Page 34 of The Unravelings

For as long as I live, guilt will slowly eat away at me like a poison. I should have been with her. We should have. Not in Vegas doing a bullshit run through Franco’s newest casino hundreds of miles away. The three of us should have been hovering outside her window and freeing her from the flames of the electrical fire that consumed their home.

Or was it?

My head aches as the thoughts run rampant, knocking around my skull and trying to drag me down. Again. Like always. I don’t get a moment’s damn peace inside my head, unless I’m running or talking with Livy.

The treehouse looms overhead as the sun slowly sets over our part of the world. Peace finally descends on me the moment I climb up the ladder and pull myself onto the small porch overlooking the vast woodlands. Birds chirp. Chipmunks and squirrels scurry on the forest floor. And I… Well, I can finally breathe for the first time in what seems like months.

Hux and JJ stayed behind with Franco to clean up the latest mess we were forced into.

I squeeze my eyes shut. Images of blood-soaked clothes and screams of the man we had to interrogate roar in my head. A shrill scream escapes from my lungs as I look at the heavens above, shouting to the sky and letting it take all the bullshit.

No matter where I go in life, bloodstains and bad things follow me. Maybe I’m bad. Rotten from the inside out, and what’s happened to me is the karma I deserve.

“Mack?” A small whisper freezes my limbs and pulls me back to reality. “Are…you okay?” she softly asks, not wanting to agitate me further.

But it does.

I grit my teeth, turning to look at Olivia fucking Viotto. Ever since her dad came to this fucking town and has been living on Franco’s property, our lives have turned upside down. We went from petty casino jobs and keeping track of Franco’s shit—to murder.

“Go home,” I grit out, tossing a hand toward the ladder. “I don’t want you here.” My gaze lingers on the swaying branches and the impending darkness about to descend on us. Not on her. The girl I wish would leave us alone. “Didn’t you hear me?” I shout, turning on my heels and coming face-to-face with Olivia.

A blackened bruise sits over her eye, puffing it out and swelling shut. She swallows hard, averting her gaze from me, and tries to take a step toward the ladder.

“Who did that to you?” I whisper.

Every ounce of anger and denial leaves my body. Now, it’s only her, staring down at the porch with slumped shoulders.

She offers me a weak smile, shaking her head. “Doesn’t matter. The treehouse is yours.”

Without thinking about it, I grab her upper arm and stop her from escaping.

“I…you don’t have to go,” I say, swallowing the lump in my throat.

Two seconds ago, I was ready to toss her over the edge of the damn treehouse. But now? Now, my heart is aching at the frightened look in her eyes when they snap to me. Why? I don’t fucking know.

We awkwardly stand on the small porch for what seems like hours, staring at each other in silence.

“Truth for a truth?” she whispers, shrugging off my grip.

“Sure,” I wince, taking my hand back and putting it in my pocket.

“What’s wrong?” she asks softly again, not raising her voice as she turns to look at me fully. I try my best not to stare at the bruising on her delicate flesh or the vulnerable look in her eyes.

She and I aren’t friends right now. She’s some girl who hangs around sometimes. Well, more than sometimes. Lately, it’s been all the damn time. I see the way JJ and Hux look at her with googly eyes, wanting to undress her or some shit. And yeah, she’s fucking beautiful with big doe eyes and her long brown hair.

But she’s a goddamn spoiled Mafia princess.

“What’s wrong?” I huff, crossing my arms. “Everything is fucking wrong,” I grunt, not wanting to get into the fucking details of my entire life.

“Agreed,” she sighs, looking off past my shoulder.

“What the fuck hit you?” I blurt out without thinking.

Her gaze flicks to me again. “A fist,” she quips, shrugging a shoulder.

“And who did this fist belong to?” I have a sneaking suspicion it’s that asshole, Raphael. He may be named after a fucking archangel, but he’s the fucking devil. I have a sixth sense for those fuckers. Always lurking around, aching to beat the innocent people. AKA the defenseless children.

I’ve been there. Done that bullshit. Got out as soon as I could escape from that hell.