Bait novel 217

Chapter 217

Jonas

“She was twelve going on thirteen. Knight walks in with this little girl who looks like she’d just rolled around in the mud outside. He had her cuffed and was hauling her in with a chain lik. And Knight was in no better condition, Roman laughs

“He was all scratched up. There was a huge lump on his forehead and he was pissed,” Violetta adds. “She didn’t have a single scratch on her. She was dirty from fucking him up,”

“It was the greatest thing ever. He presented her to the King and he was like she’s twelve,” they all laugh.

“I didn’t know who the others were, but I knew who the rogue King was,” Perry rolls her eyes.

“All he said was, come here, kid. Let’s get you cleaned up. And she listened. Knight stood there mouth hanging open as he watched her follow after him,”

“Vivaldi was a King of the Court. Knightly was this cocky ass older kid who spoke to me like I was five. If he had said something cool like come with me if you want to live, I wouldn’t have fought back. He grabbed me,” Perry rolls her eyes.

“What did you hit him with?”

“I slid between the two desks in my room and he reached down to grab me so I pulled his arm and his head hit the edge of my tower. It almost knocked him out and I almost escaped through the window,”

Vivaldi almost killed Six when he was brought in Violetta scof

“Six was the guy Prince Boy ate, Roman points at my brother. He grins looking down at his glass of wine. He then looks between the two of us.

“Don’t,” both Perry and Violetta say at the same time.

I didn’t think I would enjoy being around her friends for an extended period of time. The way they spoke to one another before was toxic, but I see now that it’s nothing but sibling banter. They grew up together and while the circumstances weren’t great, they made the most of what was in front of them

“Did you guys get along from the start?” I ask.

“We barely get along now,” Violetta smiles. “But no. When we were first brought in, we weren’t teammates. We were competitors. There were more of us. The rules are the mission comes first. Sometimes that meant leaving others behind,”

“No one ever broke that rule?” James asks.

“Perry, they all point at her. She laughs. Her face is flushed from the wine and she’s holding on to the big monster toy Violetta gifted her.

“How badly were you reprimanded?” I ask.

It just riled me up,” she grins. “Then he tried to take the money. I didn’t get a cut “The first time he beat the shit out of me. every time I did it. Then when we set up Lycan Tech, he recruited Darren. Then he’d go on these fucking rants,”

“You’re young,” Roman mocks. “It’s a phase. I promise it’ll pass,”

“Yeah, not

ot even at my lowest did I stop giving a shit. If my father couldn’t beat it out of me, some fucking asshole with a muullet sure as fuck wasn’t,”

They all laugh.

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Chapter 217

“I don’t think we’ve ever dong this before, Baby says. “And I hate to be that person, but I’m on curfew. So are we gift exchanging now or-”

“We’ll do it now,” Violetta agrees.

We all move into the family room, where Perry set up the Christmas tree she bought at the dollar store not far from here. It’s three feet tall, and none of the decorations match.

There are name tags on the floor. I had seen Violetta doing something over here earlier but Perry was in the middle of a Fortnite battle and it comes as no surprise that she’s insanely go at it.

Baby goes over the giant pile of gifts and begins to slide them toward each name tag on the floor.

James sits next to me because that’s how she set us up and looks just as intrigued as I am. She’s insanely organized. More so than Perry. Even the way she set up the dishes in the sink was perfectly calculated to fit the most dishes. It takes them less than a minute to have all the gifts sorted.

“Pick one and we’ll start from there,” Violetta points at us. Perry takes a pillow off the couch and tosses it on the floor to sit on right in the middle of the circle they created.

“The first one to start fighting gets their gift smashed,” Baby calls out.

“You’re on,” Roman agrees.

-It’s usually them- Perry startles me.

Ah! Who got me these?” she holds up what looks like computer parts. Luxury ones.

“That was me,” Roman raises his hand. “Thought you might like them. There are eight ramsticks in there. I know you like the big builds,”

“Dude. I needed these. I kind of raged on my Kitty the other day

“What?” the three of them blurt out. James looks at me confused. I simply wave him off.

“Yeah, some weird shit happened and I got upset,” she sighs.

“Is any of it salvageable!” Violetta asks.

