl was and you weren’t. You didn’t show up until later.”

Fuck. I expected this. I knew I’d have to give them something. But I’m definitely not ready to do that now.