23. ~Mason~

23

~Mason~

Well, then.

Color me impressed.

The troublemaker had mustered the courage to venture into the lion's den.

The shock of her showing up so unceremoniously had even managed to cut through the rage that had infected the living room—and me.

A biker princess.

It wasn't actually a surprise that Lev would be drawn to somebody like that. He liked an edge and roughness to everything he did. And he was all about being wild and free, not living confined by society's—or anybody's—rules, which fit the whole motorcycle club thing to a T. Also, despite his upbringing being in the lap of luxury, he'd never felt comfortable with any of what he called the hoity-toity bullshit that went along with it, all the expectations of high society, something that was particularly prevalent for me, especially with my mom being a society queen—a famous socialite. Our attitude toward it was something the three of us had in common, something that had actually drawn us together during our school days.

The only thing Lev had cared for when it came to his life before Stonewell U, aside from Colt and me, was his dad.

Unlike my father, Lev's actually cared about his wellbeing beyond him just being a toy to him or a piece on his board. There was a real father-son relationship there. Sure, they had their ups and downs, but somehow Roman Knight had managed to strike a balance between reeling Levi in and allowing him freedom too.

My father, however? Well, he was all about control and appearances.

Unfortunately, as had been pointed out to me tonight in a very in-my-face way, it seemed I had inherited much more of the former than I'd even realized.

Fuck me, I was becoming Peter Hall.

Just what he'd always wanted.

Just what I'd always dreaded.

I blinked out of my thoughts and tuned back in to the whispers being exchanged between Lev and the girl, which had been going on since the moment she'd walked on in here.

Levi had pulled her to the back of the room hastily. It seemed to be more than the mere act of protecting and shielding her from me. He didn't want her here having words with me.

Just as I'd thought, there was something Levi hadn't disclosed to me about his connection to her.

It had to be more than him merely encountering her during shared business between their fathers. That wouldn't have led to him becoming so dangerously fixated on her or to him actually going against me in order to pursue her.

Levi had never stood against me when it came to dealing with a threat before.

But this girl, she had a hold on him, a very powerful hold.

It was fucking dangerous.

For all of us.

And because he'd refused to see it, I'd had to employ extreme methods. He wouldn't let go of her willingly, so I'd worked to force her out of his life.

And yet, in spite of all those efforts, here she was now in our home.

With everything I'd levied upon her, she should be a wreck.

But as I continued to study her, the only difference I noticed compared to before I'd had her marked was that she was wearing far less pink than normal. She had on a light-gray tiered ruffle tank beneath a black checkered cardigan embellished with sequin butterflies down the sleeves with a large one centered on the back. Navy skinny jeans gave way to a pair of pastel-pink pumps. Of course, there was also that necklace that she wore every day, with the all-seeing eye pendant that was basically a cobalt-blue version of Levi's tattoo.

Maybe the lack of her usual over-the-top pink get-up was a window into her true mental state, that she had actually been affected, but she was merely hiding it well.

So well in fact, that she looked utterly calm even as she stood in the home of an enemy, even as the whispers from Levi were becoming harsher as they argued about whatever. I'd ensure she didn't leave here until she revealed exactly what that was, and until Levi finally divulged the truth of what he'd been keeping from me.

Colt sauntered back into the room with that usual sexy swagger.

I found myself paying more attention to it that I even normally did, watching his zebra-print shirt pulling taut across his toned torso, his hard abs visible beneath the thin fabric, then his sculpted ass drawing far too much attention to it as he walked, a pair of maroon leather pants not exactly making it easy to look away.

The fact that it had been a long time since we'd fooled around was another thing not making it easy, and clearly what was making me notice every sexy thing about him in magnified detail. Just like earlier when he'd confronted me and come at me, all that passion coming off him and turning me the fuck on, at a time when I'd been trying to focus on the serious subject matter and the worrying growing tension and separation between us.

"Here, brother," Colt spoke as he reached Levi and held out a package of medical wipes, along with one of Levi's black tanks that he wore when he was practicing his fight moves before a street fight.

"Thanks, cupcake," Levi said, very slightly pulling away from the girl so he could take them.

Before he made it, though, she was there batting his hand away.

He eyed her in question.

"Go get cleaned up properly."

"Nah, I'll be fine with the wipes and the change of shirt for now."

