Melody & Styx - Anne Mercier Page 0,3

now.” She looks around, her expression hard as she takes in the devastation amongst her friends and family. “Someone’s going to pay.”

“And they’ll pay dearly,” Damian adds when he walks up.

“There’s going to be a lot of bloodshed,” Celeste says.

“You can count on it,” Cage affirms.

“You all are scary, you know that?” I tell them.

"Obviously not scary enough," Gio replies.

Cage frowns hard. "That's all about to change." Then Cage looks to me and Trace. "Lucy is asking for you."

I frown. "But—"

Trace rests his arm over my shoulders and pulls me into his side. "Let's go. See what she has to say."

Truth be told, I don't want to know what she has to say. I don't want to see the bleakness of loss in her eyes. I don't want to hear her cries of—is that laughter?

Trace and I look at one another as we near the room, both so confused.

I crack open the door and there sits Lucy. No tears. No IVs. No sedation. Jesse does have a bandage on his arm. Mama and Anthony Russo sitting in chairs on the other side of the bed. I'm so confused by what I see next I don't even linger on Jesse's chest or his nipple rings.

Trace and I look at one another again, then at the same time ask, "What the fuck?"

2

Trace

"Joey?" Meggie asks, her tone as pissed off and confused as I feel.

"My man," Joey starts, looking for a bro hug, but I cross my arms over my chest. I'm not hugging the fucker. Fake his death and not let us know? Fuck that. Both Megs and I were devastated. I even thought I'd have to take a minute to myself in the bathroom to get past the ache I had in my chest. Now that ache? It's fury.

"Fuck off. There is no 'my man' anymore," I growl.

Megs grabs my hand. She understands. The tips of her ears are red, and when the tips of her ears are red, someone's in for a world of hurt.

Megs pokes his chest with her other hand. "You asshole." She turns to Lucy and Jesse. "And you two! How could you do that? What the hell is wrong with you people? Don't you have feelings for anyone but yourselves?"

"Obviously not," I reply.

"Whoa, whoa," Jesse begins.

"Fucker, you better sit down," I warn when he strides toward us, hands up in surrender.

"Trace!" Lucy chides.

I curl my lip. "What? Surprised I have feelings?"

She gasps.

"Didn't think that far ahead, huh? To how we might react?" I ask.

"I didn't…," she breaks off with a tear forming.

I roll my eyes. "This isn't time for a Lucy pity party. You did this. Own that shit."

Meggie squeezes my hand, so I rein it in.

"You don't get to cry. You don't get to be hurt by this. You don't get to have a say in how we feel at your betrayal," Meggie tells them.

Jesse grabs Lucy's hand and sits back down. He nods. "You're right. It wasn't our plan, but we went along with it and didn't tell you."

"Fuckin' A right you did," I reply.

"Just imagine how the others are going to feel. Spenser. You know how sensitive he is. Ethan. Kennedy. I never would have imagined you keeping this from your family. And Brava to you, Mrs. Russo putting on quite a show."

Mama doesn't say a word.

Megs isn't pulling any punches. This isn't registering with me. This isn't how family treats one another. We always had our own place and did our own thing, but I always felt like family. Until now.

"I've had enough," I mutter.

Megs nods. "Me too. Let's go."

No one calls after us. Why would they? They know where we stand. I let go of Meggie's hand and walk up to Cage, toe-to-toe.

"If I thought for one minute I could get away with it and not get shot, I'd knock you on your fucking ass."

Cage doesn't even blink.

I turn back to my girl, and we walk toward the exit.

"You're not going anywhere," Giovanni Russo tells us.

"The fuck we're not, old man. We're not part of your conspiracy which means we're not part of your family anymore. We don't want your bullshit 'protection', 'danger',or any other lies you're spewing," I reply.

Meggie turns, venom in her eyes. "Now get your men out of the way or I'll snag one of their guns—which you know I can do, I was taught by the best, after all," she shoots a look to Sera, "and I'll shoot every asshole who stands in my way."

Damian steps up.