Page 70 of The Unravelings

“It’s a new one,” I say with a grin, holding up the DVD case and walking straight into his house.

Hux groans, swiping a hand down his face. “Another sappy romance?”

I grin. “Don’t act like you don’t like it. It’s about this couple who were high school sweethearts. He broke up with her to go to college, and she was heartbroken but moved on.” I raise my brows when Hux gives me a blank stare. “And then the end of the world happens, and they reunite and discover they never stopped loving each other.”

“What kind of end of the world are we talking about?” Mack asks, slipping out from behind Hux with a sly grin. “Zombies? Bombs? Virus? You know they’re all my fav. Come on, Livy. Spill the deets.”

“A virus turning people into zombies!” I say excitedly, giggling when Mack pulls me to his side and wraps his arm around my shoulders.

“Then let’s turn it on. You’ll love it, won’t you, Huxey Boy?” Mack teases, earning a groan in return. “Poor little heir hates anything to do with sappy romance movies,” he mocks again.

“You know how I feel about sappy romance movies.” He frowns, following us up the stairs toward Hux’s bedroom and dragging his feet. “They’re all the same!”

“You have no choice now.” I bounce a few times, finally throwing myself onto Hux’s bed with Mack right beside me. “And you take that back, Huxley Crewes. They’re not all the same.” I give him a stern glare. “Romance is beautiful.”

Mack snorts. “Yeah, beautiful.”

Hux takes the movie from me with a big sigh and puts the DVD into his gaming system. “Yeah, sure.” He rolls his eyes. “So, how long do you have until the big bad wolf returns home, Trouble?” He eyes me with a knowing look.

I shrug. “He’s away with that dude. Again.”

Their stares turn more intense at the mention of the kid my dad’s taken under his wing, making him stay out late and barely come home. I know he’s up to something, but I’m not questioning the freedom it’s given me. It’s giving me a chance to hang with the guys more without sneaking out through my barred windows. I’m sure if my dad caught me, I’d be in deep shit, but I’m willing to take my chances to get a taste of a normal life.

“Besides, he won’t care if I’m here. It’s you guys.”

That’s a lie. A major one. My dad would care if I were here. Even though Franco is his boss and someone he does business with. He hates that I spend so much time with the guys. He wouldn’t show his anger right away. Maybe an evening locked in the basement to learn my lesson.

“It’s that kid again, isn’t it? Do we know anything about him?” Mack asks, narrowing his eyes. “I mean, what exactly are they doing?”

“It’s suspicious,” Hux murmurs, coming to sit beside us on his bed, leaving me in the middle of them.

“At least he’s not home,” I mutter, trying to change the subject. He may be a mean son of a bitch, but if Franco finds out he’s up to something, he’ll kill him. Maybe all of us. As long as my father is out there with his newest pet, keeping his nose out of my business—I’m fine with it.

“You’ll have to be careful, though,” JJ says, wandering into the room with an armful of snacks. He must have heard me come in and prepared for our movie marathon. “We know nothing about the kid, and he could come home at any time. He’s volatile, Spitfire. He could⁠—”

“I know,” I say, cutting his lecture off.

If anyone knows what my father’s temper is like, it’s me. Way more than them. Sure, they’ve seen me battered and bruised, heard the stories of my time in the basement, and seen me locked in my room.

“I don’t know what he’s doing. But he isn’t home. And I’m free.”

And boy, do I want to be free from this Mafia princess life.

“I thought I might find you here.” JJ’s familiar voice penetrates through the fog of memories clouding my mind, bringing me back to the land of the living.

Warm breaths blow across my neck, and the heat of his body almost presses into mine. I squeeze my eyes shut as goosebumps spread across my flesh. Shivers roll down my spine when his finger brushes against mine.

My brain takes a second to catch up with my body, which has wandered through the entire library, up to the third floor, without my consent or thoughts. Before my eyes lies what the old Olivia would have considered heaven. Shelves upon shelves of DVDs of every variety to rent.

The soft DVD cases on the shelf melt beneath my fingers. I swallow the lump in my throat and quickly pull my fingers away.

From the movies.

From him.

I sidestep, aching to get away from his presence and touch. I hate what it does to my body. How being so close makes it perk up and remember what we had before. The love we shared. The moments we stole together.

Then the memories of his hands on my shoulder, holding me down while a knife cut my flesh, and blood pooled at my feet.