The hell, he would. He'd get all that blood and grime over the furniture. I hated when he did it after being covered in sawdust and grease from woodworking and what-not, then came in here and lounged all over the furniture. Because, of course it was me who ended up having to clean it. Lev was too laser-focused on whatever task or mission he had in mind at the time. And Colt was too erratic and didn't remember if he made a mess.

I was about to speak to it—despite it being a bad idea when the two of us were at the height of antagonism toward one another—but I got a surprise in the next moment, as the girl beat me to it.

She stroked his hair, some with dried blood in the strands and told him in a patient and strangely soothing tone that I'd only come close to experiencing the likes of before with Colt, "This whole thing is already difficult subject matter, so you being caked in blood and dirt is just going to make it all the more uncomfortable."

"That's why I asked Colt to get me some wipes and a clean shirt."

"Not enough."

"I'm totally with her, Lev," Colt piped up.

"Then why did you get these for me?"

"Because you're a stubborn ass." He rolled his eyes, like he was so completely done with the two of us tonight. "Just like Mason. The two of you are two peas in a fucking pod on a bunch of things, more than you realize."

When it looked like Levi was going to argue his case further, the girl took his hand all stained with blood and gave it a gentle yet firm squeeze. "Please, lovely . "

A smirk spread over Levi's face. " Lovely , hmm?"

"You want more of that, go wash up properly, no more arguments."

Shocking the fuck out of both me and Colt, Levi actually nodded and told her, "All right, yeah." He leaned down, just shy of brushing his lips over hers. "Besides, then I don't have to hesitate on touching you when all this grime and blood is off me."

"I have no problem with that, for the record."

"Shit, cutie," Colt uttered. "Don't wake my cock up right now, yeah? Tone it down."

Fuck me, I was right there with him on that. It was hot beyond belief. In a completely twisted way, but that was kind of our thing—as a unit, especially.

I saw Levi's eyes flame.

But then his reaction with her surprised me again and that flame died out and a gentleness I couldn't believe took its place as he said, "I won't touch you with sullied hands. Not the blood of our enemies."

"So, only in-house then?" she teased.

She got more than she bargained for when Levi confirmed, "Exactly. Just the four of us." He glared out at me, acknowledging me for the first time since she'd shown up. "Well, three right now."

"Take that shower. It's time I introduced myself to Mason anyway."

Levi looked between her and me, then to Colt. "You won't be here alone while I'm showering, Colt will be here with you."

"Not necessary. I'd rather talk to him alone." Off Levi's suspicious look, she assured him, "Not about that , we do that together, like I said. Jeez, it took me a lot to convince you, I wouldn't risk messing up how we do it. You have my word."

The tension started to leave him—a little. "As you wish, Wildflower."

He pressed a soft kiss to the top of her head, and then he headed out of the room, looking back a couple of times. Colt followed after him muttering something about needing a fucking strong daiquiri after the shitshow of tonight .

And then it was just me and her.

The troublemaker.

The thorn in my side.

The dangerous temptation to Levi.

The knife through the heart of our brotherhood.

I chugged the remainder of my scotch, then placed it down on the coffee table and sank back against the couch, affecting a casual and calm air—neither of which I really felt.

Her eyes were on me studiously as she made her way to the adjacent armchair and relaxed into it, then mirrored my pose.

Trying to play me at my own game? Yeah, that wasn't the first time she'd done that.

She'd actually fought back and that never fucking happened—no one returned fire against Hex. She was the first. Completely unprecedented.

I didn't like that. Unpredictable elements concerned me. Just like Levi Knight.

Now there were two of them.

Jesus.

"Well, you're certainly doing your utmost to live up to your reputation of Scourge ," she commented.

"Compliment accepted."

"I'm not your enemy."

I sneered. "Burning my soldiers through rigging the showers and displacing many more from their homes with various infestations would beg to differ."

"Those were retaliatory responses," she answered evenly. "Which you made necessary."

"Our marks don't strike back against Hex ."

"Then I guess there's a first time for everything." She folded one leg over the other. "And also the first time you've made the mistake of marking someone like me."

"Someone like you?"

"That's right."

"A club princess?"

Her lips curved. "Took you long enough to figure it out."

I moved to respond in the decimating way I was known for when somebody challenged me.

But she beat me to it, cutting me off, "And you should have. You should have researched me before you marked me. It was incredibly dangerous to come at me, given who I am, and where I come from, who my father is. You're really lucky that I held back and didn't call on the true resources at my disposal. I held back because of him, by the way, because of Levi. And Colt, because he's an absolute sweetheart. Yet, you came at me because of Levi, because you're so intent—in an obsessive way, to be honest—to control him that you were the one who ended up completely out of control."