“The whole thing is compromised. That teaches me for fucking around with files the Wraith left us. Which reminds me. I got you guys your profiles before I deleted them. There is some badass stuff in there. They’re somewhere,” she points at the gifts.

“Yes, it’ll be insane to see it all added up,” Roman rips open a bag We can tally up

“You’re fucking weird,” James blurts out before I can. The four of them laugh.

how many life sentences we owe,

“I did it for you. The answer is on the last folder,” Perry informs them and they all seem to be a lot more excited about the gift.

I look down at the gift in my hand and turn my attention to my brother. He smirks back at me his eyes darkening. I slide the

“Oh, yes! I wasn’t first this time,” Baby laughs. “Rules are rules,”

keep my eyes on him as he watches Roman stand to stomp down on the box. He smashes the sculpture inside and kicks it over to Violetta. She lifts the shattered pieces and looks up at us.

“Lesson learned, dumbass?” I growl at him.

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“And you got punched in the face, Perry laughs.

“Ah, ah! You can’t leave, Roman and Violetta point at him and then down at the floor when he stands.

This is how we spend the rest of the night. Once all the gifts are open, Baby leaves. Roman doesn’t seem too concerned about her leaving on her own. As of late, every time my sister walks out the door, I hope nothing unpleasant happens to her.

“Did you have fun?” Perry asks me when we’re headed back horne

“I did. I didn’t think I’d have so much in common with any of your friends,” I admit.

“That’s because you’re a rich, judgy, ass hole,” she teases. She mindlessly reaches for my hand on the gear shift to rest hers on top.

The worry she’d been feeling before is non–existent. We’re almost home when her hand slides off mine and I look over to see that she’s comfortable enough to have fallen asleep. The twins and Jordan are playing out in the snow when we arrive. They come over and I have to motion them to keep quiet.

A smile makes its way on my face and I lift her to feel how sturdy she’s gotten. Her head hangs forward as I take her up to our room. She doesn’t panic until I set her down and try to pull away.

“Do you want to get out of these clothes?” I ask her.

“No clothes, she nods and pulls at my sweater before sleep takes over again. She hasn’t let go of the plushie Violetta gave her. They both had one.

When I open

the bathroom door I see there’s a box on the toile My name is written on the top and there’s a note next to it. The words we all deserve to rot are written on the top. I turn it over. So, make sure you burn it down properly.

Perry’s hand wraps around my wrist when I reach for the box. She places her hand over to the box and then gently removes the lid. Inside is a watch box. I release my claws to cut it out. It was secured with thread. I open the box to find a black–on- black Rolex.

“Holy shit,” she whispers and presses the sides to start it

“Who would leave this here?”

“My dad,” she says stretching. “That’s a key to something and it’s for you. Which means this is what they’re going to want from you, she slides up on the counter and yawns. “Do you want to do this with me? If we can’t destroy it.”

“You want it for yourself?” I smirk.

“I mean, we’re here because we forced our way in. I kind of want to know what it is. To see if it’s worth all the destruction we can potentially cause to get it,” she tries to blink away the sleep.

You

fell asleep, I pull her closer to me.

“I’m tired and I had a couple of wine glasses,” she smirks. This is one of best birthdays I’ve ever had. I like simple, but the parade yesterday and my new collar were pretty fucking great. Thank you,”

“It’s not a collar,” I laugh.

“Is this your initial?” she asks holding the little charm.

“Yes,”

“Does it have a tracker in it?”

“You can’t disable this one like the one you have on your

neck,‘” | kugh.

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Chapter 217

“It’s a collar, but I like it because it’s not obnoxious and I can t

“Let’s get you back to bed.”

“Will

carry me again?”

“You’re a fucking brat,” I laugh. She wraps herself around me.

“Okay, you’re going to miss an opportunity to hold me to you,

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Chapter 217

“It’s a collar, but I like it because it’s not obnoxious and I can tuck it away.”

“Let’s get vo

back to bed,”

“Will you carry me again?”

“You’re a fucking brat,” I laugh. She wraps herself around me. “I didn’t say yes,”

“Okay, you’re going to miss an opportunity to hold me to you,” she scoffs. “Yeah, right,”

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Chapter 218