The Punk and the Plaything (When Rivals Play #3) - B.B. Reid Page 0,86

through the air before bouncing and rolling straight into the hole.

Never.

“You’re getting better,” Jason complimented—as if I’d asked for his fucking opinion. He patted my shoulder like we were friends, and it was all I could do not to bend his fucking wrist back and make him scream like the bitch he was.

I handed my shit off to a caddie, and then we made our way down the hill. I could feel my feet dragging with each step. This was so not my fucking scene. I couldn’t help but think how better suited Ever would have been for this job.

Down the hill, I politely waited for Jason to sink his ball before getting to the reason, the only fucking reason I’d agreed to meet him. He’d reached out to me. I wasn’t about to pretend to be cordial.

“Tell me what you had to tell me before I beat it out of you with this club.”

“Damn, bro, where’s the love?”

I blinked at him. “Are you fucking serious?”

“Are you serious?” he spat back. “That was my fucking sister Ever played, and you all treat me like I’m the one who fucked up!”

I scrubbed a hand down my face because I wasn’t prepared to deal with this heavy shit. Ever had broken the code, and somehow, we’d all ended up with a target on our back. Those stars in Olivia’s eyes had only been for Ever, and it had only been a matter of time before he took notice. “You came back here looking to get even, J. What did you expect?”

“Some fucking compassion!” he screamed with tears in his eyes. “Livvy tried to kill herself. She almost died.”

“I know, and I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, but you didn’t even know she was sick, and you’re her goddamn twin. How can you blame Ever for not noticing?”

Angrily, he swiped the tears that fell from his face. “He shouldn’t have slept with her in the first place, and you know it, man. Sisters were supposed to be off-limits.”

He sniffled, and even though I found myself feeling sorry as hell, I couldn’t let it show. Regardless of his reasons, Jason had turned into a fucking snake, and I couldn’t forget that. Any sign of weakness would be a grave mistake. Besides, I couldn’t make this shit right with Jason. Only Ever could do that. If it hadn’t been for his mom leaving and his dad starting a new family, Ever probably would have handled the situation better. Needless to say, my cousin hadn’t been very pliable. And now all he wanted to do was protect the ones he cared about from someone who was openly hostile. So no, as much as Jason had lost, he was still partly to blame for how his return to Blackwood Keep had played out.

“If Ever was willing to sit down with you without breaking your jaw, would you be willing to hear him out?”

The muscle in Jason’s cheek jumped as he stared down at the ground. Eventually, he sighed. “I don’t know, man… maybe.”

Clasping his shoulder, I realized the concern in my voice when I spoke was sincere. “I really am sorry about your sister,” I said, sounding like a broken record. What else was there to say, though? “How is she?”

Sniffling, he seemed to pull himself together as he squared his shoulders. “Better now.”

I frowned because the haunted look in his eyes said otherwise. There was so much I wanted to ask, but I doubted Jason was ready to divulge information about his sister. For the first time since meeting him, I felt like I understood him. If it had been Adara, I would have tucked her away in a tower where no one could ever hurt her again. And knowing my sister, she’d break free and kick my ass for locking her away. At only seven years old, she could easily run circles around all of us. She was going to give me—and quite a few others—hell when she grew up.

“About Barbette,” Jason said, pulling me from my thoughts. I was suddenly alert and dangling off a cliff with sharp rocks at the bottom. However this conversation went, it couldn’t possibly end well. “Did you know that her father’s company has had a high turnover of investors over the last few years? In the last twelve months alone, Elliot lost over a third when MontGlobal began hemorrhaging money. No one can figure out why.”

“Does this have anything to do with why he’s sold off almost all