Jesus. The woman certainly had some nerves of steel to come at me like this.

"You don't understand the complications and dangers associated with Lev."

"As the object of his intense fixation, believe me, I do."

"Not to the full extent. I've known him for years, we've been the closest of brothers since we were kids. Believe me, there's a lot you have no comprehension of."

She shoved a hand through her silky ebony hair, then took down the harshness in her tone, telling me with an earnestness that caught me off guard and… touched me, "You've clearly been too close to it for too long, because it's compromised your ability to identify the root cause of all this animosity and struggle between the two of you."

I sat forward, clasping my hands between my knees. "Levi doesn't think about the consequences, any sort of fallout, or the big picture involved when it comes to any task or mission he embarks on. He gets severe tunnel vision. And we all end up paying the price. I saw him re-entering into that fixated, obsessive mode through his pursuit of you. You're a complication I can't afford, that none of us can. There are things at stake that you don't understand. Hell, there are things that have actually happened that almost destroyed all of us, because of the way that Levi is." I shook my head at her with disbelief. "So you telling me there's a root cause I'm not seeing… even if that was the case, I still need to protect us all."

"I get you wanting to protect your brothers. Club princess, remember? That was my whole life for two decades. But the way in which you're doing it when it comes to Levi is actually resulting in the opposite."

I thought for a moment. "Is that why you came here to talk it out, rather than responding to my escalation with another show of force?"

She nodded. "The harder I come at you, the greater the divide it will cause in your brotherhood. I don't want that." Shifting to the edge of the chair, she added with a sexy, fierce edge, "But I also can't allow you to continue to strike at me. I won't be anybody's victim."

"You were Lev's not long ago, before this coupledom I've witnessed between you tonight. You were his prey."

"He went about it the wrong way, but his actions came from wanting to draw closer to me. Affection, if you will. He became desperate because I wasn't ready at first to acknowledge what's between us. And that's the root of it for him—feeling powerless. After what's happened in his life, he can't stand that notion, he really can't stomach it. So these missions he embarks on are all to combat that. He needs you to understand that and work with him, not to just throw up walls in his way. You could work with him to change the way he goes about doing these things, to minimize the risk and potential fallout. And Levi can agree to tone it down and do it your way in exchange. But just getting in his way is only going to worsen everything and make him more desperate. Like what happened tonight with him taking out a big chunk of your Hex members. I tracked him and watched from a distance. He's in a lot of pain." She sighed heavily. "If you continue to allow your fear of loss of control to get in the way, you'll lose him, you'll lose each other, and things will spiral like crazy. I'm sure you're already seeing the results of that as it is."

I stared at her, taking her words in.

Fuck me, I was impressed.

Off my incredulous look, she grinned. "That's right, I'm a very reasonable person."

"I'm getting that."

Her phone buzzed, cutting through the understanding and shared moment between us.

She pulled it out from her pocket, swiped it open, then started typing rapidly.

After a few moments of it, I asked, "Damage control?"

She lifted her head, her whiskey eyes locking on mine.

Fuck me, they were stunning.

I hadn't seen her up close until tonight and every time she fixed me with her gaze, they caught my attention all over again.

"For the leak of my personal photos?" she responded with an edge, before returning to her typing and telling me, "That's already been dealt with. Nice try, though." She stopped typing, then stowed her phone away. "That was Levi just asking if I was okay in your presence."

"And? How did you respond?"

"I told him it's going as well as can be expected."

"Very diplomatic of you."

"I figured that was needed right now." She gestured at my cheek. "You have blood there. You and Levi came to blows, yeah?"

"Things reached an intense level before you arrived," I admitted.

"Then you're in the right frame of mind to put an end to it."

"So, this is a peace talk."

"What else could it be? If we continue in this vein, it'll end up destroying us all. And for what? Levi won't accept you pushing me out and I won't allow you to either, it'll create a divide between the two of you—possibly even Colton becoming involved in it too—that could prove irreparable."

"I agree."

She cocked a skeptical eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yes, you've made your case well." Extremely well, actually. But there was no need to be throwing out further compliments. That made for over-inflated egos and complacency, both hazardous things to indulge.

Her reason couldn't be denied, though.

