4. ~Mason~

4

~Mason~

I didn't like it.

Not the way Lev had shown up back in Stonewell.

Not how he was being evasive and less than forthcoming.

The calm coming off him was definitely also a chief concern.

He didn't do composed and rational as a rule, and I certainly wasn't fool enough to think that had changed for him in one single year.

He was up to something.

He had big plans.

And with him that meant danger and a mammoth headache for me.

Keeping the likes of Colt in line was no small feat, but Lev was several levels beyond that. At least Colt was capable of listening to reason, of being talked down. At least he could recognize when he was out of line or headed down a dangerous path.

But Lev… he just couldn't.

Not anymore.

Ever since what had happened to him six years ago, he hadn't been the same.

He'd returned with a few screws loose.

He'd returned damaged.

I sipped at my glass of scotch that he'd served me—another suspicious thing with him being so attentive—and took in the lounge he'd led me to. Colt was still over on the other end of the house being obsessed with the recording studio Lev had set up for him. There was no question that Colt would definitely want to move in here now, no questions asked. It certainly was the way to his heart—and everything else—and Lev knew that all too well.

"Sorry about that," Lev said, striding back into the sleek room with light-gray walls, black leather furniture and a frosted glass coffee table, along with black and white artwork of prized cars and motorcycles lining the walls. "Couldn't get all the blood off. I used the last of my special solution a few days ago."

Fuck me. "How?"

"How what?"

"How did you use it all? You've been street fighting again? Already?"

He lifted a shoulder. "A little. And it's not already. I've been back in town for a couple of weeks."

"What?"

"Chill. I didn't tell you, because I wanted to get this surprise ready. This house for the three of us to move back in together. I get that you and Colt needed the whole brotherhood thing while I was gone, but joining a frat? Come on, Mason, that's weak."

I ground my teeth. "You weren't here. You don't know what—"

"I know the fraternities around here are infected with entitled shitheads, sexual predators that are under the false assumption that they're above the law."

"There are a select few. I've been taking care of it."

"Right, in your usual cautious and slow way."

"You mean, the safe way."

"I mean, the ineffective way. Instead of just dealing out a beating, you should've made an example out of them, outed them to everyone at that damn party. Rather than that, you had Colt distract everyone with that crazy-ass charisma of his and an impromptu concert, while you took care of it in the shadows."

"They weren't just roughed up, they were also marked."

"By you . It's not enough."

"You don't know—"

"Mason," he said, coming closer and snatching up a bottle of vodka. "You've gone soft. That's the rep I was hearing all about since I've been away." He screwed off the top and downed a couple of large gulps. "Those five assholes I put down? They were gonna come at you. They knew you and the sorority heads were behind rooting out the bad elements at that party, and your position and reputation has been so incredibly weakened that they thought they actually had a good shot of succeeding in putting you down. You, brother. Jesus fucking Christ."

"Things have been in a peaceful state over the last year."

"Which has given these shitheads time to gather and delude themselves into thinking they have power and invulnerability, that they're untouchable." He took another gulp of vodka. " When the world is at peace, a gentleman keeps his sword by his side."

"Wu Tsu." I rolled my eyes. "Something you quote all too often."

"I quote it as necessary."

It was clear what he was getting at, even though he hadn't actually stated it outright.

We were both great manipulators, albeit I was much more calculating.

I had the patience there where he didn't.

And I knew him well. The three of us had been the best of friends—brothers, really—since we were kids.

"You want me to resurrect Hex."

"I want us to."

"Lev—"

"I'll be the public face. I'll take the heat."

"That's not how it works, you know that. And how does Roman feel about what you're suggesting?" I gestured around our surroundings. "I assume this was his doing? He wanted you back here, so he made this happen, bought it for you?"

"Dear Old Dad had no hand in this. I have access to my trust. I bought this place."

"You… what? There were contingencies upon you receiving all that money. Well, barriers, so that he could keep delaying it and exert control to keep you in line."

"And me taking that internship to put my network security skills into practice for the last year mowed down all those barriers ."

"I don't believe you."

He smirked and laid his hand on my shoulder. "Ah, Mason, I've missed your extreme paranoia and gift for smelling smoke when there isn't a fire, nor even a spark."

I grasped his hand on me and loomed over him, my mammoth form and six-foot-eight height completely eclipsing his five-eleven. "Lev, what are you doing back here? Really?"

The whole looming thing didn't faze him in the least.

Of course not. This was Lev we were talking about.

"The internship came to an end, I missed this place, I still have my degree to finish." He leaned in and kissed my cheek. "And I missed you. My boys."

He pulled away and took another swig of vodka, then swept his arm around the room. "I mean, look at this place. Don't you love it? It's a fuck of a lot better than the frat accommodations and without all the bullshit commitments and things you had to adhere to, all that fakery shit. Did you see what I set up for you? Your bathroom has a top-of-the-line Jacuzzi bath, the kind you go weak in the knees for. There's a library off your room with all your favorites stocking the shelves. Colt's got that recording studio. I've got the workshop outside for my woodworking. We're all set."

It would seem so.

He'd gone all out.

He desperately wanted us here, the three of us back living together as it used to be before he'd had to leave at his father's behest.

That desperation was what worried me.

I couldn't determine where it was coming from, what it was truly rooted in.

While I didn't doubt that he had actually missed us, it clearly also wasn't the extent of it. Things were never that simple when it came to Levi Knight. They were always multifaceted and they came with a multitude of complications.

But having him right here in the same place as us, living together again, it would give me the opportunity to find out what was truly going on, what he was really focused on beyond the surface level, why he wanted Hex revived too.

And, yeah, I'd missed him, despite all the rest.

There'd been a hole without having him here with Colt and me.

"You've gone to a lot of effort. It hasn't gone unnoticed," I offered up.

A genuine smile spread over his face. "Yeah?"

"You heard me," I said, smiling back at him.

"Sweet place. Real ace, Lev!" Colton cried, bursting into the room, then running at Lev and throwing his arms around him. "Can't believe you're here with us! It's been way too long! Shit, we've missed you!" He lifted his head and looked out at me. "Right, Mason?"

"We have, yes."

"Hasn't been the same without me, huh?" Lev said, as they eased back, and he flashed us a self-satisfied grin.

Of course.

Colt ate it up like he always did with him. "Shit, no, brother." He guided Lev over to us then pulled the three of us into a group hug. "You're never leaving again, you hear me?"

Lev looked out at me and answered Colt pointedly, "I'm here to stay for a good, long while."

"Hell, yes! Just like the good ol' days!" Colt cried excitedly, tightening his hold on the both of us until he was almost cutting off our breathing.

Lev smirked at me.

Son of a bitch.

Colt was prone to seeing things through rose-colored glasses. Especially when it came to that. He focused on the good only and either forgot or buried the bad beneath it.

But I hadn't forgotten it, not by any means.

I remembered everything.

And as much as it was amazing to have our missing third back here with us, it was also a grave concern with the way he'd come back and the veil he was determined to pull over our eyes as to the reason for it.

Once the shock of him showing up so unceremoniously and throwing me for a loop wore off, I'd begin the process of untangling the tangled web he'd woven, and get to the bottom of it all.

But for now, without knowing all those details, I did know one thing for sure.

The peace and quiet of the last year was about to be blown to smithereens.