It had already become straining commanding Hex while I had my active focus on her and Levi, it had compromised my studies and I was falling behind. Me. Jesus. I also had barely seen either Colt or Lev in the last few days because of it. And extremely worryingly, I was getting off too much on wielding the power of Hex. It was starting to corrupt me and I was honestly just hanging on by a thin sliver of a thread in order to avoid that happening. But if I kept it up at this pace and going it alone without Levi at my side to mitigate my addictive issues when it came to that sort of thing, it wouldn't be long before I fully succumbed.

In spite of all of that, it had hit me tonight that Brianna could prove useful, if I could balance the detrimental aspect she posed to Levi's stability with his obsessiveness about her. I'd watched her calm him and even convince him to do something he hadn't wanted to earlier. It was absolutely unheard of. The only way I'd managed to get him to do something he hadn't desired to was to use harsh methods. But there she'd been with a gentleness, yet firmness all at once that he'd responded incredibly favorably to.

Before I could speak more to it, Colt swaggered back in, popping a rumball into his mouth, a full packet clutched in his hand. Yeah, he was definitely pissed and agitated about what had transpired tonight. Rumballs were his stress foods, as Cheerios were mine.

He looked between the two of us, then slumped onto the couch over on the farthest cushion, making it clear he didn't want to be close to me right now. "Figured you guys were done by now."

"Not really," I responded.

"Then go right ahead, Mason," he retorted. "Glad to see you managed to summon some sense and you didn't hurt her."

"I don't hurt women, you know that."

"Do I? How about that attack you had set on her, that I intervened in before it could actually take place?"

" That's why you randomly showed up at my side that night and insisted on escorting me home?" Brianna asked.

"Damn straight. I wasn't gonna let you get hurt. I've grown hella fond of you, cutie."

As she beamed at him, I clarified, "It was a scare tactic. Intimidation. Nothing physical would have transpired."

Levi's shadow fell over the door. "Your toy soldiers would've suffered big time if it had gone down that way." He winked at Brianna. "You've got skills, don't you, baby?"

"I can hold my own," she responded, modestly. Or perhaps she intended to downplay her combat abilities to have me underestimate her in case we couldn't maintain this peace.

"I've summoned more than some sense , Colt," I told him. "We're making peace."

He cocked an eyebrow. "You are?" He swung his head toward Brianna. "He is?"

"That's right," she responded brightly, then reached out and gently rubbed his arm. "It's all okay. Or, it will be."

"Well, good," Colt said, brightening too, his antagonism toward me lessening a little as he looked back at me and actually smiled. "Really fucking good."

"Sorry, cupcake," Levi said, having taken a quick shower and now changed into a clean pair of gray sweats. He crossed to Brianna and perched on the arm of her chair, then draped his arm over her shoulders. I watched with intrigue as she immediately sank into his touch. "That's gonna be tested right off the bat."

Before any of us could get a word out, him and Brianna exchanged a nod of agreement, then Levi sucked in a breath and revealed, "We don't just know each other from our fathers doing business a few years back." With his free hand, he grasped her hand for obvious support. "She was there six years ago. I wasn't alone when I was taken. Brianna was with me."

"What?" Colt exclaimed, his vehement shock mirroring mine.

" That's where your obsession with her stems from?" I asked.

"My interest was sparked before then, but what happened during those two weeks… let's just say that it escalated that interest. Cemented it, really."

"Fuck me," I choked. "Lev, this is—"

"It's not like you think. She saved me back then. She saved my life, Mason." He tightened his hold on her and looked at her with utter reverence. "Fuck, she saved me from more than even that. She spared me."

Brianna grimaced as that time was referenced.

And Levi could barely hold it together, his body now full of tension, emotion swimming in his eyes that had Colt going to him and wrapping himself around him uttering words of comfort.

Lev never talked about that time in his life.

This was beyond unprecedented.

"You see now, Mason? You see why I can't let you pull her from me?"

"This is dangerous, that being the root of the connection and obsession, Lev."

"We'll make sure that isn't the case," Brianna said, eyeing me in reference to our conversation about my handling of Lev being detrimental.

"You don't understand," Lev insisted, pulling from Brianna and Colt and rising to his feet. He strode over to me and slapped his hands down on the coffee table in front of me. "But you will."

I tensed, preparing for another fight.

But then he pushed off the table and went another way that I wasn't expecting—there seemed to be a lot of that lately.

Too much.

"I'm gonna tell you how it was."

And then the most shocking thing of all happened.

He went back to that time and place that had marked the worst experience of his life and forever changed him.